Postcard from Columbus...

We're here. We're alive...

Did somebody say YARDSALE?

In case you didn't get the e-mail, we're participating in the mother of all Hamtramck yard sales this Saturday, July 8. Come by and spend freely. The proceeds from everything we sell goes to the Poland trip fund (we haven't been back there in over 4 years).

Columbus is awesome. We'll get some pictures and notes up soon enough as soon as we move out of box city.

Meanwhile, here's the detail-packed text of the yardsale e-mail alert sent far and wide on Thursday:

Friends and fellow pack rats,

Just tipping you off to what may be the biggest, best moving/garage/yardsale of the summer in Hamtramck or ANYWHERE ON EARTH!

This Saturday, July 8th there will be a multiple-family sale at the southeast corner of Caniff and Ellery.

The sale officially gets under way at 10AM, but I thought I'd tip the hand a little early and provide a thorough list of what we're selling.

(Please note that all proceeds from the following items directly benefit our Go Polska! Trip Fund. ALSO please note that this isn't a total and complete list of items for sale; other participants have their own items, including, but not limited to, a sailboat. Yes, a sailboat).

No reasonable offers refused. Heck, in most cases, no UNreasonable offers will be refused, either.

So here's a peek at our (Mike & Gosia's) stuff:

OFFICE GEAR AND COMPUTERS
iMac DV desktop computer with CD burner and color inkjet printer.
Funky and functional Mac IIsi desktop computer with printer and scanner.
Retro cool computer desk.
Old school rolling office chair.

YARD & GARAGE STUFF
Garage door opener, new in box, never installed.
1 set of EZ Ramps
I Bag of oil-soak-up stuff, unopened.
Several bags of seed and soil.
Several plastic flower boxes
Nice Little Tikes play structure.
Wide selection of Woven Baskets.

AUDIO/VIDEO
DVD player with replacement remote.
VCR with original remote.
Small, but high-quality selection of VHS tapes and DVDs (note: lots of Cohen Brothers).
Many new Ikea modular 20-CD storage racks
32-inch non-working color TV (in fine working order until as recently as two weeks ago).

BABY ITEMS:
Electric baby bottle warmer.
Aventi Microwave bottle sterilizer.
Brand new Aventi breast pump (sorry).'
Deluxe Baby Swing.
Supercool Intelli-table baby learning toy.
Infant carseat with two bases.
Diaper Genie.
Nice selection of baby toys.

HOUSEHOLD ITEMS & FURNITURE
6-foot tall steel closet,
Adjustable two-bar clothing rack.
Nice four foot by four foot low corner table.
Vintage blond woodgrain end table.
Vintage pole lamp.
Two small bookshelves.
Several utility shelves.
Sturdy old TV stand (good for 19" TV and smaller).
Plastic Sterilite dresser and Storage Drawers.
Hidden-leaf kitchen table with four chairs.
Older painted kitchen table with four chairs.

KITCHEN & BATH STUFF
Insulated coffee carafe, new in box.
Multi-blade kitchen slicer/grater/chopper.
Various kitchen gadgets.
2 lazy-susans.
Foot spa with infrared heat and many attachments.
Motorized back massager.
Shower caddies.

FUNKY OLD STUFF AND VINTAGE
Beautiful Vintage Revere 8mm Projector
Free-standing roll-down movie screen.
Vintage 8mm camera and plenty of gear.
Vintage slide projector.
Vintage Elextralux Vacuum Cleaner
Vintage Table Fans.
Vintage Toaster.
Vintage 1930s typewriter.
Vintage chandelier.
New Ikea dining room light
2 Vintage Sunburst clocks.
Collectible sci-fi magazines.
1974 Addams Family Lunch Box
60s Plaid Aladdin Metal Lunchbox
Hundreds of New Yorker Magazines, early 90s to present.
Tons of random paperbacks and hardcover volumes.
Plenty of interesting Bric-A-Brac.
60s vintage suits and ties.

SPORTS AND MISC.
Old reel blade pushmower.
Reconditioned vintage 3-speed city bike with basket.
Several 4' x 8' x ½" sheets of subflooring.
Birdcage.
Full-cardio exercise machine.
Old wooden skis.

Hello, Columbus.

More on this later. But for now, an invitation to anybody reading:

Our Friends in Hamtramck,

We're not certain how far and wide the news has spread at this point, but it chokes us up to say that a great opportunity in Columbus, Ohio is taking us away from our beloved hometown of Hamtramck.

Shocking, but true.

Happy for us? Mad as hell at us? Just want to hang out with a bunch of cool people along with us?

Then let this serve as an invitation and reminder that you're invited to an informal, (yet no-less riotously fun) get-together for all of our friends.

The time is this Saturday, June 10 at 9PM. The place is New Dodge Lounge at 8850 Jos. Campau.

Again, it's a super casual cash-bar situation. All you need to bring is yourself and a few bucks for a round or two.

We hope to see you there. No RSVP is required, but if you're so moved, reply here with a comment or call us up: 313-871-1107.

Thanks. For everything, and then some. We miss you already.

With love,

Mike & Gosia & Milosz & Klara

See you there.

In other news, up is down, black is white...

...and yes, those are monkeys flying out of my butt.

Municipal Finance Expert Louis Schimmel Joins Mackinac Center

“Lou’s arrival could not be more fortuitous”

For Immediate Release

Contact: Michael D. LaFaive, Director of the Morey Fiscal Policy Initiative, Phone: (989) 631-0900

MIDLAND — The Mackinac Center for Public Policy today announced that Louis H. Schimmel Jr. has joined its staff as director of municipal finance. In that capacity, Schimmel will work with distressed communities and provide fiscal analysis for other Mackinac Center projects as needed.

"Lou brings more than 40 years of municipal financial expertise to the public policy table," said Michael D. LaFaive, director of the Morey Fiscal Policy Initiative at the Center. "His knowledge of local government spending, taxation and debt will prove invaluable as we expand our research in municipal finance."
Schimmel served as court-appointed receiver for the city of Ecorse, where he helped eliminate a $6 million deficit. He has also worked as an emergency financial manager in the city of Hamtramck, where he eliminated a $2.9 million deficit. In both cases, Schimmel relied on a combination of privatization and labor negotiations to strengthen city finances.

"Lou’s arrival at the Center could not be more fortuitous," said Lawrence W. Reed, president of the Mackinac Center. "Michigan’s one-state recession has severely impacted many municipalities. Lou can show local officials how to reorganize their spending priorities to keep their books balanced without demanding more money from taxpayers."

Schimmel recently reviewed the city of Sylvan Lake’s finances, the kind of analysis he will likely provide to other municipalities in his position at the Center.

Schimmel believes Sylvan Lake is fundamentally well-run, but he still recommends steps to improve the city’s financial position. The report is available on the Center’s Web site at http://www.mackinac.org/7705.

This I gotta hear...

A loyal reader passed this along. I'm always the last to know nowadays...

I will be delivering my 2006 State of the City address on Sunday, May
21 at 2:00 pm at the Hamtramck Public Library. Everyone is invited.

Mayor Karen Majewski

Seriously, though. I've been madly engrossed in non-Hamtramck things of late. Is that why my heart aches so?