The Gush-About-Your-Toys Thread

[TromboneAl]

I have to admit I'm enjoying our new car more than I had expected to. Partly because it's electric (2016 LEAF) and partly because it has newer features than our 2002 Echo.

Right now I'm hanging out at Starbucks and (not) writing, while the car is charging up for free a block away. An app tells me the status of the charging (see attached. The three previous attempts show my failure to get the charging working the first times).

I leave my old iPod Touch plugged into the car, and I have effortless access to thousands of songs.

Last night I told the car I would be leaving at 9 AM, so it heated up the cabin for me ahead of time.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Early Retirement Forum mobile app

 

[Ronstar]

That is amazing!

 

[aja8888]

Al, you are just turning into a Hi-Tech wizzard!

 

[pb4uski]

I dunno.... Al seems to have paid $2 for 7 minutes of charging and got 0 miles from it... I can see his $/mile climbing! Remember ol' LBYM Al?

Al least his cabin is cozy.

 

[W2R]

Al, I am so glad that you are enjoying your new car this much!! What fun. It looks like you have found some convenient places to re-charge it, too.

 

[TromboneAl]

After that I drove to Eureka and plugged into the free charger at Caltrans. These things are like magnets to tightwads like me.

So, I walked from the charger to a restaurant for lunch and then walked to Costco. When I came out of the store, I looked for the car in the parking lot and couldn't find it. I truly thought I was losing it, because not only could I not find it, but I had no memory of driving into the parking lot. I tried the honking thing on the key fob. No joy.

Then I remembered that I'd parked a few blocks away.

Anyway, when I got back in the, the "guess-o-meter" told me I had 101 miles of range remaining (an overestimate, but I still had 40 left after the 40 miles to home).

 

[splitwdw]

Maybe Al's charging is free but he's hanging at Starbuck's, going out to lunch and shopping at Costco. Next he'll be having to buy new sneakers from all the walking. All kidding aside, hope you get lots of enjoyment from your new Leaf. Didn't realize you were getting a 2016.

 

[kcowan]

I remeber the joy when I bought my MagicJack. After paying $60, I had free calling for 5 years from anywhere. I had to fight the tendency to call people who I had not talked to in years because I could!

Same with Netflix. 100s of hour to watch for free!

Here we sit in our living room reading books! What a waste! Let me go for a drive....

 

[RobbieB]

Rita and I will be doing a Yosemite drive thru soon;

Not now on the holiday, not to mention it's warm here now. Late next week or the week after.

 

[FUEGO]

I felt the same way after buying our 2009 Toyota minivan after owning model year 2000 cars before that. What's this, an auxiliary audio jack?! Score! We can plug in an old mp3 player and have unlimited music of our choice. Or use the built in CD/mp3 player if we want to burn a mix "tape" for our next road trip (previous cars had a cassette in 1 car, just AM/FM in the other car). The sound system booms to the point that I wish it had less bass (can't seem to adjust it correctly but it sounds pretty impressive if you're into that kind of thing).

Still runs on gas though. On the upside, it holds 7 or holds a ton of cargo and only cost $8200.

 

[Dawg52]

Rita and I will be doing a Yosemite drive thru soon;

Not now on the holiday, not to mention it's warm here now. Late next week or the week after.

Nice. But I got you guys beat. No gas, no electrical charge......just manpower. A less costly toy too. Feels good being cheap.

 

[Nodak]

My favorite toys are a Questar telescope I've had for about 36 tears and McIntosh stereo that is about 44 years old.

 

[kcowan]

We can plug in an old mp3 player and have unlimited music of our choice. Or use the built in CD/mp3 player if we want to burn a mix "tape" for our next road trip (previous cars had a cassette in 1 car, just AM/FM in the other car).

We have three cars. Two of them play MP3 CDs and the other plays cassettes. By we actually use a solid state device that plugs into the cigarette lighter and does bluetooth to the car stereo. All solid state songs and works in both new car and into the FM for the older one. We also have an adapter for the iPhones that plays into the FM.

(I have some old cassettes for the older car but the heat has wrecked havoc on them over the years.)

 

[frayne]

My current scooter.

 

[TromboneAl]

Maybe Al's charging is free but he's hanging at Starbuck's, going out to lunch and shopping at Costco. Next he'll be having to buy new sneakers from all the walking.

Well, I hate to admit this, since I'm trying spend more:

At Starbucks I only had a coffee (brought my own sugar-free Quest bar).

At Jack-in-the-box I only had a bacon cheeseburger and water.

At CostCo, I didn't buy anything. I just used the bathroom and ate some samples.

Once a tightwad ...

But I did do a lot more walking that usual on our trips to town.

 

[FUEGO]

At Starbucks I only had a coffee (brought my own sugar-free Quest bar).

At CostCo, I didn't buy anything. I just used the bathroom and ate some samples.

If you have a Trader Joe's in town, they'll give you free coffee samples. As long as you don't mind imbibing 2 oz at a time, you can get your caffeinated jollies for free.

 

[Another Reader]

No place to sit at Trader Joe's. The coffee is really just the price to rent the "real estate" at Starbucks.

 

[imoldernu]

Based on the posts, not sure this fits here, but "Toys"? Bulging closets and storage spaces. Too many to count. Preliminary listing:
Two telescopes
Three binoculars
Car, home base and hand held CB's
Two sets of walkie talkies
(Edit to add) One complete microscope kit and one computer linked microscope

Musical
Two keyboards
1 Tin Whistle
2 Recorders
1 Baritone Uke
1 Standard Uke
1 Western Guitar
1 Concert Guitar
1 Violin
1 Set Electronic drums
3 Harmonicas
2 Theremins
1 4 tone train whistle
1 Nose Whistle
1 Gut Bucket

Computers.
5 Win 10 Desktops
2Vista laptops
1 Win 7 Desk
1 Win ME Desk
1 Win 98 laptop
1 Win 95 Desktp
1 Linux/Win 7 laptop
1 Linux Desktiop
Yeah... crazy, but fun

1983 Yamaha 200 CC Scooter
19?? Trail Hopper
2000 Golf Club Car
1996 Cadillac SLS
1998 Lincoln Signature Towncar
1986 Vitamaster exercise bike
Vintage Aero Exercise Bike

Boats
15 ft sailing canoe
Ted Williams fishing boat circa 1956
Aluminum Pontoon Paddle boat
Remote Control 1 metre sailboat

Gone:
i inflatable kayak
2 snowmobiles
20 foot Starcraft Cruizer
Starfish
Sunfish
20ft ABS Plastic canoe
Homemade Iceboat
17ft wooden Lyman runabout


Bicycles
1990 Offroad Mountain bike
1983 Motobecane
2000 Mongoode Mountain bike
1986 Schwinn bent tube
1983 Schhswinn 18 speed
1990 Scheffield
3 age unknown mountain bikes
2 Childrens Huffy bikes
Only bike I bought new was the Mongoose (sale $76) all the rest were free or $10 or less.

1000 day clocks.
VHS players and 160 movies
VCR players and 100 movies
Cassette players 5... and 250 cassettes $.10 each (1920's to 1950's music)
Radios... too many to count.
Movies and TV shows on 2-3GB Hard drives. Estimate 3000 Individual or TV series.
2 Roku
1 Sony media player
Plex player
8 fishing poles and three full tackle boxes and I don't fish
1 Sling shot
2 swords, 1 Charlemaigne, 1 Civil War
Pocket knife collection
Stamp Collection (temporarily lost)
Coin Collection (handed down from Mom).
Thousands of pictures, dating back to 1870 tintypes of mom's ancestors, and mom's own Brownie pics from 1930 to 1995
Collection of about 100 small handheld games football golf, quizzes etc.
Tools of all kinds including A/C gauges etc, that I don't know how to use... A welder, and about 25 power tools of all kinds.
A complete set of watchmaker's tools and supplies from the 1960's. Widow thought I'd like.
1870's Singer Sewing Machine (Pharoah)

B-b-but I'm not a hoarder. all this stuff is stashed in one of our homes in Florida, Wodhaven, or Peru...

Didn't include books, or the collection of oddball household appliances and tools, or some of the special interest items that came and went in phases.

Never bored.

 

[aja8888]

imoldernu, no 8 track cassette players for the cars?

 

[imoldernu]

imoldernu, no 8 track cassette players for the cars?

(sigh) sadly no. Salvation Army has the tapes $.15, but no freestanding players.

Local small town library recently closed, and donated all of their books on tape to SA. I did buy 35 selected books... (my favorite authors) for $.30 each.

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

imoldernu, Peru Did I miss one of your posts?

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[ejman]

Good heavens imoldernu - one thousand day clocks? Actually I am not sure what a day clock is but in my mind I picture one of those old chiming clocks where a little birdie comes out on the hour and says cookoo. One thousand of them? where do you keep them?

 

[kramer]

Speaking of toys . . I just got a new Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge phone, 5.5 inch screen ($710 from discount dealer on Ebay, no sales tax). It's my first flagship quality phone/toy and it's really awesome, a big step up over a mid-range phone. Everyone commented how good the pictures that I took with it were at my niece's graduation. My last smartphone was breaking down and I wanted something better for my Middle East vacation later this summer.

Like Al, I have been trying to spend a bit more although I think I am having an easier time of it ;-)

 

[Ronstar]

Most recent toy - drum sander. Perfect for sanding things flat.