Tag: craigslist

Changing of the Bass

I haven’t played bass guitar much recently. The acoustic bass that was right for me when I bought it a couple of years ago ceased to be right for me when I had problems with my right arm (not due to playing the bass). It was just too thick.

So I decided to switch to electric bass, with the constraint that I should be able to get an electric for about the same price as I could get for my acoustic. That was less than $200: my Ibanez acoustic retails new for $250, and may occasionally go on sale for less than that.

I sold my acoustic through Craigslist, asking and getting $180. I’m pleased with that: it’s a fair price, the instrument being in excellent condition; I didn’t have to cave in to lowballers; the buyer came to my house with cash in hand; and he hosts music nights for friends, so the bass will be in good company.

I bought a Yamaha TRBX174EW Mango for a cent less than that: well, a little more than that, thanks to Rhode Island taxes. But the price was lower than usual, since Musician’s Friend had a 20% off “Rocktober” deal, and free shipping.

So I’m looking forward to a more compact bass that I can play comfortably. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Job Hunting and Dogfood

I like the expression eating one’s own dogfood. I also like the encouragement it gives to organizations to use their own products and services.

I was reminded of dogfooding during my current job search. Google asked for my phone number and for my resume. Those two requests are reasonable, and usual, but I was surprised at how closely Google stuck to the usual (Web 1.0ish) script.

Google has the usual categories for phone number: home, work, mobile, if memory serves. Hey, wouldn’t it be great if you could have a number that you could map to whichever phone you happen to be next to? Yes there is, and it’s called Google Voice. I’m surprised that wasn’t an option for phone number on the job application.

I’m also surprised by the option for sending a resume: upload, or paste into a window. Why not ask for a link to an online resume. Perhaps one at Google Docs? Yes, I am aware that people sometimes want to keep their resume private, rather than putting it on the web, and that one could use the paste a resume space to paste a link, but still… I uploaded my resume in Word format. Guess I could have used PDF…

I’m surprised that the application process didn’t steer me toward the dogfood made by the firm to which I applied (Google). Instead, it steered me toward the firm where the dogfooding phrase originated (Microsoft).

Craigslist Before Moving

The less stuff you have to move, the easier the move. We’ve been trying to live by that as we prepare to move from Boston to DC. We’ve lightened the load in many ways: giving things to friends, donating things to thrift stores, putting stuff out on trash day, and… Craigslist.

I’ve been disappointed with the response on Craigslist. Items such as air conditioners, humidifiers, didn’t get any responses. We managed to sell a bookshelf (several people responded, we sold it to the person who could come and collect it) and a small couch (we delivered).

Still, that’s probably what would have happened had we used classified ads, back in the day.