@kids?@

I have resisted the urge to buy many of the gaming consoles that have come out, but seeing so many of the games that are out there these days, the temptation looms large. I realize I barely have time or energy, so it would collect dust in our house.

That’s another one that got me.  Although I do play in the winter quite a bit.  Haven’t played much this past one.  But I tried to stay busy doing more constructive things this go round in my slow season.

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@kids?@

I have resisted the urge to buy many of the gaming consoles that have come out, but seeing so many of the games that are out there these days, the temptation looms large. I realize I barely have time or energy, so it would collect dust in our house.

That’s another one that got me.  Although I do play in the winter quite a bit.  Haven’t played much this past one.  But I tried to stay busy doing more constructive things this go round in my slow season.

I've never gotten into video games.  But I have gotten into online chess lately.  Mostly against computers.  I lose a lot.  Chess is hard.

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That’s another one that got me.  Although I do play in the winter quite a bit.  Haven’t played much this past one.  But I tried to stay busy doing more constructive things this go round in my slow season.

I've never gotten into video games.  But I have gotten into online chess lately.  Mostly against computers.  I lose a lot.  Chess is hard.

I’ve done that when I was younger.  Hella hard.  

To the original question, [BLEEP], I’ve bought many ham radios, metal detectors, gardening stuff, the latest whiz bangs, doohickeys, you name it.  I’ve got a landscaping business.  Between November and March, I’ve got every other week off.  For over a decade, I’ve been learning new stuff in the winter.  Been buying everything under the sun to help learn or do such activities I happen to try that year.  My biggest regret is not sticking to something and enjoying it and making it a hobby.   I took the ham radio liscence only because I found out you needed one to operate it, and after a week I took the test and got them all right.  So part of me thinks it’s cool since I’m able to do these things, and the other part says, “look at the money you’re wasting”.  Idk.  I suppose it makes me more knowledgeable all around, and I am grateful for that.  But I probably could have bought some land with the money I’ve spent over the years or paid off a nice chunk of the house or added it towards retirement.    I’m still deciding if it’s watesfull or not.  But a higher education will cost more and teach me less.  Who knows.  I do know you can’t take your money with ya when you die.  So, I’ve been busting my [BLEEP] and spending the excess good or bad.

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That’s another one that got me.  Although I do play in the winter quite a bit.  Haven’t played much this past one.  But I tried to stay busy doing more constructive things this go round in my slow season.

I've never gotten into video games.  But I have gotten into online chess lately.  Mostly against computers.  I lose a lot.  Chess is hard.

What's your go-to opening?

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I've never gotten into video games.  But I have gotten into online chess lately.  Mostly against computers.  I lose a lot.  Chess is hard.

What's your go-to opening?

Pawn to king 4, also known as "E4."

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What's your go-to opening?

Pawn to king 4, also known as "E4."

The classic!  Real men never play the Queen's pawn.  

When your opponent matches?

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When you get into the endzone, act like you've been there before.

Pawn to king 4, also known as "E4."

The classic!  Real men never play the Queen's pawn.  

When your opponent matches?

I need to study openings a lot more, but I usually try to go into the Ruy Lopez.   

p-k4   p-k4
n-kb3   n-qb3
b-n5

and so forth.  

One problem I have is, the computer on chess.com, where I play a lot, plays all sorts of openings that I do not know.   If I play p-k4, it most often responds with the Sicilian defense.  But it will also often respond with some defense I've never heard of.  

My chess is handicapped by my laziness and carelessness.   Chess.com has these various computers you can play against, and I've gotten up to computer 6, but it kicks my [BLEEP].  In a timed game, I can outplay it, but I inevitably run short of time and that leads to stupid mistakes.   Chess.com rates my chess as slightly above average.   65th percentile.  

The problem with chess is, you can get to a certain level just playing, but at some point you have to start doing a lot of homework to advance further.  And that's where I am.

And since I have derailed my own thread, I will say, I still want some noise-cancelling headphones.

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I've never gotten into video games.  But I have gotten into online chess lately.  Mostly against computers.  I lose a lot.  Chess is hard.

What's your go-to opening?

"What's a classy gal like you doin' in a dingy gin joint like this?"

Said that to a girl at church, and now she's my wife!

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I have Beats headphones, an Xbox One and a PlayStation 4.. none of which I use particularly regularly...

I have an iPhone but still want an original iPod (with the "wheel" on the front)… needless, but want.

I have 2x Amazon Echo Dot's but still want the video version..

My girlfriend and I have relatively new cars, myself a 2015 and her a 2018.. yet I still want newer cars..

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80% of what I talk about is nonesense.. the other 25% is made up statistics...


 

I spend 6 months mostly in the Northeast, 6 months in St. Augustine and probably have 500 golf balls in each place, yet the 2 dozen BOMB golf balls at Dick's Sporting Goods for $11.99 is haunting me. For some reason, every time I find a BOMB ball I am happy.

I've never bought a golf ball in my life but the idea of having 24 BOMBs to start the season is gnawing at me.

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Season Ticket holder since 2004.

 

        

Yeah, a hooker.

Don't be silly. There's a perfectly good reason for that.

I want a newer motorcycle, but I can't really justify it. I take weekend or occasional rides, but I'm not one of those 'Live to ride, ride to live' kind of guys. Granted, I would ride more if I had a newer, more comfortable bike that was conducive to longer rides but it's so far down my priority list that I really don't see myself doing it any time soon. However, that doesn't prevent me from daydream internet shopping.

It's like you read my mind from October 2017 when I said the same thing about my old motorcycle right before I pulled the trigger on a really nice bike that I had absolutley no need buying.  Like you, for the most part I'm a weekend rider.  My old bike served my purposes quite nicely.  But, the new bike is just a much better weekend rider.  Shiny.  Lots of extras.  Yeah.  Complete waste of money after spending a few years doing the daydream Internet shopping.

What's even better is that now I have a bike I can pretty much buy an accessory for anything.  Over the past year and a half, I've bought a custom seat, custom exhaust, and a new polished set of forks.  Every investment cost me at least another $600 per purchase, but damn, she looks so fine now. lol

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Never argue with idiots. They drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.

And us older folks remember when TVs were built into their own cabinets.

Liquor, turntable and TV all in one. The pinnacle of human achievement.

You hadn't arrived until you had the giant console in your family room.  I remember tearing ours apart when I was in HS to get that giant speaker out of the stereo side to put in my car.  This thing had to be 2 feet across.  A precursor to the subs today.  It took up half my trunk.

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Never argue with idiots. They drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.

That’s another one that got me.  Although I do play in the winter quite a bit.  Haven’t played much this past one.  But I tried to stay busy doing more constructive things this go round in my slow season.

I've never gotten into video games.  But I have gotten into online chess lately.  Mostly against computers.  I lose a lot.  Chess is hard.

Try Bridge. It's more of a challenge since every hand is different. LINK

To answer your original question, i have a nice pair of binoculars hanging in my closet that I bought 20 years ago and have never used.

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"Why should I give information to you when all you want to do is find something wrong with it?"

I've never gotten into video games.  But I have gotten into online chess lately.  Mostly against computers.  I lose a lot.  Chess is hard.

Try Bridge. It's more of a challenge since every hand is different. LINK

To answer your original question, i have a nice pair of binoculars hanging in my closet that I bought 20 years ago and have never used.

I had a friend who used to own a magnificent pair of binoculars..

On a totally unrelated note, he's no longer allowed to live within 500 yards of a women's refuge, not sure why.

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80% of what I talk about is nonesense.. the other 25% is made up statistics...


 

I'm a musician by trade.

One can spend LOTS AND LOTS of money on instruments and recording gear. I know this first hand.
70% of that music gear I purchased - I absolutely did not need.

I've pared things down to mostly the essentials now, but I could probably boost my savings by another 5K by selling a few things I don't really use.

Other than that I have a few items on my eBay watch list that are completely nonessential.
(an expensive swiss watch, a rare vintage surfboard, random mid-century antiques)

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I'm a big Tolkien fan. I have spend a lot of money for some stings/swords from the Lord of the rings....I don' know why...

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So, just to give an update, I was in Costco yesterday with my wife, and I detour over to the electronics, and I'm looking at the aforementioned Bose QuietComfort 35 noise cancelling wireless headphones, and she says,
"You need to buy those."
I say, "Wha?"
My wife is the biggest cheapskate on the planet and proud of it.
She says, "Yes, you need to buy those. You deserve it."

So I bought them.

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So, just to give an update, I was in Costco yesterday with my wife, and I detour over to the electronics, and I'm looking at the aforementioned Bose QuietComfort 35 noise cancelling wireless headphones, and she says,
"You need to buy those."  
I say, "Wha?"  
My wife is the biggest cheapskate on the planet and proud of it.  
She says, "Yes, you need to buy those.  You deserve it."  

So I bought them.

My wife gas always been pretty supportive of my motorcycles, and even some of the upgrade purchases.  However, she's gotten to the point where the new bike is referred to as the money pit.

We don't discuss her obsession with high end purses. I figure I'm better off letting her have her occasional purchase. It's all good!

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Never argue with idiots. They drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.

Don't be silly. There's a perfectly good reason for that.

I want a newer motorcycle, but I can't really justify it. I take weekend or occasional rides, but I'm not one of those 'Live to ride, ride to live' kind of guys. Granted, I would ride more if I had a newer, more comfortable bike that was conducive to longer rides but it's so far down my priority list that I really don't see myself doing it any time soon. However, that doesn't prevent me from daydream internet shopping.

It's like you read my mind from October 2017 when I said the same thing about my old motorcycle right before I pulled the trigger on a really nice bike that I had absolutley no need buying.  Like you, for the most part I'm a weekend rider.  My old bike served my purposes quite nicely.  But, the new bike is just a much better weekend rider.  Shiny.  Lots of extras.  Yeah.  Complete waste of money after spending a few years doing the daydream Internet shopping.

What's even better is that now I have a bike I can pretty much buy an accessory for anything.  Over the past year and a half, I've bought a custom seat, custom exhaust, and a new polished set of forks.  Every investment cost me at least another $600 per purchase, but damn, she looks so fine now. lol

Yes, and then there’s the bling factor for new bikes. Another reason to hold off. Especially if it’s a Harley. I wouldn’t doubt if they can gig you for $80 valve stem caps.

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So, just to give an update, I was in Costco yesterday with my wife, and I detour over to the electronics, and I'm looking at the aforementioned Bose QuietComfort 35 noise cancelling wireless headphones, and she says,
"You need to buy those."  
I say, "Wha?"  
My wife is the biggest cheapskate on the planet and proud of it.  
She says, "Yes, you need to buy those.  You deserve it."  

So I bought them.

Did you also buy the premium dust cover?

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I’ve been fighting the urge to buy that nest smart thermostat

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