Stuff you Want/Don't Want but Don't Much Need.

[Vic Smith]

I've got what I need. At least until I need something I don't have. Had a couple snowblowers, and when they broke I tossed them to the curb. I like not having them getting in the way, and do fine with shovels. But I might die of a heart attack. Not a bad way to go unless I plant my face in yellow snow and still know about it. Still "sort of" want a snowblower. Had an electric blade lawn edger until it broke and I put it on the curb. Now I do just fine with the edging capable whacker and some work with a sharp shovel. Still "sort of" want a gas engine edger. Electric chain saw fits the above, except for now I don't want one at all. But what got me thinking about this was a few more "unusual" things I used to have that I didn't buy. I "inherited" them because they were left in the house I bought, or somebody gave them to me. A Stanley electric planer. Used it a couple times, but it didn't do me much good. My belt sander was better for me. Don't want an electric planer. A grinding wheel dresser. Used that, but I don't do the grinding I used to. Wheels are pretty cheap anyway. Don't want one. Form nails. AKA duplex, double-headed. Used them for some forms and temporary bracing. Drove them everywhere in the garage and workbenchs to hang tools on. Sort of wish I had some. But not enough to buy some. What got me thinking about them was Danny D. punching 50 holes in drywall with nails to see what's behind it. I wondered if he had form nails. And why he didn't use a drill for that. And whether he has a drywall saw. He's really been resisting going after that drywall. Anyway, just ruminating.

[.-.]

Sounds familiar to me. But, I remember the day that I turned from "collector" of things to "un-collector" and started giving things away or putting them out on the curb. The extension ladders were first. I don't like heights and it was silly to think that I would be climbing to the top of those things any more. They went to the local housing repair organization. But, there's more, much more to go.

Tomsic

[gfretwell]

I feel the same way about a smart phone and a tablet. I carried a Motorola portable terminal (40 oz blackberry) for 10 years before blackberry existed. Couldn't live without it when I was working, couldn't wait to get rid of it. I retired so I didn't have to be connected at the hip with the outside world. I do have a cell phone but I seldom carry it and even if I do, it is usually turned off. I average about 15-20 minutes a year.

[krw]

I rarely use my cell phone but I carry it when I'm out of the house. I use it far more for GPS and Internet than I do as a phone. We don't have a land line, so it gets used for that, sometimes (my wife's gets used far more - talk to the kid, etc.). Though I don't use it much, I wouldn't be without it.

[Vic Smith]

I have a bare bones T-Mobile prepaid that I didn't want, but was a gift. I carry it when I leave the house for one reason. If my car breaks down it would work fast to get a tow and a ride. There's few pay phones around now. But I haven't had a car strand me in over 30 years. I was thinking a "smart" phone or a wifi laptop would be handy on vacation to look up "attractions", but I got a Nuvi GPS as a gift. Didn't want that either, but I like it on vacation. Looks up all I want to know - restaurants, lodging, etc. As much as I like my PC and the communications it offers, I don't miss it when I'm on vacation. More time to fish.

[krw]

I haven't had a car crap out on me in ages, either. I'm actually rather surprised I've had so little trouble with my truck (a 2001) over the last year, since I've been commuting on weekends and haven't done much of anything to it. I haven't found a place to have it serviced here. It's on the list of things to do.

My smart phone works stand-alone or as a WiFi hot spot for the laptops. It is very handy in those situations. I can just tell the hotels that charge for WiFi to piss off. I like it as a GPS because the maps are a *whole* lot better than any stand-alone GPS I've ever used. The down side is that without digital service it's a brick.

We've just moved to a new state (I've been working here for a year, my wife moved in October), so the GPS and carry-around Yellow Pages gets a lot of use.

I don't miss it either because they go with us. ;-)

[gfretwell]

I still miss my Motorola bag phones. I had one on my car, one in my truck and one on my boat, cloned to the same number. That fulfilled all my needs. I was never in more than one at a time and the voice mail still worked, no matter which phone I picked up. With a 3 watt transmitter and a high gain antenna that really got out too.

[gfretwell]

I have one of those Lenovo tablet/laptops I got from a surplus joint for a buck and a half that we take on vacation. Any hotel we stay in has free wi-fi but they do charge for movies. With HBO Go I can use their wi-fi, plug into their TV and watch movies for free. We also use it for our music, looking for cool hiking spots on Google Earth, processing pictures from my camera and flinging it up to my web page, videos etc. I really try not to get on these yacking boards on vacation ;-)

My wife has her smart phone and the Nav system in the Lincoln will tell us about just about anything you can drive to.

[Ed Pawlowski]

Last breakdown I had was about 25 years ago. Last week, however, I had to go help a friend. She carries a cell phone but did not have it charged enough to call me. She walked home, called AAA and I took her back to her car.

I have both and they make a great combination. The GPS will tell you where the nearest hotel is, the phone will let you know if they have a room available or you can look up the hotel to get the rates, etc.

I have a $198 netbook that I carry. Small and light, it also provides some entertainment at the hotel. My wife has a medical condition and she sleeps a few hours more than me so I can play on the computer while she gets the sleep she needs. Given the small size it is handy in airports when you have a delay. It has thousands of miles around the world with us.

[krw]

Not to mention the "Net" rates are often considerably less than in-person rates, particularly on the same day.

I can't stand my netbook. I'm using it now (laptop died and another on order). At least I have a real keyboard and display on it now but for traveling? Forget it.

[Stormin Mormon]

Car chargers are cheap enough, on Amazon, Ebay, or cell phone shop (dot net). Worth every penny, I think.

Christopher A. Young Learn more about Jesus

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Last breakdown I had was about 25 years ago. Last week, however, I had to go help a friend. She carries a cell phone but did not have it charged enough to call me. She walked home, called AAA and I took her back to her car.

[Vic Smith]

On Thu, 22 Nov 2012 21:44:58 -0500, [e-mail] wrote:

I don't miss any of it when I'm on vacation. Pretty much concentrate on fishing. Do watch some TV though. But my vacation "event planning" is pretty proscribed. Fish, visit a place, fish some more, sleep, fish, visit a place. Once in a while we do something random and new. But we mostly go to the same places every year. This summer in Punta Gorda we needed the number of the Shell Factory. We go there at least twice for gifts and the nature park. Couldn't remember what day they're closed. My sister's place had about 6 phone books, all Punta Gorda and north. I don't even know if directory assistance works on my cell. Called my daughter in Chicago, who I knew had a Google capable phone. She happened to be walking the picket line in the teacher's strike. On a bridge over the Dan Ryan X-way. Gave me the number in about 15 seconds, without breaking the connection. Real roundabout way to get that number, especially since I found a bit later the Nuvi GPS sitting nest to me had it all along. Forgot it had attraction phone numbers too. Your mention of pictures reminds me of a Dave Barry column years ago, before everything was digital.. Film camera days. One-hour film processing was new, and his wife was getting their photos processed while they were on vacation. It was funny how it struck him. Basically, "I'm looking at vacation photos. WHILE !'M ON VACATION!!" Wasn't natural to him. You've carried that much further then he would have imagined then.

My Nuvi has outdated info - about 6 years old. Garmin wants too much for updated info 50 bucks one-time, 90 bucks lifetime. But you can a buy new one for 100 bucks that comes with lifetime. I'm just using the old maps/data. Hate to throw something that's working away. So far the six year old stuff still works for me.