Posted to Ontario Barn Preservation – Cars in Barns Are Barn Finds

This is the post I wrote about old cars being found in even older barns, for the Ontario Barn Preservation newsletter, January 2023.

Cars in Barns Are “Barn Finds”

I like to photograph old buildings, farm houses and barns included. I’ve met a lot of people who also have an interest in old places. Not everyone is about photographing them. Some will salvage, some will vandalize. As a general rule I choose not to do either. But, there have been times I saved plants from a garden at a house long abandoned. Once, I brought back a green Pyrex mixing bowl which I found way out in the field as I was walking back after photographing an abandoned farm house. Sadly, that house has been demolished now, but I still use the mixing bowl. I have never vandalized, or left garbage around. Take only photographs, leave only footprints.

There are people who especially look for cars, vehicles other than farm machines, in old barns. Some of them just want to see the old cars, some want to try buying them from whoever still owns the barn and cars, and others wreck them. They call them barn finds.

Ethan Minnie explores a barn which has several cars. Sadly, this location has been publicized and vandals have found it. Ethan knows what kind of cars they are. Another view of the same location from Freaktography.

It would be nice to know the story behind all these cars left, neglected and abandoned. I did find that it was someone who won the lottery and bought a lot of cars. Then went bankrupt. But, why not sell the cars rather than go bankrupt, or just leaving them all there? It seems there must be more to the story.

A Few Links to Barn Finds:
Hotcars
Driving.ca
Barn Finds

Most of the videos about barn finds don’t include a story, or give away the location. At least I hope they avoid letting others know where they found them. It’s not just about trespassing but respect for whoever owns the property and everything in/ on it. Even the vehicles themselves. Dust and animals will happen, no one should deliberately cause harm, to vandalize.

If you’re interested in cars, especially old cars, you can find a lot online about barn finds. I’ve seen people posting photographs and videos from Canada, the US, Europe and Asia. You may have a car or two in your own barn. I guess some people intend to fix them up and sell them, or showcase them. At some point, when its covered in a thick layer of dust and animals tracks… it might be time to find a buyer for it, as is. Let someone else treasure it and (hopefully) have the time, energy, and resources to get it on the road again.

I have a problem with keeping books, thinking I will make use of all that information… some day. I do understand hanging onto things, cars, books, or any of thousands of other things we value.

Shopping Cart Syndrome

When you are out shopping this season or just any day picking up groceries, do you return your shopping cart or abandon it in the parking lot?

Or, worse, do you steal the shopping cart, taking it out of the store parking area? It costs us all when shopping carts are stolen and yet people still seem to do this. Not just kids, as some of you will be thinking. I’ve seen adults walking off with shopping carts, taking them home. Maybe it’s cheaper than getting a taxi or the bus home, but it is stealing. Yes, it is. No matter how you justify it, the store did not agree to ‘lend’ you the shopping cart to that extent.

People can get annoyed with abandoned shopping carts. I see them all over the store and the parking lot (and of course, those farther afield). They don’t especially annoy me. At least they are on wheels, you can’t say that about some people who seem to abandon themselves in the way of their fellow shoppers. I have politely edged past a few gawkers who just seemed to lose their mind once in the presence of electronics and other toys. Shopping carts can stack up. What do you call a group of abandoned shopping carts? A gaggle, like geese? They hardly seem to have the intelligence to be a murder, like crows. How about a flock like seagulls or a herd, like cows?

Once you find yourself faced with a flock of shopping carts it’s not so easy to move them aside or somewhat out of your way. They bang and clash together and never head in the same direction at the same time. That can be annoying, especially when you just want to stash your groceries and assorted purchases in the car and get on with your day.

In Ontario we have shopping cart returns. I’ve seen them all across Canada and in the US too. But, in the US they don’t seem as popular. I’ve noticed most people here will return their shopping carts, fairly tidy and organized in their stuck together lineups so the carts don’t wander out again on their own power. Not every time or all the time, but most of the time, Canadians do return the shopping carts. Thank you to all of you! (Around the world, thank you to those who tidy the shopping carts and return them to their little shopping cart shed/ wracks).

I was reading a local flyer which calls the lack of cart return, Shopping Cart Syndrome. I checked online and didn’t find anyone else talking about it by this name. So, I thought, I should post it. You can send a note to BG @ The Perkolator if you want to talk more about this. One thing I will add… sometimes, I don’t return my cart when I am annoyed about having to pay for shopping bags now. I don’t leave my cart where it will bump into parked cars or be in the way of shoppers and people using the parking lot in general. But, I have begun to feel that paying for shopping bags is not right and I don’t always give the store the courtesy of returning the shopping cart.

So, next time you feel annoyed about an unreturned shopping cart, BG and anyone else, it could be a protest about paying for shopping bags. Yes, I could bring my own but this is very inconvenient when one doesn’t have a vehicle to store all these extra things in.

Write about your own experiences and thoughts related to shopping carts. Do you have your own theory about returning the carts?

WikiHow: How to Observe Return Shopping Carts to the Supermarket Month
Random Acts of Kindness Foundation: Return a Shopping Cart
Jerry Begly Super Unleashed: Shopping Cart Syndrome
Raya Pickett: Moral Relativism: Do You Return Your Shopping Cart?
Strocel: Shopping Cart Kerfuffle

Links from Flickr:
The Original Abandoned Shopping Trolley Project
The Stray Shopping Cart Project
Shopping Carts
Trolley Spotting
Sad Cart
Abandoned Trolley Project
Shopping Carts of the Wild
Shopping Cart Hero

Grrl Domain

I looked at my site this morning, felt that tug of webgrrl pride and wanted to find some way of expressing that. I remember seeing webrings for grrls with their own domains. Are any still active or is there something beyond the webring now?

Grrl Nrrd Webring

Est. 1997, Grrl Nrrd is for women with fabulous web pages full of content and great html. A full range of women have joined since 1997 including those with journal sites to pages about Lynux.

Her Domain of Austin

To encourage and support women who embrace the culture and technology of the Internet as a vehicle for creative and professional pursuits. Her Domain is an online community. As subscribers to the Her Domain email list, women in the Austin and surrounding areas help each other to find jobs, find employees, compare notes on their respective trades, and learn from each other in an unintimidating environment.

NOTE: Too bad it’s only local. This is a super site, cute too. Could I find time to do something like that here or would I even find enough her domain types this far north of Toronto?

GeekGrrl

CodeGrrl

WebGrrl

MetaGrrl

Still haven’t found what I was looking for. But there are some good grrl domains out there. Once upon a time I had thatgrrl.com. It was hijacked and not very likely I will get it back again. It’s been more than two years now. Besides, thatgrrl.ca is a touch of Canadian. 🙂