Could you live on $1000/month?

I dont really understand the argument for having a cell phone. If it is for an emergency, and you are far enough out, that there is no one around, then the cell wont have a signal anyway. THEY are definatly a want, not a need. That being said, for as cheap as they are, doesnt make sense not to have one.

It was the same world really... we just had different toys. The basics are still the same... people need to eat, and have some place to sleep... beyond that its mostly toys and luxuries justified by myriad of creative of excuses as to why we "need" them.

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"Nothing so needs reforming as other peoples habits." Mark Twain

I bought them in California... Sacramento as I recall. I dont know much about todays gadgets.... How do you connect to the internet without a connection? Our toys all require a signal.

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"Nothing so needs reforming as other peoples habits." Mark Twain

You know it depends on what you define as "need".

Do we want a business? Yes, it pays our bills. For that business you have to have smart phone, it's like saying why does a plumber need all those tools? It is just a tool, one that is needed in our modern society.

Same with University kids, they don't have to go college but they better have the right tools if they are going to go.

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Idleness is leisure gone to seed

Lots of people do need them.... I used to need one when I was working the real estate game... It meant the difference between making a paycheck and not making a paycheck lots of times. When it quit making me money... I quit paying for the nasty thing.

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"Nothing so needs reforming as other peoples habits." Mark Twain

This is true. But have you noticed how much most university kids use that tool for its actual needs, compared to how much they use it for nonsense?

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"Nothing so needs reforming as other peoples habits." Mark Twain

Oh, well that is an entirely other subject

Kids are kids are kids I suppose. Doesn't make the tool less needed though.

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Idleness is leisure gone to seed

Actually, this is not true. We have a sailboat and we dismasted a number of years ago. It was almost November so no one was around. Our mast was in the water so no radio. We used the cell phone and thank God we had it!!

I've also been well in the middle of nowhere and had cell service while driving. As long as there is a tower, you have service. You don't need "civilization" for a tower.

No need for the internet to view maps on the iPad or my iPod Touch.

I dont know where you were. Probably in a marina in New York or something. I can drive 5 minutes out of town in any direction. And the cell phone signal is gone. You are right that all you need is a tower. BUT they dont put towers out in the middle of nowhere, they cost money and there is no one out there to use them. This is probably hard for you folks back east to understand. But out west we have true wilderness areas, and if you live in a rural setting those wilderness areas often start as soon as you leave town.

We sell a lot of road maps where I work. I always ask people why they're buying them, because I'm curious, since everyone seems to have GPS these days. The usual response is that they are taking a trip, but don't want to take the main roads - they want to see the country they're passing through, and hit up the small towns, and GPS usually just takes you the swiftest, most boring way. The strangest answer I've ever gotten was a guy who wanted to hit up every hot spring on his way from here to his destination, so was looking them up and highlighting them on the map... GPS sure won't tell you how to get to all the hot springs on your route!

I LOVE road maps. I want one of the giant, spiral-bound Rand McNallys with the laminated pages. Ohhhhhhhh, yeah!

Two weeks ago. I was in utter shock. It was the only station and we were running out of petrol and this place was TWENTY cents dearer than the last one we saw. When the guy came out in his overalls with the rag in the back pocket saying 'ma'am' and 'sir' and pumped our petrol for us.... well, I nearly paid him double. Man, they need to bring that stuff back. I felt important.

Now, first of all, how would we dismast in a mariana? Secondly, why would we worry about calling someone if we were actually at the marina?

No, we were in the middle of the Long Island Sound.

I remember that time my yacht broke. It was the worst 5 minutes of my life!! I had the butler bring me a bottle of 1789 Chateau Rothschild and gave him the broke yacht as a tip.

Hahahahaha! Funny.

Yes, we have a sailboat. Some have a vacation house. We have a large sailboat. We race, we live on it during the summer - things like that. Doesn't mean we're rolling in dough. It just means that we made an investment in something that is enjoyable for the family. And in the last 10 years we've owned it, we've actually increased it's value! Not bad!

Our little town in the middle of nowhere still has a full service station... and yes, you can still save a dime by pulling up to the self serve island... which I never do. I dont mind paying an extra buck per fillup to have the guys available to take care of my needs when the weather is crummy. The old system provides those guys with a job. It doesnt really make me feel special, but it is nice to not have to pump my own gas when the wind is blowing snow or pouring down rain. But then I leave a waitress a hefty tip too, or the guy/gal at the hardware store who goes out of their way to make my shopping ordeal less of an ordeal.... personal service deserves to be paid for, not so much as a wage thing... but to let them know that you recognize and appreciate those "extras" they provide.

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"Nothing so needs reforming as other peoples habits." Mark Twain

Us either..We have a 21ft 2009 Suntracker Pontoon....and your right it is the best investment we ever made.....we love going out on the lake and tuning the world out. We find a spot, anchor and spend the whole day eating, fishing and floating on floats in the water..just me and DH. We have spent our 17 yrs together working, saving etc..that expense was our return on hard work, our retirement present. Best thing about it is its paid for and the lake is about 5 miles away~

That's awesome! We live a mile from the boat and we use it from the first weekend in April to the first weekend in November. We have the BEST memories from our time on it and even this past summer, we spent 3 weeks away on it going out to Martha's Vineyard, Block Island and areas in between. Who went? My whole family including my 22 and 20 year old daughters. What a blast!

This is a '96 Catalina 42 MkII. We bought it in Florida for a SONG and sailed it from Tampa, through the Keys and up to Fort Lauderdale when my now 10 year old was just 4 months old (she's our youngest). Right now, 10 years later, I realized that we can sell it for $50,000 more than we paid for it! Cool!! In the meantime, the times we've had on it have more than made up for any costs we incur (which is surprisingly not too much - less than if we took my family of 6 on a vacation for a week!).

Maybe you could give me some tips to help me increase the value of my little gem?

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"Nothing so needs reforming as other peoples habits." Mark Twain

You TOTALLY need refrigeration and air conditioning!! What a difference that makes in resale value!