Craigs List - O How I Love Thee

I love to recycle, not just putting cans in the bin each week for pickup but as a holistic approach to consumption. I am fascinated with the concept(s) of reusing old things, finding new and inventive ways to keep stuff out of the dumpster, or rescuing things already there. Our society churns through materials and energy like fire running down a trail of ignition powder; we leave a mess behind us. (Even more scary, what happens when we get to the end of that trail?) But I don't believe waste is the problem! It's the type of waste that is reason for concern. Every living thing on this planet makes waste: dead leaves, feces, uneaten food, etc. Does our planet does buckle under the weight of such wastefulness? No! It thrives on it, without that the biosphere would grind to a halt. As humans, and the stewards of our home, we desperately need to find ways to contribute to our world through our waste (more on this another day).
So you might be asking, "what does Craigslist have to do with sustainable consumption and natural cycles in the biosphere?" Great question.
Have you ever been doing a project and needed a few extra bricks, or a couple 2x4s then thought to your self "I'm sure someone out there has what I need and would probably like to get rid of it. But since I have no way of finding that person, I guess I'll drive to the store and shell out some money for what I need." OK, maybe I'm the only one who spends time being frustrated about things like that, but you get the idea. We'll Craigslist is the ultimate vehicle for connecting those that have stuff with those who need it. Instead of buying something new, and accepting all the uncessissary wastefulness that comes along with it: energy used to produce something that already exists, obserd amounts of wrapping/packaging, price premium, etc..., you can buy something used (or in some cases get it free!) for a fraction of the cost. Here is my list of top purchases/deals on craist list.

1. Dining Room Table and Chairs: Paid $100 --- Retails at $249
2. Fire Safe: Paid $15 --- Retails at $35
3. Typewriter: Paid $5 --- Retails at $450
4. Shopvac: Paid $20 --- Retails at $120
5. Spade and flat edge shovels: Paid $0 --- Retails at $34
6. Grill: Paid $40 --- Retails at $125
7. Workshop Hardware Organizing Shelves: Paid: $15 --- Retails at $100
8. Sewing Machine: Paid $15 --- Retails at $150

All told I saved around $1,053 and if you add the sales tax I would have paid I saved $1,137. Obviously, some of the retail prices are a bit subjective. For instance the sewing machine is from the 1950s and similar models go for around $150.
As you can see not only do I get to save the environment, I save a ton of money! What great purchases and deals have you gotten on Craigslist?

Liberation!

I love alternate history. Something about a world that is very familiar yet strikingly different just gets my mental wheels turning. I had the idea for this late last night and stayed up way to late working on it. Anyone out there know of any good alternate history books?

The Lego City Just Got Bigger

One of my newer Lego creations, I am particularly proud of this one.

Joe's Joke No. 5

Q: Who built King Arthur's round table?

A: Sir Cumference

- Brad

City of Embers

My new blog: CITY OF EMBERS

Disaster!

So I ported my City Noir account over to my Gmail account, a process that was frustratingly un-simple. Everything was fine until all of my images stopped loading. I finally figured out that in the process I lost all of my uploaded pictures. So over the next month or two I'll be reloading all of them. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Public Service Announcement

Hello everybody, I have a couple of announcements.

1. First, my wife has a blog! Let the trumpets play! Here is the link: Home 1114. You should check it out, its great!
2. Look up at the logo at the top of my blog. How many buildings can you count? If you can't count nine or if all you can see is the bright white of the lights in the windows then I need to know! I realized that my screen at home, which isn't that great, is much brighter, again because it isn't that great. Thus, something that looks bright enough to me may be very dark to you. Let me know, thanks!
3. Lastly, I am starting a new blog in conjunction with this one. The new blog should be more ummm... useful. Anyway, its a surprise until its released! Wooo! Excitement.

Thanks everyone.