I bought a new briefcase

I purchased a nice leather briefcase for work a couple of years ago, but unfortunately the combination lock had the bad habit of going into the "reset combination" mode if the catch was knocked as it slide around the car boot during the daily 45-minute commute to work. After spending a fruitless half-hour trying to guess what the new combination had become, I resorted to forcing the lock open. This worked for one lock, but when the same thing happened to the remaining lock I ended up with a briefcase that doesn't latch shut. Time to buy a new briefcase.

I looked around at what was available in the stores, but most cases for $100 or less were simple back-pack or satchel style bag. I wanted a real briefcase for my work papers, and decided that an aluminium briefcase would also enable me to carry my new Dell laptop around in style. It would also be useful for taking my laptop on holiday to Europe with me later in the year.

In the end I chose the Dicota AluSlight case that is designed to hold a 15.4" laptop, accessories and some work papers etc. A quick online search found prices were mainly around $139-$159+PP for this item, but one site (bargain.net.au) had it advertised for $118.80+PP. I ordered it online and was able to pay via PayPal.

I was a bit surprised that the PayPal receipt eventually showed the amount in USD rather than AUD, but with the Aussie dollar at almost US$0.95 it's still cheaper than the other advertised prices. I tried phoning the online store to complain about the unclear pricing, but got a voicemail service and gave up. I'm now just hoping that the product is actually delivered! I have the Paypal receipt, but I have no idea what the procedure is for seeking a refund from Paypal if goods aren't delivered. The bargain.net.au voicemail service makes me doubt I'll have much luck chasing up this order if it doesn't arrive in the promised 3-5 days. And the USD pricing makes be suspect that they may not be trading within the jurisdiction of the NSW Department of Fair Trading...

Anyhow, fingers crossed that my shiny new briefcase arrives in one piece in the next couple of days.



Copyright Enough Wealth 2008

How to make thirty million dollars overnight

Step 1. Buy and entry in this week's Tuesday night OzLotto draw (jackpot first prize $30 million)
Step 2. Have the seven winning numbers (odds are 45,379,620:1 against!)
Step 3. Hope no other entries have the same winning numbers ;)

This week I decided to "invest" $2.20 on buying two games in this week's lottery draw. I normally don't bother wasting my money on gambling, but since the prize hasn't been won for the past nine weeks the potential payout is higher than normal (although the odds of winning are still just a incredibly remote). Even though more people buy entries to the lottery when the prize has jack-potted, the odds are so long that there is usually only one winner of the major prize, so it's better "value" to buy an entry this week compared to most weeks. For example, the last "jackpot" prize of $6m only had one winning entry.

With two entries I have a whopping one chance in 22,689,810 of winning the first division prize. My statistics are a bit rusty, but I think that means that I'd have a 50:50 chance of winning if I made this sort of bet every week for 200,000 years or so! Anyhow, it's a bit of inexpensive fun as a once off event (for the next 24 hours I can "plan" on how to spend the thirty million), but I wouldn't want to do this every week. Some of my co-workers are in a syndicate that pools all their $5 contributions to buy one "system" entry each week. Although they don't seriously expect to win the jackpot, there is some wishful thinking that at least they may win a minor prize - perhaps $1,000 each. There is a social value to this sort of communal gambling, but I just can't get past the fact that just spending $5 each week would end up costing around $10,000 over your working years, for no tangible benefit.

Copyright Enough Wealth 2007

A not-so-cheap day out

DW's brother and his wife flew across from Perth to spend a weekend in Sydney and catch a show, so while they were here we arranged to meet them in town. We managed to find free street parking near the railway station and were planning to catch the train in to town. However the trains weren't running on the northern line (due to track maintenance) and we ended up travelling on the express bus that the railway provided. The train fares for the family only cost $10 for a round trip, and we had some fast food for lunch before meeting the relatives. After a pleasant Sydney afternoon wandering around Hyde Park, the Botanical Gardens and through the grounds of Government House we headed back past the Opera House and returned to the train station to catch the bus home. The afternoon provided plenty of time for DW to chat with her brother and the kids enjoyed running around the various parks and gardens.

The day had been very pleasant and low-cost -- up until the time we got back to our car. At that point I found that the car wouldn't start and the battery was practically dead. I phoned for my Dad to meet us and attempt to jump start our car, but we still couldn't get my car started so I had to phone the NRMA (AA) to come and replace the battery. The new battery cost $175, but at least it has a three year warranty. Since I'm planning on selling our car and replacing it with a newer, second-hand AWD (perhaps a Subaru Forrester) in two or three years time, this will hopefully be the last battery I have to buy for this vehicle.

Copyright Enough Wealth 2007

Belief-o-matic

While reading through YoYo's blog I came across a link to the Belief-o-matic online questionaire. You probably already know, more or less, what you "believe" in, but this bit of fun might help you find the appropriate label for your viewpoint.

According to the survey, my views best match the following:
1. Secular Humanism (100%)
2. Unitarian Universalism (97%)
3. Theravada Buddhism (80%)
4. Nontheist (79%)
5. Liberal Quakers (78%)
6. Neo-Pagan (64%)
7. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (58%)
8. Taoism (52%)
9. New Age (48%)
10. Mahayana Buddhism (48%)

Reading the summary on secular humanism I'm happy enough with that label, but I must admit it's surprising to see that Nontheist is only a slightly better match to my views than being a Liberal Quaker would be. Apparently belief in a god might be optional at the more liberal end of the Quaker spectrum.

Copyright Enough Wealth 2007