Early Retirement Extreme Forums

Went on a walk with my DW and found a large pile of discarded goods in one of the many alleyways I walk through. Found a Panasonic DVD/VCR Player/Recorder Model DMR-Es30V with the factory remote. Brought it home, plugged it in and found that it worked. Surprisingly the VCR portion worked but the DVD...

Just a pro tip if you want to go down this rabbit hole. It's already started. My DW keeps calling me her electrical engineer because I keep messing around with electronics. I'm very curious about inner workings of items and learning about them keeps me happy. My next project is replacing the right ...

Just curious, you are opening up a hard drive or is it a CDrom? Thanks for the tips! Definitely going to try it on junk boards first. No sense in destroying the PS4 motherboard. I opened up the CD-ROM. The whole console was caked in dust and some of it managed to get inside the disc drive. Worked a...

Did something stupid a few days ago. I've been repairing electronics lately and have been having a lot of fun with it. Most of the repairs occur on electronics people have thrown out and require very little to get back up and running. I recently came across a working PS4 at a church sale for $80 and...

I've been reselling used goods for the past few months. A good portion of the items I've sold come from the alleyways or the trash. The remainder come from yard sales and thrift stores. The below sales are all from discarded goods I salvaged and sold in the month of February. 151. Crocs Unisex Offro...

Worked on my DWs car a few weeks ago. I noticed a clicking noise anytime she drove away and suspected it was a bad axle. During her routine oil change, I found a lot of sludge build up near the passenger front axle. Found the source of the sludge coming from the passenger CV axle boot. I suspected i...

As part of my exercise routine, I regularly walk anywhere between 4-5 miles in my neighborhood. I have about 20 different routes that cover alleyways, apartment complex parking lots, single-family-home neighborhoods, avenues, parkways and boulevards. I regularly score the area for goods that occasio...

Found another CRT tv in the alleyway near my apartment. This time is was a 20 inch Panasonic CT- 2006SE made in January of 2002. It was in great cosmetic condition so I threw it in my car, took it home, plugged it in and it fired up without an issue. I contemplated keeping it and connecting my retro...

I've been tinkering with electronics lately, specifically video game related items, and it's been lots of fun. I recently repaired and refurbished an original Microsoft XBOX I found at a thrift store. Bought it for $14 dollars. Came with two cords and a controller. It wouldn't stay powered on, the d...

Gilberto de Piento wrote: ↑

Fri Nov 05, 2021 8:14 am

A few minutes of cleaning it out and it works again!

It always amazes me how a simple deep cleaning can fix many things. I've been doing the same with some of my electronics lately and they are run much smoother without the dust, debris and grime.

Ego wrote: ↑

Sun Oct 17, 2021 2:12 pm

He knows that I neither drink nor play the piano so I took it as a compliment.

Your stories are very entertaining Ego. Thank you.

I’m a bit ignorant when it comes to how a salvage yard works, so any input would be appreciated! Do you just call or go there to check if they have vehicle you need and then do you work out a price ahead of time for the component(s)? Do they provide access to the vehicle for a certain amount of tim...

Sclass wrote: ↑

Fri Oct 08, 2021 8:45 pm

Fixed my LG washer today.

Nice work! I've had the opportunity to fix my in-laws washer and decided against it. Disassembling the whole thing to get to a squeaky bearing would have been a pain. How time consuming of a process was your repair?

My DW and I frequent the local farmers market near our apartment. We always walk to and from cutting across a very nice portion of the neighborhood. On our way back we decided to cut through one of the alleyways to see if anyone threw anything out of value. Boy did I score! A woman was cleaning out ...

Thank you Jacob and Ego. Lots to consider and wrap my head around. All good information. I anticipated these issues but didn't expect to have such a difficult time managing my reaction to it. I've recently voiced some of this to my father and without a beat he understood my frustrations. He stated &...

There is a reason it is not an easy road. Often the hard parts have noting to do with the reality of the situation and everything to do with the appearance that reality. Thats exactly it! I'm not one to keep up with the Joneses and I refuse to pretend. I'll have to come up with something before I l...

Things are changing and it's getting a little overwhelming and annoying. I don't have a lot of time to describe things right now but I'll soon talk about it. The in-laws are starting to ask questions about my current musings. I haven't held a job since I quit my toxic work environment May of 2021. T...

I just sold both dumbbells for $185. They took a simple indestructible product, dumbbells, and built in some planned obsolescence. I will use the profit to buy a few more kettlebells or a set of Indian clubs when I see them at the swap meet. What a pain! Glad to hear you were still able to sell the...

It's funny reading about your 2 year old being a source of energy consumption. My DW and I don't have kids of our own but whenever we visit family and friends who have kids (typically between ages 2-5) it can be draining. I'm always trying to match their energy level and after a few hours they alway...

Colibri wrote: ↑

Tue Sep 07, 2021 1:33 am

Social stigma is pretty low on my radar now, I am glad to have overcome this.

I'm glad you got to that point. Mine is nearly non existent now. Things can get weird and fun when this happens