<p>One person’s trash is another’s treasure… Would you all send those Nordic Tracks to my husband? He loves them (the ski machine) and they don’t make them anymore. He keeps wearing em out, repairing, looking for spare parts, etc. I’ll trade you lots of Beanie Babies!</p>
<p>OMG, I forgot all about the eyeglass cleaner from Sharper Image. Yes, I bought it for H last Christmas, AT HIS REQUEST. It came and went so quickly that I forgot we even had it.</p>
<p>Now the “white noise” machine my son requested was a real hit…</p>
<p>I am so sorry that Sharper Image and Brookstone opened stores in a local mall. It used to be so easy to just throw away the catalogs.</p>
<p>I have one of those clean air generators from Sharper Image sitting in my bedroom. I was never convinced it did anything and it interfered with FM reception on my clock radio, so it’s not even plugged in. I guess it’s time to move it to the garage (the purgatory before it’s eventually put to the curb).</p>
<p>amdgmom, I thought my H was the only one to buy such useful things. We took a Sat. night stroll last June and went into a Sharper Image. He was looking at soap dispensers that play music! Now why would you want a liquid soap dispenser to play music? I am happy to report that I talked him out of it, so I cannot list it a dumbest purchase.</p>
<p>most of the purchases were children motivated
I used to spend so much on my older daughters clothes- she was adorable, but did I really need to know the Nordstrom clerks by name?</p>
<p>We also spent a lot joining a health club, that my husband didn’t use as much as we thought he would, and I really didn’t like the way it was set up, but it was close. We kept the membership for a couple years after the expensive intitiation fee, but since then a club has opened up without an initiation fee that I actually like better.( and go to)</p>
<p>My eyeglass cleaner is sitting unused for already two years now. It seemed like such a great idea at the time…sigh…but I did get one for my in-laws who have glasses that looked like they hadn’t been cleaned in months. I thought maybe they would use it. They were probably smart enough to throw it away rather than have it sit on the counter…</p>
<p>Sometimes it’s best to be a clueless dad. Last night I agreed to go to the upscale mall in town since my favorite restaurant is right across the street and D2 needs a homecoming dress. My wife starts to head towards Neiman Marcus, so I say “Isn’t that going to be a little bit expensive for a dress?”. My wife retorts: “What do you think D1 spent on her dresses?”. I had to admit I had no idea (and don’t want to know).</p>
<p>“did I really need to know the Nordstrom clerks by name?” Hey, EK, don’t feel bad. That’s what Nordstrom clerks are trained to do. I know two shoe saleswomen by name, and I’ve only bought shoes at Nordstrom a few times.</p>
<p>I’ve been trying to figure out which of my many dumb purchases would qualify as the dumb-EST purchase. Would that be the house that took us a year to sell because it was so weird? (But we actually didn’t lose that much money on it, so maybe not.) </p>
<p>The 1984 Alfa Romeo GTV6 that I loved driving (it was in one of the James Bond movies) but which spent half its life in the shop? (I should have realized that any car with electric windows that ALSO HAS A MANUAL WINDOW OPENER IN THE GLOVE COMPARTMENT was going to have electrical system issues.)</p>
<p>The Kitchenaid blender that should have been great but had a lid that didn’t actually seal (this was a feature, not an error) and thus could spray blender contents at high speed and great distances? Used it once and gave it to someone I didn’t like much (although I did warn her about the lid).</p>
<p>The $50 humane society cat that attacked our other cat and led to a $700 vet bill? (But my son loves him, even with his “issues,” so the two cats continue to share our lives. The victim lives with my daughter at school, though.)</p>
<p>The kiwi vine that is attempting to take over the yard? At least chopping it back gives me an outlet when I’m angry. And it stays green no matter how dry it is.</p>
<p>I think it has to be the reclining bicycle that I really enjoyed riding around London (yes, I had it shipped from London, it was that much fun)–but haven’t ridden around here, because it doesn’t do well on hills… and we have a lot of hills around here.</p>
<p>Now if you want to get rid of your reclining bike, H could always use an extra. Has neck problems that make riding a regular bike painful, but adores his reclining one. I’m always worried it’ll get stolen, so an extra would be nice.</p>
<p>(I can’t believe the hills he will peddle up on that thing!)</p>
<p>And, and, I am too gonna still use that Nordictrak in the corner, so there!</p>
<p>Oh yea, we have camping gear as well–3 tents for our family of 4, all of which are totally intact & have no holes. Fortunately, we never invested in much else (for camping) & it all fits fairly well in S’ closet. We did use it for several camping trips, when the kids were younger & they even set it up & camped in the yard several times as well. He also bought a nice internal frame pack that has been used for one or two camping trips, before chronic health conditions made such outings ill-advised.</p>
<p>We resisted our sister-in-law’s offer of a Nordic Track because it would have displaced the couch (since our home is not as large as hers). Instead of a piano, we bought an electronic keyboard, which has served its purpose.</p>
<p><a href=“I%20should%20have%20realized%20that%20any%20car%20with%20electric%20windows%20that%20ALSO%20HAS%20A%20MANUAL%20WINDOW%20OPENER%20IN%20THE%20GLOVE%20COMPARTMENT%20was%20going%20to%20have%20electrical%20system%20issues.”>quote</a>
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<p>DMD – ROFL!!!</p>
<p>Not only do I have crates of Beanie Babies in the garage (in baggies, yep) but I have crates of American Girl outfits and accessories, including a Christmas tree, dog sled with husky and gigantic cardboard backdrop of various American Girl scenes. Luckily, I did not purchase them (or the Beanies), my over-exuberant mother-in-law did. I’m keeping them for grandchildren, of which I hope some are girls. For the boy grandchildren, I still have Power Rangers, including the coveted large-size Green Power Ranger (above MIL actually called dozens of stores and waited in line for hours to buy two of them, one for S to play with and one to “put away” as an investment – and she managed to avoid getting clobbered by the other ladies waiting in line to buy one) and of course a full assortment of well-used Teen-age Mutant Ninja Turtles. </p>
<p>Also in a box somewhere are H’s original Hot Wheel cars, with their dayglo plastic race track, along with his Schwinn banana seat two-wheeler. His mom kept everything despite moving all over the country with the military and now our garage is full of junk.</p>
<p>A while back I sold the sewing patterns for the American Girl dresses (yes, I made dresses for my D’s American Girl) on EBay–got $40 for the patterns! which had cost me $5.95 new… I guess they no longer sell the patterns.</p>
<p>Nobody has mentioned game systems yet. We’ve had them all, Nintendo, Super Nintendo, Nintendo 64, Xbox, Playstation etc, not to mention every incarnation of the Game Boy that ever existed and every game associated with each of them! </p>
<p>Considering the forum, I’m still waiting for somebody to say "A private college education for my son or daughter who decided to “XXXX Fill in a life’s path that did NOT justify the investment here.XXXXX”</p>
<p>I totally forgot about my “Dr. Ho’s Muscle Massage System” I bought years ago. You can google it; it hurt like the dickens! It’s under a cabinet somewhere. $99 down the drain.</p>
<p>H gave me an expensive massage chair for Christmas a few years ago and it has throw pillows sitting in it. H swears the thing gives him bruises, and I don’t use the chair much either.</p>
<p>
These would have gone nicely with the brown-tan-and-orange Rya rug which was the centerpiece of my decor in the same era.</p>
<p>Probably $2000 worth of Legos and Pokemon cards. Makes me feel so indulgent. The DS “gave” all those Pokemon cards to someone…yes, I know they are worth 50 cents, but it is the principle of the thing.</p>
<p>Mom2Inca, my daughter would just pine for all your American girl stuff! They don’t sell the Husky anymore, but there is a $70 horse that she goos over!</p>
<p>Few years ago, I was a watchin’ an infocommercial about the “Banjo Minnow” The infocommercial said,“Catch fish, anywhere, anytime!” Well, being a man of my word, I invested in these lures just to find out that they were a big waste. I catch more fish off my rooster tail and joe’s flies spinners than those banjo minnows. What a waste of money! GRRRRRRRRRRRR!</p>
<p>My H invented a lure one time called the “Hydroglyde.” Even spent $16,000 for a 1 minute commercial that aired at 4:00 in the morning. I think he sold about 5.</p>
<p>We have the massage chair, also a gift from my H, but when I like it, I really like it. It is the big draw however, when anyone comes to visit. My D graduation party kids were here until the wee hours using it, so it definitely doesn’t gather dust!</p>