Do the old people in your life buy junk..?

[SootySport]

Maybe i'm already on my way,   I bought one of these last week http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/261962163378?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT hasn't arrived yet.

[John K]

8 minutes ago, SootySport said:

Love all these stories

OK, another one of my Dad's...

I got fed up with trying to support the frankly dreadful cheap Inkjet printers he was buying himself. You know the ones, the printer is £3.99 but the single cartridge which contains all 4 colors (so you can't just replace the most common one) costs £139.99

And they were all so wonky that even searching the whole of the Tinternet wouldn't find any drivers for them.

So we went to PC World to get a decent HP (as per previous, one that I wouldn't mind inheriting) and we got him a £150 MFD job.

We went to pay for it and there was a spotty 18 year old yoof on the till who tried to sell my dad an extended 3 year warranty.

My dad asked what the standard one was and was told a year.

So his reply to the sales person was...

"Son, I'm 90 and I've got leukemia, I'll die before the printer does"...

The poor yoof, he really didn't know what to say, he just sat there with his adams apple bobbing up and down.

It was funny though  

[Man On The Clapham Omnibus]

Lidl and charity shops are the staple sources... 

[jeff oakley]

I love the story of the printer purchase and it proves that there is humour in every thing if you look.

As I said my Mum died last year so I was working at home when one of our IT guy's called, playing in the background was Eva Cassidy, he heard it and excitedly shouted, "jeez Jeff I thought you were quite trendy what is that **** you are listening to"?

I slowly explained I was choosing music for my mums funeral, I wished I could have seen his face as he spluttered and coughed went quite and was lost for words. My mum would have loved that especially as it cost nothing! 

[John K]

54 minutes ago, jeff oakley said:

I slowly explained I was choosing music for my mums funeral, I wished I could have seen his face as he spluttered and coughed went quite and was lost for words.

Priceless..!

[Northwarks]

Parents - They do revert back to children when they get past a certain age don't they ... awkward and stroppy

[John K]

3 minutes ago, Northwarks said:

Parents - They do revert back to children when they get past a certain age don't they ... awkward and stroppy

You've just described my mother..!

[Northwarks]

1 minute ago, John K said:

You've just described my mother..!

Every person I know who has parents over 75-80 says the same thing - Why are they so awkward, can't ever remember my grand parents been like it as a kid so wonder of its just a generation thing .... 

[Lyonspride]

I'm the sort of person that buys cheap when it really doesn't matter, but i'll always buy quality when it does.

The people I don't understand are those scrimp on quality, but throw money away needlessly on things they could get cheaper elsewhere.

A bit like people who buy a new car, stick cheap nasty tyres on it, won't ever put more than £5 worth of fuel in it and then go to the main dealer for every service even though they don't have to.

 

I suppose the difference is knowing what matters and what doesn't.

[tisme]

Gosh this has hit a soft spot !!

My father in-law is approaching 90 and although reasonably active in mind and body, he's started doing the daft things with buying "stuff" he either doesn't really need or is not what he actually wanted !!

Examples...... he suddenly decided he needed to get fit (at 90?) so bought a "walker" exercise machine off eBay - this thing was nearly 10 foot long and weighed half a ton. It arrived in a white van and you can imagine the exclamations when they tried to get it in the hall and up the stairs to the spare bedroom - fortunately the seller took it back (for a tidy sum) and of course he had to pay all the costs to get it removed.

Then he decided on an exercise bike !! this time he found one locally and bought it because he'd heard of "Davina McCall" and so it must be a good make ....yes, it was, but it was PINK and sized for small ladies (it now sits in the corner of the bedroom covered in sheets).

Then there was the television episode ..... needed a new replacement for the old heavy tube job - "I'll get one of those new LED ones..." - yes, he did - in exactly the same size as the old one (28 inch) - needless to say it looks totally lost in the lounge and he has to sit four feet in front of it to see anything.

I'm 65 in a few months time and have told my wife to lock me in the garage and throw away the keys if I ever start displaying any of those "attributes"   

[bigals]

On Tue Jan 31 2017 at 20:06, Thrustyjust said:

You dont have to be old to buy tat. Just see the Newbury Poundstretcher , they queue at any age on any day, as dont work at 9am in the mornings, just before the post office opens............Most have lovely vibrant neck tattoos,  brightens the dullest of days.

Let's face it anyone in the Kennet center during the daytime in the week is on the special end of the spectrum, when taking a Norwegian friend around newbury 20 years ago he quoted newbury day time residents as the ugliest in the world , however when the normal working foke enter at the weekend then it balances out 

[AllanI]

Some of you ageists should have spent more time at school leaning to spell !

Not everyone who owns a Westfield is in the first flush of youth so don't get folk (not foke) started on the younger generation.

Allan 

[Olliebeak]

I agree with Allan, how come no one can spell these days, even simple words, don't they teach spelling in school these days along with mathematics. The really good part about getting old is the selective memory, and the realization  that nothing really matters e.g Brexit,Trump, Politics etc etc  and dont get me started on Americanisms, I left my recent part time job when I was told to write the date backwards i.e 20170202 ,who thought that was a good idea? I wont buy 'trail mix' either , time for a cuppa and a lie down.  

ps just finished my cooling system upgrade and was short of a hose clip, went to my local accessory shop and asked for a 35mm Jubilee clip, the person behind the counter had no idea, so I had to explain what it was and the function, he then attempted to charge £1.40!.  

[pistonbroke]

2 hours ago, AllanI said:

Some of you ageists should have spent more time at school leaning to spell ! 

how far do you have to "lean" when learning spelling ?  

[DonPeffers]

IIRC a large domestic UK energy supplier came up with the bright idea of recording customer contacts in text wording style; firstly to save time and possibly to avoid spelling errors by some younger members of staff.

Unfortunately it was a bit of a disaster as after a while the notes were totally unintelligible, so the move was dropped.

Many years ago I bought a very expensive VCR which developed a fault 3 months after the 2 year warranty had expired. Manufacturer didn't want to know and I was left with a £100 repair bill and then still had an intermittent fault.

I have just renewed my washing machine after 6 years (about 2,000 washes) for another basic model. The old one had failed bearings and not worth repairing.