AI valuation 2025-09-15T08:07:01Z

Rain lashed against the window as I tripped over the damn thing again - my once-beloved Cannondale leaning against gardening tools like some forgotten relic. That metallic tang of oxidation filled my nostrils when my knuckles grazed the chain. Five years. Five years of promising myself I'd ride the river trails again while this £1,200 investment became a spider condo. Facebook Marketplace? More like "lowballer central" where tire-kickers offered £50 and asked if I'd deliver it 20 miles away. Gum

That dusty Fender Stratocaster hanging in the pawnshop window called to me like a siren song. Its sunburst finish caught the afternoon light just so, whispering tales of 70s rock legends. My palms actually sweated against the glass as the owner dropped his bomb: "Cash only, and I'm closing in an hour." The vintage guitar market moves faster than a cocaine-fueled roadie, and this beauty wouldn't last till morning. Panic tasted like copper pennies in my mouth.

Rain lashed against the garage windows as I pried open the last mildew-stained box, its contents spilling onto the concrete like a waterfall of forgotten memories. My grandfather's baseball card collection - a lifetime crammed into cardboard rectangles smelling of attic dust and 1970s bubblegum. I ran a finger over Nolan Ryan's faded face, the ink bleeding at the edges like watercolor left in the rain. "Worthless," I whispered, already mourning the hours I'd waste cataloging ghosts of seasons pa