Risk free
Full disclosure: I'm a bit of a packrat. I hate to throw out things I might need later. The geekier, the better/worse. I have at least two cardboard boxes in my home office filled with all kinds of cables I've made or spliced. (If you ever need a female USB to male Xbox cable, let me know.)
However, having a spare table, chair and CRT monitor is just too much clutter for me to bear. Rather than try to squeeze a few measly shillings out of the stuff, I decided to try FreeCycle. If you haven't heard of it, it's a network of people who give or receive goods from each other, at no cost, as an alternative to having us all buy too much stuff we don't really need. It's a bit of a hippie concept, but I'm not above that kind of thing, so I placed an ad offering the table, chair and monitor.
I got a quick reply from a woman looking for the very same kind of table I'm offering. She even lives about five minutes from me. Now, I should mention that I grew up in a city where being open and trusting was not a good life strategy. My cynicism runs deep. So, rather than invite hippies (or worse) to my home, I offered to bring it to her.
My guarded cynicism didn't last very long once I brought her the table. It turns out that she had just visualized that exact kind of table the day before my post, and wanted it so that she could set up an art studio in her garage. Being a creative type myself, I was happy to see my table going to a good home. She then said, "I don't have much to offer you in trade, except for these." Then she handed me a plastic bag full of organic Meyer lemons that she grew in her backyard. Visions of delicious lemon curd danced through my head, and dangit if this old curmudgeon didn't soften up quite a bit. Before I left, we talked briefly about art and grief and rekindling one's creativity and all kinds of good topics that we are both coincidentally touched by in our lives lately. Then I thanked her for taking my table and for giving me the fruit, and she thanked me profusely for helping her start up her new creativity, and then I was on my way back home, much richer for the little detour in my day.
However, having a spare table, chair and CRT monitor is just too much clutter for me to bear. Rather than try to squeeze a few measly shillings out of the stuff, I decided to try FreeCycle. If you haven't heard of it, it's a network of people who give or receive goods from each other, at no cost, as an alternative to having us all buy too much stuff we don't really need. It's a bit of a hippie concept, but I'm not above that kind of thing, so I placed an ad offering the table, chair and monitor.
I got a quick reply from a woman looking for the very same kind of table I'm offering. She even lives about five minutes from me. Now, I should mention that I grew up in a city where being open and trusting was not a good life strategy. My cynicism runs deep. So, rather than invite hippies (or worse) to my home, I offered to bring it to her.
My guarded cynicism didn't last very long once I brought her the table. It turns out that she had just visualized that exact kind of table the day before my post, and wanted it so that she could set up an art studio in her garage. Being a creative type myself, I was happy to see my table going to a good home. She then said, "I don't have much to offer you in trade, except for these." Then she handed me a plastic bag full of organic Meyer lemons that she grew in her backyard. Visions of delicious lemon curd danced through my head, and dangit if this old curmudgeon didn't soften up quite a bit. Before I left, we talked briefly about art and grief and rekindling one's creativity and all kinds of good topics that we are both coincidentally touched by in our lives lately. Then I thanked her for taking my table and for giving me the fruit, and she thanked me profusely for helping her start up her new creativity, and then I was on my way back home, much richer for the little detour in my day.