My FreeCycling habit and my need to exercise more crossed paths this past weekend when I acquired two NordicTrack ski trainers. Three were offered the same day, and I grabbed the first two.
The first is enormous, and I suspect either came from a health club or was offered through Sears. It’s unlike the usual models I’ve seen, and lacks the simplistic NordicTrack aesthetic.
The second was offered after we got the first one home and was billed as coming with instructions: that was the clincher. Turns out it’s the easier of the two to adjust — an important factor when two people plan to use it — though it lacks the video display. A simple eggtimer will have to suffice for duration enforcement.
My sister-in-law will get the one we decide not to keep: she knows how they work, both as exercise equipment and as clothes drying rack.
I also scored a complete kid’s microscope kit for my young scientists. Useful now that summer is coming up and there are things to look at.
And sometime this weekend, I will take delivery of a box of darkroom equipment, contents unspecified. Trays, beakers, an enlarger is rumored to be in there (I have one but no idea what shape it’s in after several moves). The enforcers of mailing list decorum have asked for people to give stuff away in April, to make it a spring cleaning month. So I am holding off on some offers I have:
- An HP SCSI flatbed scanner
- A plastic sandbox, with lid — shaped like a turtle
- A plastic pull-behind wagon for littl’uns to ride in
- and more gems as I find them
FreeCycle rocks.