errantember: (Little Cowboy Scott)
So when I ordered my new MacBook Pro on Ebay, the seller gave me both a spare battery and a free wireless mouse that he didn't even tell me about. You hear a lot of whining on Ebay from sellers now about how Ebay "punishes" them for not getting the highest possible rating all the time, which I think is bullshit. If you want the highest possible rating, simply delivering on the contract is not enough. You have to go the extra mile, and this guy did.

I gave him all fives.

So I'm at the thrift store today shopping for underwear, and there is, as usual, a pile of keyboards in the computer section. I always find it kind of charming and novel that functional computer hardware is now part of the every day thrifting experience. Odds are good the computers they have there now are more powerful than my windows desktop! So I see one of the keyboards.

And it's white.

The price? Four dollars. Three dollars and ninety-nine cents, to be exact.

There was mild corrosion damage on one of the battery compartments, but it clearly was just on the terminals. I bought it, brought it home, cleaned it up, threw in a new set of batteries, AND:

Now I have a complete Apple-branded bluetooth keyboard and mouse combo in perfect condition for $4.27.

I'm typing on it now. ;)
errantember: (Little Cowboy Scott)
I've been looking at a way out of the corporate scene since several years before I even entered it while still in the public "education" system. I lost my job of 10 years last January. Here's how Manifestation Theory works in Real Life:

INPUT: "Gee, I wish I could ditch this cube and become a Permaculture Designer/Firedancer/Musician /Career Coach/Natural Builder/etc/etc/etc, grow my own food, and have a smaller eco footprint..."
"I'd also like to get some chickens."


OUTPUT:

You're entire US Team gets axed. You get severance, unemployment, and health insurance for months.

You buy a Geo Metro from your old roommate and routinely get 40 MPG. You learn how to work on cars.

Recognizing your need to improve your home improvement and carpentry skills, The Universe makes everything break at an increasingly rapid rate, so you have to become a ninja to keep up.

Your married girlfriend's new prospect totally takes your offer to rent an unused wing in your house. He's excited about your plans to re-finish his wing in natural plaster and your chickens.

One of your oldest friends loses his house and needs a room to rent, and you are therefore forced to finally clean all that useless shit out of your life. Storage space evaporates.

Your uncle introduces you a Crazy Money Making Opportunity involving corpses.

Your other girlfriend who's moving gives you her chickens, plus a working coop. Another total stranger gives you two more.

Your already-started gardening efforts Hop the Fence, and you now have 10 edible species lose in your yard, restoring soil, providing food, and pissing off the neighbors.

You finally start fixing things faster than they break. You build new things. You might sell them.

The list TOTALLY goes on and on.

Life is Go(o)d. :)

Be careful what you wish for, but only *slightly* careful.
errantember: (Default)
After my friend Chris was forced to recall his long-borrowed Ridgid TS2400LS portable table saw, the woodshop that had sprung up around it in my garage suddenly felt...

Empty.

So I fired up the old Manifestation Engine, and went through the following steps: For reference, the saw retails for $450.

Day 1) Found similar saw at pawn shop for $320. Seemed to be in pretty good condition. Left $200 offer, which they threw away.

Put add on Craigslist for $250.

Day 2) Discovered Home Depot offered refurbished saw for $350! Tried to order one. Discovered that, after tax and non-negotiable shipping, the saw cost more refurbished than new! And with no warranty!

Called both their online people and a local store, plus sent e-mail. First two attempts yielded the expected "we understand it's stupid but will do nothing."

Day 3) Pawned some Goodwill-level stuff to get extra money for saw. Went to visit Pawn Shop saw, discovered it's fence was slightly bent, meaning it won't cut straight.

Got home to discover e-mail from Craigslist asking $350 for exactly the saw I want in good working order.

Hoping seller won't notice "little details" of shipping and tax, go to Home Depot website in search of "hey, I can get it refurbished for $350" link. Discover that *SHIPPING ON THIS ITEM IS NOW FREE*! Would still have to pay tax for a total of $375.

Forward link to seller. He replies with "will go no lower than $325 before Craigslisting own ad." For $50 difference and saw I can *see* before *buying* it, I figure it's worth a try.

Day 4) Investigate saw. Buy saw for $325. Get great advise from and make good contact with long-time woodworking contractor, plus get a free Porter-Cable 14V drill, because the Universe wasn't done with me yet.

The $500 I'm winning for completing the 5-minute pawn shop phone survey should arrive any day.

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errantember

December 2015

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