What Are You Buying Right Now? (non-OT version)

Ozzie_Isaac

CTMike said:

Ozzie_Isaac said:

My Dry Suit arrived from Poland today:

Why do all my hobbies have to be so d@mn expensive?

As a new diver - this is a very expensive hobby!  lol.  Thankfully 3mm is all I need for where I am currently diving.

I'm not exactly a new diver, received my original cert back in 1978, just getting back in to it, but I get your point. I haven't told SWMBO how much everything has cost, her words were:

"I hate to say this but I don't care what it costs, I just need to know that you'll be as safe as possible."

I took that as free rein to buy some pretty high end stuff. 🤣

Oh, I’m sorry that came across completely wrong - I was saying I am a new diver and have started down this rabbit hole - I was not in any way implying you were.  Apologies for the confusion!  I can barely swim yet 🤣🤣🤣

I’m currently just looking at regs and wings, can’t imagine what it’s like to build out cold water gear or specialty gear.

Ozzie_Isaac

Botch said:

alaskanassasin said:

How much was your bill with the tank water heater @Botch?

According to the bill, just over twice as much from this year ($0.75 vs $0.36/day)  
And, since you made me look at the bill again, I paid $3.21 for the actual gas, and $7.81 for Basic Service Fee, UT sales tax, and Municipal Energy tax.  Guess we gotta pay for Gov cox's "State Day of Prayer and Fasting" tomorrow, 29 Jun, to get more rain... (I'm not making that up)

Well with an attitude like that, your gonna be the cause of a lot of wasted tax payer money!

ColbyLang

I think it’s rained here 40 outta the last 45 days @Botch. I’ll see if we can mail you some

WeberWho

I went out to the shed to get my riding lawnmower to mow my grass but I couldn't get the rider to fire up the first few tries. Between a weak battery and a sticky starter it can take a minute or two. While sitting on the mower waiting between cranks I pull out my phone to check Marketplace. Low and behold the first thing I notice when I open up Marketplace is a snowblower. Buying a snowblower in the summer is the right time if you're looking to buy one. Definitely a buyers market right now for people who need to dump them. Except I'm not necessarily in the market for a snowblower. I couldn't pass it up on the price and hoping no one else messaged in the 12 minutes it was posted for. 

So I quickly message the seller as fast as my thumbs could type. I did my usual, "I have cash and I have a truck. I can leave now to come and pick it up." Not even a minute later later I receive a message back from the seller with an address. I told him ETA is 30 minutes and I'm on my way. I put the hammer down on the old truck to get their ASAP before the seller changed their mind or someone offered them more money.

So I backup in their driveway and I see the garage door open. I have one foot out of my truck and I hear, "Congratulations! There's the winner!!!" I couldn't help but kind of chuckle. It was a son and Dad who greeted me when I got out of my truck. The Dad said, "I asked my son to list the snowblower for me. I asked him how much did he list it for?" The son said, "$50". The Dad goes, "You can't even buy the wheels for $50". The Dad was kind of laughing when telling me the story. The son said he had a couple of people message prior to me but wanted to pick it up the following day. The son said he saw my message and it was direct and to the point. Sometimes it's just easier to be direct and to the point when messaging with Marketplace. The son mentioned that he had 15 more messages by the time he responded back to my message and the time he could put pending pick up on the ad. So I got super lucky in that respect and good timing with a sticky starter on my lawnmower!

I don't think the snowblower has been hardly used. Sill has nubbies on the tires and the skid pads are like new. (We've hardly had snow the past few years.) My guess is maybe a couple snow falls of use but still in really nice condition. The seller even mentioned that he has only ever used non oxygenated gas in it! (Music to my ears!) They helped me load up the snowblower and I couldn't thank them enough. The seller was moving to Seattle and no use for it. 

I've been holding off on purchasing a different snowblower as the one I own is probably the most reliable possession of anything I own. That old Tecumseh engine doesn't blink when firing it up! Unfortunately the snowblower itself is starting to see its better days but is a workhorse when in need. The other big portion of it is that it was given to me by a coworker and friend. My buddy is unfortunately no longer with us and it gives me a smile every time I fire that old snowblower up and thank him in spirit. So I've been reluctant on picking up a different snowblower. This new snowblower was too hard to pass up. I fixed up an old snowblower for my sister-in-law this past fall and I have no idea if it worked or if they even used it. I'm guessing it did as I didn't hear otherwise. So I'm going to see if I can pass my old coworkers snowblower off to them or find someone who is in need of one and keep that old snowblower going!

Here's a picture of the snowblower I picked up this evening:

Botch

WeberWho said:

Score!  
I bought my snowblower in '92, after spending 4 hours shoveling after an afternoon snow and then seeing it all snowed in again overnight (Grand Forks ND).  Because I lived within 2 blocks of the UND campus, the snow got stomped down and wasn't totally removed/melted until June (I'm only slightly exaggerating).  It's worn out 3 sets of skidplates and one set of tires (!) but still fires right up!  The clutch is immobile anymore and I need to take it in (can't fix it myself) but the last two winters I only needed to shovel once each year (<4") so it hasn't been a priority.  
Again, Congrats on the excellent score!  

Gulfcoastguy

zaphod

dang nice looking Toro there. 

WeberWho

Botch said:

WeberWho said:

Score!  
I bought my snowblower in '92, after spending 4 hours shoveling after an afternoon snow and then seeing it all snowed in again overnight (Grand Forks ND).  Because I lived within 2 blocks of the UND campus, the snow got stomped down and wasn't totally removed/melted until June (I'm only slightly exaggerating).  It's worn out 3 sets of skidplates and one set of tires (!) but still fires right up!  The clutch is immobile anymore and I need to take it in (can't fix it myself) but the last two winters I only needed to shovel once each year (<4") so it hasn't been a priority.  
Again, Congrats on the excellent score!  

Hey thanks! I don't imagine this new snowblower will last 33 years like these old dogs but it should do okay given the Toro name. I'm curious if it's made overseas or portions of it made here in the US yet. Toro headquarters are the next town over from us and I can appreciate the MN connection with the company. My table saw is an old Toro that has been passed down through the years. 

The winters here have been super mild here lately. I think i had to snowblow twice last year if I'm not mistaken. I don't think I even fired it up the year prior. Snowblowers and snowmobiles are almost non-existent. My buddy caught some flack for selling his 3 snowmobiles during the middle of summer at a lower price three years ago. He ended up being a genius for selling early!

JohnInCarolina

ColbyLang said:

I think it’s rained here 40 outta the last 45 days @Botch. 

lousubcap

Better to be lucky than good @WeberWho.  Great deal.
BTW-lawn mower ever start?

WeberWho

lousubcap said:

Better to be lucky than good @WeberWho.  Great deal.
BTW-lawn mower ever start?

Hey thanks! The backyard still needs to be cut. I pulled the rider out two days ago and it fired up no issue. (The backyard was too wet yet to cut with all the rain we've got lately but I was able to do the front yard.) Yesterday the mower was being grumpy between a weak battery and sticky starter. By the time I got home last night I only had 20 to 30 minutes of daylight left. Unfortunately that's not enough time to do the backyard. So it's on the agenda sometime this evening between other prior commitments. 

lousubcap

Took advantage of the below from SRF-
Worth a look as it is a low threshold for them.  
No affiliation here.  

Acn

Yesterday, obviously, but still:

Ozzie_Isaac

Acn said:

Yesterday, obviously, but still:

Nice!  Love the clean face on the Tissot.

Acn

Ozzie_Isaac said:

Acn said:

Yesterday, obviously, but still:

Nice!  Love the clean face on the Tissot.

Yes!  The mountain detailing is super subtle - I didn’t notice until I was trying it on.

johnmitchell

I was in Walmart buying some corn on the cob and saw these. I have no idea of the quality but the price was right so will give them a whirl over the weekend 

BeanHead

Post a report @johnmitchell that is a good price and nice marbling. 

bucky925

Stocking up on lump.  I found Rockwood at a little hardware store up the road for $24 a bag.  My garage is still full of boxes so just a few bags for now.  

JohnInCarolina

Acn said:

Yesterday, obviously, but still:

That is a quality timepiece!

johnmitchell

BeanHead said:

Post a report @johnmitchell that is a good price and nice marbling. 

They were fantastic at the price point and will definitely buy again. They did have quite a bit of grisly bits. 

BeanHead

Looks fantastic and I appreciate the size reference 😂. I actually appreciate a bit of gristle, although I know I’m in the minority with that opinion. 

zaphod

picked up a copy of "Eggin" by David Rose as the local Dollarama was blowing them out at $4 a pop.

Gulfcoastguy

zaphod said:

picked up a copy of "Eggin" by David Rose as the local Dollarama was blowing them out at $4 a pop.

I get a whole lot of cookbooks at the bargain rack at Books-A-Million. Two of the cheapest are the Bisquik cookbook and a book of nothing but Bundt pan recipes, $5 each then a 15% discount for having a store card.

zaphod

I don't know how anyone makes a living in the publishing business.

Botch

zaphod said:

I don't know how anyone makes a living in the publishing business.

Book signings, and listening to a full stream of inane comments from walmart people, for quite a few hours.  
My ex-GF did eke out a textbook, that did very well, and (last time I checked) had four texts out on the international market, and she was doing extremely well.  She did have to attend a lot of educational seminars and do meet-n-greets, but no signings that I knew of.  A fascinating world, to me.    

Gulfcoastguy

I do wonder how they do it. The last 6 novels that I bought couldn't be found in the bookstore, I had to order them through Amazon. Then there is the fact that almost all of the books that the bookstore does carry seem to be targeted to teenage girls.

DoubleEgger

zaphod said:

I don't know how anyone makes a living in the publishing business.

Seems to be a good place for political money laundering. 

GrateEggspectations

Two tickets to Lainey Wilson. 

Cookin’ with grease!

ColbyLang

GrateEggspectations said:

Two tickets to Lainey Wilson. 

Cookin’ with grease!

Yeah. She ain’t too hard on the eyes

Gulfcoastguy

Those bell bottoms! ( and the contents) . Days of my youth.