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Monday, January 13, 2014

Craigslist and Moral Issues

Back on December 23rd I gave you a final results to my month long adventure in Craigslisting.  One of the hi-lights of that post was the full asking price we got for the Honda.  It was going to a young man who loved the car.  Which made us happy.

Only, this fairy tale didn't end so happily ever after.  A few days after we sold the car the new owner called to say it had stopped working.  We thought maybe it was the security system and perhaps the battery had been drained from it.  Manuel talked with the guy for a bit and everything seemed fine.  Then on New Year's eve we got another call from the new owner.  The car wasn't working and he had had a mechanic look at it - the mechanic thought the engine was toast.  Ugh!  After New Year's Day we got a hold of our mechanic and asked if he could have a look at it.  It wasn't that we were obliged to do anything.  It's a 24 year old car after all, things can go wrong with old vehicles, and we had sold it in working order.  Not our fault.  But, we figured we'd just make this gesture and be done with it.  Our mechanic looked it over and said it was the timing belt.  Unfortunately, the valve was likely bent in the mishap.

Now, at this point we could have walked.  We'd definitely gone beyond what the law would say we were required to do.  We sold the car in working order.  The buyer bought it without having it checked.  His choice.  But ... he's a single Dad, just moved from Alberta.  Young, inexperienced.  We just couldn't leave it like that.  So we worked out a price and bought it back from him.  Our mechanic is going to fix it, and then we'll decide what to do next.  We'll lose some money on it, yes.  But we couldn't sleep knowing we hadn't done the right thing.  Not the legally required right thing, but the morally right thing.  I hope, at some future time, our buyer will in turn help out someone else.  It's the way things should happen in a caring society.

What would you have done?

And the Winner Is ...

The Bosch Universal Plus.

I bought it just after I finished writing about all the different stand mixers and how I really didn't need one.  I guess writing just made me want one enough that I took the leap of buying it on-line, sight unseen.  The order went in on December 30th and I got it the next morning - wow.

I have to send out a big thank you to Healthy Kitchens, the Cowichan Bay based company that I ordered from (that's on Vancouver Island for all those wondering where Cowichan Bay is), and a big thank you to Canada Post for such a speedy delivery.

And what do I think of the Bosch Universal Plus stand mixer?  I'm in love - sigh.  The first day we made smoothies with the blender attachment, cookies, potato pancakes with the shredder attachment ... oh, and bread!  Since then I've made pastry dough, more cookies, cakes, cupcakes, scalloped potatoes, French fries, sweet potato fries, carrot slaw, and sliced apples for two pies.  It's just so easy to do ... everything in it.  The days have been short so I haven't had a chance to photograph it during daylight hours, but envision it sitting on my kitchen counter ready for action.

Right now I'm compiling a ton of recipes that I I'd like to try.  I'll have to write out some of these recipes for you to try ... but you'll have to get your own Bosch 'cause I'm not sharing mine.