Piano shopping is like car shopping

Last month I embarked on a journey to find a piano for my hopefully-someday promising piano student son. He had been making do with an electronic keyboard inherited from a friend for the last 9 months, but now his instructor is cracking the whip demanding that he requires something better... something with a foot pedal. I suggested, "Can't he just step on an empty shoe or something? I mean we're just getting him to learn the motions, right?" No luck. The teacher is such a taskmaster...

As a savvy Craigslist conqueror, I knew there was nothing I couldn't get for cheap. But with a piano, I had several things working against me. One was time. We needed a piano "the sooner the better." Second, I needed to hire movers so I couldn't say "I'll offer you XX and pick up right now!" And third and most detrimental, I knew nothing about pianos. NOTHING.

I asked a few piano experts/friends, and their opinions varied across the board, from $500 to $6000 for an upright piano. Get this brand, avoid that brand, avoid digital, no shorter than 44" and so on... Personally I wanted a digital piano because it was lightweight, but they say with a digital, you can't have "expression"–whatever that means. The one thing they all agreed on was to bring a seasoned piano player along to test it out beforehand. None of them offered but they did wish me luck.

So off to Piano Plus I went. The 46" Cable Nelson was the cheapest one at $3000. Cable Nelson is made by Yamaha the same way the Pontiac Vibe is made by Toyota–excellence under the hood, but only satisfactory everywhere else. The 47" Yamaha T118 was $4000, the low-budget 48" T121 was $5000, and the timeless classic 48" U1 was $6000. Yes, $1000 per inch enlargement! Funny thing was while I was there, three other families came in–all Asian! That is so stereotypical isn't it?

In addition, delivery is $125, sales tax (9.75% where I live), and two tunings are included. But get this, they offer lifetime full trade up value! Now on the surface that sounds incredible as the salesman gets you to believe how the piano will never lose its value in its lifetime. If we spend $3000 today, even 30 years from now we can trade in the piano and get back $3000 toward the purchase of another piano (provided Armageddon hasn't claimed the store). The one thing he fails to mention is that we can only use that $3000 toward the purchase of a piano that's at least double the value ($6000–ouch).

I went to another store in Dublin for some haggling and by the end of the week, I hammered the price of the T118 to $3495. But the more I thought about it, the more it didn't make sense. I mean buying new, regardless of how great of a deal it is, goes against everything I believe in. I believe white-collar people with champagne wishes should pay for the initial "depreciation" years, not me. I call these people the "new-car-smell people." People like me come along later and buy the leftover "value" years.

So back to Craigslist I went, armed and determined with my newfound education. I'm like an Asian teenage girl shopping for her first car. She doesn't know much about cars, but all her Asian friends drive Hondas and Toyotas. So isn't it a coincidence Asian families only buy Yamaha and Kawai pianos, which are Japanese made? White people like Baldwin, Koehler, Wurlitzer, the same way they like GM, Ford and Chrysler. Mercedes owners buy Steinways. The experts say I can't go wrong with any Yamaha (Camry) or Kawai (Accord), and to find one under 15 years old and stay away from "gray market" Yamahas (salvage). If a piano is properly maintained, it will easily last a lifetime. Also, every piano has a serial number that works like a carfax report.

Sure enough, 90% of all Yamaha and Kawai pianos on Craigslist are from Chinese households. Chinese people tend to keep their homes real clean so probably no shoe ever touched the pedals. The only problem is that most Chinese people are cheap and expect top bluebook value from their resales. Man I hate buying from Chinese! Even in this economy, trying to get Mr. Lu or Mr. Chun to lower their price even 10% is like asking for their first born. They rebuff my offer with, "No, it worth more!"

With at least four lowball offers pending, I stumble across an ad from a generous Mr. Tzchen in Cupertino. He listed his 6-year old 48" Kawai at 60% off retail–an absolute steal! I wasted no time! I could tell money didn't matter to him by the late model yellow Carrera his wife was driving. I took a photo of the piano and said I would need to consult with my wife. He emailed me back a few hours later and dropped the price another $150 hoping that would further encourage my wife. I told him, "Yeah, that would help!" :) We need more Chinese like him!

So do you have grade school children that you want to learn piano? They say piano instills a type of discipline that will later translate to better study habits. Look at me. I never studied music–can you tell?? If you're Chinese, you need to further reinforce the stereotype and force your children to take piano, or violin, or both. Forget sports, it's not proper (see-mun) enough.

For all you non- "new-car-smell" people in search of a decent used piano, a great place to do research is to join the Piano World Forum. Lots of nice helpful folks there. And unlike any tech forum, you won't get trashed on for being a newbie and asking stupid questions. If you insist on buying new, I would recommend Dave at Piano Plus for Yamaha or DC Piano in Berkeley for Kawai.

I don't plan to buy another piano ever again. But through my experience, hopefully you'll learn something in your quest for your piano. Right now we're enjoying our new used piano! The boys are gone to San Diego this week so I get the piano all to myself. Unfortunately I can't read music and I don't know how to play :(

But that may change...

Jaden's 1st Birthday

Just a few photos from today's party at Kennedy Park in Hayward.
Thanks J, J, and J for a great time! Loved the animal theme!

Cantonese Boy

Thanks Matt! Hilarious!

Friday Freebies

Spend 50, Get 50. Expires Sunday.

Similar to last year's Dockers/Gas Card promotion, Sears has another similar promotion running this Father's Day weekend. Buy $50 worth of pants by Sunday, then mail in the PDF rebate form by June 30th, then you get a free $50 gift card.

If you don't need pants, or if you're not a man and you don't have any men to shop for, you can still buy the pants anyway. Just be sure to get a gift receipt, then return it later for store credit.

Happy shopping and Happy Father's Day!

Limit 1 per household. Not valid with any other discounts (including associate discount). Reward Cash valid only on men’s apparel and excludes Lands’ End Merchandise. Mail in rebate must be postmarked by 6/30/09. Not valid with any other promotional offer. Offer valid 6/7/09 – 6/21/09. Not valid on Kmart items. Reward Cash Expires 10/30/09.

You win some, you Lews some...

If you blink, you may miss my sudden burst of super-human speed! Sorry, Lew Family, but you're no match for the Fongs :) We'll look forward to a rematch next time. But even if you do win, don't expect me to mention it on this blog.

There was one more challenge of the moms, but I'm respecting Diana's explicit instructions to not post her video, or photo, or even mention her name on my blog.

In case you're wondering, we were at Joshie's 3rd birthday party.

I was told that this is the front-runner to be my future son-in-law.

Hmm, not scoring many points here...

Kidvantage: 5 for the price of 1

Last week we replaced Dustin's Skechers for the FOURTH time! That means this is his 5th pair of size 2's. Let's see, if you do the math, it's about $40/pair, so we've gotten $160 worth of free shoes in one year. And that's not even counting Colby! If it wasn't for this blog helping me keep track, I would've lost count by now.

But now I'm kind of worried. Not that Sears may catch on to how we're cashing in on this program, but the fact that Dustin's feet hasn't grown in over a year... As much as I like getting the free shoes, I sure hope this will be the last pair of size 2's he'll be wearing.

I know some of you still refuse to shop at Sears. You continue to buy your kid shoes at Footlocker, Sportmart or JCPenny, totally ignoring my valuable advice and unnecessarily spending all your hard-earned money... And that's ok. I truly admire your deep pockets and tremendous spending power. I always say, if I myself can't be rich, the next best thing is to have rich friends!

Related Links:
1st exchange
2nd exchange
3rd exchange

From the Sears website:

Our KidVantage® Wearout Warranty is simple:

• it covers all children's apparel and footwear as long as the child for whom you bought the item continues to wear the size
• if the item wears out, Sears will, at its option, either repair or replace it with the identical item in the same size, or if it's unavailable, a similar item of equal value in the same size
• it covers children's sizes from infants' up to 18 in apparel, and up to senior kids' size 6 in footwear, with proof of purchase

Also, once you spend $100 (accumulated), you'll get a 15% coupon.
Note: It is good to keep the original box because they will need to scan the barcode.

Why Stop at 8-core??

With Apple's Tuesday announcement of the updated Macbook Pro laptops, it got me thinking about the Macbook Pro in our department. The one I setup last month and never got to see again.

Yes, in the midst of this crappy economy and job cuts, the Major, in her neverending quest to own everything shiny and expensive... your taxpayer dollars recently netted her a $2700 top-of-the-line 15" Unibody Macbook Pro. I tell you, the insanity never stops here.

The IT department, understandably balked at the idea of getting her another machine because they just spent $4500 on her 8-Core Power Mac in February. So instead the Major, being equipped with a company credit card and a lifetime of unabashed spending habits, paid for it from our individual department budget (more on that later).


Her reasoning for needing a laptop is so that she can work from home in the evenings and weekends. On the surface this sounds reasonable, but I don't buy it. That's just her misleading, feel-good illusion of justified spending. Fact is, if she spent less of her day doing tea time and visiting others, she should be able to complete all her work during business hours – That's what I think.

But what do I really really think?? I think having a laptop gives her more freedom to leave work early. She already sneaks out early every Monday to get her hair and nails done (among other 'tune-ups' I won't mention). Now she can leave while prominently toting her shiny Macbook Pro claiming to beat traffic and work from home when she's really sitting at the salon. Hmm, can you still type while getting a silk wrap?

I even suggested to her to save money and just get a $1300 unibody 13" Macbook. She complained that the screen was too small and preferred the 15". Now on the surface, this sounds reasonable, but in reality when she uses it at home, it's plugged into a 20" monitor! She's obviously never satisfied owning something if there is something better out there. Because fact is, she demands the best. And money is clearly no object.

And get this. She asks me to find her a portable 2.5" external hard drive. I find a stylish black 500gb Western Digital Passport for $99. But instead she prefers the orange 320gb version for $117. Who cares if it holds less and costs more?? The important thing is that "it matches my wallet!" (I'll try to get a picture of her wallet next time). Can you scream "High Maintenance" any louder?

So why does this bother me so much? Shouldn't I just be happy she leaves early?? Well it bothers me because our fiscal year ends in 2 weeks and that's when I get to spend leftover money on other essential items. We were planning all along to get two Nikon D90's since our D70's are approaching five years old. But since the laptop dipped into our budget (rather than IT's), we're now short $2000 to get the two cameras. Grrrrrr. So now I'll have to wait another year.

If all I blogged about was my job, I would have to rename my blog. How about "Finding the Cheese from my Cracker"? or "The Wheels are Spinning (but the Hamster is Dead)"? or "Toys in the Attic"?? In the meantime, to keep my sanity, I'll just focus on happy thoughts. I'm happy I still have a job. I'm happy I have this blog. And I'm happy I have all of you. Thank you.

Notice the bag of pretzels.

Friday Freebie: National Donut Day at Krispy Kreme

From a press release:

Did you know that National Doughnut Day is an annual observance? And this year, in honor of it being on June 5, Krispy Kreme is sharing five tips with customers, so they can make the most of this giveaway:

1. Share the freebie news with your friends and family so they can get a free doughnut, too.
2. Go to your local Krispy Kreme store and get your free doughnut.
3. While you're at Krispy Kreme, try Krispy Kreme Chillers(R) in refreshingly fruity flavors.
4. Take photos of you and your friends enjoying your free Krispy Kreme doughnut and share them with more friends through your favorite social networking sites.
5. Join "Friends of Krispy Kreme" on www.KrispyKreme.com and find out first about other freebies, discounts and promotions.

"Krispy Kreme is making life just a little sweeter for everyone on National Doughnut Day," says Ron Rupocinski, executive chef at Krispy Kreme. "So, on Friday, June 5, head to a participating store with your friends and family to share the sweet joy of a free Krispy Kreme doughnut."

No purchase is necessary to receive a free doughnut on National Doughnut Day, June 5. The offer is good for one doughnut per customer. To find a participating store near you, visit www.krispykreme.com/storelocator.html.

Do the math and switch to prepaid

Right now, T-Mobile has a promotion where you receive a free $25.00 refill card with any prepaid phone purchase. Phones start at $19.99 and go up to $99.99. Overnight shipping is free but you will have to pay sales tax. Prepaid phones have no contract and the prepaid minutes do expire in either 90 or 365 days (once you reach $100 in refills). If you refill before the expiration, all the minutes will rollover.

Also, to sweeten the deal, if you search "T-Mobile" at Bing.com (formerly Live.com), you can get an additional 35% cashback. (I previously blogged about how to use Live.com.) So that means the $19.99 phone will be $13. And the $99.99 phone will be $65. Not bad. And if you already have a T-Mobile prepaid phone, you can order it just to get the $25 refill card, and then you'll have a spare phone in case you lose or break yours.

So is a prepaid phone right for you? Let's do the math.

Of all the different phone plans out there, I think the cheapest monthly plan is $30 ($360/year). Now if you're like me, someone who sits next to landline phone all day that rarely uses the cell phone except on weekends and commute times, your usage is probably pretty low.

The T-Mobile prepaid plan is $100 for 1000 rollover minutes. That's 83 minutes/month. If you talk triple that amount (250 minutes/month), then it will be $300 – still cheaper than the lowest monthly rate. And the $300 is $300. No taxes or fees, unlike your monthly bill.

If you review your last few billing statements, you'll know on average how many minutes you use. Chances are, you use less than 250 minutes, perhaps even less than 100. If that is the case, then you are overpaying big time. Now if you're consistently using over 400 minutes a month and it's NOT business related... well I hate to say it, but you are undoubtedly "churng hay" (long-winded in Chinese). The proof is in the billing statement. It's a fact. Sorry. But don't feel bad, some of my favorite people are churng hay. We stay in touch via email.

So what are the downsides of prepaid? First of all, your phone is not free (subsidized), so you will have to buy a phone. As stated above, phones range from $20-$100 and your choices are a bit limited. Second, it costs 10¢ to send text and 5¢ to receive. So depending on your usage, that may be a significant added expense. But if you only need a phone for the basic needs, then prepaid is the wise choice for you. Third, you cannot use an iPhone on any prepaid plan.

I won't lie, I am so jealous of all of you that have iPhones. I love how you can remotely update your Facebook status so I know you're on the freeway to somewhere... or stuck in line waiting to buy some world-famous pastries... or about to feast on a burrito the size of a small child... Yes, life is unfair. Sigh.

As an Apple fan, I long to find an unlocked iPhone to put my T-Mobile sim card into. But as much as I want an iPhone, I cannot fathom spending $70/month to use it. That's $1680 for your 2-year contract! $1680 can buy me a Macbook, or iPod Touches for every household member, or 33 family dinners at Black Angus... and I'll still have money left over to pay my prepaid minutes! Just not worth it.

So do the math and see if prepaid is right for you. You may be surprised. In these tight economic times, you should try to trim your expenses anywhere you can. Bottom line: Talk less and save a ton! And with all that money you save, you can take my family out to dinner :)