Storage Wars Crap

There is a faux reality show on A&E called Storage Wars where people buy the contents of storage units when the original owner does not continue to pay the rent. There is no tampering of the lockers by the show or the producers... all the stuff in there is exactly as it was left (note intense sarcasm). There are a select group of people that always go the the auctions because they think they can make money selling the stuff in the storage unit above and beyond the auction price.

They always buy a locker for somewhere between $5 to $1500 and estimate the value of the stuff found inside plus some kind of Pier One markup.

I have to admit that I watch the show sometimes while the Chief and I are getting ready for bed. It takes the Chief 5-10 minutes longer than it does me, so I watch some TV while I wait. If nothing else catches my attention then I might land on one of these faux reality shows.

One show in particular caught my eye. Not just because the people on the show are idiots... but because some of the contents of one of the storage lockers looked like something that I own. I saw our TV room lamp in the storage unit. Here is the lamp in our TV room:

I liked this so much that I took a video of the show so I could put it up here. Please pardon the quality of the video.

I don't even want to get started about the character on the show... so I will concentrate on the item in the locker. The shades are somewhat discolored... so are your eyebrows. Anyway, our shades are a little discolored around the bulb that is on all the time. I bet it has something to do with the heat in the storage unit and the fact that the shades are made from cheap white plastic. Our shades stopped discoloring once we changed to CFL bulbs.

Seriously... $275 for this lamp, with incandescent light bulbs in it? I did some thinking about when we bought the lamp, I think it was soon after we moved to Southern Indiana in 2002. So our lamp is about 12 years old. We bought it at Target, so I should look online and see if it is still offered. Sure enough, the lamp is still available here.

Notice the price of a whopping $34.99, probably plus shipping and handling. As long as shipping and handling is less than $240 then I think I would buy this lamp at Target. They also sell the same lamp with the CFL bulbs included, the bulbs are somewhat expensive. Here is the link, only $54.99 with free shipping on any purchase over $50. CFL bulbs are 5 for $20? That sounds like a lot... $4 a bulb. Let's check on that too... Here at Lowe's they have 18 CFL bulbs for $25.02... $1.39 a bulb. Must be a big handling fee or maybe the bulbs come pre-installed at $2.61 a bulb. So that is how much it costs to install a light bulb.

Remind me never to go to the gallery he sells this lamp to... or buy included CFL bulbs with a lamp. I'll sell him my lamp for $150 and he will think I gave him a great deal.

Sorry about the math...
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