2nd Trade! Olympus D-580 Dig. Camera

Alright, this is awesome! On Saturday the 17th of March I made my decision and traded my rad Army Dude Sock Monkey to Michelle for an Olympus D-580 Zoom digital camera!

And yes I AM rocking a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle shirt.

I want to say thanks for all the offers from various people for my Sock Monkey, but I found the perfect person to trade to (not only because it was an excellent trade-up for me but also because of the cute story as to why Michelle wanted the some-what obscure Sock Monkey.) Before I made the trade though I recieved lots of other interesting offers, some of the honorable mentions include a Red Silk Embroidered Chinese Pillow, a really cool Picture of Multnomah Falls in the Winter when it's frozen, and a Trail Blazers Starter Jacket.

Ultimately I got an offer from Michelle offering her digital camera and I thought it would be an excellent trade so I went for it. I arrived at Michelle's house around 5:30pm on Saturday after my friend and I took a few drives up and down her block. Her house must have agyrophobia because I found it hiding behind another house far off of the street and only saw the house numbers after driving into her neighbors driveway (agyrophobia is the fear of streets by the way.) I knocked on her door and her husband answered and gave me an acquisitive look. I said hello, and his eyes drifted to the sock monkey. "Oh" he said, as though he knew about the trade and yelled up the stairs "Hey Michelle it's the Sock Monkey guy!" which I found to be hilarious. As we waited for her to come down their cute son came to the door to show off his rockin' diaper and was instantly drawn to the Sock Monkey. He started touching the leg and saying "please... please..." I almost gave it to him because I figured that Michelle would give him the Sock Monkey anyway. I was wrong.

She came to the door and we made the swap with the customary trading picture which we took with my terrible cell phone camera. Which is funny because she was trading me for a digital camera but after some thought I concluded that it was impossible to take a picture of her giving me the camera and use the camera at the same time to take the picture without some sort of absurd mirror set-up. Anyway, my friend made a comment about the Sock Monkey and she told me the story behind why she wanted it.

It turns out that Michelle has a brother who used to carry a Sock Monkey with him everywhere he went. Not to long ago he went into the army and went to fight in Afghanistan and Iraq. Apparently he also took a Sock Monkey with him on his tour. I'm sure you all see where this is going. Michelle wanted to send him the Army Dude Sock Monkey as a cute and very personal gift. It was an adorable idea and I thought that her story was a warm and fuzzy way to end this segment of my trading journey.

So! Now I have an awesome Olympus D-580 Zoom Digital Camera which I've checked out and it works fine. It has all kinds of cool features and comes in the original box, with all the cords, and the computer software, plus there is a 256mb xd-photo card for storing pictures. I'll list the specifications and some pictures below or you can go to this link to the Olympus website for the D-580 description and specs:

http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/cpg_archived_product_details.asp?fl=2&id=956

Features:
4.0 Megapixel CCD Sensor
3x Optical Zoom 35mm-105mm (35mm equivalent)
12x Total Seamless Zoom (3x Optical x 4x Digital)
Real-image Optical Viewfinder and 1.8" Color LCD Display
Auto-Connect USB
PictBridge Enabled
Virtual Dial with 7 Shooting Modes
QuickTime Movie Mode with Audio!


So if your interested in trading for the camera remember that I will consider ANY offers and travel ANYWHERE to make the trade as long as the offer is good enough. E-mail me with whatever you have at patrickk@pdx.edu

Patrick.

1st Trade!!! Army Dude Sock Monkey!

Alright, I've hurdled a big milestone MY FIRST TRADE!!! Right here in Portland. Not only that but it was a great trade-up! Here's the doin's that a transpired:



I received some good offers for my blue bead in the past few days. At first I was deeply considering a pair of bike pegs but the only people I could trade those to would be teenagers or people who are into trick-bike stuff. I figured I wanted something more universally appealing for re-trade. I also got an offer for a cell phone but I don't know anything about those or if they are very trad-able (I just got my first cell phone last month after holding out for years.) Then I got an offer for a box of Hot Tamales! Not only that, but Hot Tamales box with 10% more Hot Tamales! I almost went with this one, I mean who doesn't like Hot Tamales they are freakin' delicious... well for people who like them... which I personally don't care for cinnamon candy... but to people who do, Hot Tamales are freakin' delicious! Though after reconsidering I though that I wouldn't be able to re-trade the Hot Tamales because people are always afraid of used food even if it's new, and in the box, AND with 10% more. People are always afraid of stuff like that for some reason, like the whole poisonous Halloween candy scare thing (no ones ever been poisoned by Halloween candy as far as I know.) Anyway, right when I was about to take an offer for some Toy Story toys, I got an offer I couldn't refuse (not from the God Father.)


A hand made Army Dude Sock Monkey! Just a few hours ago I traded my blue bead for Rowan's Army Dude Sock Monkey. Rowan was a hip woman who was happy to support my project. She makes Sock Monkeys around the holidays to sell and this one was left over. She also beads jewelry so the trade was a natural fit.

The picture is kind of funny because I didn't know how to work the timer so we had the classic "waiting for the picture moment of awkwardness." Where we stood there and shook hands for like an eternity, and finally started discussing whether or not it had taken the picture and whether or not I should go check it, only to find that it had taken the picture while we were talking so both our mouths are open. Moments like that are funny.

Anyway, if you are interested in trading for my Army Dude Sock Monkey then send me an e-mail at patrickk@pdx.edu . This thing is pretty cool, it's full-size (so no half-a-monkeys, because I know how much it sucks when you go to the store to buy a monkey and all they have is half-a-monkeys,) it has a cute little army fatigue costume (which can be removed if you don't like it,) and is hand-made by Rowan! Or if your saying "what IS a Sock Monkey anyway!" Then check this link on wikipedia for a brief history lesson: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sock_monkey

Remember that ANY offer will be considered, and that I go anywhere in the world to make the trade if the offer is good enough!

Keep checking back because even if I don't have something you want to trade for now I might in the near future...

Patrick.

patrickk@pdx.edu

A Blue Bead

I have A Blue Bead for trade, it is dark blue in fact, and kind of sparkly. Here is a picture:

I guess I should explain...

Okay, I volunteer for a non-profit organization known as the Cultural Awareness Foundation here in Portland which was created to introduce different cultures to the people of Portland. We now need a financial kick in order to get our project off the ground. After searching for a fundraising idea for some time now I came across http://oneredpaperclip.blogspot.com/ which describes the adventure of Kyle MacDonald who through a series of 14 trades was able to trade a paperclip for a house. Now I am hoping to make a series of similar up-trades for charity! I plan to trade for one year and sell whatever item I obtain on March, 10th, 2008 and donate the proceeds to charity.

So lets start with my first trade. I have A Blue Bead with a strange sparkly prism effect. Maybe you have something to trade for it that is a little better? Like a extension cord, or a plastic comb, or a hat, or even something none material like a car wash?

Any offer will be considered and if your trade is accepted I will come to you to make the trade, wherever you are, and your picture and trade will be added to this blog.

So please email me at patrickk@pdx.edu with any offer you can think of.

Hope to hear from you all soon,

Patrick.