Who cares about that it's his business they are going after.

Actually, I believe Trump did take a salary but donated it, which is a tax deduction.  It was John Kennedy who didn't take a salary.

Trump did nothing but abuse the Office of President and a lot of his own business deals and the families were done from there.

Actually, I believe Trump did take a salary but donated it, which is a tax deduction.  It was John Kennedy who didn't take a salary.

Trump did nothing but abuse the Office of President and a lot of his own business deals and the families were done from there.

You don’t half talk some shite. He handed over his business dealings, lock, stock and barrel to his son when he became President and didn’t take a penny for being the best president since Reagan. The above statement is just another example of your TDS, which obviously gives you hallucinations.

Actually, I believe Trump did take a salary but donated it, which is a tax deduction.  It was John Kennedy who didn't take a salary.

Trump did nothing but abuse the Office of President and a lot of his own business deals and the families were done from there.

You don’t half talk some shite. He handed over his business dealings, lock, stock and barrel to his son when he became President and didn’t take a penny for being the best president since Reagan. The above statement is just another example of your TDS, which obviously gives you hallucinations.

And his family carried on the crooked businesses in name only and Trump still had complete control, but just not on paper. Trump is still making money from the weak mined Republicans who he keeps asking them for cash to fight law suits and challenge the election results with. Trouble is it's all going straight in his pocket.  Also most won't be declared at income tax time by him.

Right now the Republican party is hell bend on destroying America's democrocy and nothing else. Same way Hitler started. They don't even have a plate form to run on and it lie after lie after lie.

It on the real news every day Art, what don't you get. I see it on American news Canadian news and also on your BBC. Turn on your TV for a change. The Republicans like I said aren't even putting a plate forward. They only want to waste their time bad mouthing the other side with lies.

That's a book I have no interest in reading. 

I'll be 60 at the end of the year and I'm thinking of asking my mum and sister to combine to buy me, when they ask what I want, the 20 volume set of Émile Zola's Rougon-Macquart novels. I've read one and it was magnificent. The set is £192 full price from a bookshop, cheaper on Amazon of course.  

A bit steep you think? I'll contribute myself too if necessary. I'd rather get them all in one box from a bookshop, then I'll know they're all from the same set, I don't want mixed volumes from different print runs. 

I've bought birthday cards with New Yorker cartoons on, they're very good.

My best book buy was from a secondhand bookshop in Worthing - a 1963 edition of Burke's Peerage, nearly 3000 pages for just £2.

It's not that the books are too expensive, Mark.  It's just that I've heard Bezos' employees don't enjoy the best working conditions and I am hoping perhaps those books can be found and purchased from a more deserving seller.  Did I ever tell you about the incredible deal I got on a book a few months ago?  If I did I'm going to tell you again because my heart is still heavy with guilt.  At a used book store I spotted a book of New Yorker cartoons.  It was huge, 13 1/2 inches by 11 1/2 inches by 2 inches.  I love New Yorker cartoons and salivated at the sight of it, knowing full well I could never afford such a book.  It contained over 68,000 cartoons.  I timidly asked the clerk how much the book cost, just out of curiosity.  When she said $5.00, I couldn't believe it.  Naturally I bought the book but have felt guilty about it ever since. 

It was huge, you girls and your measurements all the time. What's up with that. So you scored a good deal and now you fell guilty ever since. I would only fell guilty if the clerk was 90, senile and blind with a cane. To fell guilty you must have given him a phony $5.00 note, knowingly.

That would be like her going to the confection book and talking directly with the devil. The last time she was there the church ran out of candles. Poor dear. She said she fells guilty, let's just say she is and burn her at the stake anyway. That will teach her rip off seniors in book stores.

There's a TV programme over here in which antiques experts travel around the country with £200 buying from antique shops etc. Each day's purchases are then auctioned and they carry the profit (or loss) forward to the next day. At the end of the week the one with the biggest profit wins. 

They always push the price down in the shop, something for £100 may be driven down to £40 for instance. Occasionally they spot a real bargain buying something cheaply and selling it at auction for a fortune, that's when I feel sorry for the dealer not spotting an item of such value on their shelves. 

The most outrageous find was a Victorian photographer's kit bought for £60, it went at auction for £20,000. The seller must be really ****** off letting that go for £60.     

There's a TV programme over here in which antiques experts travel around the country with £200 buying from antique shops etc. Each day's purchases are then auctioned and they carry the profit (or loss) forward to the next day. At the end of the week the one with the biggest profit wins. 

They always push the price down in the shop, something for £100 may be driven down to £40 for instance. Occasionally they spot a real bargain buying something cheaply and selling it at auction for a fortune, that's when I feel sorry for the dealer not spotting an item of such value on their shelves. 

The most outrageous find was a Victorian photographer's kit bought for £60, it went at auction for £20,000. The seller must be really ****** off letting that go for £60.     

Negotiations are a big part of the Art Of The Deal, Mark. It takes no skill to pay retail. The treasure hunt is one part, the negotiations are the second, & the history of the item is the third. Add the surprise of getting a good item at a bargain price in a "stumble find." 

Imagine the scene - You're in an antique shop you've never visited before, you find something you're sure will go for $5000. The owner doesn't realize it's true value and has it priced at $100. Do you -

A. Buy it for $100.

B. Tell him it's worth more than that and offer him $250.

C. Tell him it's worth $5000.  

After Major's generous absolution, I say buy it for $100.  I found a pair of lapis lazuli cufflinks in a thrift store some years ago priced at $4.50.  I told the shopkeeper they were worth more than that but she said that was the asking price of the seller, so I bought them.  I then had a jeweler mount one of the stones in a beautiful sterling silver Victorian-style setting as a pendant and gave the other one to a friend. 

By the way, PBA, the clerk who sold me the New Yorker cartoons book was 90, blind and walked with a cane.

Imagine the scene - You're in an antique shop you've never visited before, you find something you're sure will go for $5000. The owner doesn't realize it's true value and has it priced at $100. Do you -

A. Buy it for $100.

B. Tell him it's worth more than that and offer him $250.

C. Tell him it's worth $5000.  

A is the correct answer Mark. Caveat Emptor works both ways as well. At auctions people will ask "what did you pay for" an item I purchased, & my standard answer is, "if you want to go to school you have to pay tuition." That is the price of learning the trade & experience comes with bad buys & losing $ as well as the other way around. That stuff you see on T.V. is all reality show & no real dealer would do that. Unless of course they were not interested in that particular piece & wanted to garner favor from the other dealer to get a deal on something else. 

I thought you were going to say you opened it and inside was a human head.

Imagine the scene - You're in an antique shop you've never visited before, you find something you're sure will go for $5000. The owner doesn't realize it's true value and has it priced at $100. Do you -

A. Buy it for $100.

B. Tell him it's worth more than that and offer him $250.

C. Tell him it's worth $5000.  

A is the correct answer Mark. Caveat Emptor works both ways as well. At auctions people will ask "what did you pay for" an item I purchased, & my standard answer is, "if you want to go to school you have to pay tuition." That is the price of learning the trade & experience comes with bad buys & losing $ as well as the other way around. That stuff you see on T.V. is all reality show & no real dealer would do that. Unless of course they were not interested in that particular piece & wanted to garner favor from the other dealer to get a deal on something else. 

I suspect the real reason for shop owners/dealers selling for such low prices is that they're on TV and want viewers to go to their shops having seen what "bargains" can be found. I doubt if any old Joe would get a 50% discount if the shop had not been featured on TV first.

After Major's generous absolution, I say buy it for $100.  I found a pair of lapis lazuli cufflinks in a thrift store some years ago priced at $4.50.  I told the shopkeeper they were worth more than that but she said that was the asking price of the seller, so I bought them.  I then had a jeweler mount one of the stones in a beautiful sterling silver Victorian-style setting as a pendant and gave the other one to a friend. 

By the way, PBA, the clerk who sold me the New Yorker cartoons book was 90, blind and walked with a cane.

I knew there was some reason you felt guilty and we didn't even have to water board you to find out why.

Up here there has been a lot of stuff by mistake turned into thrift stores in clothing pockets etc. Usually it's snapped up my someone doing the sorting and never heard of again.

Mark, I didn't find a head in the ice box but you reminded me of my near horror story.  We were clearing out our mother's house after she passed away and while I was alone one day I decided to check the attic to see if she had stored anything up there.  The staircase to it was one of those pull-down types like the one in The Exorcist so I was already "in the zone".  I was looking around and to my horror there was what appeared to be a child's body wrapped in plastic.  Given my twisted mindset I let out a shriek thinking it was the embalmed body of the sibling she never told us about.  It was in fact a carefully preserved doll which was about the size of a 3-year-old (see Patti Playpal).  It was my sister's doll which is the twin of mine.  I brought her home with me because dolls creep out my sister.

Mark, I didn't find a head in the ice box but you reminded me of my near horror story.  We were clearing out our mother's house after she passed away and while I was alone one day I decided to check the attic to see if she had stored anything up there.  The staircase to it was one of those pull-down types like the one in The Exorcist so I was already "in the zone".  I was looking around and to my horror there was what appeared to be a child's body wrapped in plastic.  Given my twisted mindset I let out a shriek thinking it was the embalmed body of the sibling she never told us about.  It was in fact a carefully preserved doll which was about the size of a 3-year-old (see Patti Playpal).  It was my sister's doll which is the twin of mine.  I brought her home with me because dolls creep out my sister.

My missus is frightened of dolls and when our daughter was born she wouldn’t ever buy her one and told everybody not to either. Teddy’s we’re fine and we had a houseful.

Every so often Shula's story comes true. Mummified or desiccated bodies of newborns are found in attics or sheds hidden away by the mother, some are decades old. 

Must have watched too much of "Chuckie."