Monday packing day, and we saved the hardest pack for last — a 22-inch Bob Mackie porcelain doll that needed a from-scratch Frankenbox build. Candice’s plan, I’m pretty sure, was to keep me from complaining about it the whole time we packed everything else. Didn’t work. The other nine orders were quick; the doll was the real event of the day.

The podcast drop and the Be-Bop Deluxe mystery

[1:29] The Lonnie & Ryan podcast — Hairy Tornado / Josh episode drops today. Honestly, this was the first time I’d ever actually talked to Josh. Never met in person, never been on a stream together, nothing. I half-expected it to be more adversarial — at minimum some playful needling. It just wasn’t. It went really well. Ryan and I are getting better at reading off each other, knowing when to let a guest run and when to gently steer the conversation. We’re about 15 episodes deep, and I’m not nearly as twitchy hitting record like I was at the start.

[13:51] Be-Bop Deluxe “Live! in the Air Age” — 15-CD plus 1-DVD box set, $124.99 on eBay, going overseas. Here’s the deal. We picked up five of these box sets out of one lot at $10 a whack, never having heard of the band. Candice looked them up while I was packing — turns out Be-Bop Deluxe is a blues-based British rock band from the ’70s, compared to David Bowie. Genuinely had no idea. The whole pack we were arguing whether it’s Bbop or B-bop or Be-bop — pretty sure it’s Be-Bop, but pretty sure isn’t the same as sure.

We’ve now sold all five. The numbers, in order: $240, $190, $190, $125, and $70. Best $50 in mystery box sets we’ve moved this year. Makes you wonder if these are massive overseas and we’re just living in some alternate universe where nobody back home has heard of them.

The small packs that stack up

[7:06] Vintage Pinewood Derby car lot of 5, customized — $26.99 on eBay. These pack clean because they’re already built; bubble, box, label. [7:27] Cargo Swimmables IBIZA water-resistant powder blush — $34.99. Powder makeup gets bubble-wrapped like it’s glass, because the moment a powder compact takes a hit it crumbles into a sad little dust pile. [9:10] A vintage Ski Daddle down vest, men’s small blue — $19.99. The buyer username had “costumes” in it. I always wonder when that happens — film set? Theater? Halloween six months out? Either way, off it goes.

A little later: [18:57] an Air Combat magazines lot on a wonky Ground Advantage pack (I couldn’t find the bar resizer, so I went freehand again — apparently a recurring habit), [20:22] another pair of Lucchese knit dust covers — $39.99 on Poshmark, and a cosmetic serum heading out on Mercari. That’s the rhythm of a Monday — one order solves itself, the next one’s already half-prepped, you start to feel the cadence.

The Frankenbox build — the pack of the day

[20:35] 22-inch Bob Mackie “Autumn” Legendary Beauties porcelain doll, 1995 — $99.99 and up on eBay. The original box was rough. Not “needs reinforcement” rough — “this isn’t a shipper” rough. So [24:32] I cut two cardboard halves at 11.5 inches wide each, built them up to clear the doll’s height, and joined them long-ways with tape down the seam. A Frankenbox, built freehand. [30:09] By the time it came together it looked like one of those old-movie roses-delivery boxes — long, narrow, tall enough to feel ridiculous on the desk. Not my prettiest work; the tape camouflages a lot.

In the middle of building it, the weather popped up on the monitor. Louisiana was already at 82 by mid-morning, and [26:07] a cold front is rolling in for the weekend — low of 48, high of 74 on Saturday. Friday’s the usual garage-sale day for us, but Friday is also when the rain hits, so we’re shifting to Saturday this week.

The side stories that made the pack

[28:13] Candice’s cousin Sherry sent video from Switzerland — tandem hang gliding off a cliff. The instructor was a full foot taller than her. When they started running for takeoff he told her “don’t lift your feet,” and Sherry said she literally couldn’t help it because he was already lifting her off the ground. Her feet were running, but they weren’t touching. Looked like something out of Amazing Race.

[30:52] Then there’s the Shanghai Rummy story from last night. We play cards once a month with mostly my mom’s-age ladies, and Candice brought Molly along. My mom taught her the game on the spot. Molly took first place — beat a full table of 50-year veterans. Three tables of four, $5 a head, and Molly walks off with the pot. My mom claims she’s been playing 50 years and has never seen a three-way tie for second place before. Molly’s hooked. She’ll be the first sub anyone calls when someone can’t make it.

The Frankenbox finally came together. It was the kind of pack that looks like it’s going to be a disaster on the desk and then just works once you commit. Doll boxed, label slapped, lineup made for tomorrow, and we called it. We’ll see y’all in the next one.