Don't forget the newest one:

"Do you know how much scrap is selling for these days? That truck is worth two or three thousand scrapped out."

Mr. Positive told me that just about daily when I picked up my two Gassers M35's from him.

Then I got a call last Tuesday night at 2230 from an unknown number. The guy who I had never met or heard of before was calling to know what I would give for an "old military truck" in a field. I asked what it was? "one of those 6x6 trucks." I asked what shape it was in? "I supposedly ran when they parked it." Gas or diesel? "Has to be diesel because it has a round fuel tank like diesel trucks do." Then it isn't stock because they didn't have round fuel tanks "I don't know what it is. you want it or not?" How much do you want for it? "I was going to just scrap it, but I heard about you and thought you might want it." Ok, how much? "Well, I was going to scrap it out." I understand that, how much money do you want for it? "I don't know, I just want scrap value. I can send you some pictures" Great. I hang up.

5 minutes later as I was almost to sleep my phone dings. He had texted me 2 pictures of what looks like a 1951 or 1952 M35 or maybe M34 because it has no bed and the hubs are flipped. It has the M34 rims though singled. Both pictures are exactly side shots. All the tires are flat, hard top, no huge rust holes and the bumper is extended out but I can't see a winch because of the angle. Sure enough, it has a round fuel tank. He didn't send any text or price.

I wrote back that I had already bought 2 trucks of about the same vintage and condition. Since he hadn't given me a price, I offered $100 and that I could have the truck removed the next day. I sent the text. 30 seconds later he had written back a pretty angry reply to my low offer.

I wrote back that I had asked many times for a price. He didn't give me one and I was not a charity group that throws money around. How much do you want for it? (I was thinking of the speech in Joe Dirt when I wrote that to him.)

He wrote an even angrier reply back that he didn't need my money, he would get 10 to 20 times my offer from scrapping the truck out.

I wrote back that the truck might have a total weight of 9500 pounds as it looked in the pictures so even if he cut it all into little pieces, he wouldn't get more than $600 or so, aluminum was not used on that truck. Plus, he had to pay to cut it up, spend the time doing it and then take it to the scrap yard. He might make a few hundred profit more than my offer in a weeks time. He wrote back "leave me alone, I don't need you." I went to sleep.

Last night at our Scout meeting one of the adults came up to me and asked if I had bought the truck a guy they had given my number to owned. I just said no. Turns out the guy had bid and then paid cash up front to a ranch owner to clear all the scrap out of the place. The last the parent knew, he thought the guy had paid double scrap value for all the stuff and needed cash bad. I told him to tell the guy $101. I have been chuckling about it ever since.

The point here is nothing is as rare as people think. figure out what you can pay. If it isn't taken, just go play somewhere else.