Prior engagements threatened to keep us from this past weekend's home liquidation sale of a "recently traded Timberwolves star," who did turn out to be Michael Beasley (even though he wasn't traded). Thankfully, our pal Dan Murphy -- yes, the guy we met through the Internet after he answered our Twins ticket plea two years ago -- volunteered to go and write a guest post. Dan really outdid himself, as you will see with his report. Dan?

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Prior to this past Saturday, my early morning weekend plans had never included a suburban home estate sale. (I do own a couch from a Denny Hecker sale but that's a story for another time). Granted, a "recently traded Timberwolves star", who wasn't actually traded, had never opened up his home for such a sale. Throw in an opportunity to use RandBall's StarTribune expense count for my purchases in exchange for writing a guest blog and there was no way I was passing this up. [Proprietor note: This was not part of the agreement].

My goal was to arrive right as doors opened at 8:30 am. Thanks to road work and the subsequent detour in the neighborhood I finally parked around 8:45 am. Due to police order all deal seekers were required to park a few blocks from the mystery estate and by the time I had parked I was one of a few dozen cars lining the under construction graveled road. After a half mile walk I finally reached 1250 Lyman Ave. The tension continued to build as a limit was placed on the number of shoppers allowed inside at one time. So I joined the line of 15-20 people deep and at 9:32 am I was finally granted access. To help set the scene, the house is three stories with the main entrance opening to the middle level. The kitchen and main living spaces are on the entry level. The master bedroom and a second bedroom, which appeared to be a kid's room, were on the top floor. The lowest level was a large family room complete with a walkout screened in porch and a full bar. One of the first items to really catch my eye was a hand painted Felix The Cat inspired American Flag. I have no idea what B-Easy's connection to Felix is. Was it an offseason art project? Does it glow in the dark? The $30 price tag was too rich for my blood and the answer remains a mystery. Although the flag was out of my budget there were items priced for all budgets. If you were curious and just looking for an item to commemorate the occasion, any number of $2 candles or measuring cups could have been yours. 1500ESPN personality Phil Mackey walked away with a $12 toaster. For the savvy estate sale veterans there were plenty of couches, tables and chairs priced in the mid hundreds all the way up to a few thousand dollars. [Proprietor note: This is the second consecutive guest post in which P-Mac has been mentioned. What's up with that?] One of the strangest collection of items was in the garage. One can only wonder why someone would own a table full of AM/FM Walkmans and who would be interested in buying them? If 80's electronics don't do it for you how about a still sealed Singer Button Magic sew kit? Summer isn't over yet, can I interest you in a catch with @JakeNyberg & his weathered baseball glove while listening to multiple XM radios? Collectively these items would be strange at any estate sale but particularly in Orono. Factor in that they were housed in the home of Beasley and now you have something. As a result I have to think they were some throw in items by the estate company. Additional "out there" items included a framed picture of 5 caricatures dressed in suits sitting on toilets. The topper? The artist added #2 to his signature. Maybe a handbag resembling cow fur is more your thing. If so you missed out on this $279 beauty. One of the more surprising elements was the sheer volume of some things. If you visited my house I would have no idea where I'd look to find you a candleholder. Based on the number of candleholders available, small sampling here, I can only imagine Beasley lived exclusively by candlelight. That would probably explain wine spills. Collectors of fake plants were in heaven at the sale. From what I saw every plant inside the house was artificial. I'm sure he was just conserving water for his problem causing dogs. I don't know what the market is for second hand water bowls but $5 seems reasonable. After spending about an hour searching, snooping and shopping it was time to go. I didn't have a budget when entering the house but I knew I was leaving with at least one thing. Well one thing became three. My favorite is easily the War & Peace/Gone With The Wind leather bound book box that was prominently displayed on the main living room bookcase. Are you unfamiliar with book boxes? It's what it sounds like, a box made to look like books. Meaning the number of pages inside total zero. It's entirely possible Beasley used the box for storing his Skittles and whatnot. Without question my best value purchase was the 3.4 oz Brook Brothers cologne. Although I couldn't find the exact bottle online, all other Brooks Brothers bottles sell for $55. The last bottle of cologne I owned was over 10 years ago so even though it's a great value that's not what matters. What I'm looking forward to is continuing the jokes that have already started about the room I'm in smelling like Michael Beasley. Last but certainly not least in the framed Southern Pacific Lines train photo. My dad is a toy train enthusiast and given that Saturday was his 70th birthday, I couldn't think of better piece to walk away with. With an open afternoon I made a return visit right at closing time Sunday. Upon arrival I was informed all items under $50 dollars were now 50 percent off and everything else was marked down 30 percent. Hardly any items remained and what did were larger items that had sold but still needed to be picked up. Getting recognized as a repeat customer won't go down in my book of proudest moments but there's no need to start counting now. My day one haul was more than enough and lessened any sting of walking away empty handed on Sun. Now I just have to find a way to get my receipt to RandBall so he can expense it. That's cool, right Mike? [Proprietor note: Again, not part of the agreement. But a handshake and a beer? That we can do].