Friday, May 15, 2020

5 quarantine impulse purchases

Soooo...... I can't be the only one who has clicked "add to cart" on some ridiculous stuff throughout this strange quarantine period. We as a society have been conditioned to solve our problems via consumerism, right?

Is something going wrong in your life?? There's probably a product or service somewhere on the market advertised for fixing that exact problem! Or at least, might distract you from it haha!

just a cute pic of Freebee and Phee to get things kicked off <3 <3
But.... There's kinda a limit to consumable solutions for the coronavirus. You can buy all the toilet paper, hand sanitizer, fish tank cleaner, and fashionable face masks within reach.... And yet this crazy unfathomable situation just keeps going...

So, ok. Fine. Apparently we can't FIX a pandemic with shopping. Shopping as distraction, tho? Yup -- turns out, that still works haha. And I gotta admit, as time has gone on, my "distractions" have grown increasingly.... ridiculous haha.

Let's start with an early purchase:

1. Passier Nylon-Lined Stirrup Leathers

But before we take a look at the new leathers, let's take a brief trip down memory lane and remember 'Fraidy Cat Eventing's humble tack beginnings:

flashback to my saddle setup from when i first started blogging and eventing
Behold, the majesty of a Wintec all purpose saddle (belonged to Isabel's owner), ancient leathers, and Compositi irons. Turns out, you don't actually need fancy tack to event. Isabel and I started our training journey and actually did our first few horse trials in that saddle, before slowly and steadily upgrading and replacing piece by piece over the years.

five years later and things are looking pretttttty different
Really, tho, especially now that I own a horse, the floodgates have sprang open for investing in higher quality tack and equipment. The addition of the Passier leathers to this picture really just makes me feel so warm and fuzzy <3 <3 <3

2. Farrier's Formula Dietary Supplement

This one maybe doesn't count, since Charlie's been getting Farrier's Formula as a supplement basically since I brought him home in 2016. Usually tho, over the winter I like to give my bank account a little break and will cut out the supplements for a couple months.

Charlie's feet barely grow in winter anyway, ya know? He actually went EIGHT WEEKS one cycle this year, which is unheard of haha.

this is a very old pic, but charlie's still getting this stuff 
Springtime means fresh grass (and dewy mornings) tho, so we normally load back up again. This year especially, once I learned that boarders would be allowed to drop off supplements every two weeks during the quarantine, I made it my fucking business to get Charlie back on supplements. Any supplements haha.

So. Farrier's Formula it was. Reasonable, right?

3. Disposable Dental Guards

Also reasonable, tho maybe slightly less expected, I recently bought some dental guards. For me, not Charlie.

Bc it turns out.... Pandemics are stressful as fuck. I've known for years that I low-key grind my teeth while sleeping. But lately, holy shit it's gotten bad enough that I'm waking up with some substantial TMJ soreness. Ugh. Hopefully these help....

TMJ pain is no joke, yo
4. Cat Harness

Oooookie dokey, folks. We are clearly starting to stray here. The impulsivity is becoming increasingly apparent.

One night I clicked "Buy" on a harness for my indoor-only apartment cats. Results were as expected.

lololol go ahead and call peta, i don't give a fuck

5. Remote Controlled Drone

Ha. Yup. Wheels completely off the bus here, guys. I bought a friggin drone.

oooooh buddy
Why? Idk. What am I gonna use it for? Eh, not sure. It's basically a glorified children's toy.

the controller is bigger than the drone haha
But idk. It has a camera on it. And you know me --- I'm always a total junkie for new and interesting media!!

flight!!!
Turns out tho that it's pretty fucking hard to fly. And, uh, reeeeeally sensitive to wind. I may or may not have almost lost it into a stream in some woods the first time flying it...

OMG
The image is pretty low resolution and my piloting skills are shaky at best so far. Plus the batteries only last for an estimated 6-8 minutes at a time (90min to charge tho).

Freebee ain't perturbed 
But. Omg. It's fun haha. And I am hoping to use it to maybe get some interesting content later this summer. Or like, maybe go spy on my horse if things shut back down again. Either way, really.

picture from the google. but possibly / probably a glimpse to my drone's future demise
Tho... Actually, more likely than any of that, this thing is probably gonna meet a grisly death. Which occurred to me as I helplessly watched the wind carry it farther and farther away from me toward a copse of trees, small stream, and busy road.... Finally it dropped out of sight into some bushes (where luckily I *did* find it), just as a red tailed hawk came screeching in outta nowhere to investigate haha.

So. Uh, yea. I guess we'll all just have to stay tuned to find out what happens next with this thing, LOL.

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And there ya have it, a small selection of recent impulse buys. Some of which are reasonable, and others..... lol, well. They're good distractions, right? Have you been buying anything lately? Trying to stick to the perfectly practical wish lists? Or have you also gone off the deep end??




37 comments:

  1. Oh my those are some random purchases. And they make me feel way better. I’ve bought some random things like new shirts etc.. and some products to change Carmen’s tail from yellow to white. But my biggest impulse was an Apple Watch. I have been using fitbits, but, for their cost, they really don’t last. So I clicked. Which officially makes me all in with Apple.

    It would be cool if someone could follow you with the drone while you ride a cross country course.

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    1. Lol I love the idea of an apple watch but am pretty sure if I wore one right now it would just be constantly abuzz telling me to move my ass off the sofa and do anything - literally anything - to quiet the steady panic in my heart rate LOL.

      Re the drone, I’m actually really hopeful that something like that could happen. But it would mean teaching someone else to fly it so that the footage would actually be watchable. More likely, it’ll be me getting footage of other people. But mayyyybe at some of the bigger shows I go watch??

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    2. I love my apple watch! I don't use it to it's full capabilities, but I love it anyway. I bought mine last year as a promotion gift to myself after I got promoted to Associate Librarian (technically a "career level" promotion) and I adore the thing. Of course, during quarantine, that statistics are...pathetic. My fitbits pretty much always died on me but I love this watch! It's lasted just about a year so far so longer than any fitbit.

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    3. Being home for me has meant more exercise. But I already know that I won the quarantine lottery. 😉 I’m happy to hear that you like the watch.

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  2. Haha I like your random purchases! Cats aren't the best at adapting to new things lol. So far the only funny things I've bought are a bucks zebra fly sheet for Fred (which should be good for a laugh) and some cross stitch material since apparently I'm going to start crafting!! Lol I have my eye on a harness for Archie and those funny banana cat beds on Instagram but have yet to pull the trigger on those!

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    1. Oops bucas not bucks. Lol autocorrect!

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    2. Ooh yea now it a fabulous time for crafting haha. I do love crafts but generally need a pretty clear inspiration for each or any project. Which sadly is lacking rn. I did buy new cat beds for my little hellions tho! Nothing fancy but they like them. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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  3. Idk. I think the cat harness served a very practical purpose. 🤣

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    1. Oh hell yes. Instant cat containment. Is it being loud and obnoxious crashing around the apt while I’m on a call?? Put a harness on it!! Now it’ll just be loud and crashing around whatever specific corner I put it in.... lol

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  4. There are few things I love more in life than a boneless cat. 11/10 approve of that purchase.

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    1. Yesssssss haha. It’s basically like a medieval wooden stockade for those assholes. And I lufffs it <3

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  5. Um... ulcergard, ulcergard, ulcergard? Plus lots of Abler ulcer products? So considering the hit to bank account, you would THINK I'd stop shopping. But, I've told myself that I'm not riding. I'm not paying my gym membership. I'm not buying gas (I am on the same tank since MARCH)... Plus ulcer-related products like succeed which I'll cut after this container... I hope.

    So, Nay Nay needed a rambo fly sheet since he's a wimp and a fly mask (necessities, right? He ADORES his bug gear but he takes Subi's mask off because VELCRO is fun) -- this was thanks to bday money from in-laws so it doesn't count, right?

    Hay feeder for Nay Nay because he won't eat from nets in his stall. And wastes all hay on the ground. Then last Sunday I decided that I love the damn thing so much that I bought a second for Subi. I was scheduled to get here today, but UPS just emailed that it's been rescheduled for Monday. Grrr.

    Then there is the desk and chair I bought because my back is destroyed from working at home.

    Your purchases are downright cheap. I haven't shopped like this... ever.

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    1. Lol yea. Big ticket purchases made out of necessity are not nearly as fun as shopping bc ya wanna and shopping for the sake of shopping haha. Esp during a period when money might be right :( luckily none of the above for me were what I’d consider necessary purchases (except maybe the cat harness omfg) - but rather are sorta a fun distraction from the general malaise and global catastrophe we are living thru at the moment. Bc it’s friday and I needed something lighthearted haha ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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    2. Cat harness is amazing! I bought some fun things like puzzles, but I stopped myself from buying playbill leggings. I decided that was going way too far. Lol

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    3. but if you can't buy playbill leggings in a pandemic, when CAN you buy them?!? in my eyes that's EXACTLY the type of purchase needed in a moment like this lol

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    5. The damn leggings may or may not be on their way to my house... thanks emma.

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    6. lolol there are worse ways to spend $50 haha...... for instance, you could own a cheapie chinese drone that's probably gonna get taken out by a hawk while it's cell phone app spies on all my data ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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  6. omg that mouthguard... I might need to do the same. I as a casual teeth grinder but i've got some complaints that it is now all night every night and i wake up with my jaw KILLING me in the morning.

    also really glad you got a drone. can't wait for you to crash it into a tree or something hahahhaha

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    1. lol already 10 steps ahead of ya!

      and re: the mouth guard.... i'm not sure this particular type is the solution for me. the bite plate felt a bit too thick and i'm worried about fucking my jaw up worse by using something that's badly misaligned, so i ended up not keeping it in to sleep. idk....

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  7. I mean... there's not much to do but shop on the interwebs... My brother has a bunch of drones (he's runs a tech review website, so they're kind of his job I guess?) and he's lost a few in the wind too. They are super fun once you get the hang of them though!
    I bought two hunt coats... which is hilarious because not only are there no horse shows, but if you recall, I have two lame horses. Ha. Hahahaha... Sob.

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    1. ugh.... the universe really just needs to chill the F out with all that BS tho.... :( for real tho i guess if there was ever a time to have literally all your animals sidelined, maybe now isn't so bad? idk. hunt coats are nice tho <3

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  8. Mouth guards are great! I needed one in Grad school (as one can imagine) - I brux pretty hard! The leathers look super nice, the drone is interesting.. I don't really like them lol. If yours gets killed by a birth please tell us all about it lol!

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    1. Lol so I need to find a way to film the drone itself while flying it in case a hawk or something gets it. The tricky thing is that my cell phone connects to it (WiFi) to take the video from the drone cam itself. So maybe I need a head cam to film the drone cam?!? Lol.....

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  9. I've gone of the deep end with buying necessary and unnecessary things...my bank account will not be thanking me later but I'm thanking myself now for all the fun surprises I get in the mail. Anything to get me through quarantine!

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    1. Lol I live for that sweet good morning text : “your package has been delivered!”

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  10. yyyyessss cat harness! I've been walking my cats a lot since March, haha.

    My impulse purchases have been infrequent and inexpensive, but have included candles, miscellaneous stationary from Hunt Seat Paper Co., and a new watch.

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    1. Oooh yes candles really are the perfect creature comfort splurge right now. I LOVE candles but always feel like they’re so expensive for what they are.... but right now that’s honestly what’s up hahaha

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  11. Mm. I may or may not have bought... um... four halters? Maybe five. No, four - three for the baby (growing baby! she needs them! she... has already outgrown one because she's making a bid to be as tall as her mother by weaning, help) and one nice padded Two Horse Tack one for mare-face. And some grooming supplies for the baby, because I needed more curries (they were green! her stuff has to be green!). And Tile stickers, because I was gonna GPS tag Cessa's grazing muzzles if she was staying in the pasture.

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    1. lol on one hand i feel like i already have a zillion halters. on the other hand..... they're all in various stages of disrepair and each has been cannibalized to provide parts for another.... soooo.... maybe i need another halter too?!? LOL. also i'm definitely considering a gps tag for that damn drone hahaha

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    2. I think I finally got rid of all my broken/screwy halters. I just... keep buying new pretty ones. Oops. lol The Tile stickers are pretty cool - I got a 2-pack for like $40, I think it was? They're just little quarter-sized stickers that interface with the Tile app, and they've got like a 150-ft range.

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    3. oooh that's good to know, thanks. i might look into those stickers, or at least do a little research on them. the drones are tricky tho (especially this one, which is particularly cheap) -- they are extremely light weight and calibration is critical for them to operate predictably. so ya gotta be careful with putting anything else on them in case it throw them out of whack.... but i know you CAN use accessories with higher quality drones, so it's worth a look!

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  12. I've bought the soloshot and some Kerrits breeches. Oh and sweatpants, lol I didn't even own any and now that's all I wear.
    My dentist is always on me about getting a mouthguard, but he wants me to make me a custom one and I've been putting it off.

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  13. All pretty solid purchases! I bought more chickens, a kindle reader, some clothes, and as of today am putting in an order for a custom saddle... so. It's run the gamut here.

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  14. I've got a VERY fancy girth (for me) in a shopping cart along with a seat saver.

    And then a set of majyk equipe boots for all four legs IN PURPLE.

    I also bought spouse a custom hoodie that my friend hand makes because they wanted something a little less masculine for the eventual returning winter

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  15. I love tack shopping while in quarantine! Also, try Sisu mouthguards, they are amazing. They are custom moldable, super easy to wear, and not thick. I use them for roller derby!

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  16. My housemate has a drone, they're so much fun to play with!

    One time, we strapped a drink to it and flew it to my boyfriend who was at a house party a few streets over.

    It worked.

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