What first world problem did you have today?

[lxskllr]

I was just laying in bed, and it dawned on me I didn't remember putting the hotdogs I bought in the freezer. After tearing the freezer apart, looking in the fridge, the box I brought groceries home in, and the cabinets(!), I found them in the truck after my second trip out there...

Do you suppose they're still edible? They were out there for ~10 hours, much of which was 90F+ heat. They're still factory sealed, and they're barely meat anyway... It's only crappy 80¢ Aldi hotdogs, but I don't like losing stuff due to my carelessness. They're in the freezer now. I guess I need to decide how brave I am...

I posted this in 2015. I ate a couple last night, and I think I'm still alive. All these years, I'd see them in the freezer, and think "Eh, maybe another time". Decided it was "another time", and I either need to eat them, or throw them out. Made beans and weinies with Clarks organic beans with maple syrup. Imported from Canada! The dogs weren't any worse than fresh ones, so I guess I'll finish the pack.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Haha that is brave.

So FWP for today, I think I disappointed my parents. Have to say that is a feeling that hurts. They are legit disappointed. Especially my dad. I'm buying a 65k 32 acre property, and they are totally against it. My dad was flipping out on the phone. "You could have bought a camper for half that price and park it anywhere!". I get that, but I wanted the land, so it's my own.

And now I'm kind of having my doubts... but I guess I will just need to try to prove them wrong that it was not a bad idea. That will be motivation to do work on it I guess.

 

[lxskllr]

Congratulations! Fuck 'em. Unless you did something really stupid, it's hard to lose much money on land. If it doesn't work out for you, you can sell it and do something else. After using a camper, it's eventually worth scrap value, and you still have to pay to park it on someone else's property, and follow their rules.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Yeah that's my train of thought too. That camper will not be worth as much 5-10 years down the line and I still need to pay to park it somewhere, and yeah, follow their rules. My dad sells RVs... so maybe that's why he's hurt I did not buy one from him.

I'm not near a lake but I'm like 20 minutes from a provincial park so there's that. Lake front is expensive, like over 200k.

I bet I put 5k of solar equipment in there I can flip it for 10k more. Most people are scared of electricity and hire people for that stuff, I would do it all myself.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Suppose to go see some cottages with my family tomorrow, now they're convincing me to buy at this campground place instead. Problem is you don't own the land. But they don't care about it. "But there's a lake and it's nicer who cares if you don't own it!". But you don't own the land, there are lot fees, and pretty sure there are probably rules about what you can and can't do. And you're probably glued next to someone else. But they don't care about stuff like that like I do.

I don't know how they sell these places so cheap though, one of them is like 20k and it's a decent size house. Maybe because people want to buy a place where they actually own the land...

So yeah tomorrow is going to be a tough day I think. They will all jump on me when I decide I still want to buy the one I found.

Sometimes I wish I had bought this without even telling them, like, at all. But I was feeling excited and figured they would be happy for me.

 

[BoomerD]

Suppose to go see some cottages with my family tomorrow, now they're convincing me to buy at this campground place instead. Problem is you don't own the land. But they don't care about it. "But there's a lake and it's nicer who cares if you don't own it!". But you don't own the land, there are lot fees, and pretty sure there are probably rules about what you can and can't do. And you're probably glued next to someone else. But they don't care about stuff like that like I do.

I don't know how they sell these places so cheap though, one of them is like 20k and it's a decent size house. Maybe because people want to buy a place where they actually own the land...

So yeah tomorrow is going to be a tough day I think. They will all jump on me when I decide I still want to buy the one I found.

Sometimes I wish I had bought this without even telling them, like, at all. But I was feeling excited and figured they would be happy for me.

Is your dad gonna get a commission if you buy at this lake resort? Kind of sounds like it.

Either that...or they want you to buy there so they can use it...

 

[lxskllr]

$20k? Buy both. Get the campground spot to make your parents happy, then get the raw land to have fun with. Cut wood on your raw land, and sell at a premium to the campground people.

 

[Red Squirrel]

$20k? Buy both. Get the campground spot to make your parents happy, then get the raw land to have fun with. Cut wood on your raw land, and sell at a premium to the campground people.

That is kinda tempting, though 60k is my absolute max that I can do. Also the sellers of the cabin dropped their price from 65 to 60k. I was surprised tbh, they were originally asking 85k so I did not even offer lower than what they asked for. But I think now they are worrying a bit that I might back out, I told them something came up and I had to delay a bit. For 65k the plan was that I would pay 60k right away then pay the rest in a year from now but now that they dropped that, even better. That's 5k that can go towards the solar setup or something.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I think what they also don't understand is that all the plans I have with the property are not going to happen overnight. I know I won't be able to afford to do any of those for a while.

I do have to seriously start thinking about a secondary source of income though if I want to actually have any fun money, since I still have the house and all the bills that come with it. Eventually if I did setup this place to live off grid I would just sell the house and get a super cheap apartment here. It would just be a place to sleep when I'm working, then I would go live at the cabin when I'm off. I would have so much more extra money for fun things that way. Always kinda wanted to get into fourwheelers and skidoos and even fixing cars and stuff, just never had the room to play with that sort of stuff.

 

[lxskllr]

Whatever you do, don't accept pressure from your parents. It's your life, and you need to live it as you see fit, mistakes and all. If you live someone else's life, there'll be doubt and resentment over the path not taken.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Yeah in the end I just need to push forward and do what I want. It hurts me when they disapprove and go against me, but I will feel even more like crap if I buy something I don't even want.

 

[highland145]

Your $$, your choice, your happiness.

 

[pete6032]

$20k CAD ~= $15k USD. That would get you a nice covered parking garage spot at most condos close to downtown here.

 

[highland145]

$15k in SC will get you a tricked out 12x20 Handi house if you do the work yourself.

 

[snoopy7548]

I say go for the land. You'll have the option to build your very own squirrel farm!

 

[ponyo]

@Red Squirrel , Do whatever makes you happy. You seem to like the idea of living on remote land. But research the pitfalls of owning remote land and why it might not be the best idea or investment. Find out if your family has any real insight why they're against the purchase of the land. I seriously doubt it's for selfish reasons.

I sometimes browse LandWatch. I like the idea of owning large piece of land. Something that is mine. But then I ask myself what am I going to do with this large piece of land if I buy it? I don't hunt. Just sit on it? Remote land don't really appreciate much in value and is highly illiquid. If I need to sell quick for any reason, I'll get murdered and only get pennies on a dollar. If I want to sell slow, it might take years to get one decent offer. Seems like huge hassle to own remote land. I need valid reason to buy remote land, and I don't have one. But your case is different because you actually plan to eventually live there. So I say go for it provided that's really what you want to do, and you think it will make you happy. It's your life, and you only have one short life to live.

 

[Red Squirrel]

We went to see those other cottages, but it's basically like a house. You have neighbours, you're not really in the bush and you still have to pay lot fees, hydro, and even taxes. So yeah, no. Maybe if I was living there and it was my only place to live, sure. They were decent, but nothing I would want as a place to go camping, does not really feel like camping. We also went to see my piece of land and they were not impressed at all.

At the end of the day, decided to just not buy it. My parents really are against it and would want nothing to do with it. My original intention was that I could have built a really nice cottage over time and they could even come visit. Maybe even do Christmas there. But they just wanted nothing to do with it because there's no lake. It would also take me several years before I can build anything or even add water/sewer etc anyway as I would be maxed out financially.

Kinda disappointed but also thinking it's better financially. If I wait until the mortgage is paid I'll be like 39 so I'll probably be too old to have any energy to want to do anything at that point so it's why I wanted to do this so soon, but reality is I'm just not rich and just need to be happy with the house I have and stick with that for now. I still have a few projects to do such as converting garage to a shop and finishing the basement and server room, so at least I'll have breathing room to do those. Once I do the shop there are lot of other projects that will rely on that. So those will keep me busy for a while. I would love to get to a point where I have a nice big garage to work on cars etc (that was one reason for the land) but I suppose I can stick to smaller projects. My current garage is too small to really work on a car unless it's like a smart car or something and even then. Once that is converted to a shop I think I'll be able to do lot of hobby stuff that will keep me occupied even without owning land.

So I texted the buyer and cancelled, waiting for response to see what he says. I hate to do that though since we got so far in, even to the point of getting the lawyers involved. It's kind of a dick move to do this.

 

[IronWing]

I went into the office this morning for the first time in weeks I set off the building alarm. I had to call the alarm company and the dispatcher was like, “Take a number, you and every other employee. This has been my Monday morning for the past two months.”

 

[Red Squirrel]

My coffee machine started acting strange. It's making the same sound as when it's almost done brewing, but making that sound throughout the entire brewing process. It also took like 20 minutes to brew, and I ended up with less coffee for the same amount of water as normal. It's just a cheap Proctor Silex so I might just replace it but I hate throwing something away. Might try to see if I can figure out what's going on. I don't see anyting that looks abnormal though, so it's weird.

 

[BoomerD]

My coffee machine started acting strange. It's making the same sound as when it's almost done brewing, but making that sound throughout the entire brewing process. It also took like 20 minutes to brew, and I ended up with less coffee for the same amount of water as normal. It's just a cheap Proctor Silex so I might just replace it but I hate throwing something away. Might try to see if I can figure out what's going on. I don't see anyting that looks abnormal though, so it's weird.

How's your water? Might just need a good cleaning and vinegar soak.

 

[sdifox]

My coffee machine started acting strange. It's making the same sound as when it's almost done brewing, but making that sound throughout the entire brewing process. It also took like 20 minutes to brew, and I ended up with less coffee for the same amount of water as normal. It's just a cheap Proctor Silex so I might just replace it but I hate throwing something away. Might try to see if I can figure out what's going on. I don't see anyting that looks abnormal though, so it's weird.

just run water + vinegar through it a few times. as in brew cycle. I had a proctor silex for 15 years. only had to replace it cuz I broke the carafe. Coffee maker was only 3 dollars more than a replacement carafe

 

[Red Squirrel]

Yeah I did that a bit, I put some CLR in it too, letting it soak then I'll run it through again. I'm thinking that might all be what it needs, some stuff might have built up in the tube.

I use filterd water but it's not perfect so I'm sure there's still some stuff that builds up over time.

 

[sdifox]

Yeah I did that a bit, I put some CLR in it too, letting it soak then I'll run it through again. I'm thinking that might all be what it needs, some stuff might have built up in the tube.

I use filterd water but it's not perfect so I'm sure there's still some stuff that builds up over time.

Your filter is not going to get rid of the hardness. And CLR is a horrible idea for anything used for food and drink.

https://images.homedepot-static.com/catalog/pdfImages/3e/3e2aa954-9844-4380-ae54-e2006d41dacb.pdf

 

[Red Squirrel]

Another one... experiencing the headache that is printing in Linux. Every freaking time I go to print something, something goes wrong. Now it just refuses to print. At first it was doing the "receiving data..." thing where it sits there forever. I fixed that last time by using a different driver install process. Now it's just refusing to print altogether. There's also 2 printers that show up in the print dialog yet there is only one in the printer settings. One of them does not do anything, it just sits at "Getting printer information" and the other does not print.

Why do they make this so freaking complicated. This is something they should have gotten working flawlessly by now, it's not like it's a new technology.

 

[clamum]

I guess you backed out, Red Squirrel, but I agree with lxskllr in that it's hard to go wrong with owning land, besides if you really did something stupid. I'll say I'm no expert, but from what I can gather land is a pretty great investment, especially if there's some water on the land. I do think 30-some acres is a pretty huge piece of land but I guess it doesn't really matter how big it is, as long as it's a good investment. Seems kinda big for a n00b. I'd maybe look for something a bit smaller with water on it. But don't let your parents tell you land is not a good investment; shit I think it's a way better purchase than a frickin camper but that's just me.

For my FWP, I wanna make a roast beef and swiss sandwich and originally was gonna put mayo on it but I see my mayo has a "best by" date of 04/2019 on it. Eh. I will say it doesn't look weird nor does it really smell weird. Mother scratcher. I guess I'll just use mustard but goddamnit I wanna use that mayo.