Yesterday I got a new phone. It's an apple iphone SE, my first iphone. But I don't think I'll use it just yet. My old Nokia still works fine, even though it has been dropped countless times, it still does most of what I want it to do, calls, texts, and the odd grainy photo. The only thing that doesn't work is the torch, but I bought an LED torch for 1.99 so that will do instead. I don't need it to access the internet, even though I get 2 gigs of data every month with my package. Yesterday the phone shop wasn't too busy, well it wasn't busy at all actually because I was the only customer there. So I asked the sales assistant how big is 2 gigs in layman's terms?
It's about 1 hour on youtube. WTF use is that? I was telling her I was going to keep it in the box, will it be ok to leave it there until I need it? Sure, it's your phone, when her Dad gets a new upgrade he gives it to one of his kids. I'm thinking of doing the same, give it to my 11 year old for christmas. She said you could sell it if you want, loads of people do,it's your phone. So when I got home with my new phone I looked it up on a few selling sites, the phone that I paid €69 for can be sold for something like €250 to €400.
Why? Let's go back in time a bit. About a month ago I got a text saying I was due an upgrade. I went on to my 'service' provider's website, got chatting on line to somebody from India about my upgrade, went over and back to a few review sites on the net, then looked up prices etc. I discovered that the iphone SE has a 12 megapixel camera, that's cool I thought, my Nikon digital slr only has 10 megapixels, it's also slightly smaller than more modern phones (remember I still have a Nokia) so that helped. I did no more about it. But for about two weeks my old reliable Nokia became very unreliable, dropped calls, my wife asking why don't you answer your phone etc. missed calls. I smelt a rat.
Then about 10 days ago I was driving the tractor when a Polish guy rang me from my 'service' provider, guess what, I was due an upgrade. I stopped the tractor, he was a bit surprised when I told him I used a Nokia phone. He thought I had some sort of Samsung (my last upgrade). I told him that the terrier sank his teeth into the screen about a month after I got it and I went back to using a Nokia. I told him I was interested in the iphone SE, no surprise to him haha, so I ordered it, said I'd pick it up in my local 'service' provider's shop.
So here I am with a perfectly good Nokia and a brand new iphone still in the box (despite my 11 year old son's protestations) that I don't really need. It cost me €69 and a 24 month contract which includes 2 gigabites of data (WTF), 150 minutes of talk time and 150 texts for €23 (incl. VAT) per month. What's the catch?
24 months @ €23 is €552. I used the calculator on my Nokia to work that out! Ok maybe I could get a pay as you go deal from a different 'service' provider for €15, but I'd probably have to buy a phone and a sim card for €250 minimum.
I think it's being locked in for 24 months is where the catch is, it probably costs my 'service' provider virtually nothing to provide me with 150 minutes of talk time. I don't know how much apple charge my 'service' provider, but I'm guessing it's about half what the average joesoap can buy a phone for (250/2) so €125 approx. So they make €427 - the cost of calls (virtually nothing)+€69 out of selling me a new phone.
Oh, I nearly forgot, my 'service' provider retail outlet was selling an otterbox defender cover for €49, the same cover can be bought on line for €15. My Nokia doesn't need a cover, and only needs to be charged twice a week. You should have seen the amount of shit inside my Nokia when the sales assistant opened it to see if I needed a new sim card!
I think the iphone is the carrot to get people to sign a new contract. There's a joke going around about the new iphone X,
how do you milk a sheep?
Launch a new iphone.
In conclusion I'll leave you with a quote from The Grapes of Wrath;
'The first time I heard the word service was when my daddy was taking a heifer to the bull. So now everytime I hear the word service I can't help wondering just who is gettin' screwed?'.
Tuesday, September 26, 2017
Friday, September 1, 2017
Half way to forty hammers.
The Man With Forty Hammers.
I used to work in Co Clare in a lab. Part of the job was taking samples from sites around the county. We drove past a small workshop and the guy driving said 'That man has forty hammers'.
A couple of weeks ago I bought a ballpien hammer from a travelling salesman. I didn't really need another hammer, but I bought it anyway to hansel the man, it was a wet day and he'd been travelling over a hundred miles and I was his first customer. I sometimes think I bring good luck to these people, if they make a sale to me early in the day then the rest of the day will be good for them.
It's the blue hammer towards the lower middle.
Anyway I started thinking how many hammers have I? So yesterday I gathered them all up and laid them out on a pallet. I found 18 including a mallet, there was one in the car and another in the jeep, actually the one in the jeep is a fencing pliers, but it can be used to hammer in a staple. So I'm half way there, to the man with 40 hammers that is, if you will allow me to count the fencing pliers as a hammer.
What's the big deal with hammers you may ask? Well to put it simply the hammer is the mother of all tools. When our ancestors picked up a rock to bash a nut open that was the first rudimentary tool. To make a better tool they shaped flints with another stone and so on until we started to melt ores and cast them. Today hammers are still used by a few of us on a daily basis. Most of the farmers I know have at least one hammer, some have two or three, but 20 is a bit OTT. I have an excuse though, I am a blacksmith. When I gathered mine up yesterday I deliberately didn't gather up the ones with no handles, there is at least a half dozen or so of them.
Most of my hammers were bought in joblots at auctions. Some were on the farm before I was born. One christmas I mentioned that I'd like a hammer for christmas, I got 3 ballpiens that christmas.
Below, I re-arranged them according to their purpose.
On the left are two sledges, the long handled one weighs 10lbs, the other is an 8lb stone mason's hammer. Next are two more stone mason's hammers, used to finish the face of a stone. Then there are six blacksmithing hammers of various weights, the sixth one is used for swaging. Next are a few carpenter's hammers with a claw for pulling out nails. Beside them is what I think is a cobbler's hammer. that came in box of tools at an auction. Next up we have 2 lump hammers, made in China, they are slightly softer and can be used for forging, especially to hit tool steel without damaging the tool steel. Generally one of these lives in each tractor on the farm. Finally at the extreme right is the wooden mallet, sometimes used to hit chisels for woodwork, or can be used in the forge to straighten a twist without marking it. My next hammer purchase will be a rawhide hammer, also used for forging, light taps on something that is almost finished. Perhaps I'll mention it at christmas and get 3!
I used to work in Co Clare in a lab. Part of the job was taking samples from sites around the county. We drove past a small workshop and the guy driving said 'That man has forty hammers'.
A couple of weeks ago I bought a ballpien hammer from a travelling salesman. I didn't really need another hammer, but I bought it anyway to hansel the man, it was a wet day and he'd been travelling over a hundred miles and I was his first customer. I sometimes think I bring good luck to these people, if they make a sale to me early in the day then the rest of the day will be good for them.
Anyway I started thinking how many hammers have I? So yesterday I gathered them all up and laid them out on a pallet. I found 18 including a mallet, there was one in the car and another in the jeep, actually the one in the jeep is a fencing pliers, but it can be used to hammer in a staple. So I'm half way there, to the man with 40 hammers that is, if you will allow me to count the fencing pliers as a hammer.
What's the big deal with hammers you may ask? Well to put it simply the hammer is the mother of all tools. When our ancestors picked up a rock to bash a nut open that was the first rudimentary tool. To make a better tool they shaped flints with another stone and so on until we started to melt ores and cast them. Today hammers are still used by a few of us on a daily basis. Most of the farmers I know have at least one hammer, some have two or three, but 20 is a bit OTT. I have an excuse though, I am a blacksmith. When I gathered mine up yesterday I deliberately didn't gather up the ones with no handles, there is at least a half dozen or so of them.
Most of my hammers were bought in joblots at auctions. Some were on the farm before I was born. One christmas I mentioned that I'd like a hammer for christmas, I got 3 ballpiens that christmas.
Below, I re-arranged them according to their purpose.
On the left are two sledges, the long handled one weighs 10lbs, the other is an 8lb stone mason's hammer. Next are two more stone mason's hammers, used to finish the face of a stone. Then there are six blacksmithing hammers of various weights, the sixth one is used for swaging. Next are a few carpenter's hammers with a claw for pulling out nails. Beside them is what I think is a cobbler's hammer. that came in box of tools at an auction. Next up we have 2 lump hammers, made in China, they are slightly softer and can be used for forging, especially to hit tool steel without damaging the tool steel. Generally one of these lives in each tractor on the farm. Finally at the extreme right is the wooden mallet, sometimes used to hit chisels for woodwork, or can be used in the forge to straighten a twist without marking it. My next hammer purchase will be a rawhide hammer, also used for forging, light taps on something that is almost finished. Perhaps I'll mention it at christmas and get 3!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)