Dumbest purchases

Parent Cafe
81

<p>Tookie, that is so sad. And sooooo funny!</p>

82

<p>Allmusic, the American Girl husky sled dog was half-eaten by our deranged cat (we found it in the cat food dish one day all slobbered and chewed on). Naturally, it is probably the one thing in our AG “collection” of value now, that is if it were in mint condition like the other things (no horse though). Sigh.</p>

83

<p>Well, I really seem to have a neverending supply of stories for this thread. But this one really qualifies as one of the the dumbest purchases ever. H and I were dating, but it wasn’t really serious yet, and I was still seeing other people. He apparently had a better vision into the future than I did and asked me to stop in to a furniture showroom to check out the bedroom furniture he was just getting ready to order for his new apartment. To be polite, I said oh, it’s great, how wonderful, you’ll love it… thanks for sharing! PS. We ended up getting married and I owned and HATED that very bedroom set for many years thereafter!</p>

84

<p>A hermit crab. They are sold at local beach stores. The kids took it out to “play” one day and left it out. I found it two days later in a bedroom closet with two claws missing. It survived, and the claws eventually grew back. What a dumb pet.</p>

85

<p>doubleplay, At least you did not buy snails. They reproduce and reproduce and reproduce-LOL!</p>

86

<p>This thread is a hoot. I should be doing laundry but can’t pull myself away.
How about ice cream makers? Why is the world would I want to go through all that trouble when I can by a 1/2 gal. for $2.50.
I also have boxes of Beanies, Ninja Turtles and Power Rangers. I should send them all off to college with S when he goes next year.</p>

87

<p>Omigosh, Septembermom. We have a handcranked, authentic wooden ice cream maker that cost way more than one with electricity and everything. Have used it maybe twice. Turns out kids don’t really think that turning a crank for about an hour is really big, big fun.</p>

88

<p>No ice cream maker, but we are proud owners of a snowcone maker. We enjoyed it twice when there were a bunch of little kids over for a couple of BBQs. Since then the sticky syrup is sitting in a closet in my kitchen. I am ready to chuck the whole kit and capoodle.</p>

89

<p>How about suction cup thingies that the chinese acupuncture man sold my husband. You put them on your back and they suck your flesh up into them, thus causing these weird hicky-like welts / bruises on your skin… I must have missed some information along the way, such as why you would want to do such an awful thing!!! (Now taking bids, $1.00, do I hear $2.00? going…</p>

90

<p>You know, my ping pong table ain’t looking so dumb anymore!</p>

91

<p>We have some kind of a sandwich maker. I’d tell you what it is, but it’s in the very back of a bottom cupboard, surrounded by other useless kitchen stuff.</p>

<p>We also had newts. The kids – ages 7 & 10 --were dying to get one of these (a salamander, in case you’re wondering) which cost about $5. But the acquarium, filter, rocks etc cost a bunch more. The worst part is that when one died, I replaced it, but of course S1 noticed it was different. He was quite upset when I admitted to flushing it down the toilet. But it was the middle of winter in Minnesota! So I went into a long explanation about how we bury mammals in the ground, but we bury water creatures in water, and the only way for this little guy to get to the ocean was to go through the sewer system.</p>

<p>The last thing, which my Dad bought for me, was a used Fiat 128 Station Wagon. There’s a reason why people say Fiat stands for, “Fix it again, Tony.” It, too, had electrical problems. It really shook up my husband when we were first dating to see me in action when the car wouldn’t start. I’d pull out a big crow bar, open the hood, and beat on the battery. (That’s what my non-mechanic Dad did.) H just about had a heart attack, and explained the dangers of beating on a battery to me. We did sell it during my senior year of college, which is another exciting story!</p>

92

<p>I just remembered a dumb mail order purchase that S made while going through a Lord of the Rings phase in high school: Gimli’s ax. </p>

<p>Expensive. Ugly. Heavy. Thankfully, not sharp. It’s hanging on a wall in his room. His friend got Elron’s sword or something. Ugh… Here’s a photo of the ax (you, too, can own one, it seems) : <a href=“http://www.alleycatscratch.com/lotr/Dwarf/Gimli/Kit/Gim_ax_sj.jpg[/url]”>http://www.alleycatscratch.com/lotr/Dwarf/Gimli/Kit/Gim_ax_sj.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>He also bought Gandalf’s Ring. Wore it for a week until the blue “gem” fell out.</p>

93

<p>So nobody has bought swamp land, an overpriced timeshare, worthless stock…hmmm…</p>

94

<p>

Oh, are those things dumb, northeastmom? I thought they were… Learning Experiences.</p>

95

<p>…and worth every penny!</p>

96

<p>This is a funny thread. Don’t laugh but, having read this, I want one of those eyeglass cleaners.</p>

<p>Also, on a serious note, if you have any old video game systems and games that you don’t want to sell, consider giving them to your local rehabilitation or CP center. Even a barely working system will help with motor function. Most centers will be very grateful.</p>

97

<p>Dozens of posts before mine…and I apparently am the only one here dumb enough to invest in one of RONCO’S “POCKET FISHERMAN”.</p>

<p>For those not old enough to remember these mid-1970’s rod and reels peddled by master marketer Ron Popeil, they were a rather small unit that folded on itself. The TV sales pitch was that POCKET FISHERMAN was so handy and so easy to use, you would never drive by another fishing hole again! “The biggest fishing invention since the hook…and still only $19.95!” And, some of us more gullible viewers took the bait…hook, line and sinker. Popeil has proven over and over again that P.T. Barnum was right.</p>

98

<p>My husband gave his mother a Buttoneer for Christmas one year. </p>

<p>he had a lot to learn about women</p>

<p>I think people born in the fifties are permanently scarred from watching Queen for a Day where women swooned, wore a crown and were given washing machines or ovens. I really don’t know how I ever summoned up the courage to go to college for six years after a diet of Queen for a Day lobotomy cases parading across the screen as What I Could Aspire To.</p>

99

<p>So Gnu, what exactly was wrong with the Pocket Fisherman? Did they break or something?</p>

<p>And what’s a Buttoneer?</p>

100

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<p>Hey, you just gave me an idea for a Xmas-present for S. Either that, or I’ll be suggesting he wear his glasses in the shower. They’re always filthy. I can’t believe he is able to see through them.</p>