Imagine a change of life....you can just look at this. My life is for sale, everything I own is for sale Start Price USD 22,000.00 Current Price USD 22,000.00 Time Left - Bid Count 0 Buy It Now Price - Reserve Price - Start Time Thursday, July 17, 2008 End Time Thursday, July 24, 2008 Location Fort Collins, CO See more about 'Imagine a change of life....you can just look at this.' Description    My life for sale. Yes you read it right. My whole life for sale. Well within reason I am not selling some paper work or selling my girlfriend or my dogs and or my social security number, I have to cut it off somewhere; it will be just my personal stuff. I read in the newspaper that this guy was in the process of getting a divorce or was divorced and he sold everything he owned to get a fresh start on life. And he sold it on Ebay. What a dam good idea, I thought. My situation is a little different. I worked my whole life. I started in my father’s small business when I was 12 years old, hand cutting big rig mud flaps by hand from old conveyor belts from a stone quarry in our small town in Wisconsin. Even paid and worked my way through collage received 2 degrees, one in engineering and another in business.  I was married for a little over 4 years and got 2  beautiful children out of it, The ex-wife left and never looked back and I raised my children all by myself and now I have 5 wonderful  grandchildren and she has no part in their lives. (Drugs will do that to some people.)  I have worked hard for years, climbing my way to the top and made good money. In my last job I was a COO/Plant Manager running a 16 million dollar company. About 2 years ago I was diagnosed with chronic bone degeneration (that means my bones are disappearing) I had surgery on my neck about 1 1/2 years ago. They replaced 2 bones in my neck by removing part of my hip and replacing it along with titanium back in my neck, it is called a fusion. About 6 months after that an MRI had shown that I had 3 more herniated disks 1 more in my neck and 2 in my back and at that point I had to quit my job, As I could not walk as much as I could in the past and my job required me to walk the plant floor. Well a year later here I am selling everything I own to pay for another surgery so I may walk much better again and feel a little better and be able to sleep all night without getting up to take more drugs. And do not misunderstand, I have everything I need, I have family and that is the most important thing. This is all just stuff I have picked up over the years.    As I have ran out of money due to medical expenses. (Both of these next subjects really piss me off) SSDI will not help me for about another 18 months and I applied over a year ago. And Insurance companies will not take me because of pre-existing conditions. What a system don’t you think? Costs are soaring and I cannot maintain my standard of living in my rented house. I must change things and I am planning on moving at the end of July. So these items must be picked up buy and or moved by July 30th or before. I am moving out of my rented house and I will move into assisted living, my daughter; she will be able to help in care for me before and after the surgery. Recovery is about 6 to 8 months. I do not want my stuff going into storage as most of it needs to be in a climatically controlled environment such as a home or office and most of my items are very old and are antique's.   This auction is going for 7 days and I have 4 collections for sale plus everything else and there is no way I could list every little thing so I will just hit on most of the major items and I will be able to email as many pictures as you may wish, as ebay only allows 12 pictures per auction I will show only the highlights and if you have any questions at all please email me for any information that you may require. As I don't work I should be able to get back to you in a short period of time. I will not be excepting paypal as they take a little over 4% and on top of the very high ebay fees also this will be very costly to me. So there are two ways we may handle payment, I would prefer do a wire transfer into my account, or you may draft a cashier’s check in the amount required. You will be given the name and address of my bank. After payment is made my address and phone number will be given to the highest bidder so they may come and look at all of the wonderful things they have won and to setup a time to pick all the items up. Once the sale is over,  payment must be made within 3 business days. If this will be an issue please let me know before you bid and we may come up with other arrangements for payment. My address will not be given out prior to payment do to security reasons. Once this sale is over I will not move and or touch any of the items. I will not disconnect any of the electronics. I will not pack any of the items. I cannot and will not ship any of these items. You may hire a moving company to remove everything. I would hire a very repeatable moving company as I stated before there are a lot of rare antiques and irreplaceable items and you don’t want to have any damage done to any of your items. So enough of all of the information on me and what I am going to do with the money, let’s get on with what you will be bidding on. We will start with what my daughter refers to as the antique room and I call it the living room.   I have been collecting Victrolas and ‘78 records forever. My father had owned a restaurant in Milwaukee, WI after returning from WWII he kept all of his ‘78 records from his juke box. I have been fascinated ever since I was a kid with Victrolas. All of my friends thought I was nuts when I was a kid, when they all were listening to their  33 1/3rds I was listening to ‘78s. All of my Victrola records (over 350 of them) some of these are very rare and very hard to find, not what you would usually find on ebay.  Also extra needles and reproducers are included in the sale. Everything you see in this room is included in sale. All of these units are in good to excellent original condition for their age. All of these Victrolas are in good working order meaning that they all work and I do play them from time to time. If you need more information regarding these please contact me and I will send more specifications on each unit. I will give a brief description of each unit here.  As I said everything in these rooms is included in sale.  Including Grand Father Clock the massive cherry china cabinet and cherry dinning set that seats six very comfortably with 1 leaf it also comes with 3 table cloths with 8 mats each and 8 napkins each. It all looks very elegant, and it will go with any table setting.     1915 Victrola VV-X phonograph. The red mahogany wood and finish is original, and has not been refinished. No repair work what-so-ever has been performed to the cabinet. I have lovingly and delicately cleaned the machine by hand, and have hand applied a light (and sweet smelling) coat of bees wax to protect the original finish. No Old English or harsh chemicals have been used. Now for a lesson in how to use this machine properly and happily. This machine needs to only be wound 10 turns for 10" records, and 13-14 turns for 12" records. If you wish to wined it fully (27 turns) you better plan to play a few records (and have FUN!!!) Never leave a machines fully wound unless you plan to use it immediately. Victrolas utilize STEEL RECORD NEEDLES (which can be bought on eBay cheaply). Record needles, you will find, come in SOFT, MEDIUM, and LOUD tone. I am including a fresh packet of new LOUD needles with this phonograph to get you started, and a few records too! You need to replace the needle after EVERY PLAY, otherwise you will ruin the next record you play! The steel needle phonographs of the early 20th century are designed so that the record wears the needle....not the other way around! That's why needles are usually provided in packets of 100. You must only play records produced before 1926. These are easily identified because they do not have a lead-in groove. The majority of the popular records you will find have a red or black VICTOR (or VICTROLA) label on them, amongst others. If you try to play Bing Crosby, the Mills Brothers, or anything from the 30's or 40's, you will RUIN THEM. Those electrically recorded records are made of a soft material, and will ruin after ONE PLAY (you will also notice the surface of the record getting a dull color from the damage). And remember to CLOSE THE LID WHILE PLAYING! The Victrola was designed with a lid so you could eliminate the subtle "fizzy" noise of the needle caressing the record, while listening and enjoying the full, boisterously satisfying tone of acoustic sound reproduction!     Victor Talking Machine 1917-1921 This is a beautiful antique wind-up Victrola phonograph manufactured by Victor Talking Machine Company in Camden, New Jersey. It dates back to 1917-1921. It looks great on display and play very well and makes quite a conversation piece. The green felt on the turntable is clean and decent. See the pictures for greater detail. It has its original finish and measures 50" high, 22.5" wide and 24" deep and weighs approximately 110 pounds.     Edison Model BC-34 Diamond Disc Phonograph, serial number 40311.  Edison introduced this model in 1922 priced at $175 dollars, and was a rather popular Diamond Disc machine.  This Edison is in very good, desirable condition.  The original mahogany finish is still present, and although it shows some light signs of aging, it is very attractive.  There are two storage areas for the Diamond Disc records, one on each side of the cabinet.  The cabinet itself measures 35 x 40 x 21 inches. This machine also plays nicely.  The single spring motor is strong and plays smoothly.  The original Edison Reproducer has a bright and loud tone.  All metal parts are satin-plated, which have some typical light wear from over the years.  The turntable felt has been replaced with accurate felt.  Two nice features on this Edison are an automatic shut-off brake and volume control.  The automatic brake is designed so that the machine will shut off by itself after the record is through.  The volume control system is neat too, and works by a cable pushing a felt ball into the horn opening.  Included with this Edison is a handful of period Edison Diamond Disc records for your enjoyment. YOU MUST  PLAY ONLY Edison Diamond Disc records, any other will destroy your records.  Overall, this is a very nice machine that has aged the past 90 years well.  It's a little bit different than the upright Edison Disc machine. Silvertone Phonograph, dating from the early 1920s.  The 'Silvertone' line was sold through the Sears Roebuck Company and proved to be a popular phonograph brand.  I purchased this particular Silvertone from the original owner's great-grandson.  It had been in attic storage for a very long time, and consequently has remained in near mint condition!  The cabinet of this phonograph retains its nice, original finish.  It is made of walnut, a very unusual wood choice for the Silvertone line.  Most were made of mahogany, and a few in oak.  There are absolutely NO DEFECTS at all on the cabinet.  One usually finds these cabinet models with dents, scratches, or other blemishes, but not this one!  In addition, there is a lot of decoration seen on this Silvertone in the front grill, legs, and side columns.  The overall measurements are 22 x 20 x 46 inches.     This Silvertone also plays nicely.  The motor has been recently lubed and oiled.  When I received the machine, one of the springs was broken, so it has been replaced and both springs were re-greased.  The motor operates great and smoothly, with no bumps or bangs as the springs unwind. The original Silvertone reproducer sounds very good.  A unique feature on this machine is that it can play both lateral and vertical recorded records by using the original angled adaptor.  If the new owner were to play vertical records (such as Pathe), a correct jeweled stylus would be needed, and can be obtained from a number of sources.  This Silvertone also sports a volume control that is controlled by a rod located near the crank. All nickel-plated parts have been polished and look awesome.  Original green felt on the turntable.      1942 RCA Victor TV console that includes a TV, a radio, and a phonograph. It is in very good condition with a mahogany finish. This is a 1942 set because it still has channel 1. Channel 1 was taken off TV’s during the Koran war to be used during the war by the government.  All 3 items work very well, it takes about 5 to 8 minutes to warm up ( there are 17 tubes in this and they operate the system) You might need a set of rabbit ears for the TV part…hehe!! Edison Amberola Model 50 Phonograph.  The Amberola 50's are a bit more unusual to find than the common 30's.  This particular 50 is a really nice looking and performing machine that is completely original. The red mahogany cabinet is in very good condition and still retains its original finish.  Measures 15 x 20 x 16 inches and weighs about 40 pounds.  It has been recently cleaned and polished.  All corners are nice and tight, and  overall is very attractive.  The "Edison" script decal in the back of the lid is nice and bright.  The front wood grill is original and damage free, and the cloth has been replaced with an appropriate gold colored fabric.      This Amberola also plays very well.  The motor has been oiled and is strong and smooth.  The original Edison Model C Diamond Reproducer sounds great.  The original black paint on the bedplate is fresh looking.  All parts on this machine are original, including the crank. Included are 40 2 and 4 minute blue Amberola playing disks that are in very good condition, plus holding rack.       1906 Victrola The springs are very worn on this unit, I have put a smaller reproducer on this just to get it to work. It is a very nice conservation piece. And for its age it is in good condition Horn is starting to split and is broken at the end of horn.    All the items on the Victrolas are sterling silver we will get into that next. I have many sterling silver pieces, and they are all over my house, I have been collecting silver for many years, Many of these pieces are very rare and very hard to find. Some of these pieces are museum quality. Cream and sugar sets, there are 13 sets in all 2 or 3 of them are from the 1800s. Two sterling tea sets, one of them is from 1880. Most all of my collection is in near perfect condition as I only bought very best. I also have many sets of sterling candle holders, one of them is a 5 tier holder and weighs over 5 lbs. I have many sterling candy dishes, coasters, plates, salt dishes, cigarette cases and many many other pieces. I cannot give you an accurate weight as some of these pieces are weighted and I will not guess at the weight, but I can tell you that there many many pounds of sterling silver worth thousands and thousands of dollars. If you like to collect sterling silver pieces this collection will impress you. Some of these pieces are museum quality as are the Victrolas. Again if you would like any pictures please email me and I will do the best I can to send you what you need. I have taken over 150 pictures of all of the highlights so it will be no problem.  vtabasa@yahoo.com                 I spend most of my time when I am just relaxing in the family room; The TV is a 36 inch RCA also included is a Sony 5 disk DVD and 500 watt surround sound. Solid oak entertainment center that will fit a 42 inch plasma TV. Antique table next to my leather chair. One of the most comfortable sofas you will ever sit on and matching chair. My favorite, all leather chair, this chair cost me over $800.00 and is one of the best chairs I have ever owned.  Coffee table with 2 end tables. Everything that you see in the pictures will be yours, (except the laptop.) Next will be my William Henry Chandler Paintings. My paintings are all originals and most of them are museum quality.  I have three that are winter landscapes that are very rare and hard to find and also they are museum quality .  Some of these are very large paintings and they need to be handled with the utmost care. There are 13 in total and these are  very hard to find in this fine of shape. All but one is in the original frame.  The value of these will never go down and only go up as any of my collections will not decrease in value they will only go up in value. Again I can send you pictures of each one of them.  vtabasa@yahoo.com If you look at the pictures on the walls you can see a few of them and like I said before some of them are large.   Here is a little on the artist.   William Henry Chandler (1854 – February 26, 1928) was a prolific American pastel artist. His works include landscapes, winter landscapes, marine and seascapes, still life fruit and fowl. Chandler was born in New York City. He was raised by deeply religious parents of the Christian faith. This would influence him his entire life, as he was not only known for his art, but also as a great Humanitarian. Chandler's first job was in Chicago as a carver of Cameos. While in Chicago, he married and he and his wife had three daughters. Sadly his wife and youngest daughter would die early in his marriage. Upon their deaths, Chandler moved to New Jersey, so that his sister could help care for his two surviving daughters. After moving to New Jersey in 1887, Chandler and his brother started the William Henry Chandler Company in New York City. It was at this company that Chandler would produce his artworks that he is known for today. His brother was put in charge of the framing, packing and selling of the works. His art was sold through stores nationwide, including Marshall Fields and The May Company. He worked in pastels, that he imported from France. At his company, he employed 20 other artists, who also worked on pastel paintings. His work was exhibited at the International Exposition in Paris in 1900–1901. He was greatly influenced by the Hudson River School of Art. In turn, it is said that his work influenced other artists, such as Maxfield Parrish. Chandler was a popular artist in his own time. His style was frequently copied by other artists of the era. His original works were mass produced as prints and lithographs by such publishing houses as Taber-Prang, Hallen and Weiner (NY), Joseph Hoover (Philadelphia), and Mueller and Lucksinger Co. (NY). Chandler is well listed and appears on such sites as askart,artnet and others. His work is also showcased in the book the "Power of Pastels" and on the Pastel Masters Museum Gallery at www.pastelmasters.com.  William Henry Chandler died on February 26, 1928 and was buried at the Rosedale Cemetery in Orange, New Jersey. Next will be the master bedroom, the guest bedroom, and kitchen and office. I will not go into much detail as everyone I know has most of these items. I will just hit the on high lights and if you have any questions you may email and ask anything you wish and I will try to answer in a short time frame. vtabasa@yahoo.com The master bedroom; You will get everything you see in the picture. This will include 42 Panasonic 780 P plasma TV with wall mount less than a year old. Pioneer DVD player with 500 watt Pioneer  surround sound system. Another  300 watt Pioneer surround sound system that I was going to put in the guest bedroom and an older Sony stereo system.  A king size bed with night stand. All of this is in very good condition. All of the electronics are like new. The guest bedroom, We have here a queen size bed 2 night stands, dresser  and the best part there are drawers under the bed for more storage.  Also included is a 27 inch RCA TV and a full mirror   My office, We have 2 computers 2 monitors one is a 17 and one is a 19 2 printers both are new, 2 small desks, an electronic oz, ct, gram scale. An electric calculator, coin separator, 2 guitars(6 string and 12 string), fire proof safe, office chair, glider rocker, phone system with 3 phones, paper shredder, file cabinet with keys. All paper work will be cleaned out and all computers will be reformatted before they leave. There are many extras included in the office that are not listed here.             I have one more collection that I have been doing for years also. Books, All of these books are in good to excellent condition for their age. Some of these books are very collectible items, as some of these are 1st, 2nd prints. Most all of these are very old and many are from the late 1800s all the way though the 1960s. If you like old books then you will like this collection. I will give you one example I have a 2nd print of THE SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON BY JOHANN R. WYSS This is a new translation from the original German  As I have said many times, if you would like pictures please contact me and I will send as many as you would like. vtabasa@yahoo.com   Now my favorite room in my rented house, It is the kitchen. It has everything you need to make a meal for a family of eight. All place settings, plates, silverware, bowls, cups and everything else to make an elegant dinner. Platters and relish dishes. I mean everything. You also get two different sets of cookware. One is stainless steel and the other is a nonstick, all come with covers. This cookware set comes with a stainless steel ceiling mount carriage rack to hang all of your cookware on. You get 3 antique tea sets, these are very beautiful sets. You also get coffee pot, 2 coffee grinders, wine chiller with wine rack and wine glasses. And much much more!! (Stove and refrigerator not included) You also get a great outdoor patio set and grill. This set includes covers for both grill and patio set. This set is in very good condition and you will enjoy many years of parties and family fun with this set.     Well I hope you enjoyed my life at a glance. As I only hit on some of the highlights there is much, much more, such as I have new freezer with a ¼ beef and a matching white stove and a dishwasher in my garage.  As I stated in the beginning I could not list everything. But the pictures should tell you the quality of everything I own. My kids say that I am a perfectionist and everything must be just so, my answer to that is that most everything that I own is old and needs to be handled with care. The estimated value of everything that I own is all irrelevant, as it might be worth more to some than others. Someone might think that the sterling silver is worth more than books and vice versa.  I really did not want to sell any of my items but, but I have no choice if I want to feel better. But this will only be a temporary fix. As my condition continues on its path I will only get worse as time goes on, but any time that I feel better is more time with my grandchildren doing things such as fishing and sledding down a snowy hill in the winter, my oldest granddaughter loves this!! And I am looking forward to doing this again with my younger grandchildren.   OK let’s get to the terms and conditions. You may email me at vtabasa@yahoo.com with any questions that you may have. As I stated earlier I do not work and I will check my email often and I will get back to you ASAP with an answer. PLEASE only interested bidders as I am very serious about this. You must have 10 or more positive feedbacks in order to bid on this sale. If you are really and truly interested in this sale and don’t have 10 or more positive please contact me and we can adjust the system so you may bid. This sale will be finale at close of the sale and there will be no returns and or refunds. There will be no 2nd chance offers so please let ebay know if you receive one as it will not be from me. If buyer backs out they will be reported to ebay and all legal action will be taken and the sale will be relisted ASAP and all other bidders will be notified by email from me that the items are relisted and you may bid again. You will be responsible to remove all of the items by July 30th 2008. As of July 31 2008 the carpets will be done and finial cleaning will be done and keys will be handed to the landlord and you will not have access to the premises . As stated at the beginning of sale,  Once this sale is over I will not move and or touch any of the items. I will not disconnect any of the electronics. I will not pack any of the items. I cannot and will not ship any of these items. You may hire a moving company to remove everything. I would hire a very repeatable moving company as I stated before there are a lot of rare antiques and irreplaceable items and you don’t want to have any damage done to any of your items. I will not be excepting paypal as they take a little over 4% and on top of the very high ebay fees, this will be very costly to me. So there are two ways we may handle payment, I would prefer do a wire transfer into my account, or you may draft a cashier’s check in the amount required. You will be given the name and address of my bank. After payment is made my address and phone number will be given to the highest bidder so they may come and look at all of the wonderful things they have won and to setup a time to pick all the items up. Once the sale is over,  payment must be made within 3 business days. If this will be an issue please let me know before you bid and we may come up with other arrangements for payment. My address will not be given out prior to payment do to security reasons.   OK lets recap, Victrolas, Sterling Silver, William Henry Chandler Paintings and  antique books. We have a full kitchen, master bedroom, guest bedroom, office, living room, family room, dining room and garage with a freezer with a ¼ side of Iowa beef and a dishwasher and matching stove and many other items. We have a very nice patio set and grill with all of grilling tools. There are way too many very nice items to tell you about. Estimated value of just the antiques is well over $30,000.00 this is not including the value of everything else such as all of the electronics and other furniture and many other items.  And we are starting this sale at $27,500.00. Pictures do not do any justice to these items. Such as the dining set, this set looks small in the picture that I posted, but this set is very large. Again if you want other pictures please contact me and I will send pictures of anything you want that is for sale.        PLEASE HELP!! Again please email me with any questions and or pictures   vtabasa@yahoo.com AND PLEASE ONLY SERIOUS BIDDERS. Good luck and happy bidding Place a Bid!