Someone I don’t really know all that well, last spoke at school, has an autistic niece. She lost her toy and was distraught, so her aunt put up a post on Facebook to say it was discontinued, and to ask if someone could locate a second hand one somewhere. I’m not really sure why, but I felt bad for her and thought that maybe I’ll use my Google-fu to help.
I did a reverse image lookup, found the original manufacturer, looked up one of the main execs, found their contact details against their personal domain, and asked them if they could help out. They said they’d be happy to help, and I said as a gesture of good will that I’d pay for the new toy - perhaps several so that she’ll always have one if it were to break.
After speaking to the owner, I had paid for several toys for an autistic girl I had never met - probably around £500 worth. The exec went a step further and flew to the UK to give her and her aunt the toys, probably for some good press. I never told the aunt it was me, and I told the exec to keep it between us. They put out a press release where I was referred to as a “mystery hero”, and said that for her they would resume that line of toys, with her receiving a custom version with her name attached. To their credit, he said her aunt and mother kept asking who the person was so they could thank me, but they stayed firm and said that it was up to me to reveal myself.
So, for £500 I made an autistic girl and her family happy, and got a nice photo of the workers with a note that said “thank you”. That money was supposed to go towards car repairs, but I decided that a month of walking and leftovers for lunch to make someone happy was worth it.
That was very Mr. Rodgers of you.
Woah get outta here with this wholesome shit, i came here to get an… Oh wait this isnt reddit. Carry on mate!
My stupid, ugly lizard.
I had my eye on a beautiful female leatherback bearded dragon with great genetics! She was around 200$ and I was so ready to buy her. Contacted the breeder and was told that she had been sold just a few hours earlier. Absolutely crushed.
Then the breeder offered up a defect dragon. It was going to be culled due to a genetic fuck-up that caused it to be born without spikes or scales. They’re much much much much much more difficult to care for into adulthood, due to their special needs. 20$ adoption fee + shipping.
He was the opposite of what I had wanted.
So naturally, sucker that I am, I adopted him.
He’s turning 5 this November.
I love my stupid, ugly lizard. 💕
(here is what a standard one looks like:)
You and your lizard are awesome. He looks like a little alien—I’m glad E.T. found home.
omg a beardless beardie
My answer is very similar to this. I talk about it a lot, I was around eight years old when I just supposed to “take care” of my pup whose canid species is only semi-legal here, but it turned into full blown pethood. She passed away and I currently have a granddaughter. I wouldn’t trade her for anything.
What are the special needs? Cute lizard.
His skin is the issue, mostly. Bearded dragons shed by rubbing themselves on rough surfaces. Due to having no skin protection from scales, he is prone to cuts and scrapes from such surfaces. Cold-blooded animals are notorious for slow healing, which means open wounds heal extremely slow, leaving the animal very prone to infections and further complications. SO, I’ve sanded down corners, sharp edges, and other things in his enclosure.
He also requires lotion, aloe, and massages to keep his skin / shed healthy. If this is not done, the shed can become stuck on certain appendages, which can lead to loss of blood flow, with can lead to rot/infection, which can lead to required amputation or death. Common stuck shed amputation parts for scaleless beardies are tail tip, all toes, and even eyelids.
So this dude has a better skincare routine than I do, gets weekly massages, gets humidity checks (too little = dried out skin, too much = respiratory infection), has temperature control, special furniture, etc.
Given me more white hairs worrying about him more than anything else in my life, that’s for sure!
You’re good people.
He’s beautiful. So smooth and cuddly.
You just made me well up. People can be so good.
He’s so ugly it’s cute
He certainly has his charm, that’s for sure!
Now I want a lizard
As long as you get one with scales, I’d highly recommend it! They do require at least a 75 gallon habitat, though. Ideally 120 gallons! Also, ideally a front-opening one (they get spooked if you come at them from above).
Also will need a heat lamp and a long UVB fixture that spans at least 1/3 of the habitat.
Oh, and they eat insects & greens. Babies eat 80/20 bugs & greens, but transition to 20/80 bugs & greens as adults. Crickets or dubia roaches are the best insect staples!
My dragon is around the size of my forearm, but they won’t get much bigger than your entire arm.
As babies, they are very skittish / energetic, but as adults, they are pretty mellow. If you’d like a smaller, chill cuddle-buddy to just hang out with, a dragon is for you!
I am just considering my options of low maintenance pets. This seems like a fairly decent option.
Definitely adopt an adult! Just be aware of their lighting, space, and food requirements. Many are essentially friendly pet rocks that simply enjoy hanging out & looking cool. (:
What is his name, if you don’t mind?
His name is Pączki! Pronounced like “Poonch-key”. (native Polish speakers, please do not come for me lol)
That’s cute, I like it
I want to squize those little arms!
💪
I bought a sauna. Second hand from a guy who had it in his third floor attic 50 miles away. Had to dismantle it get it in the van than rebuild it on my lean to.
I then got myself a big old whiskey barrel for a cold plunge pool.
No regrets, a sauna straight after coming off the hill in wet weather is the best.I bought a Steam Deck. Irresponsible for the fact it mostly exclusively exists for gaming, and isn’t a very productive item to buy.
But gods damn is that such a fun device!
I spent almost 6k on my computer setup, 2k just on the 4090 no regrats
3070ti and a 43” 4k gaming monitor, sometime in 2020 when pandemic pricing was at the highest bullshit level. it would cost less than 1/2 that 18 months later, but I’m glad I didn’t wait.
massive screen real estate at 144hz all the time was worth it for work alone.
Most of my photography gear falls under “well, that money could have been spent more wisely”. But photography has been one of my major ways of dealing with depression, so I absolutely don’t regret it. I can’t really put into words how good it felt to finally get a Camera That Didn’t Suck.
I spent front money on a guitar at Goodwill when I was buying My mom all kinds of stuff. I was tripping balls and had convinced myself people were sneaking money into my wallet. I just wanted to show my mom a good time. A year later I El Kabonged a home invader with that very same guitar.
El Kabonged
Le mao
I’m glad I got the experience to El Kabong someone. It’s a hindsight appreciation edition of ‘I wish a fucker would’.
Ice machine
Infinite bedside ice
Does it not make tons of noise?
We have an ice machine in the freezer and often it is the loudest thing in the entire house. I also have a mini fridge in the office and the compressor on it runs every few minutes. It would be awful to try to sleep in there
Dude OP isn’t even mortal at this point; he has ascended to godhood. That compressor sound and ice dropping into the plastic basket only powers him up.
I’m picturing this thing literally on your nightstand. Please tell me I’m right.
Very nearly! I have desk that I scrounged from the garbage literally right up against the bed and a nightstand right next to it. It’s on the desk since the nightstand holds my TV.
So it’s not literally on a nightstand, but it is literally bedside, i.e. I can use it without getting out of bed.
A long time ago when I had a good job I bought like every retro video game console known to man. Many years later I sold all that stuff and everything increased in value so I made bank.
A round blanket with the pattern of a pepperoni pizza on it. Bought it as a funny treat for my wife and me. Our, now, 5yo sleeps with it every night. It’s his pizza blanket!
I’ve almost pulled the trigger on a tortilla blanket for my wife, as she always wraps herself in the blanket like a burrito, but I’m afraid I’m the only one that will find it funny.
Second limited edition steam deck. My kids now use both of them.
We bought a demilitarized Humvee (HMMWV). It was like 10 grand, and it’s cool as hell.
You don’t use this as a daily drive vehicle do you?
Definitely not. But we do a lot of projects, so it’s our “truck”. And we like to have fun, so it’s our offroading vehicle.
$4k on a classic luxury car that needed work.
I’m $17k into it and it’s been in my garage long enough that I can’t start it without draining all of the fuel.
It’s really lovely, but good lord luxury classics are expensive to restore. I restored and drive an old truck for $6k and a lot less heartache.
I remember when Leica released their first digital full frame camera. I was excited cause I had a m4 that I used for a decade with a bunch of lenses. Searching thru estate sale after sale to compile them. The M9 came out on 9/9/9 and I was on vacation in Tokyo at the same time. figured if I waited a few years I could get a used one maybe.
So my wife and I went to the Leica store to look at it on the release day. When we went in there I chatted the guys up and they told me a preorder fell thru and gave me an opportunity to buy it. I wasn’t even really considering it when my wife told them we will take it. I had half the money and she gave me the other half. I got to spend the rest of that week taking photos in Japan with my digital Leica instead of my film one. Traveled all around the world with that camera. It was the most expensive thing besides a car and house I’ve ever bought.
