The Mint-Chocolate Experience

[fishpatrol]

I was trawling through cracked.com (instead of studying math because math ceased to be fun when the symbols outnumbered the numbers) and came across these two gems:

1. At some colleges, Quidditch is a real sport: College Quidditch. According to the founder, the Snitch is recreated by sticking a tennis ball into a sock and hanging it from the waistband of a cross-country runner. They...just...I can't even...*flails with fits of giggles*

2. Re-use your dog's hair! Sweaters and vests made from the hair shed off by pet dogs -- it's kind of ingenious...yet, at the same time, a teeny bit gross.
Speaking of which, I shed a lot -- back in the dorms, the vacuum cleaner broke because there were too many hairballs on my carpet. Wonder if I could crochet a scarf from my hair... >__O


On an unrelated note, I really want to buy this nifty little thing. Have any of you guys tried ebook readers? Are they really less straining on the eyes?

I'm a bit wary of ordering things from the States (or from anywhere outside of Canada, really) 'cause the last time I bought a set of DVDs from Ebay, I was slapped with a customs charge that was higher than the cost of the DVDs. :| I can't find anything online that tells me how custom fees are applied and how much extra to expect to pay. I used to buy manga from Ebay and various sellers on LJ and I was never charged taxes or customs fees, but I suspect it's because sellers labelled their packages as "gifts".

Comments

[illuminations.livejournal.com]

I've never tried them, but I feel like e-book devices are a great concept, but until a majority of books can be made available, it's just kind of an expensive piece of... thing. But god, can you imagine if all your textbooks could be d/l-able on one of those things? 298374lbs condensed into a piece of plastic.

[fishpatrol]

A lot of novels, including some out-of-print ones, are now available in electronic format -- and I imagine an ebook reader would be excellent for long Big Bang fics. ;) Reading textbooks on those things would be awesome, but the downside would be the lack of colour images. (what? I like pictures in my textbooks!) And pesky journal articles could be read on them, instead of killing trees by printing out sheets and sheets of academic crap.

[hotdogfingers.livejournal.com]

hmm if sweaters and vests are made from dog hair, then i wonder what my pants are made out of. this gets me thinkin'...

[fishpatrol]

I'll bet dog hair pants would itch like crazy. X3

[hils.livejournal.com]

I've had the customs thing happen to me before (even when people have sent me DVDs as gifts). I believe the rule is that if the item is valued at more than $20 or thereabouts then you get slapped with a fee for the percentage of the price.

No, it doesn't matter whether they are gifts or not. I've had to pay customs fees on stuff I've ordered from Amazon

[fishpatrol]

I wish they'd say what the percentage is so that I can calculate how much I'd be actually spending. :\ But for the DVDs I got from Ebay though, the customs fee was almost more than the DVDs themselves, so I'm wondering if there are other fees included too...

[lilac-vanilla.livejournal.com]

http://www.canadapost.ca/tools/pg/manual/pgcustoms-e.asp#1382717

really though, i don't think there's a calculated way to determine how much you'll be charged if it's not a gift...it could all just be random. some sites like UO, AE, etc tack on their own duty fees so you don't have to pay anything when it arrives at your door, but how do you know what they're over charging or not? all the times i've ever had large packages shipped from china, i've only been charged once. and i've never been charged by ebay purchases.

[fishpatrol]

So it's kind of up to luck whether you're charged or not? D: Most sites seem to just say "we're not responsible for taxes and other fees" and disclaim any responsibility.