Introduction and questions

[Elliot Naess]

Interesting. Learn something every day.

[Anomalous]

In case it wasn't clear, I meant the generic 'you' in that last post. I wasn't trying to call you out on a price mis estimate, Elliot.

I know the ending value surprised me. The auctions sat there for days at $500, some of them with no bids. I expected them to get some activity near the end, but not that much!

I never heard back from the school about the maintenance history, either. And in checking some of the other auctions, there were some comments that the buses had been sitting a while, and they couldn't guarantee driveability. It's probably best that I didn't buy one; I'm just surprised that quite a few other people were willing to bid them up to $2500.

[Ray_WA]

Originally Posted by Anomalous

It's probably best that I didn't buy one; I'm just surprised that quite a few other people were willing to bid them up to $2500.

Could be someone local to them who could inspect them personally. As for the heavy bidding at the end... anyone who knows anything about online auctions know that if you bid sooner than the last few seconds of the action that all you're doing is driving the price up so that even if you get it you risk paying more.

As the economy tanks further and further expect more people to look to buses as a cheap home on wheels, and expect fewer buses to be available as school districts keep them longer. This might drive the prices up, you never know.

-Ray

[Elliot Naess]

No sweat! I'm very difficult to offend. And my "max 550" was my suggestion for YOUR maximum -- considering your admitted non-mechanical background and inability to inspect the buses in person.

Now just keep watching for buses and keep learning.

[Anomalous]

Originally Posted by Ray_WA

As the economy tanks further and further expect more people to look to buses as a cheap home on wheels, and expect fewer buses to be available as school districts keep them longer. This might drive the prices up, you never know.

Don't say that! That's the opposite of what I'd want to have happen.

Not that the economy has often asked for my opinion before making adjustments...

[Anomalous]

Originally Posted by Elliot Naess

No sweat! I'm very difficult to offend. And my "max 550" was my suggestion for YOUR maximum -- considering your admitted non-mechanical background and inability to inspect the buses in person.

Now just keep watching for buses and keep learning.

I fully admit to a complete lack of experience with the mechanics of vehicles and engines. I wouldn't say that I am mechanically inept, though.

When I was a kid, my favorite toy was Legos. Especially the Technic ones with lots of gears and motors. Now I own two Lego Mindstorms sets, which are the complicated robotic ones.

In my last apartment, I built a gigantic and very sturdy work bench in my living room. It was unfortunately so large that it couldn't fit through the door way, so I had to disassemble it when I moved. The next one I make will be designed to be taken apart in a non-destructive way.

I only got complaints from neighbors twice in 2.5 years, and one of those times was when I was smoothing the top of my work bench with a belt sander.

I also bought a cheap projector, and built a projector screen stand and a projector mount for the ceiling. The projector mount was a metal thing that could fold up to raise the projector out of the way, though I never got around to motorizing it. Both of these were a bit of a challenge, since I had to make them work with no modification to the apartment walls or ceiling.

So I'm not completely incapable, just inexperienced. I expect that I will be able to learn my way around engines well enough, if I can learn to put up with the greasy, dirty, knuckle skinning part of it. I've also always thought it would be really handy to know how to weld, but just haven't had a good reason to learn.