Random Thought Thread

Am I the only person NOT buying (m)any knives on the Exchange since sellers have decided that they will ONLY accept non-PP G&S payments?

There are a lot of knives that I "could" have purchased but didn't because I refuse to buy them for CASH ONLY (whether by check, USPS MO, Zelle, Venmo PP FF or whatever), unless the seller is a member of long standing with at least "some" transactions and with NO negative feedback for any of them.

The "problem" is that there have been a lot of knives that I've been interested in buying but have NOT purchased because they were being offered for "cash only," especially by "new members" who've decided that BF is a good place to sell their knives probably because there are no seller fees and no financial accountabilty.

Scammers can be banned from selling here under their user name but, unlike The Bay, there's no chance of being "forced" to make a refund for any cash transaction and, unless they're "found out," they could open a new acct under a diff name/email address if they want to try to do the same thing again here.

The "excuse" that people are using to require CASH ONLY is the new 1099 reporting requirement but I call BS to that because anyone who buys a knife knows (and has a receipt for) what it cost him and can easily post that to a Schedule C to reconcile that cost against the sale proceeds.

If sellers don't want to be "bothered" with such an accounting and/or save the fees associated w/a PP G&S transaction, "so be it" but I'm NOT buying any knife for CASH here or elsewhere unless I REALLY want the knife and there are some basic assurances that I won't get ripped off.

I've only bought 1 knife from a long-standing member w/no negative feedback since this "trend" started.

I own SO MANY knives already that I really don't need to buy any more, so this trend is really SAVING me $ by preventing me from buying more knives on impluse (which is much easier for me to do w/a credit card using PP G&S) and I've got no problem w/that.

LOL! ;)
 
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Nathan the Machinist said:
Whoever said "just do what you love and you'll never work another day in your life" was clearly just talking out of their ass
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I will say, though...
Millenials/Gen-Z'ers have some options we never had, that genuinely seem to fit that bill.

Things like the folks who spend all their time working minimum wage jobs jobs to fund their next snowboarding adventure, whose lives literally revolve around the next trip.

Then they gain enough of a following that they start being sponsored by equipment/sports drink manufacturers etc. and make $XXX,XXX doing pretty much exactly what they were already doing.

I caught a documentary a few years back that blew my mind. It was about Professional Videogamers. Kids earning a living playing videogames. The top earners were making six-figures. What blew my mind was that colleges began offering degrees/majors in videogames. Not designing videogames, but a college degree in playing videogames.

One of the guys interviewed was an Asian kid in his senior year in college (don't recall his major, but it was something like Engineering or Accounting). He was making so much money gaming (apparently, there are a lot of people who will pay a monthly subscription to watch someone else play 🥴), while maintaining a great GPA, that he decided to show his parents how much he was earning because he wanted to drop out to focus on his videogame career. After seeing the numbers, his parents actually supported his decision to drop out.

Asian parents. Supporting their kid's decision to drop out of a degree in Engineering/Accounting, to play videogames...😲

Apparently, videogames are big enough that foreign gamers have qualified for the same visas that are usually granted only to exceptional athletes.
 
benchrest308 said:
Some video game players are finding out that they are only relevant so long as the game they are good at is what the people want. There are many that are finding the hundreds of hours they put into 1 game does not stay relevant for long.
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While this is true, I think many gamers tend to have their fingers in multiple pies (and aside from the game specific fanatics, most gamers are always excited about the next, new shiny).

While on one hand, they may not be as good at some other games, as their top game of choice, most gamers who've gotten really good, also tend to be really good at other games (especially if they're a somewhat similar format).

I joked with my buddies about being an arcade nut in the 80s and all the 'tuition' wasted on getting really good at arcade games. There was no option to major in it/earn a living off it back then, though. 😝
 
Those video gamers could hit a pretty severe midlife crisis. For me it would feel like Steve McQueen in Papillon, "I accuse you of a wasted life"!! Who knows, maybe they'll be happy with it. Imagine where I'd be if people would have paid to see me play Galaga.
 
I dunno . . . is "wasting" a ton of hours playing video games intrinsically more of an issue than wasting a ton of hours watching sports, watching television, surfing (is that still even a word?) the Internet, listening to (or playing) music, shooting guns, reading novels, hunting for sport, birdwatching, or a million other things folks do for amusement/entertainment/fun/etc.? FULL DISCLOSURE: I am not a video gamer - the only games that I believe I've played in the past 20 years are FreeCell and Wordle.
 
The Amazing Virginian said:
I dunno . . . is "wasting" a ton of hours playing video games intrinsically more of an issue than wasting a ton of hours watching sports, watching television, surfing (is that still even a word?) the Internet, listening to (or playing) music, shooting guns, reading novels, hunting for sport, birdwatching, or a million other things folks do for amusement/entertainment/fun/etc.? FULL DISCLOSURE: I am not a video gamer - the only games that I believe I've played in the past 20 years are FreeCell and Wordle.
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Great points.

And in this case, the original inspiration for my post/this tack, was Nathan's post about the concept of "find something you enjoy doing and 'you'll never work a day in your life'.

These gamers are literally making a living off the 'hobbies/pastimes they were already engaging in (whilst most folks don't tend to make money off their various hobbies/pastimes).

Granted, sitting in front of a screen playing videogames for most of your waking hours isn't really the best thing for anyone (and pretty much all the gamers in that documentary looked exactly like I expected for folks who spend most of their waking lives playing videogames), but they're doing what they enjoy and earning a living off it (those guys at least).

The ones who dropped out of school/quit their jobs/switched to major in playing videogames did so because a) they already wanted to devote more time to playing videogames except for the 'hassle' of going to school/work etc. When they discovered how much they could earn playing videogames, I can see why they made those choices.

I'm not for or against someone going that route. As stated, it was just an example of some folks who I think, actually fit that phrase.
 
The Amazing Virginian said:
I dunno . . . is "wasting" a ton of hours playing video games intrinsically more of an issue than wasting a ton of hours watching sports, watching television, surfing (is that still even a word?) the Internet, listening to (or playing) music, shooting guns, reading novels, hunting for sport, birdwatching, or a million other things folks do for amusement/entertainment/fun/etc.? FULL DISCLOSURE: I am not a video gamer - the only games that I believe I've played in the past 20 years are FreeCell and Wordle.
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Yes, we all waste time in various ways (all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy).

I like to have something I can point to that has been worthwhile, which for me I guess is teaching. I'm happy to see where many of my students ended up.

You could say that knife making as a hobby is a strange waste of time, but I think too many people don't have any physical skill and that's a shame. I love how there are endless facets to it when you combine geometry and design, different materials and processes, etc.
 
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