This winter found Ol’ Dutch on another adventure South out of the cold and snow found in South Fork, Colorado. It’s not that I don’t like pretty white flakes coloring Miss Trixie’s tresses and shoulders -- because I do enjoy that sight. I just don’t like it coloring mine.
Working outside my entire adult life in such wintery conditions gave me a definite aversion to doing it again in retirement and going South in such times also lets me be near my grand-daughters which is always good.
So we spent our winter down on my Oleo Ranch, named for being “just a small spread.”
Ol’ Dutch is a wheeler-dealer of long ago and being at the ranch lands me in an area with a large number of people living in close proximity. This led to me discovering that they sell their stuff periodically to pay the rent or child support or because the old folks are selling out for big money. Good deals are evident everywhere you look.
And of course, having lost my good stuff in the sheet splitting ordeal of divorce, Ol’ Dutch has been busily catching up on getting a lot of those items back in stock.
Perusing Craigslist and the local Facebook pages I was suddenly thrust into the world of “wants.” That’s where a person starts asking oneself, “do I want this or that?”
This differs greatly from “needing” something as the latter means that you actually have an imme-diate need for whatever it is you are purchasing. Such things as food and shelter are a need along with a dependable vehicle. And a boat may qualify also under that definition if you are in charge of providing meat for the family table too. I know that’s a stretch but stay with me on this.
Every day I hear friends and acquaintances say that they “need” something like new golf clubs, a new car, new apparel, tractors, cows, dogs, cats, chickens, houses, land or spouse.
We all know that there is a huge difference between wanting something and needing it and some-how we have gotten those two words mixed up. I think it’s a mechanism to further legitimize getting whatever it is we want and Ol’ Dutch has often fallen into that trap more times than I can re-call.
It’s no more evident than when viewing the statistics on debt levels in the United States as about everything we have can be financed. Beds to washers and dryers, cars, dental work and even childbirth is often financed far into the future long after the fun has worn off the items. If you don’t believe, then raise some kids and wait til they are about 13 years old. That “wanting kids” feeling fades away pretty fast at that point and you realize that you really didn’t “need” them after all.
This winter, I did acquire some replacement items for things long lost from pre-divorce days – and, at a good price too. Not only that, I soon found out that with cash in hand a person can turn a pretty good profit buying what someone “needed” to sell and then re-selling to another person who “wants” it.
The key here of course is not only identifying someone with the “wants” but in being able to help them along in their decision to buy it from you.
This last month, I have re-homed a boat, stock trailer, rubber flooring, storm shelter, tile and kitchen cabinets to persons who will probably just put them out back with the rest of their “stuff.”
There is a comfort I guess with having a lot of things surrounding us as evidenced by the piles seen in many yards in the area. And it’s my intention to further facilitate such gathering of items by finding these people even more good things that they want.
All except the new spouses part as no one “needs” that in their life and will find out sooner or later that getting a new one will cost them half of what they “wanted.”

Kevin Kirkpatrick and his Yorkie, Cooper, fish, hunt, ATV or hike daily. His email is [email protected]. Additional news can be found at www.troutrepublic.com or on Twitter at TroutRepublic.