The Goodwill Collection

I have sort of become a Goodwill addict. Tara I think just humors me on the 1/2 off weekends that the Phoenix stores have. I figured I'd try to go from memory (failing though it be as I approach my fourth decade in a few months) and compile a greatest hits of what we've found there.

Summer of 2000 Indigo iMac (works great)
Memory chips for said iMac
(2) Original Xboxes (I got the second one on Thursday after my other one crapped out. I couldn't leave my Halo game in the middle.)
PS2 video console
Older, but unused, barebones mini-tower with a 2.0 GHz Celeron and 128MB RAM
(2) roller computer bags
HP 6840 Wireless printer
HP 2500 Color Laserjet printer (status unknown, but it was only $5. need a yellow toner cartridge)
4-cup KitchenAid coffee maker
KitchenAid Coffee Grinder
Brother Intellifax 770 fax machine
PS2 controller
Xbox controller
New-in-box waffle iron
Tons of beading supplies for Tara
Lots of clothes (shorts, shirts, jeans, skirts, blouses)
External FireWire drive case
External USB/FireWire DVD burner
Large black Epicurean composite wood cutting board
Hand mixer
Purse for Tara (her old purse actually broke just outside a Goodwill as we were entering)
60 GB laptop hard drive ($5. Awesome deal. I just wish the other two I got with it hadn't been DOA)
Delonghi hot water pot
Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurty
Several loaf pans, both non-stick metal and glass

I'm sure I'm missing some stuff. None if it is really cutting edge, but most is quite useful. For instance, the external DVD burner can be used with my ThinkPad to burn DVD images. The standard optical drive only burns CDs. Previously, I had to use one of my desktops (the last of which died months ago due to a bad BIOS upgrade) or Tara's laptop. Now that I found the old/new barebones, I once again have a desktop. I've upgraded the processor to a slightly newer Celeron D CPU (courtesy of Bookman's, my second favorite used computer parts source) and installed more memory (some also from Bookman's. Turns out I had compatible memory but didn't know it.) I just now was able to install Mac OS X 10.5.2 on it, so I've got a working Hackintosh as well. That leaves the status of the iMac in limbo, as the Hackintosh is MUCH faster. It's not as pretty, though. :)

The kitchen stuff has been very helpful. The cutting board is great. The coffee maker doesn't give the coffee a strange taste like our other one . Tara drinks coffee, so I took her word on it. The Delonghi hot pot is awesome. Boils water in 2 minutes. It looked nearly new when I got it. The coffee grinder is perfect for grinding spices.

I've had a few misses, as well. The two SATA laptop drives were toast, which sucked. They were a huge steal at $10. Some clothes didn't fit right. Luckily Goodwill has a great return policy. You get your refund on a Goodwill gift card (at least that's how it is done for the Central AZ Goodwill stores) that is good at any of the Central AZ stores.

I've also seen some deals that I had to pass on for one reason or another. I saw a great little Dell laser printer, but since we already had four printers in the house, not much need for it. I saw three TiVos this weekend that would have fed my TiVo addiction nicely, but I've got nowhere to put them. And I'd be single again if I'd bought them.

Hell, I was already on THIN ice for the Xbox on Thursday...