A year in the finding

Ok, so it's silly to not just go buy the tools you will likely use over and over again that will really make your task easier - right? But, oh no, that is not my way. I have to find a bargain. I rarely purchase something at full-price that I can make-do without for a while. So, it has taken a year for me to finally buy a salad spinner - but by golly it was a wonderful bargain! Most people probably don't think a salad spinner is a big deal - certainly not the person who let this jewel I now own get away. But, for someone who wants their homegrown salad greens well washed AND dried (I hate soggy salad) it is a must-have. But rather than go buy a new one, I assured myself that I would come across one at a yard sale. And I did - but they always looked really flimsy and overpriced - so I never bought. The 'perfect' salad spinner was bound to be at the NEXT yard sale! So, a year after I decided this is a must-have, I still don't have one. But one day last week a desire to get out of the office for lunch takes me to a thrift store. I rarely find anything very exciting, but there is always the feeling that there might be something just waiting for me. Well, this day it was, and took me quite by surprise. I was scanning a shelf where plastic food containers and the like are kept for items I might use in my gardening. And there it was - a nice BIG, OXO Good Grips brand salad spinner - in perfect, like-new condition. Did my eyes decieve me? Was it not the most perfect salad spinner I'd ever laid eyes one? AND it was marked $1.48???? YES! I latched on to that and carried it throughout the store with me - having to look repeatedly to convince myself it was really only $1.48! A couple of online searches find this retails for $30, with $20 being the best on-sale bargain. Yep - THAT was good day - and while we won't have fresh greens from the garden for a few more weeks, it has had plenty of use already with store-bought salads. How did I live without this? :)