When promotions go wrong

It's always difficult to know what to buy my wife for Christmas, but this year she helped me by dropping hints about a 'Soap & Glory' gift set called the 'Yule Monty'.

Boots were selling it for £60 but 'money-saving expert' Martin Lewis (bless him) had very cleverly let slip on TV that Boots were going to sell it for less than half price the week before Christmas.

Unfortunately, this has spectacularly backfired as Boots are now out of stock and the discounted gift sets have been bought and re-sold on ebay at double their purchase price and more. I really think it's about time we consider outlawing the re-sale of certain goods - especially goods such as these that have been specially discounted. It just goes to show that at a time of giving and good will to all, greed remains as strong as ever.

A Week of Finds

The past week hasn't been at all bad. I have come to the conclusion that I am at my happiest rummaging through the contents of a local charity shop or better still finding a new toy or gadget. It's not an age thing - I've been like it all my life, buying things no one else has a use for and giving them a home. Having said that I am by no means a hoarder like those you see on TV at the moment. My wife prevents things from getting out of control and I have perfected the art of hiding things and making them fit seamlessly into my existing collections. Two items have been given a new lease of life. Yesterday I came across a rather nice turntable in a local charity shop window. I knew it was 'rather nice' as it was by Acoustic Solutions and I could see it was in excellent condition. The price tag of £5 also played a large part in deciding to buy it. I had actually been saving a £5 note for a few weeks hoping to find something like this. I had hoped to find a cassette deck (to replace the one my wife encouraged me to sell a couple of years ago), but it wasn't to be.

Although I already have two record decks, I do have problems with the stylus weight finding that it is far too light for the majority of records I buy. This causes it to jump rather too often, treating a spec of dust in a groove as a speed hump. The deck I had found had a perfectly weighted stylus, I could tell. As I went to walk away with it, the woman running the shop pointed out there were two speakers to go with it. Well this I didn't expect as I was planning to simply connect it to my amplifier. The speakers in question were actually made by Sony and rather expensive looking - and very heavy. These were included and I left the shop just managing to carry everything with a big smile on my face.
Although I had no need for the speakers as I have them built into the ceiling at home, they would come in very useful for my Blue Skies group especially for watching films or playing music. I was very pleased with my latest haul hurrying home to test it. Needless to say it worked perfectly.
My second 'find of the week' was a D-Link MediaLounge Wireless Media Centre. Now I already have one of these and we use it every day to stream TV and films from hard drive array. I knew its potential straight away and being on eBay, it's opening bid bid was just £4.99 which I met straight away expecting others to bid against me. To my surprise they didn't and that evening I won the auction paying just £4.99 and £8 postage(!) Nevertheless, this was a real bargain. Again this would be ideal to use at my group as it can play DVD's and stream media from a variety of different sources.

Being wireless, it negates the need for cables and I know from experience of my own that it will connect to the projector we will be buying in the next few weeks. I took delivery of it yesterday and it too is working perfectly, seamlessly integrating with my other equipment.
I think it is true that I am happiest when I have something new to fiddle with or configure. My mood certainly improves at the prospect of a Saturday morning rummage and I am like a teenager with his first Sony Walkman or PacMan game when I do find anything slightly 'gadgety'. What's even better is the fact that, for the most part, the people selling these things haven't a clue what they are or even less what they do and sometimes I struggle to maintain a normal expression for fear of appearing too excited. Only when I have paid for my treasure and leave the shop do I allow myself a little triumphant 'yes!' and head for the safety of my car.
That is why this past week has been good for me. We are all different and different things make us feel good or content with our lot. I think the people around me have come to accept that the same things that fill me with excitement now are those same things that would fill me with interest and delight when I was a teenager. Back then I was intrigued by how things worked. Now I'm just glad that they still do.

Taking its rightful place

I've managed to find a home for my typewriter. Having been forced some years ago by my wife to down-size, my desk isn't as large as it used to be. As a result, I have just managed to squeeze my 'new' Imperial 80 between keyboards and this is where it will stay until such time as I'm able to up-size again.
I couldn't be more chuffed with the machine. It's easy to underestimate the workmanship that went into these things. The fact that it works as well now as it did then is testament to build quality and design all those years ago. It surprised me how quickly I have become used to it and it feels as though I was always meant to have one in amongst the humming flashing technology of today.

Of course it lacks any form of correction facility so I must find some of those Tip-Ex strips that allow you to go back a letter and 'white-over' errors. I remember having them years ago and I'm sure they're still available.
It also has that typewriter smell about it. I suspect it's more the ribbon but it's a smell I've had with all typewriters I've owned, and a smell I have missed.
I must confess to feeling a little bad at paying just 99p for it. It's clearly worth more, but the rules of eBay are that I should pay what I bid, and though I initially bid £5 I was the only bidder and hence I paid just the 99p start price.
I suspect over the coming years, the value of typewriters will increase. I have already seen a rise in value reflected on eBay with portables selling for upwards of £50 or more. I dare say in about twenty years from now, a typewriter such as mine will be worth a hundred times what I've paid for it. I'm glad I was able to buy it when I did, and I don't intend letting this go for any price!

I've bought a typewriter!

I'm quite pleased, having managed to procure a rather nice Imperial 80 typewriter for the princely sum of just 99p! A lot of people I know are critical of eBay but it really is possible to find some bargains and considering I've been looking for a typewriter for some time, I'm quite chuffed. What's more, it's just down the road in Holbeach so I've arranged to collect it tomorrow afternoon.

It's not quite the portable I had been looking for, for portable it most certainly is not. It is more of an office machine, much like the ones I grew up with. In fact, I did once have an Imperial 66. Now that was a wonderful machine and effortless to use. I think it was the typewriter I used the most.
I'm hopeful my son will want to use it. It will be good for him to understand what we used before word processors and computers and it may be that he takes to it as I once did and practise his word skills using it.

An hour with the big screen

Today I was home alone once more. I should have been looking after Ethan but I got my dates mixed up as I thought I was to be driving my son's godparents down to Newmarket. My mum kindly agreed to look after my son so we left the arrangements as they were. He had a good time by all accounts and even got a ride on the little bus my parents use to take them into town. He loves it.
So I had some time to myself. I did the usual stuff to satisfy myself I've been of some little use and decided in the last hour to treat myself. My sister had bought me a DVD for my last Birthday. It's full of old wartime public information films - stuff like what to do in an air-raid and how to recycle everything as it can be used to build airplanes etc. I can see why my grandparents were so keen to waste nothing, they had been practically brainwashed during the war years into giving anything spare to the war effort and not to throw anything away. It's really fascinating stuff. Of course these short films were shown in the cinema - there was no TV as it had been shut down before the war began. I did enjoy my 'hour in the past'. It took me back to an ear full of propoganda full of anti-German and anti-Japanese solgans. Nowadays, these would be banned and rightly so - but back then, anything went it seems.
The last film, about making only essential journeys, was interrupted by my wife and son arriving home. This is always a noisy event - our dog goes beserk and runs madly around the house. Being a Springer Spaniel, she's quite active and easily excited.
I've seen something I really want on eBay. It's always a mistake for me to browse the site as I always come across something I really like but never have the funds to buy. This time, I've decided I want it and that somehow I simply have to buy it. I have a thing for old buses and coaches. This one is in mint condition, a double-decker with a removable roof so it can be used open-top. This is a very rare find indeed and ticks all my boxes. I've even started imagining driving it to the coast with my son and wife riding on top. But it will never be, I know that... There's no harm in wishing though.