Tools of the trade

When I was a kid I thought it was important to have three tools on my person every day: A Swiss Army Knife (preferably not its generic equivalent that fell apart), a Zippo lighter and a -- what was it called? It's been so long since I cared about this -- oh, right, a Mag Light flashlight.

I believed, with those devices, one could do pretty much whatever needed to be done and, while I still think these are realy cool, I have none of them any more.

I bring this up because I thought I'd share about one of the tools I've found most useful in my life today. Almost all are virtual.(We are living in an immaterial world and I am an immaterial boy)

Craigslist.org

Things I have aquired on this marvelous site include our awesome tenant, Tony Nauman - we had our pick of awesome applicants in one week! - our leather sofa($300), several ultracheap, nice laptops ($35 to $150) including the one I'm on now and...

- free plants and beautiful stone look pots
- free drywall, like 10 sheets
- a new bike rack for the car
- free bicycles
- cheap, nice used bikes
- our motorcycle
- printers
- our privacy fence ($50 with a gate!)
- The Heineken umbrella in the back
- free paving stones and gravel
- our leather recliner ($50)
- a free camping backpack
- a Sony digital video cam - $125 - this was from a guy who worked 15 years in retail who decided to run off to work on a dude ranch
- a free water bottle with a thermal case

- Jobs - we painted a small house for $1200, we're working tomorow at the vollyball pro exhibition to set up for $14 an hour, Beck pimped Pokemon, I moved furniture, we did landscaping, also.

So, you know I found my 1973 Honda Scrambler Motorcycle on Clist of $200 and bought it from a guy named Steve Miller who purchased it from Clifton resident Paul McCartney -- well several weeks later I saw a 4 mp digicam listed for $15...read about how these finds intersected here.

This week we traded a laptop I scored for little cash for a newer fridge.

I also found rides and contacts along the post-Katrina Gulf Coast. It;s an awesome site.

- Steve