[Boatanchors] New Ham vs Old Ham

[Robert Nickels]

> Ya can't go to an Ebay event and have the same fun.
And like the loudmouth jerk at the ballgame or guy in the orange pants 
on the golf course, the people-watching is half the fun!

But speaking of "dollar boxes" - this one fellow was downmarket from 
there a "quarter box' guy.  He'd dump out box after box of assorted 
hardware, components, small parts, connectors, etc into a couple of 
tabletop-sized shallow trays and you'd root around and give him a 
quarter per item.  Not bad if if you found something you needed, but 
let's just say the proprietor of this enterprise was neither svelte nor 
hygenic and could often be found dumpster-diving, which I presume is how 
he came by much of his inventory.  So you dropped your quarter in the 
jar and didn't linger about.

Later, as dark approached, I watched with amazement as he shoved both 
trays into the back of his full-size van, one on top of the other, then 
spread an old tarp over all and crawled on top with a blanket to spend 
the night.  I don't know if he felt he had to protect his inventory or 
what - like they say, you can't make this stuff up!

73, Bob W9RAN