Thrift Fails: Bodum Coffee Grinder

- Not at all thrift finds are successful. I have ended up with quite a few duds in the last few years.

- Most recently I picked up this Bodum coffee grinder for 14.95 from the Renaissance at Mont Royal. 

- Although they accept returns for electronics if brought to the store in 3 days, I did a cursory 'turns on?' test and called it a day

- After forgetting about it for than two months, I picked up coffee beans yesterday from Jean Talon

- Did a quick clean of the hopper and poured some beans and pressed the button all excited and nothing happened. The motor made loid noises but the burt didnt budge.

- Saw some videos online and tried to run some rice through the machine and still no luck.

- Opened the whole thing today and inspected the gears. They seem to be okay, no broken teeth. Also added some grease from 3d printer supplies.

- Also checked the carbon brush contacts and they seem to have a lot of life left in them as well.

- This grinder is now going to the dumpster. I don't think I want to hold on the motor either because its AC.

- I may have to buy a new grinder from amazon for my home setup.

Why most of my recent updates have been apparel and thrift finds

 

• Why most of my recent updates have been apparel and thrift finds.
• I don't post on social media anymore. I used to post photos in new outfits and feel good about engagement from friends and family, but I don't feel like doing that anymore.
• I might look a little too materialistic with these posts, and maybe I am. I hope to look at these posts 5 years down the lane and think about either how cringe they are or reflect on how my sense of style evolved after I moved to Canada.
• I remember buying from malls and discount outlets in India, and my sense of style was generally seen as sharp if comments from friends and colleagues were to go by. But after moving to Canada, I realized I started thrifting and going down the rabbit hole of quality clothing, and realized that my previous style may have been limited by mall apparel and a comparably less sophisticated selection of materials.
• So right now I'm riding the rush of quality leather, natural fibers like cashmere and wool, and owning items from luxury brands that I can't afford with three month's worth of salary.  
• Now I want to be clear: I'm not looking to be a fashion influencer at this age, especially with my body physique, but as they say, clothes do give you confidence, and I certainly want to feel good wearing good clothes.
• I want to use my blog to post updates on my evolving style journey, capture all my thrift hauls that I'm proud of but have no audience to share them with, and make this a snapshot in time of what things were like.
• Again, I don't want this to go in the direction of a style blog at all - there will be no production value to anything I post.
• The only expected audience for my content at the moment is ME.
• I have accumulated, or shall I say hoarded, a lot of things in the last 5 years of thrifting -
  shoes, suits, sweaters, electronics, etc. and have an elaborate spreadsheet that I maintain, which breaks down which thrift stores I frequent, what categories take up most of my expenses, the ratio to average retail prices, etc.
• Thrifting is a hobby that may have run into hoarding territory that needs active management and boundaries.
• This is also something that I wish to reflect on as I document my journeys, although I will say in the last few months I have been telling myself I'm doing arguably better than two years ago, when my expenses were significantly affecting my pocket.
• I expect to write about style checks, updates of collections, musings on how I'm dealing with thrifting addiction, changes in perceptions on thrift stores, etc., in further posts.
• I will use the keyword "thrifting" in the labels so they are all organized for better findability.

Life Events and Suits

 

Jeans Upgrades

 - Growing up my idea of good denim was a pair of Levi's and I got my first pair in 2006. Before that it was local brands and hand downs. 

- Other names that come to mind from the 2010s include Pepe, United Colors of Benetton, and Lee. They all had great products and I wore them for years 

- After moving to Canada I was introduced to the idea of high quality denim (selvedge, organic cotton etc) thanks to the numerous mens fashion blogs I started following (esp during the pandemic)

- I limited my indulgence in this hobby to thrift stores and fb marketplace as I started acquiring new pairs of jeans

- Denim heads as they're called are just like any other enthusiast - obsessed about fading, loom heritage, blow-outs (why is that a good thing?) etc etc

- I choose to only focus on good quality denim that feels comfortable and looks good although I will admit the subtle fading of the dye in high stress areas does look nice.

- I'm also not hung up on Made in Japan/US etc but do pick up unique ones when I see them.

- I have managed to acquire a sizeable collection ij the last 5 years and these should last me several years. 

- Not all fit well - some are way too tight and some two sizes too big. Holding on to them all for now.

Photos below:

Update on leather accessory holder

 - The accessory holder I posted about sometime ago is doing quite well

- I'm able to attach my toques, baseball caps, and even the umbrella on bus and metro rides 

- I now have enough horween leather scraps to make several of these. Will start making them soon for family.