Hey Big Spender [NOT 1/4/24]

Hi, friends!

I hope your day is going well and nobody surprised you with bad April Fool’s hijinks.

Is there something you are shocked at price discrepancies on and have serious doubts about quality differences?

I was reading an article about where Costco vodka is made and the writer mentions that there are bottles of vodka that cost hundreds of dollars. That blows my mind! I’m not saying rail liquor is the way to go, but also I don’t understand how an alcohol designed to be tasteless basically can have such pricing ranges that people are willing to pay for!

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10 Comments

  1. I am good with generic items, things on the deeply reduced rack, etc. There are a few things that I’m fussy about. My face cream, chocolate, and whisky.

  2. Air brushes aren’t like that. The name brand ones like Iwata are pretty expensive. Then there is stuff like Harbor Freight which is cheap cheap cheap.

    Problem is that the cheap shit works okay a few times but then something snaps or clogs or the needle tip bends and it goes south. The Iwata will go on forever.

    • Yeah Harbor Freight ain’t exactly long-lasting with their generics.

      Aldi actually is, though. I had an acquaintance a few years back who worked for a company that manufactured some generics and they actually got turned down by Aldi since the Aldi folks said their generic wasn’t good enough quality for the Aldi name!

    • Paasche & Iwata are the *only* brands to bother with, if you’re gonna airbrush.

       

      And *ALWAYS* wear a respirator when running an airbrush, too, y’all!!!!

       

      Because *as it was explained to me, when I was taught to use one, “You *KNOW* what paint does to a surface–and how it covered it *completely*, right?

       

      An airbrush makes a paint mist *so fine, you can INHALE it*

       

      If you *want* your lungs to LAST you a *whole* lifetime?

       

      ALWAYS wear your respirator, when the paint is in the air. Because when you breathe that paint in, that’s in the air?

       

      It’s going to cover your alveoli *just* as efficiently as the OTHER surfaces you’re actually *trying* to paint!”

  3. Our washing machine is fading, and I went down the Youtube rabbit hole looking at repair videos. A new one is easily $500-$700 and a repair call is supposed to average $300.

    I think I know the part that’s failing. It is made of plastic and the teeth that connect to the drive gear get stripped pretty easily. But there is a replacement you can buy that’s made of metal and is supposed to last much longer for barely more than the regular plastic replacement.

    So I’m going to find out if $50 for the new metal part that’s only about $10 more than the regular plastic is worth it.

    • The hard part with washers and the like is taking them apart. If you know how to open it up without breaking connectors then it’s great (this was literally just before youtube.) My mom got upset with me once for calling a repair man to fix my dryer which was squeaking loudly. Turns out it was a 10 dollar plastic bushing that needed to be replaced. Got a $15 dollar one and the whole thing cost me $90 (which is why mom was yelling at me for wasting money.) However, I didn’t know how to tear one apart (when dad tried to fix her washer, he ended damaging the frame that he couldn’t put it back together AND mom HAD to get a new washer) so the next time this part wore out, I replaced it myself with a higher quality one and no problems since.

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