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I was born with what you may want to call a genetical problem: I am Mexican and I’m a woman. It’s a terrible combination that makes me a natural bargain hunter, or treasure hunter, as I prefer to call it.  Don’t take me wrong, I’m not simply cheap, I’m perfectly aware of the real value of things and most of the time I do pay full price for them, but if I can get it cheaper, why not? Even if it means buying second hand or slightly damaged. Now, before someone starts jumping to conclusions, I’m talking about books and the likes of that, not clothing and shoes, OK?

My pursuit for treasures has taken me to search for, and find,  learning materials in the most unusual places:  I buy from bookstores that specialize in used books, I keep an eye for library sales and independent sellers that advertise online or in newspapers,  I often find free videos and tutorials  in  websites like the CADJunky, and even find training materials for sale on ebay. Last time I checked, for instance, there were SW training manuals for bid on subjects like weldments and sheet metal! The kind of stuff you can’t buy from a bookstore.

All kinds of things can be found if you look hard enough, but perhaps my favorite unusual  and unexpected place where to find treasure would have to be a local garage sale, just a few blocks from my place. Among all the junk you may usually find in a garage sale, I spotted a box of books. Five dollars each, that’s what the tag said. Well, what do you know,  the books were about all kinds of engineering subjects, some were textbooks and some were about more specialized topics. I recognized quite a few bestsellers. And, yes, you guessed it: there were also books on SolidWorks in that box!  A couple of Planchard’s books I didn’t already own,  and Mike Spens’ book on how to Automate SolidWorks using macros. Good deal for $15, isn’t it?

I asked my neighbor why she was selling all those technical books and she said they would soon sell the house and needed to get rid of all the extra clutter, because they didn’t want to pay for storage. Well, you know what they say, one woman’s trash, is another woman’s treasure. What’s the most unusual place where you have found your own treasures?

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