New, Old and Furry

As I'm sure anyone who read it figured out, we are not selling the house any time soon. And even if we were, with the current market and flaws in the house, it'd probably be on the market for years. We're committed to this one for awhile yet. Hopefully the recession will leave us untouched.

On to more cheery subjects. I have discovered the joys of Ebay. Naturally I knew of Ebay, and what they did, but I'd never really gone there to see what it was like. I probably would not have even thought of going there, except at the suggestion of an anonymous poster on my site. At his suggestion, I started looking for the keys I need for the house. And I am absolutely thrilled with the results.

I have a total of 28 locks, of 11 distinct types. I only had 7 keys, of 6 distinct types. After just a few weeks, I have increased the number of keys to 11, of 9 distinct types. I'm only missing two kinds of keys. When I have the whole set, I'll be able to lock or unlock any of the doors in the House of 42 Doors with the original locks. It's not really a big deal from a functionality stand point, but it does give me that "collector's rush" of having a complete set.

As I've looked around on Ebay, I've also discovered some other items that are "necessary" for restoring the house that I could never find locally - great Arts and Crafts decor, lights, mortise lock parts, Sash repair parts, etc.

There is no doubt that I could not own and would not own this house without the Internet. It seems like a strange juxtaposition of old and new. Using the Internet to restore, repair and learn about a house that was built before the invention of insulin, traffic signals, the self winding watch, spiral bound notebooks, aerosol cans and penicillin.

I used the Internet to find the house, to do research on the house and now to buy things for the house. There is a huge antiques market on Ebay and most of it looks better than the average junk that's available at roadside antiques shops (of course you never know what you're getting until you hold it in your hands). I can't even begin to imagine the hours of research I'd have to spend searching at a library through books and the card catalog (remember those?), corresponding with experts via letters, visiting antique shops and talking to people. Thank goodness for the Internet.

Oh and lest I forget, number 44 has joined his brethren in the great rodent nest in the sky, where cheese is abundant, cats are taunted and humans are crushed in giant traps (Wow - Look at that big pile of free money. I'll just a take a little...arrgghh...)