The garage sale was not my destination. I was out doing chores and it was on the way. I can even explain why I went twice. One of the chores was to get my glasses fixed. On my first visit, I saw a five-foot tower loaded with CD's but, without my specs, I couldn't really see what they were.
Why be in denial about something when it's easier to be in denial about several things concurrently?
When I came back wearing my third and fourth eyes, I saw the worst bunch of CD's I've seen in dog years. They had been in the garage for a long time and were covered with enough dust to choke a pack mule. On closer inspection, I noticed that most of the cases were empty and those that did contain discs had the wrong disc - for example a Jane's Addiction CD case with a Doors booklet and an unlabeled blank CD-R inside. It was such a train-wreck that I had to ask about the price.
They wanted fifty cents each or five bucks for the whole shebang, including the tower shelf thing. Sold.
I did spot a couple discs that looked salvageable but the selling point was a Phil Shane CD. I'd pay five bucks for the Elvis of OC.

Back at home, armed with an old t-shirt and a spray bottle of Windex, I took inventory of my haul. Here's what I got in no particular order:

Playable CD's with cases:

John Cougar Mellencamp - Uh Huh. Little Johnny Cougar's finest hour. "Pink Houses", "Authority Song", and others make it a fun listen. I could unload this for a buck if I wanted to.

Suicidal Tendencies - s/t. I think this album not only killed punk, but started speed metal. Both events were bound to happen anyway so I don't really blame them. I like "Institutionalized" but since all the other songs sound just like it, there's no point in listening to the whole thing.

U2 - Rattle and Hum. Have you ever tried to watch this movie? What a stinker! This album was a huge hit twenty years ago even though no one really liked it. Most people just bought it because they thought it was "important" and didn't want to be considered unhip. It was such an overwrought, pretentious turd that U2 has now disowned the whole thing and wants the world to forget it ever happened.
In my mind, that deems it worthy of another listen. It's pretty dull, but not horrible.

Phil Shane - A Fling Thing. What can I say about the Elvis of Orange County? How about that he's also the Neil Diamond of Orange County? This is a keeper.

The Doors s/t. A guilty pleasure. I know that the Doors are over-rated, over-hyped, and over-exposed but I like this album. I like the "lounge singer from Hell" concept combined with the cheesy organ. If you look past all the gothy and gloomy froth on the surface, this stuff is pretty funny.

Enigma+ - MCMXC a.D. I don't get it.

The Beatles - Past Masters Vol II. A great compilation of singles, b-sides, and oddball stuff. My favorite is "You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)." I know you don't care, but I told you anyway.

Incomplete Multiple CD sets:

Bob Dylan - Biograph. Here's disc one of a three-disc box set. The first disc of any box set is always the best anyway, so I'm happy.

The Doors - In Concert. Disc one of a two-disc set. It might be fun to have the second disc of this but I think disc two has an hour-long version of "Light My Fire," so I'm probably better off without it. Fortunately, this is also missing the booklet that probably contains those horrible Danny Sugarman liner notes that plague every Doors re-issue CD.

Billy Joel - Greatest Hits. Disc two of a two-disc set. Judging by the songs listed on the cover, I'd much rather listen to disc two than disc one.
This is comparable to saying that I'd rather have my left arm broken than my right arm.

CD's without cases or covers

Various Artists - Modern Rock 1980-81. A very good Time-Life compilation with "Cars" by Gary Numan, "Rock Lobster" by the B-52's, and other snappy new wave hits. It's a virtual Flock of Googoo set list. It also contains non-hit favorites by The Ramones, Elvis Costello and Dave Edmunds. Printed on the label of the disc is the image of a Mohawk-coifed punker, which is exactly what comes to mind while listening to songs like "Tempted" by Squeeze.

Various Artists - Modern Rock 1985-86. These years were not as interesting as 1980-81. That Morrissey, what a jokester.

Harry Connick Jr. - When Harry Met Sally. Whatever happened to this guy? I'm afraid to listen to this because I might like it.

The Indigents - untitled. This seems to be demo burned on home-made CD-R. It is competently played and recorded, formulaic, by-the-numbers, snotty, teenage punk rock right down to the fake English accents. As far as I can tell, the first two songs are titled "Fuck You" and "So What." A promising start, but it's too easy to predict exactly where the songs are going to go next. Don't pick this one, it's not ripe yet.

The Eagles - Greatest Hits Volume Two. See "Billy Joel's Greatest Hits".

Moby - Play. I don't get it. I just don't get it.

Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream. My CD player couldn't read this disc. I just got an error message that said "suck."

Portishead - s/t. I tried to play this one but I couldn't tell if the CD player was skipping or not.

Alanis Morissette - Jagged Little Pill. No. Not a chance. Absolutely not.

I'll stop here. There were a few more but they just get worse.
There were also about 10-12 empty cases that just went straight into the trash. Among them were Dave Matthews, Ice Cube, and Janet Jackson but I would have nothing nice to say about them.