Archive for September, 2009

Craigslist Cruisin’: Free Stuff!

Thursday, September 17th, 2009
Free free free!

Free free free!

Ok, so by now if you are a regular reader, you would have figured out that I like Craigslist. A lot. If gay marriage were legal, I would marry Craig and the List would be our baby. If you have been living under a wifi-less rock for the past ten years, here’s the update. www.craigslist.com is the best thing since Sonny met Cher, and here is the number one reason why:

Free stuff. Where else can you power up your internets and find a 4000 gallon fish tank for free, in your neighborhood? That’s right! Imagine the social ramifications:

“Hey, want to go out sometime?”

“No.”

“I have a 4000 gallon fish tank.”

“What?”

“I have a 50 lb. koi.”

“If you let me see your koi, can I pay for dinner?”

See! It is like having a personal social training coach (a la “Hitch”) for free. And, I have to say, “let me see your koi” holds plenty of promise for how the date is going to go. Anyway, I found that fish tank after literally seconds of searching. If you put a little bit of effort into it, you might be able to find something even better, however unlikely that may seem.

Here’s my secret methods for cruising the free section:

  • Ignore curb alerts. Contrary to popular opinion, you really CAN have too many slightly dog-eared fiberboard entertainment centers.
  • Mattresses that are free are not a good deal. The risk of contracting a disease through the exchange of bodily fluids far outweighs the danger of acute sleep-deprivation from snoozing on the floor.
  • If the entire title is in bold, or there are more than 1 “FREE” in the title, then they are trying to dispose of something that is illegal or worth less than nothing, or both.
  • Don’t get free food. See “Mattresses”; replace “acute sleep-deprivation from snoozing on the floor” with “death by starvation”.
  • If you have a smallish house and little willpower, it may be a good idea to avoid the free section altogether.
  • Avoid any service that is promised to be performed for free. That is more fishy than a 4000 gallon fish tank. Just…don’t.

Well, enough with what not to do. Here are some more great things I found on the free section:

Free piano!

Intellivision II non-functional gaming console without cords!

Corded phone! For free, can you believe it?!?

1 lb. of Potatoes!

Alright! I think I can set you free out in to the Craigslist “Free Section” world without worrying too much about you! By the way…I saw that free fish tank first, so back off.

2010 Toyota Prius

Wednesday, September 16th, 2009

To buy or not to buy? That is the question!

 
To buy or not to buy? That is the question!
So, you have found the ultimate vehicle for green-loving bliss. Forget the energy used to create the car, the heavy metals used for creating those batteries for the hybrid, and the fact that everything you once thought about saving the environment is wrong, and what do you end up with, though?

Um. For $22,000, $9,000 more than Toyota’s entry-level Yaris, you get 22 more mpg in the city and 12 more on the highway. That is a lot better gas mileage, for sure. After the average 200,000 miles the cars will survive,  you will have used about 2,113 more gallons of fuel in the Yaris.

I think it is a pretty good lookin' ride, as well.

If I were a pirate, I would by the Yaris for the name. The YAAAAARis!

 Keep your granny panties on. That’s more  Arnold Palmer  than I can chug in a a single sitting, but if we are purely going on the price of the car plus the price of gas (at today’s gas prices), we would be paying $3,738 for the privilege of owning the Prius versus the Yaris.

“I don’t care about money,” you bellow, “I only want to save the environment!” Those who truly only care about the environment should off themselves now; it seems like humans contribute greatly to greenhouse emissions no matter what they do. Those who can comprimise slightly by not killing themselves, listen up.

Buy the Yaris. Take that $3,738 and get some energy-efficient appliances, caulk your crevices, and get a digital thermostat. Buy a cat from the shelter.

Sure, the Yaris will not have electric windows standard, heated mirrors, front and rear parking assist, standard in-dash CD, standard AM/FM radio (!), 2 more speakers, rear disc brakes, telescoping wheel, audio and cruise control on the wheel, standard remote power door locks, powered adjustable mirrors, or a rear wiper (like the Prius does).

But, that is stuff that will eventually end up in a landfill. And you care about the environment more than  seeing while your backing up in cold weather while listening to a CD and looking out your clean rear window, right?

Right?