Buyer's Remorse

Buyer's Remorse

OMG, I have purchased a lot of junk over the years.  If i could turn back time, that is the one thing that I would defiantly correct about myself.  I bought too much junk on impulse, to sooth me for the moment or because of my false perception that I was really, really, really going to use this damn thing.

a sail boat- I paid $400 for it.  I thought it was such a great deal.  But truthfully, I am afraid of sail, I can't swim and I just can't get the hang of sailing.  So why was I so hellbent on overcoming my fears??  The sail boat spent 4 months in the driveway at my father's beach house.  Then he died and we sold the house so it spent several months at my uncle's beach house.  Then I moved it up to my house outside of Philadelphia.  Then I finally, finally moved it to my house in MD that was along a river and it sat there fro 2 years before I gave it away to some charity group.  I never got it in the water and I probably owned it for 3 years.

a $300 puppet- I bought it in Poland.  I wanted a small puppet but the guy talked me in to getting the large puppet.  It was beautiful.  It was all hand made and painted and carved from wood.  All the parts moved and I played with it incisively for about a week and then I lost interest in it.  And then I was kicking myself for spending so much damn money on a toy.  So I sold it to my sister.

a Dodge Ram van- I wanted to take a road trip with my 3 college nephews.  I wanted to drive to the last road in North America.  So I bought this old, big ass van and put a lot of money in to it and it was in great shape but my nephews couldn't go with me as they had to work during the summer months which is something I had not considered in my planning.  So we never made the trip.  I did take other trips with this van but it became too expensive to maintain this beast.  It only got 8 miles to the gallon.  I donated it to a local church and they were so damn happy.

so much junk over the years- OMG, I have purchased too much shit in my lifetime.  Dollar stores and garage sales and book stores and music stores and going-out-of-business sales and end of year discounts and all other damn ploys to get in in to a store just to over consume have plagued me for years.  At one time I have a 4 bedroom house and a 2 bedroom house and both were filled to capacity. Now I live in 800 sq feet and I have given most of my junk away.

an 8 track music system- what a stupid way to listen to music. The tracks change out in the middle of a song and it skips in fluidity. I didn't have many tapes and I didn't hold on to the system for too long.  I pawned it off on a friend who was a fellow junk collector.

a tandem kayak- It was a $600 kayak on sale for $45 because the inside bladder had a pin hole leak.  I bought a new bladder for $30 and it was perfect.  It was easy to inflate and easy to store.  But there was one problem: I discovered that I do not like to kayak in the same vessel with anyone else in my kayak.  You really have to be in sync with that person.  And that doesn't work well for me.  I gave  it to a young couple down the street and they were so damn happy.

diamond earring- my parents gave me diamond earrings when I graduated from high school and I wore them every day for 35 years.  Then I went to an auction and there was a pair of diamond earrings that were twice the size of mine.  They were only $1000.  So I bought them and put my parents' earring away.  One day, I was in Austria and I had a knit cap I was wearing.  My earring must have snagged on the cap because I lost an earring somewhere in the marketplace.  I tried not to let this ruin the afternoon or the trip but I was disappointed.  I came home from my trip and put my parents' earring back on.

a floor loom-  I bought this thing in 1982 and I paid $320 which was 4 months rent.  It was a kit and I put it together and it didn't work right so it was frustrating to use.  Then I got a bone spur on my should blade so it became painful to use.  Finally, in 2017, I donated it to a middle school and it is used as a place for kids to go when they are antsy and need to calm down.  They sit in a corner and weave.