And now for a virtual theatrical trailer.

Note: For best effect, you must read the italicized text in your deepest, richest, most dramatic Don LaFontaine trailer voice.  Right?  Go!

There is a place...

...deep in the heart of the city.

To some it is known as a place of peace and goodwill.

But to others...

...it's the end of the line.

[cue dramatic clanky-percussion music]

It is a place where everything has its price... and everything comes cheap.

A place where only the strongest survive.

A place where all who venture inside must cast aside their fears, and dig deep...

...to find what truly lies within.

A place of hidden treasures...

...as well as hidden dangers.

It's no place for the timid...

...but if you have the daring to seek it out...

...the courage to brave the dangers...

...and an industrial-strength bottle of hand sanitizer...

...you might have what it takes to survive...

[music swells to crescendo, then cuts off]

THE BINS.

Yeah, we went to the Bins again today. AND LIVED TO TELL THE TALE, I'll have you know.  Miss V found all manner of secondhand goodies by the pound. (The photo of that shopping cart was taken AFTER she'd picked through it and discarded some of her finds.) I even found a few things, though my secondhand shopping tends to be limited to books, craft items and accessories; I got some all-wool pieces that should felt very nicely, and some cotton clothing I intend to take apart for the fabric.

This is the Goodwill gulag--the place where they send all the merchandise that didn't sell at the area Goodwill stores. If it doesn't sell here at the outlet, it gets recycled or destroyed. Perhaps you'd think such a place would have only the dregs, the thrift-store rejects.  And yes, there is certainly some of that.  But there are also awesome things: designer label jeans, deadstock accessories, adorable purses and bags, kimono and salwar kameez, quirky T-shirts, amazing costume pieces, beautiful shoes. You just have to be willing to dig, and to cultivate an attitude that's open to serendipitous discoveries.

V has a Mysterious Awesome Powah! when it comes to finding stuff at the Bins.  The first time we visited, we arrived just ten minutes before closing time.  Before we were shooed out the door, V used her Thrift-Score Fu to yank a pair of designer jeans out of the closest bin; she bought them without even trying them on (there are no fitting rooms at the Bins). They fit like a glove.

By the way, there was a Neil Gaiman lookalike at the Bins today. (There's a blurry pic of him in one of the photos.) Tall, thin, leather jacket, messy dark hair, prominent nose.  I almost struck up a conversation just to see if he might have a British accent... but I never do very well talking with strangers.