Surprise...
Today my tightwad boss actually gave away one of the many electronics and small appliances he has lying around (freebies for selling various radio brands) and the bonus is, I was the beneficiary. He actually followed through on his promise to give a prize to the best costume for halloween, and me and my ren-faire reject garb pirate costume won the prize. So now I have a radio/cd player for my desk. woohoo!