Life Update: From The Bad Comes The Good

The Netgear Router is dead. LONG LIVE the Netgear Router!

UPDATE: Added related YOUTUBE VIDEO: www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFhINN…

Life can toss you some very interesting cure balls. Just when you're about to spend $200+ on a router worth $200+ when the old Commercial Class Router dies on you -- instead, life hands you a $300 Corporate Class Router for only $140.

Only moments before I was going to spend a lot more money on a router that will outlive its usefulness -- the phone rings. Its Archfiend.

Synchronicity can have perfect timing, if you let it. I could have decided not to pick up the phone, catering to frustration and my addiction to the online world -- but instead, I patiently picked it up and immediately explained what I was about to go do.

"How interesting!" as he explains "I'm a bit tapped for cash right now. You know that spare Corporate Class Router I have? Well, I'm willing to sell it to you".

As my eyes lit up like a Christmas Tree, I ask him how much he is willing to part with it for -- as I explain what I was about to go and do. He said "Well, originally I was just going to give this to you for free, but I'm in a hurt for some cash right now -- so -- whatever you want to spend, you can have it for".

Well, of course I wanted to be fair. This was an opportunity for me to NOT spend $200+ but I know how it feels to be strapped for cash. I asked him "Well, I can give you $140 for it!" to which he said "Thats fine with me!"

Basic Specifications:

DUAL WAN GIGABIT SSL VPN FIREWALL (FVS336G)
Supports up to 25 IPsec VPN tunnels and 10 SSL VPN tunnels simultaneously

Supports two broadband connections, in either a load-balancing or fail-over configuration

Backed by a lifetime warranty

More Information: www.netgear.com/Products/VPNan…

Several hours later, he arrives at my house with router in hand and as I hand him the cash, he provides me with yet another interesting surprise.

He mentions a Laptop that he was also going to give me for free, but again -- he is strapped for cash right now. Its a Dell Latitude D620 (Intel Core 2 Duo)</I> with 2GB of Memory, 1.66GHZ CPU, 80GB Hard Drive and a CD / DVD Burner / Re-Writer.

Now that I only spent $140 on a router, I was able to afford to give him $100 for the Laptop. That transaction happened today. The Laptop has Ubuntu Linux installed on it and I am currently in the process of upgrading it to v9.10.

More Information: www.notebookreview.com/default… (mine is slightly different, but this is all i could find. dell's website ignorantly has removed the laptop specs simply because the model of laptop is no longer available for sale on their website).

Screen Shot: twarrior.deviantart.com/art/Ne…

Anyways, just goes to show how calming down and thinking clearly opens the door to opportunity and panic and impatience just makes things worse. I could have ignored his call and made my purchase, figuring I'd call him back after I was done with that. In the past, I probably would have. If you were me, you probably would have.

So this is Dave taking his own advice. See how things work out?















.