Reverse first-world problems: What *good* thing happened to you today?

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nutxo

Diamond Member
May 20, 2001
6,749
422
126
I bought a soundbar from a guy last week and told him I was looking for a sub. He said he could get one one for like 40% less than retail. I told him let me know. I want it. He called last night and said he had the thing....

I told him I couldn't spend anymore right now. I just bought a TV, soundbar and surround speakers and my wife hates it all. He says he already paid for it WTF? I told the dude a lot of people make promises they can't keep and I never expected him to actually come through.

Long story short I got an $750 sub (closer to 850 after tax and shipping) For 450 bucks...
 

IronWing

No Lifer
Jul 20, 2001
68,847
26,620
136
One of my favorite local restaurant/grocery stores is reopening. The original owner died and the family discovered that the deceased's accountant had totally screwed up tax payments for decades leading to a massive tax debt, killing the family business. They were able to restructure the business to get operational again.
 
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Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
67,194
12,025
126
www.anyf.ca
Got the results for my tax return and I'm getting around $1,600 back. I took out a lot of shares in 2021 so I was worried I'd get hit with capital gains and end up having to pay a few grand or something but I guess the hit is not that bad. I did do a lot of charity donations (about $2,000 worth) so maybe that helped me out.

That means I should be able to take out more shares this year and be in good shape tax wise without worrying. I technically have enough to pay off my credit line. But at same time I'm probably making more money with my shares via dividends and gains than I'm paying interest on credit line... so I'm kind of torn as to if I should pay it off or not. I generally don't like holding on to debt if I don't have to though.
 
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MrSquished

Lifer
Jan 14, 2013
21,004
19,439
136
Did an event for a guy who I'm working with and consulting for that wants to start a franchise ready fast food concept. This was for about 20 people to get feedback on the products I had developed with vendors and a few myself. It went very well. I was getting offered celebratory shots from the guy left and right as the party was winding down so he was happy.

Then when things were finally winding down last night at the venue and I could check my phone, I had a WhatsApp voice message from my GF who is in Costa Rica on vacation, and it was the sweetest thing ever about how she's never quite felt like this before - it validated that we are both on the same page and this is a very healthy start to our relationship by being on the same wavelength.

I had a big smile on my face last night. Quite literally.

Also the event was at a bar in the east village. NYC was so alive and the staff said things were coming along quite nicely. Not 2019 levels yet but very good. They expect St Patrick's day and the spring to take care of that. It's a joy to see this amazing city continue to emerge from the pandemic.
 
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IronWing

No Lifer
Jul 20, 2001
68,847
26,620
136
Back in August, we ordered signs for our land. We threw a few American flag stickers onto the order as folks are less likely to shoot a sign with a flag on it. The stickers got backordered and finally arrived today.
 

Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
67,194
12,025
126
www.anyf.ca
We're having a false spring so snow is melting a lot and there's water everywhere. Before it goes back to winter mode I figured I'd try to find the storm drain. I totally see how people think dousing rods work because I went by feel. I dug a small path around where I figured the curb was, then I'm like "the drain is probably around here" and I shoved the straight end of the crowbar through the bottom layer of hardened snow that I could not easily get with the shovel and felt it hit metal. I hit the drain grate. What are the odds. Dug it out a bit more so there is at least a small hole leading to the drain while the snow is still workable.

I always make the mistake of waiting until real spring to do that, and by then the bottom layer is solid ice.

As it continues to melt tomorrow the path to it should widen and the water should drain better.

There's probably some weird law against this, but F it, if it's going to help prevent my neighbourhood from flooding I'll do it.
 
Nov 17, 2019
10,667
6,389
136
I had a yard machine widget listed at Craig's place on and off since last fall. No real bites. Put it up again a few weeks back. Today, I happened to check the associated email address (I don't put phone numbers there) and found two messages about it. Made contact. A few hours later the guy shows up with cash in hand.

Not a scam type widget, so once I talk to someone and get a feel for them, no real worries about meeting.

Widget's gone, cash (few hundred) is in my hand.

Not something I expected this morning.
 
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MrSquished

Lifer
Jan 14, 2013
21,004
19,439
136
Well this happened on Monday. I ordered a mattress at night. Early the next morning, I got a SHIPPED email and a tracking number. Of course, just label created. I assumed it was going to be another of these deals where it sits as label created for a couple days or more before actually shipping.

Lo and behold it shipped later that day! HUZZAH!
 

Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
67,194
12,025
126
www.anyf.ca
Cashed in some of my company ESP stock since the stock has been doing well, and it came in today. Kind of crazy to see 27k balance in my main account. I'm used to seeing numbers that big in credit accounts, not checking accounts. :p

It's gone now though, I put it on the credit line, got about 10k left on it. Should be able to pay that off next year when I can take out more ESP again. Then my truck and acreage property will officially be paid for.
 

Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
67,194
12,025
126
www.anyf.ca
For some reason I have not been getting any kind of notices or anything about our union meetings. I even missed voting for the new collective agreement, had no idea that even happened. But the good news is I just found out some details on it, looks like we are getting a 2% raise every year for 4 years (duration of agreement). That's still not enough to keep up with inflation but it's more than we've ever had. The last agreement was actually considered good by historic standards and our raises were only like a fraction of a %.

It's rare we actually get anything good so this is still worth celebrating.
 

Captante

Lifer
Oct 20, 2003
30,244
10,748
136
My Samsung SSD is taking errors, so I had to call them for a replacement. I was shocked when someone answered on the first ring, and took care of me with no problems.

I've had exactly one failure out of at least 20 Samsung SSD's that I've used (256gb 840 Pro SATA) and had the same experience.... service was terrific.

Too bad they can't get the SSD people to help out with appliances!
 

Muadib

Lifer
May 30, 2000
17,914
838
126
I've had exactly one failure out of at least 20 Samsung SSD's that I've used (256gb 840 Pro SATA) and had the same experience.... service was terrific.

Too bad they can't get the SSD people to help out with appliances!
This is my second Samsung drive that gave me problems. First one was a 840 sata drive that died when I moved it to my Plex server. I didn't complained though, because it lasted a long time. The latest is a T7 touch external SSD. I just got it in March, so I wasn't happy.
I have a Samsung washer & dryer that have been bullet proof. September will be year 12 for the pair.
 

Captante

Lifer
Oct 20, 2003
30,244
10,748
136
I have a Samsung washer & dryer that have been bullet proof. September will be year 12 for the pair.

You got lucky.... Samsung doesn't have great reliability when it comes to major home appliances although from what I've read service and parts availability for them has improved quite a bit.

And per the tech I spoke with to get my RMA approved the entire Samsung 840 series had firmware issues which could cause it to stop responding intermittently after its updated which is exactly what happened to mine.

Despite this Samsung is my slam-dunk #1 choice when it comes to SSD's... for awhile I really liked WD too but they've slipped.
 

Muadib

Lifer
May 30, 2000
17,914
838
126
You got lucky.... Samsung doesn't have great reliability when it comes to major home appliances although from what I've read service and parts availability for them has improved quite a bit.

And per the tech I spoke with to get my RMA approved the entire Samsung 840 series had firmware issues which could cause it to stop responding intermittently after its updated which is exactly what happened to mine.

Despite this Samsung is my slam-dunk #1 choice when it comes to SSD's... for awhile I really liked WD too but they've slipped.
I don't know what happened to WD. When I bought red drives for my NAS that I put together, they were great. What in Sam Hill happened to them?
 

VashHT

Diamond Member
Feb 1, 2007
3,058
865
136
Despite this Samsung is my slam-dunk #1 choice when it comes to SSD's... for awhile I really liked WD too but they've slipped.
I may have gotten lucky but I've had a WD black 1Tb nvme drive and it's been great for the 2+ years I've had it. I got it for a great price at the time and decided to take the chance and so far it's worked out.
 

Captante

Lifer
Oct 20, 2003
30,244
10,748
136
I may have gotten lucky but I've had a WD black 1Tb nvme drive and it's been great for the 2+ years I've had it. I got it for a great price at the time and decided to take the chance and so far it's worked out.


I have a WD SN850 NVME as the boot-drive in my primary gaming system and it's been great... the problem I have with WD is that they've been pulling the disappearing DRAM cache trick lately with their new drives.
 

pmv

Lifer
May 30, 2008
12,969
7,886
136
Traced my steps a mile back to the shops and found the missing bottle of yoghurt juice that had fallen out of my backpack on way home, still lying on the pavement.
 
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Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
67,194
12,025
126
www.anyf.ca
Wow what are the odds, got lucky there.

I once lost like $60 in the ATM and went back and it was still there. :eek: I always count my money now when taking out a large amount... basically some of the bills got stuck on top onside the slot. Realized when I got home and went back figuring there was no chance.
 
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pmv

Lifer
May 30, 2008
12,969
7,886
136
Wow what are the odds, got lucky there.

I once lost like $60 in the ATM and went back and it was still there. :eek: I always count my money now when taking out a large amount... basically some of the bills got stuck on top onside the slot. Realized when I got home and went back figuring there was no chance.


The weirdest example was when I lost my bank card. Retraced my steps for miles and eventually found, lying in the street, not _my_ bankcard, but somebody else's. From the same bank/card provider, just not my card. Real 'false dawn' for a moment there. IIRC I think I eventually found my own still at home down the back of the sofa or somewhere.
 

Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
67,194
12,025
126
www.anyf.ca
Just got a union email for our new agreement- not sure why I missed all the others though. Our signing bonus is $450 and we're getting retro pay next pay cheque for our raise. Going to be a pretty nice pay next week. :eek:

The $450 is probably taxed though so it's more like $300ish I guess.

I'm still quite pleased we're getting 2% as we rarely get more than 1% if anything. Still not enough to keep up with inflation though but it's something. We would need like 20% to keep up with inflation and that's never going to happen lol.
 
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shortylickens

No Lifer
Jul 15, 2003
82,854
17,365
136
Got new glasses.
The old ones were off by half a cylinder each. Which is more than enough to make everything fuzzy. Now the world is sharp.
 
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