Who doesn’t love a bargain?
Clearly pretty much everyone does or there wouldn’t be so many ‘sales’
going on all the time (I am looking at you Macy’s). No one wants to pay retail. However, with something like a shirt, it is
hard to really compare the prices, especially when companies sell their own
brand(s). As such, I am claiming my love
of Amazon Warehouse Deals.
For reasons that defy easy explanation (at least to me)
Amazon sells ‘used’ goods for as much as, if not more than, 50% off. I have purchased quite a few things through
that service and, thus far, the discount is almost exclusively due to damaged
packaging. Buoyed by my recent spate of
small purchases, I decided to go all in and buy something I have had my eye on
for some time, a Dyson vacuum. I know I
am a bit obsessed by vacuums (much to my wife’s chagrin), but am starting to
see them the same way I view shoes. You
can buy a few pair of cheap shoes or one pair of really good ones and, over the
long term, the good pair will outlast the cheap ones and eventually save you
money (even if you were reluctant to spend 3 times the price of the cheaper
shoes at the time).
I waffled a lot on my vacuum purchase. Reviews (opinions) are like assholes after
all, everyone has one. So, for every few
glowing reviews on (insert whatever vacuum), there was a scathing one. No matter if you were talking about a $70 basic
vac or a $1499 Miele (I shit you not, they literally can cost that much). After visiting a vacuum store and nearly
convincing myself and Tia that we needed something in the $700-$800 range
(though we didn’t want to spend more than $500), I opted for the Dyson because
of the availability of expansion tools,
the cost of those tools, the certification from the asthma and allergy
foundation, and the low maintenance costs (no bags, reusable filters).
Dyson’s are not cheap, the retail price was $470, and you can pick up a refurbished model (something I did with my Ipad, though
that was through the manufacturer) for about $350, but that cuts the warranty
from 5 years to 6 months. Or, you can
buy a ‘used’ model that comes in the original packaging (albeit damaged
packaging), unopened, with full warranty for about $320. Since this isn’t an action figure and I have
no intention of displaying it and keeping it ‘in mint condition’, the condition
of the surrounding box is of little consequence to me. So, in summation, the box that the Dyson
comes in is evidently worth about a full third of the cost of the machine, or
around $150 dollars. Gotta love Amazon
Warehouse!
I am super excited to use the vac (I realize this is pretty
lame but honest) and will write more once I get the opportunity to use it.
To kind of liven things up, I am compelled to write about an
experience we had this weekend with some friends. They have 2 kids (there was another couple
with a child there as well), the oldest of which is their 3 year old daughter. We all met up at a park for a picnic. In the middle of the park is a large fountain
that, I would guess, no less than 30 kids were running through. After our picnic dinner, the kids all went to
play in the fountain for a bit before this exchange:
Dtr: “I have to go poop”
Parent: “Okay the bathroom is……
Dtr: (pulls bottom of swimsuit down and poops on the
concrete next to the fountain).
I am sure it was mortifying (they seem like really good
parents), but I told them they needed to write it down because it will be
something to absolutely laugh at later on.
Really puts in perspective Mr. Q taking his dump on our living room
floor (and this morning urinated on the hardwoods in his room in the minute
between cleaning up his dirty diaper and getting out a clean one after I set
him on the floor so he wouldn’t fall).
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