Small Purchases That Make You Happy

[scotchandcigar]

Also I’m envious, having a basement seems cool.

Basements certainly have upsides and downsides. Especially in New England, where old houses have problematic fieldstone foundations. Even in new construction, there are not a lot of basements that stay dry.

But you can get a lot of extra casual space in a basement, for a home theater, game room, bar, music room. And a nice finished basement can add a lot of living space.

We have a walkout so we can store yard equipment, sort of like a shed. And our basement is dry, because it sits on a giant amount of fill, plus it has a drain around it.

 

[HecticArt]

I got one of these laptop brackets for $30 for the home office.

When I replaced the 52" TV in our living room a few years ago I put the old one in my office over my desk. I didn't have enough room on my desk to use both screens at once, so the bracket lets me do that and have drawings and my iPad on my desk at the same time. Well worth the $29.

 

[sadchild]

oil-filled radiant heaters

When the band practiced at my house (2003-2019), that's what I used to heat the basement about 7 months out of the year. Turned it on an hour before they showed up to get the temp up to 55. On a real cold night, us guitarists had to blow on our hands between songs to warm them up.

there are not a lot of basements that stay dry

Mine collects water near the bulkhead.

My sister-in-law lived in a house where she finished the basement, then it flooded bad and she had to rip out all the rugs etc. Nightmare.

 

[scotchandcigar]

Dollar-wise, this was not a small purchase. But in the grand scheme of things, it qualifies here.

As I've mentioned, I've been having a persistent problem over the past few years with mice nesting in our grill. I've used the non-toxic packets of repellant, which have a mint lavender scent, plus steel wool. They eventually break-open the packets, and setup their bedding on top of the steel wool. I've been keeping the grill on the back deck, and the mice travel under the deck, and come from all over the back yard.

So I've resigned to start preparing the grill a few minutes early each time, so I can preheat (yes, preheat) it, causing the mice to jump ship for a while. Then I get it nice and hot and burn-off any sign of them. Well, Mrs. Scotch decided that this was no longer acceptable, especially with friends coming for a Labor Day cookout. I decided on the replacement model of Weber grill we needed, and fortunately (or unfortunately), you can't bargain shop for Weber grills, as the prices are set by the manufacturer. Therefore, our local hardware store, which is an Ace Hardware seller, would be just as good as any of the "home labyrinth" places. They just so happened to have the very model I was looking for, all assembled (no charge), with free 1-day delivery. So we got it the day before the cookout.



As you can see, it's not on our back deck. The Mrs. refused to spend the money for another mouse habitat, so she insisted we keep it in the garage, and roll it out for use. It's a lot sleeker than our old one, but functionally it's a similar design with an extra "sear station" burner, and all stainless cooking innards. Of course, you just gently press the ignition button and it lights in a whisper, like a kitchen appliance. Our old one went through two sets of ignition wiring, so it's been a long time since I had electric ignition.

It has a 12-year warranty, but does not cover mouse damage. So we'll try to keep it mouse-free.

Edit: I forgot to mention that they made some changes to the design. The bottom of the control panel used to be closed, and that's where the mice would nest. Now it's open. Also, the drip pan at the bottom of the grill interior now covers the entire underside of the grill area, so when you remove it, there's no "floor" to the grill. I think both of these changes were in response to the rodent nesting issue. But still, the Mrs. wasn't satisfied leaving it outside.

 

[IdRatherBeSkiing]

non-toxic was your problem. And super heat it supper fast would also help.

But glad you like your new grill.

 

[scotchandcigar]

non-toxic was your problem.

I'm all for toxic pest killers. But not when it messes-up the food I'm cooking.

 

[HecticArt]

I’m hoping I can grill lamb chops this weekend, sans rodent funk.
I‘ve never grilled lamb chops before, and they just sound good.

 

[scotchandcigar]

I’m hoping I can grill lamb chops this weekend, sans rodent funk.
I‘ve never grilled lamb chops before, and they just sound good.

When we used to host family cookouts, my mother-in-law would show up with like a side of lamb, after I had the grill packed with burgers and chicken breasts, and say "Here, put this on". I think lamb falls into the red meat category, so you can cook it kind of rare.

 

[HecticArt]

So rude! But I guess that's what MILs are good for.
Yep. The restaurants that I've had them at before (lamb chops.....not MILs....) usually recommend rare to medium rare at the most.


As for grill livestock, I had pulled the cover off of my grill once last summer to discover that an ant colony had set up house inside one of the side counter things on my grill. I can only assume that a couple had gotten in the cover while I had it draped over the fence while I was grilling the week before. They didn't get into the cook-box, so I bombed them with some death spray and pre-heated (are you reading 98?????) the grill extra high for longer than usual to be sure.

 

[JHDK]

Dollar-wise, this was not a small purchase. But in the grand scheme of things, it qualifies here.

As I've mentioned, I've been having a persistent problem over the past few years with mice nesting in our grill. I've used the non-toxic packets of repellant, which have a mint lavender scent, plus steel wool. They eventually break-open the packets, and setup their bedding on top of the steel wool. I've been keeping the grill on the back deck, and the mice travel under the deck, and come from all over the back yard.

So I've resigned to start preparing the grill a few minutes early each time, so I can preheat (yes, preheat) it, causing the mice to jump ship for a while. Then I get it nice and hot and burn-off any sign of them. Well, Mrs. Scotch decided that this was no longer acceptable, especially with friends coming for a Labor Day cookout. I decided on the replacement model of Weber grill we needed, and fortunately (or unfortunately), you can't bargain shop for Weber grills, as the prices are set by the manufacturer. Therefore, our local hardware store, which is an Ace Hardware seller, would be just as good as any of the "home labyrinth" places. They just so happened to have the very model I was looking for, all assembled (no charge), with free 1-day delivery. So we got it the day before the cookout.

View attachment 9893

As you can see, it's not on our back deck. The Mrs. refused to spend the money for another mouse habitat, so she insisted we keep it in the garage, and roll it out for use. It's a lot sleeker than our old one, but functionally it's a similar design with an extra "sear station" burner, and all stainless cooking innards. Of course, you just gently press the ignition button and it lights in a whisper, like a kitchen appliance. Our old one went through two sets of ignition wiring, so it's been a long time since I had electric ignition.

It has a 12-year warranty, but does not cover mouse damage. So we'll try to keep it mouse-free.

Edit: I forgot to mention that they made some changes to the design. The bottom of the control panel used to be closed, and that's where the mice would nest. Now it's open. Also, the drip pan at the bottom of the grill interior now covers the entire underside of the grill area, so when you remove it, there's no "floor" to the grill. I think both of these changes were in response to the rodent nesting issue. But still, the Mrs. wasn't satisfied leaving it outside.

Like you said, I don't know if I would call that a small purchase dollar wise. I mean I didn't look it up, but I could guess it's somewhere around a grand. But anyway that doesn't matter. It looks awesome and I'm glad you're happy with it.

Also, I find it hilarious that you had to clear out a family of mice every time you wanted to like cook a burger. That seems more manly than I would be willing to be.

First, I wouldn't want to be anywhere near living mice. I'd probably pick up Athena and literally throw her at the grill and just hope for the best that like an hour later the mice were scared off or eaten.

Next after Athena cleared them out I don't think I would want to eat a burger I cooked on the backs of a suburban mouse family I just evicted. I mean I know it would be sterile and everything but it would get in my head. Hah

Anyway, if you're talking about that type of dollar amount, I made a small purchase too. I've been living in this apartment since May of 22 and I've mentioned before I'm literally right next to a Walmart so I've been doing all my laundry at the laundromat that's in the Walmart area but I bought a washer and dryer a couple days ago from Best buy. They're insignia brand like the cheapest ones. I think the total was like $850 for both.

I don't need anything fancy. I just need something to make my clothes smell good and make them hot and dry.

I did the math and 154.6 full cycles at the laundromat will equal what I paid for this washer and dryer. At a laundromat I only go once a week because it's a bit of a hassle. So, I imagine when I have them in my apartment it will take far less than 154.6 weeks to hit that mark.

They get delivered this Monday. I paid the extra for the dryer installation because I'm hoping that includes cleaning out the dryer vent because I'm pretty sure if it's not cleaned and I try to dry a load of laundry, I will burn down this entire public storage. Dying in a fire seems like an unpleasant way to go. So, I'd prefer that doesn't happen..... It would likely get on the local news though so that would be cool.

 

[scotchandcigar]

It's worth it just to save the transporting of clothes back and forth.

 

[JHDK]

It's worth it just to save the transporting of clothes back and forth.

You're absolutely right but that's why it took me me this long to pull the trigger. The laundromat is literally about 5 blocks away I would say. So under 90 seconds in the car. It seemed like a luxury purchase that took me 2 years to justify.

Meanwhile, I'll buy a Casio that costs like $700 and not think anything of it so my judgment is horribly skewed.

 

[HecticArt]

It's worth it just to save the transporting of clothes back and forth.

The time wasted at the laundromat always sucked.

 

[JHDK]

New item by JHDK

photos.app.goo.gl

They arrived today. I'm already on my second load. I'm going to wash everything I own. At least for the next few times I need to do laundry. It's going to be exciting so I'm going to take advantage of that. The guys who installed it really know what they're doing. I mean it took them like 15 minutes in and out.

Anyway, 2 years of going to the laundromat has now come to an end. It's nice to have my own washer and dryer.

 

[JHDK]

Welp, I just finished my 4th and final load of the day. Did all the couch cushion covers. Hahah.

4 down, 151 to go before it's paid itself off.

 

[scotchandcigar]

I just finished my 4th and final load of the day.

Your wrist must be sore.

 

[sadchild]

Ah to be 19 again...

 

[IdRatherBeSkiing]

Ah to be 19 again...

If he was 19 he probably could have done a 5th.

 

[JHDK]

I'm not sure what I did with the RAV but it was a better system for handling trash.

With the Venue I put a Publix bag behind the shotgun seat and I put trash in it. However, when I'm driving and I reach back to put trash in it half the time I'm not sure if I'm actually putting it in the bag or to the side of the bag.

So today I bought this to fix that problem and it was $6 and it's a small purchase that makes me happy.

New photo · Monday, Mar 10, 2025

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I don't love how big it is but also I don't really care because I've had people in the backseats maybe once since I've owned the car. We'll see how it goes after I use it for a few months.

 

[sadchild]

Hanging a trash can off the headrest of one of your front seats? No thanks. I can be redneck to some extent. I'll grill on my front step during winter. I'll wear a flannel shirt to a nice restaurant. But that's too far.