FYE...certainly was entertaining!

I've been inspired by some recent blog-reading to clean out the clutter and maybe fatten up my wallet in the process. Posted some items on Craigslist this week and even sold my old Treo 650 already! If anyone is interested in a wine fridge, fridge cart, or Little Tikes climber/slide, let me know ;-) Next stop was the rarely-used DVD collection, which Ethan and I sorted through and pulled out a number of things we haven't watched in ages. I also took the opportunity to clean through the CD collection, especially since I have everything online these days. Piled the CD/DVDs in my handy Giant shopping bag and headed to FYE, where rumor has it they will pay you for these items!!

The first cashier looks frightened when he sees me and defers to 'Luis,' who is a tall, geeky, music store looking guy with glasses and a goatee. He starts stacking the CDs and informs me they only pay store credit for the trade-ins, despite the giant "WE PAY CASH" sign in their store window. I point him to the sign and he retracts his story a little, saying some stores give cash, and then proceeds to list the other stores in the area that give credit. I repeat the pointing to the sign action a few more times until he says he's allowed to give up to $50 cash. Sigh. I tell him to start with the CDs and tell me when I've hit $50...here's his commentary:

Backstreet Boys: "We just got their new album today!"

'The Bodyguard' soundtrack: "Ah, this brings back some memories"

No Doubt: "Are you sure you want to get rid of this one?"

At the end of the CDs, I'm only at $20-something, so I start handing over DVDs. Not long after he tells me 'Weekend at Bernies' is going to make a comeback, I hit $48. I hand over My Best Friend's Wedding...$0.50. Dr. Dolittle 2...$3.00. Seriously. Three dollars for that horrible movie? Did they stop making it because it was so bad and it became a collector's item?? At this point, I have exceeded the $50 cash limit ($51.25 to be exact), but my new buddy Luis tells me he won't tell if I won't. I pick up the remaining DVDs and tell him I'll be back in a few days for another transaction.

Notes (because I'm sure there will be questions):

• I LOVE the wine fridge...I'm only getting rid of it because I bought a bigger one. Never go to a wine tasting by yourself with a 25% off coupon
  

• Yes, I use a Giant shopping bag. It's probably the only nice thing I do for the environment, but I really do it because I can fit 6 plastic bags worth of groceries into one of these bags. And I can carry 4 of these at a time, which means I can unload my truck in record time. Plus I don't have 19,000 plastic bags hanging around the house until I remember to take them to daycare so they can send them right back home full of Eric's drooled-on bibs.

• Yes, I like the Backstreet Boys. I actually struggled with getting rid of those CDs, but they play on Sirius enough that I think I'll be okay. No, I did not buy the new album.
  

• No, I do not still sing along to "I Will Always Love You." Not the CD anyway.