Crazy Michigan lady collapses, surrounded by dimes
Here in Michigan, we have a ten-cent deposit on every bottle of pop.
That means if you buy a bottle of Sprite for $1.25, you actually have to pay a dime extra, for a total of $1.35.
After you drink the pop, you take the empty bottle back to wherever you bought it, hand them the empty bottle, and they give you your dime back.
Bring back ten bottles, you get a dollar.
Twenty bottles, two dollars. Et cetera, et cetera.
Here's the thing.
I really, really want R.E.M.'s new (and very LAST) compilation album. It's a 40-song retrospective which covers their entire 31-year career. It is positively dripping with the sounds of Mike Mills, in much the same way that African trees are dripping with giraffe spit.
Perhaps that wasn't the best analogy I could have come up with.
Anyway, because life is hard these days, because I enjoy a challenge, and because I'm kind of weird, I wanted to see if I could buy the R.E.M. compilation entirely through money derived from bottle returns.
I realize this falls somewhere between the realms of frugal, creative, pointless, and bizarre.
In the one store I've checked so far, it costs $16.99, plus tax.
Yikes.
I'm really hoping I can find a place that has it cheaper.
What's frustrating is that Amazon has it for only $9.99, but I can't buy it from there because I don't have a credit card. I can only pay cash.
I haven't checked Wal-Mart yet, both because I kinda hate Wal-Mart and because all my self-preservation instincts are telling me to stay the heck away from that place during the height of the holiday shopping season.
If I really end up having to pay eighteen dollars, ($17 plus tax), that means I'll have to return 180 empty bottles to have enough money.
So far, I've returned 53 bottles, for a total of $5.30.
It dawned on me, somewhere around bottle #32, that this is going to take forever.
.
15 comments:
That is hilarious! I bought mine at Target for $15.99. I think you can do this.
Hello Janna, do you still go onto murmurs.com?
I just saw that amazon is selling the R.E.M. for 9,99 lowest price I have seen, though I'm not ready to purchase yet, after all I own all the other albums already.
Forgot to comment, on the bottle deposit issue there was an episode where Kramer and Newman haul a cargo of soda cans from one state to another with the idea of turning a profit, I think, I'm not sure, one of the states was Michigan?
Adrian: $15.99? That's an improvement! I think the nearest Target is in Jackson, which is about half an hour away.
Anon: I haven't been on Murmurs since September, I think. I keep meaning to go back. I know Ethan said they're shutting it down on December 31, which is sad.
As for the album, don't forget that it also has new songs on it-- songs which aren't on the albums you currently own. The new songs are:
*A Month Of Saturdays
*We All Go Back To Where We Belong
*Hallelujah
Anon again: LOL. Yes, I think I remember that. They have a law here about that now. It's illegal to buy bottles for a smaller deposit and attempt to return them in Michigan for a larger deposit. I guess a lot of people were inspired by the Seinfeld episode!
Hey Janna I didn't know murmurs was about to shut down, December 31st, is that true? I haven't been to murmurs either, but if it's closing down I'd better hurry, get back to post and say farewell to all those people I appreciate (well, most of them)... When was this announced that murmurs is closing?
Anon: Ethan announced it shortly after the band broke up in September. As far as I know, he's still planning on following through with it. Although, like I said, I haven't been back there in a few months. So maybe there are new developments and changes I haven't heard about. If Ethan's changed his mind, I haven't heard about it yet.
Thank you, let me know of any further developments, you know I haven't had the enthusiasm to log on back to murmurs, after the band ceased to exist in September.
I just thought it didn't make sense to continue posting there, since R.E.M. was no longer and frankly they disappointed me with that decision, on some days I don't muster enough interest to even listen to Accelerate or whatever, I now listen to other bands.
Anon: I felt the same way. It surprised me how many so-called R.E.M. fans really didn't seem to care that the band had broken up.
I agree that it was really disappointing news. On one hand I can sort of see why they did it, but still. They were my favorite. :)
I still listen to them more than any other group. Especially when I'm driving.
Anon: BTW, is this zapiekanki?
zapiekanki indeed, it's a small world you know (wait is that the song at the Disney attraction, "a small world"?)
A dime, eh? Well if you really got a penny for for thoughts, you'd have this CD in no time since you think of REM so often.
Anon (zapiekanki): It is indeed. :)
nonamedufus: If I had a penny for every time I thought of them, I'd at least be able to afford the tank of gas to drive to the store... and possibly a couple cheeseburgers. With fries.
Forgot to mention Janna, I'm really not impressive with the three new songs. We all go back was good at first, I bought the track on itunes for 99$ cents, but after a few it quickly dropped down in my itunes and now I barely play it.
The other two I listened to them on NPR during the week they were streaming, they didn't sound much groundbreaking or especial, I haven't heard them ever since.
I think I'm buying the CD later, when it drops enough in price to justify the opportunity cost, right now I'm kind of tired of listening to those songs, I'm not even happy with the track list selection, where is Drive. where is Hollow Man, where is I Believe, where is Bittersweet me? Nowhere on that compilation.
I'd buy a Mike Mills solo album, without hesitation. And I'd buy a box set of all their albums.
Sorry about the grammar and spelling errors, I couldn't edit..
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