False economies and other "oh dear, I wish I hadn't done THAT" moments...

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anniet
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Message 1528060 - Posted: 14 Jun 2014, 18:10:38 UTC
Last modified: 14 Jun 2014, 18:25:56 UTC

Ugh... :/

I bought an ink cartridge refill kit on Thursday. I was attempting to save a bit of money on printer ink. If you are thinking this is heading towards a damaged printer... think again :)

I hit a problem quite early on. The plastic cap over the metal syringe! Could I get it off? No. Could many men get it off? No... So why did I think my teeth would? Because... I am an idiot that's why :)

There was a very satisfying cracking noise which pleased me no end. :) I thought "ooh, that's okay, I can just PEEL away the splinters and get down to refilling those waiting cartridges"... but the cap was intact, which sort of left me wondering what all the bits in my mouth were...

To sum up then: I spent £5 on ink, halved a tooth, incurred a minmum cost of £280 dental work, and saved a maximum of £60 on ink, all the day before meeting Chris. :)

To avoid putting him off his beer, on Friday, I spent £0.35 on several pieces of bubblegum (to find a shade that was closest to the colour of my teeth) and wedged that in the gap. :)

Total false economy: £220.35 (minimum) One of my finest efforts to date :)
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Message 1528086 - Posted: 14 Jun 2014, 20:19:29 UTC

Sorry, Annie... :-(
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Message 1528097 - Posted: 14 Jun 2014, 20:41:13 UTC

Annie, I can feel for you. I really can. This morning I went to get lumber to extend my deck. $285.00 worth. I loaded it my brother in laws truck. And when I turned on to the main road out of the parking lot. The load came off the truck, Except 5 pieces. When I saw the load in my rear view mirror, I was to far away to just stop. So I went up to the next light and made a U-turn. Thats when the last 5 boards came off. I stopped on the side of the road and and braved the traffic getting those 5 boards a nd a bag of cement. When I drove down where the most lumber was. IT WAS GONE. It was only 5 minutes, But some lowlife, Thieving,scumbag of a human being took it.
So Im short about $250.00 of lumber.
I can only hope kharma bites that person in the keyster.
[/quote]

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anniet
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Message 1528106 - Posted: 14 Jun 2014, 21:07:00 UTC - in response to Message 1528097.  
Last modified: 14 Jun 2014, 21:10:55 UTC

Annie, I can feel for you. I really can. This morning I went to get lumber to extend my deck. $285.00 worth. I loaded it my brother in laws truck. And when I turned on to the main road out of the parking lot. The load came off the truck, Except 5 pieces. When I saw the load in my rear view mirror, I was to far away to just stop. So I went up to the next light and made a U-turn. Thats when the last 5 boards came off. I stopped on the side of the road and and braved the traffic getting those 5 boards a nd a bag of cement. When I drove down where the most lumber was. IT WAS GONE. It was only 5 minutes, But some lowlife, Thieving,scumbag of a human being took it.
So Im short about $250.00 of lumber.
I can only hope kharma bites that person in the keyster.


That's outrageous! :( I am so sorry for your loss James... and scandalised by it too!

Ahem... *retreating to safe distance* How do you feel about extending your deck with just five pieces? Not good I suspect. :/

And... at the risk of appearing to rub salt into those fresh wounds of yours... did you "save" a delivery charge by transporting it yourself?

I think some nether-region-biting kharma is most definitely in order! Sending some vibes their way now... _~-_~-_~-_~-_~-_~-_~-

@TL no worries Scott *gappy grin* next time I'll use pliers :)

Edit: Not on my teeth... um... just in case you were wondering...
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Message 1528150 - Posted: 15 Jun 2014, 0:31:05 UTC - in response to Message 1528106.  

Annie, I can feel for you. I really can. This morning I went to get lumber to extend my deck. $285.00 worth. I loaded it my brother in laws truck. And when I turned on to the main road out of the parking lot. The load came off the truck, Except 5 pieces. When I saw the load in my rear view mirror, I was to far away to just stop. So I went up to the next light and made a U-turn. Thats when the last 5 boards came off. I stopped on the side of the road and and braved the traffic getting those 5 boards a nd a bag of cement. When I drove down where the most lumber was. IT WAS GONE. It was only 5 minutes, But some lowlife, Thieving,scumbag of a human being took it.
So Im short about $250.00 of lumber.
I can only hope kharma bites that person in the keyster.


That's outrageous! :( I am so sorry for your loss James... and scandalised by it too!

Ahem... *retreating to safe distance* How do you feel about extending your deck with just five pieces? Not good I suspect. :/

And... at the risk of appearing to rub salt into those fresh wounds of yours... did you "save" a delivery charge by transporting it yourself?

I think some nether-region-biting kharma is most definitely in order! Sending some vibes their way now... _~-_~-_~-_~-_~-_~-_~-

@TL no worries Scott *gappy grin* next time I'll use pliers :)

Edit: Not on my teeth... um... just in case you were wondering...

LOL. Annie, I should have had it deliverd. Yep I tryed to save some money by doing it myself. I could just about make a decent bonfire with those 5 boards though :)
[/quote]

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Message 1529251 - Posted: 18 Jun 2014, 1:41:56 UTC - in response to Message 1528097.  

Annie, I can feel for you. I really can. This morning I went to get lumber to extend my deck. $285.00 worth. I loaded it my brother in laws truck. And when I turned on to the main road out of the parking lot. The load came off the truck, Except 5 pieces. When I saw the load in my rear view mirror, I was to far away to just stop. So I went up to the next light and made a U-turn. Thats when the last 5 boards came off. I stopped on the side of the road and and braved the traffic getting those 5 boards a nd a bag of cement. When I drove down where the most lumber was. IT WAS GONE. It was only 5 minutes, But some lowlife, Thieving,scumbag of a human being took it.
So Im short about $250.00 of lumber.
I can only hope kharma bites that person in the keyster.

Ask your favorite Boy Scout to teach you how to tie, and when to use a bowline, a taught line hitch, and a half hitch. Then buy a rope that is sufficiently sturdy to hold the load, and use the knots.

I was hauling a load of wood once, had to hit the brakes, and the load came off the front of the overhead rack of the pickup as the rope broke (I really thought that one inch rope would hold a bit better than that).


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Message 1529254 - Posted: 18 Jun 2014, 1:52:36 UTC

Over here a lot of people have worked out that it's cheaper to buy a new printer than to buy the refills for them.

A simple quality brand name printer/scanner costs less than $50 new, but the refills for them cost nearly $80. :-O

Cheers.
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Message 1529260 - Posted: 18 Jun 2014, 2:05:55 UTC

I once bought a beautifully outfitted picnic basket at a charity auction for about four times its retail value. Got the thing home and discovered it is too heavy to actually carry out on picnics.
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Message 1529263 - Posted: 18 Jun 2014, 2:16:23 UTC

We discovered that the garage door at my parents house did not come with travel stops. It is manually operated. One time we both pulled up at the same time, one inside and one outside. The door swung up so hard the last panel came off the end of the track. Dad had a bit of a lump on his head for a while. 50 cents of angle aluminum angle and 2 1/4" X 2" bolts later, the door had travel stops...


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Message 1529268 - Posted: 18 Jun 2014, 2:24:37 UTC - in response to Message 1529263.  

We discovered that the garage door at my parents house did not come with travel stops. It is manually operated. One time we both pulled up at the same time, one inside and one outside. The door swung up so hard the last panel came off the end of the track. Dad had a bit of a lump on his head for a while. 50 cents of angle aluminum angle and 2 1/4" X 2" bolts later, the door had travel stops...

That was the same weekend that we discovered that a Cadillac steering box and an International Travelall steering box are not interchangeable, even though the weight ratings and physical shape are the same. They are installed upside down from each other, and the internal workings are designed to work in the opposite direction from each other as a result. The Cadillac part was cheaper and easier to find than the International Travelall part. Figuring out that steering to the left made the vehicle steer to the right took long enough to take a good siced divot out of the garage door frame...


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Message 1529269 - Posted: 18 Jun 2014, 2:25:57 UTC - in response to Message 1529254.  

Over here a lot of people have worked out that it's cheaper to buy a new printer than to buy the refills for them.

A simple quality brand name printer/scanner costs less than $50 new, but the refills for them cost nearly $80. :-O

Cheers.

Yes, but the printer manufacturers wised up a bit. The cartridges in the printer at purchase are special demo cartridges - with about a quarter of the ink in them that the normal ones have...


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Message 1529289 - Posted: 18 Jun 2014, 3:59:25 UTC
Last modified: 18 Jun 2014, 3:59:49 UTC

Im so glad others have had the unfortunate expierance to gain wisdom. On fathers day my brother in law had great fun at my expense. He said that me driving a KIA wasnt used to driving a real truck with HEMI in it:)
My mistake was being by myself and not usng the correct tie downs. Lessen learned.
So untill someone else in the family does something stupid, I will have to live with it:)
[/quote]

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Message 1529294 - Posted: 18 Jun 2014, 4:29:39 UTC - in response to Message 1529269.  

Over here a lot of people have worked out that it's cheaper to buy a new printer than to buy the refills for them.

A simple quality brand name printer/scanner costs less than $50 new, but the refills for them cost nearly $80. :-O

Cheers.

Yes, but the printer manufacturers wised up a bit. The cartridges in the printer at purchase are special demo cartridges - with about a quarter of the ink in them that the normal ones have...

I havn't seen any of those demo cartridges yet here, but then they may not be legally allowed to use them in this country.

Cheers.
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Message 1530488 - Posted: 21 Jun 2014, 7:05:45 UTC

As a former cub scout and boy scout, My father being a Navy man in WW2, Plus me being in the miltary and a volunteer fire fighter for nearly 20 years. I can say that no, A nylon tie down strap wont cut it for a lot of situations.
I can still tie a bowline and a square knot.But If I do need to tie others, I do have a book on knots. And after my dad made me do sheepshanks and other obscure knots, I can just look at a picture and remember how to do it.

Its a skill you have to keep using to stay good at it.
[/quote]

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Message 1530528 - Posted: 21 Jun 2014, 8:18:43 UTC - in response to Message 1530498.  

@ James & Candor - In terms of lashing loads safely and firmly to trailers and trucks, as we were discussing, most people do use ratchet tensioners. But it is also quite correct to say that in other applications e.g. climbing, boating etc, ordinary hand tied rope knots are abundantly used. But even so, yachts use rope cleats to assist the task.

I still have my knots book from my Boy Scout and Senior Scout days, but if I'm honest I've forgotten how to do most most of them!

As have I:) But yes I do agree a ratchet tensioner is a must!!:)
[/quote]

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Message 1533479 - Posted: 28 Jun 2014, 23:21:51 UTC
Last modified: 28 Jun 2014, 23:24:11 UTC

This weekend at camp, we had dozens of bowlines, taughtline, and half hitches tied as well as clove hitches and timber hitches. None of them could have been replaced by a strap tie down.

EDIT

Forgot that we also had tripod, shear, and square lashings up as well...


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Message 1533480 - Posted: 28 Jun 2014, 23:25:22 UTC

Take the shortcut through the field between the camp and the bathroom at 4:00 a.m. and discover the poison ivy.


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Message 1533496 - Posted: 29 Jun 2014, 0:49:33 UTC - in response to Message 1533486.  

Yow. Don't even want think about. It.
Hey, those are some good knot you taught the kids!

CC

Someone else was teaching knots. I was pulling ticks (troop first aid guy on the trip), and teaching photography and computers.


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Message 1533591 - Posted: 29 Jun 2014, 9:08:44 UTC - in response to Message 1529254.  

Over here a lot of people have worked out that it's cheaper to buy a new printer than to buy the refills for them.

A simple quality brand name printer/scanner costs less than $50 new, but the refills for them cost nearly $80. :-O

Cheers.

It's the same here. Plus with many brands of printers now you can't just refill the cartridge. they have barcodes on them and the printer keeps track of how much ink a particular cartridge has used. Even after refilling the computer thinks the cartridge is empty and won't work. If you buy third party cartridges usually you get a message before every print job that by using a non approved product you may be damaging your printer.

My most recent false economy was the purchase of a desktop computer with windows 7 to replace my old computer that had XP. To save a few bucks I bought a computer with a small form factor (SFF) case. When found I needed a more powerful graphics card to run my flight simulator program I discovered the case is too small for all but a few low end graphics cards and when looking for a higher wattage power supply I also found that the cabling was proprietary and not compatible with standard units. Fortunately my computer guru took some of the responsibility and traded to me a much more capable computer that only cost me an additional $75.

All to save a few dollars.
Bob DeWoody

My motto: Never do today what you can put off until tomorrow as it may not be required. This no longer applies in light of current events.
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Message 1533678 - Posted: 29 Jun 2014, 16:41:20 UTC - in response to Message 1533587.  

Take the shortcut through the field between the camp and the bathroom at 4:00 a.m. and discover the poison ivy.

Bathroom??? At our Boy Scout camps we had to dig out our own latrines colloquially called the "Bogs". A 4am call of nature was usually round the back of the tent, and by the stinging nettles! Isn't mother nature funny? Dock leaves always grow where stinging nettles do, cause and cure all in one place. Never have quite worked that one out yet. And if anyone shouts it's ID they're on breakfast duty for the rest of the week!

The fixed site Boy Scout camps have too many scouts in them in somewhat too close quarters for too long to use pit latrines anymore. The area we were in had 17 sites with 40 or so boys in each, and you could hit the next camp with a thrown rock from yours. Next week, there will be twice as many boys there, or so I am told. This will continue for the rest of the summer break. So, bathrooms. Not fancy, but much more sanitary.

Temporary camping sites are different. These are locations where you are only expecting to spend a night, the crowding is less, and the frequency of use is less.


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Message boards : Cafe SETI : False economies and other "oh dear, I wish I hadn't done THAT" moments...


 
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