> > > That's your job, isn't it.
> > True, sort of.  It's rare that someone predicts the future and 
buys 
> > the right gizmo that appreciates like crazy.  Most of us buy 
> > something pretty close to "collectors' plates" that are best used 
for 
> > skeet.
> 
> That too is not so germane. As Ted Williams pointed 
> out with a different spin on the ball, the successful 
> baseball player gets a hit only once out of three but
> still gets paid.
> 
If you're dealing in antiques you need to do a little better, most 
days.  

> > > So knowhow shows its worth once again.
> > Experience counts, as does good close-in vision.  The buyer who 
> > doesn't need a loupe has an edge.  
> 
> So buyers get squicky about loupes?

Sellers can.  It can give the game away, and slows you down. 
 
> > He and Lynnie sort of vanished on me.
> 
> It requires quite a bit of keeping up to
> keep up with them.

Lynn hasn't been on FB since April as best I can tell. 
 
> > > the heat level of a restaurant "vindaloo."
> > That'll wake up some leftovers!
> 
> And the palates of the mostly Waspy people who
> attended the party. It might have been that the
> shaker top fell off, or the person followed a
> recipe but put in 50 ml rather than 5 ml, or, and
> I sort of suspect this, the NYT food writer decided
> to play a prank on everybody.

Except you and some other pepper heads.  
 
> > > You'd be surprised by the lines in the sand that
> > > people draw.
> > Not much people do surprises me much any more.
> 
> It's amazing what people can and can't do, can 
> and can't endure, and so on.

If you're a single woman with kids to feed, you'll do darned near 
anything especially if it pays well and is legal. I've seen that 
movie a few times.