42 Comments

I feel your purchase can be justified by this quote by Uncle Iroh from Avatar: The Last Airbender:

"The only thing better than finding something you are looking for is finding something you weren't looking for at a great bargain!".

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author

I need these words tattooed on my arm. Or my soul.

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Sounds like my shopping philosophy!

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Oh that’s a good one!👍🏼

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My dad desires a larger television screen. The fact that the screen he wanted would block access to the sunken fire pit did not detour him. It puzzled me. My father loved that sunken fire pit. He designed it. He loved lighting fires in the egg shaped tile stove he installed and heating the house like a sauna well into May. I came over a few years back to find there wasn't a fire going. My mother said that one dad turned 85 she didn't want him catching the house on fire. I think juggling firewood and a cane at the same time was the real reason. Perhaps it was a bit of both. As he turned 90 and she 85, I think they stopped going into the fire pit because they didn't want to risk a broken hip falling on the short stairs. Dad got his large screen, It slightly blocks access to the fire pit. He's very happy staring at it watching war movie old polish war dramas. I've even caught him looking at burning yule logs on it.

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author

He's on the right track. Step one: Get a TV that blocks the fire pit. Step 2: Get a TV that blocks out the sun.

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Laughed all the way through this one. My husband believes he who dies with the biggest TV screen wins...so he’s upsizing whenever possible. Shame we’re not closer to Indianapolis...

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author

Your husband is a wise, wise man.

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My hubby is wanting to get a 100+” short throw projector tv and I’m not totally against it. I just want my kitchen first. We are waiting a bit longer for the price to go down some more and our current tv isn’t that old. Also, we will have to patch our wall from the tv mount and do something special to the wall. I’m not ready for that until the kitchen is done. It’s the only room that is still essentially original to our 30 year old house.

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Our village police encourage those transactions be made in their parking lot which probably is best for all concerned, but that wouldn't have worked in your situation. Being asked to "go around back" would have made me skedaddle but I am a chicken. Mr. P was a negotiator in his working days and has since put that skill to good use. It's unbelieveable some of the bargains he has gotten, all whether we actually needed it or not. And his rule is always: If it's worth it to buy one, it's better to buy three. And he wonders why our garage always looks like Costco and always a mess!

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author

The next step is to negotiate for a bigger garage. I'm sure he's up to it.

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This is kind of like how my husband decided to replace our perfectly fine, 75-inch TV with a new 80-inch TV, because there was a holiday sale. He just gave the 75-inch TV to one of the guys who replaced our windows. To be fair, the new TV is really nice.

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author

And the one he replaces it with in a few years will be even nicer.

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Came out with your life not once but twice? I think that's always a win!

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author

Seriously. I'm playing with house money at this point.

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For you James,

Today my Crossword puzzle clue was: Indiana family member

Answer: Hoosier Daddy

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author

Lol, clearly they were talking about me.

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😂🤣

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I felt the tension of the point you drove up to that loading dock, and the tattooed guy coming up. Good you survived! Share the phone number.... No leave it, I don't live in the US.

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author

It might be worth it for you to fly here for these deals.

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founding

Funny and disconcerting at the same time! So many red flags left and right, yet you and your loyal cohorts plunged onward. I’m not sure whether to applaud or groan (or both) 🤦🏻‍♀️. Your guardian angels must work overtime! Your comment about Gollum’s deal with Shelob is interesting in that Gollum could have just reneged on his deal with her after he left intact, but somehow he had a sense of commitment(?) to see it through - plus he wanted to get his hands on the Ring. I guess this trek to buy bargain-basement (or bargain-storage-locker) TV’s is like a trek after the One Ring.

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Now what I really want to know about is this walking pad thing? Is it like a treadmill without the side rails? Is it loud? Like if I'm in an apartment on the third floor will my downstairs neighbor hate me a lot or just a little?

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author

They will probably hate you, but if you're the upstairs neighbor, they likely hate you already. I say go for it.

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https://www.walkingpad.com/

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Ohhhh! It is LITERALLY called a walking pad...got it...thanks!

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Gollum.

Somebody probably told you that. The Golem is a scary dude that Jews created and it turned on them.

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author

Oops. That's what I get for using voice to text. At least with substack, I can go back and edit it.

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Which might also have implications here. Be careful when creating … things. And buying TVs, which goes without saying.

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I am SO jealous! Not because I need anymore TVs (my husband is an electronics nutcase) but because you found a deal! I LOVE DEALS. I will willing go into a sketchy place to get $10 off an item. I don’t look like I can defend myself and most people would just pat me on the head and say “here grandma” and let me go, but I can and will defend myself. Saying that, I always let someone know where I’ll be and when I should be back. Never had a problem. Now online, especially Marketplace, isn’t my thing. I’ve had nothing with bad luck, mostly people ghosting me when they get a better offer. If I have to sell I go to Craigslist. An oldie but a goodie. What I AM into are resale stores. The kind that get pallets of last years items, things that didn’t sell or returned items. I have a blast at those. We have one here called “Rebels” and on Saturday they start at $10 per item and go down to .50 by friday. I’ve gotten soooo many great things from there. All my bedding, rugs, etc. You should check and see if you have one in your area by typing “resale store”. You’ll go fricking nuts. Or the girls will anyway, lol.

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I guess you can't take it with you. Except when you can?

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Very funny post James - There's no such thing as a cheap TV in New Zealand as they all have to be imported from a Gazzilion miles away.

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author

Sounds like the market is open to build some domestic TV factories. I'm sure you were looking for a side job...

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At least you're in better shape than I was! I bought 3k bulk Pokémon cards off Facebook (bulk = cards that sell for pennies, usually) and the guy never told me that he'd taken out all but two of the most valuable type of bulk, so I came out at a loss. x_x

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But now you can swim around in Pokémon cards like Scrooge McDuck in his money pit. I think you're the real winner here.

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😂x5

I sold them all and got paid for it the other day. In fact, I used the money to buy...(*snickerfit*)...Diet Coke and more cards yesterday.

My own collection (i.e. stuff I opened myself, mostly) is swimmable, but then I'd hate myself for messing up my filing system!

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🤪 this story was absolutely hilarious! You and your friends are crazy. But you more than them… it seems your curiosity about the other world is too high. You either get too sick over and over, or you look for Mr. Death purposely. I wonder if you are a cat with nine lives and you haven’t realized. I recommend a CAT-scan 🤣

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author

What good is having nine lives if I'm not going to use them?

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🤣 ok. Just don’t use them all in one year!

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