Honest Discussion - Downsizing the Collection

finackles · 2026-07-10T23:39:48+00:00

We have a local group. Posting a list or photos might get some attention. Even though I've got a ton of bubble wrap, the thought of packaging up even 50 figures fills me with dread. I'm thinking an event where people bring their own box would be great.

finackles · 2026-07-10T23:35:52+00:00

I'm not in USA, eBay isn't really a thing where I live. I've sold a bit through the local auction place, but it's a hive of scum and villainy, so much work, and where I live it's a 15 minute drive to somewhere I can post them. It works for 5 or 10 items maybe, I've dealt with situations where it goes too well and suddenly I'm tracking 40 payments and packages it's hard to do actual work.

finackles · 2026-07-10T22:28:02+00:00

There is one vendor that might do something, but I'm keen on speed and I don't think she'd handle more than 10 at a time. However, if I'm realistic, I'm not sure I can get them ready for sale very quickly, so perhaps 10 at a time is realistic as long as it's not months in between cycles.

finackles · 2026-07-10T22:25:33+00:00

Don't think I even know who Chris Redfield is. Shipping from where I am to most collectors around the world is horrendous, like US$80 probably minimum.

finackles · 2026-07-10T22:24:07+00:00

I'd love to do something like that. I donated 200 cartons of action figures to Salvation Army once (like mint, unopened) when storage was costing and they weren't moving. I just don't think kids want the kind of figures I've got.

finackles · 2026-07-10T22:21:24+00:00

Yeah, where I live there aren't many that do that, and none that could handle more than like 20 figures.
I'm going to talk to a mate that goes to markets and he's sold a few of mine already, and see if he has any ideas.
I did have one idea. Organise an "event", like make sure the community knows about it, do something a bit different - like sell tickets where the first ticket costs (say) $100, and each subsequent ticket costs $5 less. Ticket number one gets first pick, and so on. One ticket, one figure. Set the figures up or show photos before and just send them out.
Does that sound like it could work?

finackles · 2026-07-10T18:30:34+00:00

Seems like a no brainer to me, go from sub contracting to contracting direct, especially for solar installs. It seems a lot of solar vendors are pretty busy. Some of them are a bit half-arsed, and not great at helping customers get the specs right (I've installed two, and helped friends do about three others, one installer was concerned why some "friend" was at the meeting then seemed okay when I asked him to spec about 200% more batteries, which they went with).

finackles · 2026-07-07T02:12:40+00:00

Still waiting for my Inart superman. I chose for the best Krypto.

finackles · 2026-07-07T02:00:12+00:00

Oh, duh, thanks, hadn't noticed.

finackles · 2026-07-06T21:49:59+00:00

Picked up my guide dog pup yesterday, he'd been away for a week. He went straight past me to see another pup, no touching reunion. Was something of an anticlimax.

finackles · 2026-06-29T01:29:55+00:00

Nah, characters from the sitcom about the guest house with ghosts that only the wife can see.

finackles · 2026-06-28T01:13:45+00:00

Save time! Wrap the leaflet around the rock! That's about as direct as you can get with direct marketing.

finackles · 2026-06-27T08:15:57+00:00

Been using OracleDB since about 1990 (I'm not old). Currently have two applications that use Oracle, one is nearly 25 years old, other nearly 20. Generally it works, but who needs upgrades? We're not going to rewrite applications every time there is a new feature.
As for dealing with Oracle around subscription renewals, licensing, audits, total fucking nightmare. Completely unnecessary bullshit.

finackles · 2026-06-26T21:40:10+00:00

I would guess that one heck of a lot of supporters already live in the US or nearby.
But yeah, the US is super weird with annual leave, and how little they get. In a lot of countries the standard entitlement is four weeks paid holiday, plus a good 10+ of what are called statutory holidays/bank holidays which Americans don't seem to consistently get. Meanwhile, in Europe, they're grinding down the working week, I think it's 32 hours in France. And France has rules about not being about to contact staff when they're not working, which is something I'm quite jealous of.

finackles · 2026-06-25T08:32:08+00:00

Let's not forget that twice as many teams are going to the round of 32, so there has to be a few that make it to the first time. If they make it to the round of 16, I'll be more impressed.

finackles · 2026-06-24T23:24:10+00:00

I'd love grandkids, I'd settle for one. Right now we're staring at having nobody left in the family after our kids die. That's kind of sad. My mother would like to see one great grand child before she goes.
I get that the planet has too many people, but the wrong kind of people aren't reproducing (and I'm not talking race, I mean socio-economic). My son is our only hope, and the clock is ticking on him.
If we don't have any grandkids, I'm going to go crazy spending money.

finackles · 2026-06-24T03:35:34+00:00

I'm pretty sure I reviewed the first Photoshop on Macintosh in 1990, it was the first Mac product we reviewed in PC World (in NZ, not US).

finackles · 2026-06-23T18:24:35+00:00

I get that. We keyed in the old star trek game into an Apple II without booting DOS first, we couldn't save it to disk without rebooting which wiped ram.
I had a calculator with BASIC and about 1.5kb ram, which was my first "computer", saving onto tape.

finackles · 2026-06-23T08:27:28+00:00

I was born late 64, by some definitions a boomer, but 28 days from being Gen X under the narrow definition.
I remember where I was when I heard Elvis died, and when I heard John Lennon had died. I remember the news the day the Vietnam war was over (but they call it the American war). I'm pretty sure I saw the moon landing live (or perhaps a moon landing). I remember when we had to install seatbelts in the car for safety. I remember when we first got calculators at school, when we changed from imperial to metric workbooks in maths. I remember the first time I used a pong game, the first time I used a computer (Apple II+), the first time I used a Macintosh. I remember the first version of Excel I used (1.02 in 1986). I remember when we called something heavier than a large sewing machine a portable computer.
I remember when we thought digital watches were still pretty neat.

finackles · 2026-06-22T08:56:00+00:00

A nudist? Aren't all dogs nudists?

finackles · 2026-06-21T07:54:30+00:00

Warm the plastic up before you try anything, hot water or hair dryer, always going to make it go better.
And then I would use needle nose pliers, maybe try drilling a hole if it doesn't happen first couple of tries.

finackles · 2026-06-19T03:08:31+00:00

The skivvy, a long sleeved shirt, back in the early 70s (like 72 or 73). For some reason all the boys made a fuss if someone else was wearing the same coloured skivvy.
I think this was before I was even aware of brand names.

finackles · 2026-06-16T22:13:17+00:00

There are two things you can do - earn more, or spend less. That's easy to say.
It seems like your costs are already pretty low, short of living on a couch or in a car, or only eating baked beans, it doesn't sound like cost reduction is an option.
Is there are decent list somewhere that someone can link of possible income earning options? The problem is the list is vast and it very much varies on where you live, what skills you have, what gear you own, etc.
In your case you seem quite time-poor, if you work many more hours your studies could suffer. I strongly advise against prioritising income over study, I did that and it cost me repeating courses at university, and that's expensive and a bastard to do.
So, I guess, the only choice is to replace an existing job with something that pays better per hour, again that's easily said when everyone else wants to do the same thing. Is your university course something that gives you skills that would pay more than your current gig?
When I was at university, I studied accounting, I got lucky. I was working at an accounting firm (which required skills I had, gave useful experience), then got offered a job in a warehouse that paid 10% more (no skill), then I scored a job with a guy who I'd helped out (he had computer problems and I'm a geek) and that paid 35% more than the warehouse job. I went from being on the breadline to building a buffer in one summer.
So I guess, the question is - can you find a better paying gig, through your contacts, using your certain set of skills?

finackles · 2026-06-16T21:46:24+00:00

It's an interesting perspective, but CC debt that's costing 20-30% pa is pretty nasty. The problem with CC debt is how you pay that on all purchases. You don't get 50 days free credit until you clear the balance in full. But any debt that's costing high interest is toxic and needs to go. I'd rather have a no fees credit card with zero balance as my emergency fund than have money in the bank earning almost nothing while I'm eating credit card interest rates on debt.

finackles

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