Lilblog

Car repairs, who needs them!

So Monday night I attended my first ever demolition derby. I was a little skeptical when Neil told me he wanted to go, but I figured I should see what they are all about, since I am marrying the guy (although he didn't mention demo derbies in the proposal). I was pleasantly surprised (if pleasant and demolotion can be used in the same thought). We sat for 2 hrs. watching cars smash in to each other until they couldn't move anymore. I was amazed how long these cars lasted. Cars were driving on top of each other, smashing in to cement blocks, and ultimately having to be carried out by forklifts. But, some cars never gave up. Look at number 41 in the picture, the blue car. At the time of the picture he was still driving around smashing in to people despite all the smoke coming from the engine. So, why do I need to bring my car in when the bumper is hanging off or the muffler is gone? These cars were doing just fine. I dont' know, maybe car repairs are just a big scam.

FLy in a bag

To sum up accomplishment in a picture... this would be it for me!

DirectBuy this!

So tonight, Neil and I entertained the idea of 'too good to be true, cheap stuff'. Too our surprise it was not all it was cracked up to be. After a healthy enticement of free gifts (gold/glass bracelet, and trip to nowhere, Michigan) we spent two hours deciding that we didn't need to spend $3500 to avoid marked up retail prices for the next three years.

To sum up, DirectBuy uses its buying power to allow its members to buy directly from manufacturers. Many people have claimed (on infomercials and other such bogus advertising means) that they have saved upwards of $90,000 in a matter of 9 months on stuff like flooring, furniture, and clothes. So just to complete the math, I would suspect that if they saved that much in retail mark up, then they must have spent at least $45000 in 9 months assuming 300% markup, which the salesperson assures us is much higher than the average markup. Anyway, so the people on the infomercials are either filthy rich and don't need to be using direct buy, or they are not the sharpest tools in the shed, or they are lying. By any means it sure sounds like these are not your average income folk.

Basically the membbership is worth it if one plans on spending a great deal of money on highly marked up items. This is necessary to offset the $3500 start up fee for the membership.

things we can not buy through direct buy: mens suits, computers, motorcycles, pets, cruises.

So at the end of the day, Neil and I decided not to join primarily becuase we cannot purchase a pot belly pig through the 'club'. and the gold/glass bracelet is already broken!

For some interesting background, look up UCC Total Home (DirectBuy's former name before the fraud cases were resolved).

For more information, puruse this article.
www.startribune.com/stories/1229/4780642.html