Over the past year, we have been toying with the idea of buying a new stove to replace our nasty mustard-coloured monstrosity from 1975 that we found in the back alley, which was actually better than the peasoup-green thing we used to have. We didn’t want anything fancy, just say a working timer and to have all four elements fully working.
Well, our friends just upgraded their stove, and handed theirs down to their parents, who handed theirs down to other friends, who in turn have offered their reject stove to us. It’s white and only about 10 years old. And it’s free.
By waiting around, we avoided spending about $500 on a new stove and got one that is basically just as good. Yay!
We’ve also been looking for a roofer as our shingles are in a bad way. Roofers are hard to find these days in Winnipeg, as most are off in Dauphin where the entire town had their roofs destroyed by hail. We can’t even get roofers to return our phone calls. We’ve had two actual estimates but both roofers seemed a little fly-by-night which is not what you want when you are wanting to cover something as important as your house.
But yesterday, walking home down the alley, I saw another roofer and asked if he was available. He is, he seems really trustworthy, his price is good, and he really seems knowledgeable and to care about doing good work. The icing on the cake is that he is also a contractor so he could also do the more general renovation projects we have been contemplating.
It just really shows that it can pay to wait, and then pounce on opportunity when it presents itself. As the adage goes, “Good things come to those who wait.” I’m sure there’s an equal and opposite adage about taking initiative, but for today those are the select words of wisdom.
This principle of “waiting to buy” applies well to software too. There is so much good free software out there that really it should not be necessary to buy any, unless you have very specific requirements. On occasion I have paid for a program, only to regret it when a month later I find something free that works better. Oh well…
