I'm heading over Dallas way today, more precisely to Mesquite, Texas (Dallas County) to do a little shopping today. I normally don't drive around 170 miles each way to do my grocery shopping but am about to do it today so I can go to Costco. I've been a Costco member for many years, my original membership was with them when they were called Price Club back in the early 1980s when I lived in CA. There are no Costcos near me, I think I'll be going to the one that is the closest to me, and while I belong to Sam's Club and there is one where I live now - it does not come close to Costco as far as quality of the items they sell, as far as I am concerned. In other words, I think that Sam's Club sucks so much as to warrant me taking a monthly drive over to Costco to fill my Corolla with as much groceries and supplies as I can.
Now, that's not the only reason I chose today for my first trip to Costco. The other allure of this trip is that there is a gun show in Mesquite (the one in Dallas County, there are at least two in TX) tomorrow and Sunday. It's a decent sized one too, 450 tables. Not the biggest I've been to by a long-shot but pretty big and bigger than most I had the chance to attend in NY. So this makes the trip and my reason for making it all that much the better. It only makes sense to plan additional activities on such a trip. I mean, I'd have to be nuts to drive all that way just to go to a Costco - right! Then again, as much as I dislike Sam's Club - maybe it's not nutty at all. It's not like I'll give up my Sam's Club membership though, they have groceries and things I need for the apartment - some are pretty good - and they are local. It's just that Costco is so much better in my estimation and worth a drive once every month or so and of course the gun show gives me another reason to burn the gas.
While there, I am going to try to sell some guns to make up the funds I used to purchase several others recently. I am lugging along my: Romanian WASR 10, Hopkins & Allen 16 gauge single, Mossberg 185 K-A 20 gauge and Winchester 290 semi-auto in 22 S, L & LR. No way I can walk around the show with 4 guns slung over my aging shoulders so it will be two at a time until one or the other (or both) sell and then to my car to retrieve the others. I checked Gunbroker for recent sales of WASR 10s and was surprised to see what used ones are selling for - way above Blue Book of Gun Values estimates. So, I am going to ask a nice round number for it and am fairly confident it will sell and that I'll get around what I am asking if not the actual price I put on it. The others will not bring in as much in total as the WASR 10 alone but should bring in grocery money for Costco, that is if they sell. If they do not sell today, I'll probably throw em up for sale on Gunbroker.
I'll be getting to see a bit more of my newly adopted home state today and tomorrow. Who knows, I may make a few stops along the way, no rush to get to my hotel (using points there and points are a good thing). I'll be staying in Addison, about 20 or 25 miles from the convention center for the gun show. The reason for that being that the hotel at the convention center charges almost double the amount of points I'll be using than where I am staying; in fact every other hotel from the same chain charges more points than this place. It has received excellent reviews so I imagine its just luck I got it at this rate as opposed to it being a dump and them offering a low rate because of that. Anyway, it's a Hilton, so I am pretty sure it is not a dump; for some reason you can almost always find one with a much lower rate not too far from others with high rates.
I guess that's it for now, gotta get the car loaded up and hit the road, stop for breakfast (yeah, I know, it's almost 11AM but such is retired life), hit the road again and be on my way. I've got some of Texas to see today!
All the best,
Glenn B
Now, that's not the only reason I chose today for my first trip to Costco. The other allure of this trip is that there is a gun show in Mesquite (the one in Dallas County, there are at least two in TX) tomorrow and Sunday. It's a decent sized one too, 450 tables. Not the biggest I've been to by a long-shot but pretty big and bigger than most I had the chance to attend in NY. So this makes the trip and my reason for making it all that much the better. It only makes sense to plan additional activities on such a trip. I mean, I'd have to be nuts to drive all that way just to go to a Costco - right! Then again, as much as I dislike Sam's Club - maybe it's not nutty at all. It's not like I'll give up my Sam's Club membership though, they have groceries and things I need for the apartment - some are pretty good - and they are local. It's just that Costco is so much better in my estimation and worth a drive once every month or so and of course the gun show gives me another reason to burn the gas.
While there, I am going to try to sell some guns to make up the funds I used to purchase several others recently. I am lugging along my: Romanian WASR 10, Hopkins & Allen 16 gauge single, Mossberg 185 K-A 20 gauge and Winchester 290 semi-auto in 22 S, L & LR. No way I can walk around the show with 4 guns slung over my aging shoulders so it will be two at a time until one or the other (or both) sell and then to my car to retrieve the others. I checked Gunbroker for recent sales of WASR 10s and was surprised to see what used ones are selling for - way above Blue Book of Gun Values estimates. So, I am going to ask a nice round number for it and am fairly confident it will sell and that I'll get around what I am asking if not the actual price I put on it. The others will not bring in as much in total as the WASR 10 alone but should bring in grocery money for Costco, that is if they sell. If they do not sell today, I'll probably throw em up for sale on Gunbroker.
I'll be getting to see a bit more of my newly adopted home state today and tomorrow. Who knows, I may make a few stops along the way, no rush to get to my hotel (using points there and points are a good thing). I'll be staying in Addison, about 20 or 25 miles from the convention center for the gun show. The reason for that being that the hotel at the convention center charges almost double the amount of points I'll be using than where I am staying; in fact every other hotel from the same chain charges more points than this place. It has received excellent reviews so I imagine its just luck I got it at this rate as opposed to it being a dump and them offering a low rate because of that. Anyway, it's a Hilton, so I am pretty sure it is not a dump; for some reason you can almost always find one with a much lower rate not too far from others with high rates.
I guess that's it for now, gotta get the car loaded up and hit the road, stop for breakfast (yeah, I know, it's almost 11AM but such is retired life), hit the road again and be on my way. I've got some of Texas to see today!
All the best,
Glenn B
