Intervention on Thrifting

- I uploaded my comprehensive thrifting tracker to my favorite LLM and asked for feedback

- The initial experience was as expected - it was all praise for my meticulous documentation of all my trips and purchases since 2024, and my taste in brands and materials etc

- I asked for a more critical perspective and the LLM didn't hold back. It told me what I knew all along but articulated some insights in ways I hadnt thought about as well.

- The biggest motivation for the thrift runs seems to be that thrill of the hunt, of finding rare and exclusive items, especially the higher value one.

- I also feel I'm making up for things I didn't have access to in my younger days such as good speakers, electronic toys, quality fabrics etc. I even bought a Lego set recently because I never had one as a kid.

- The biggest casualty in all my thrift runs over the years is time. Time that could have been spent on other meaningful tasks like learning, hanging out with friends, learning new skills etc.

- In an attempt to move away from consumerism and fast fashion and I adopted a lifestyle that embraced hoarding and pointless purchasing for friends and family who did not share my enthusiasm for used stuff.

- I ended up with a wardrobe that has so many pieces I can go for weeks without repeating an outfit. But for what? Why so much?

- Volume is also a problem. I don't have enough room in my small studio.

- Have also bought a fair bit of lemons in the years that either didn't work at all or took up a lot of time and resources to get them back in order. I sometimes spent far more than what the item cost in replacement parts and accessories.

- I bought a ton of stuff for friends and family but realized only today a big problem is the perception of doing "curation" for others or imposing my taste on others and worse yet, buying "used or rejected" stuff for others. I failed to recognize not everyone is at my income level and may have the ability to buy everything brand new and prefer it that way.

- Why do I have 3-4 of everything - projector, monitors, speakers, amplifiers, even keyboards!

- Why does a Loro Piana or Zegna fabric end up in my cart even if the jacket is not my size?

Resolution 

- Intentional thrifting with less focus on things I have in multiples already 

- No gifts - no exceptions 

- Fewer trips per month moving forward 

- Get the dopamine hit from somewhere else

- Clean out apartment - donate on fb groups, do a clothing swap, or just stuff on the curb

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.