@Rueki Gosh, #4 sure is amazingly specific.

@werehatrack Examples of what I’m talking about are like things Meh has had in the past. Like the TrackR Pixels (defunct now but still unique), or the electrostatic headphones, or a solar powered power bank, or a snow cone maker, or the mini-quadcopter toys, or that Mohu mini-Android TV box thingy, or the Sphero RC Ball. The list goes on but the point is that I’d like Meh to keep doing what they’re doing. Pull out some cool stuff I’ve never heard of before and sell them for a good price.

@Rueki @werehatrack and to appease the specificity, meh will sell just the bags for $5.

@werehatrack This made me edit my post.

@rockblossom Wrong. That’s incorrect.

@phendrick @ChadP
I’m “serious”. But mehbe not realistic, like I’m sure many replies here will be.

@phendrick
/image infinite powah

@ChadP OK. Maybe more your type of “serious”, I second the notion from @narfcake about older-but-not-too electronics, especially anything that could tie in to STEM at home education.

• Integral computers, large or small (Raspberry or Arduino kits?);
• Learning kits (breadboards, components, …); scientific calculators (I’m sure someone has a huge stock of TI-83 calcs [or clones], for instance, that for most students would suffice as well as the TI-84+CE, even at college level);
• Intro software of all kinds. Many companies are dying to give away entry level stuff so much that PCs come with so much crap pre-loaded to offset the purchase price. Maybe they’d be happy to sell a more advanced product that is not free but very cheap with upgrade options. Humble Bundle does a lot of this, but they focus on games more than I care for.
• Brain games/toys. Amazon lists tons of such. Mabye somebody would be happy to sell these in bulk.
• Crafting materials and/or devices; laminators and even air fryers touch on this.

@ChadP @narfcake @phendrick

Yes. Close out computer/laptop/tablet models, monitors, the occasional serious quality keyboard, monitors.

Not so much wanting networking stuff, unless of serious quality.

External drive bays?

Recycled RAID servers?

Costco sometimes closes out hard drives at great prices. Can Meh do that?

More stuff of the type that Microcenter might have sold, to mix in with the usual consumer fluff.

Older model IPhones and even IPods, if these can be sourced.

@OnionSoup This right here.

(Although I do not have a Food Lion, and will cheerfully take you up on expired food.)

@OnionSoup

Yes!

@f00l Only if we bundle it with a knife or chisel.

@f00l @Thumperchick The warranty on the knife would have to be longer than the one on the corn.

@f00l @Thumperchick

Only if we bundle it with a knife or chisel.

Nonono. Power tools! But not Tacklife.

Meh should brand its own line of cordless crap, maybe call it Adeqwatt.

@f00l @Thumperchick @werehatrack “Adeqwatt” could be the name of one of the models, but the whole line would have to sell under the “Barely” brand.
Then, in addition to Barely Adeqwatt!, they could have (in increasing order of price and quality)

• Barely Meh!
• Barely Useful!
• Barely WorthIt!
• Barely WorksRightOutOfTheBox!
• etc.
  The “Barely” would be in small letters, in maroon on a purple background, the rest in larger letters in yellow.

@tinamarie1974
Oh, that does look really cool!

@Kyeh scratch that. There was an amazon prime sale

@ybmuG in my case, not necessarily, but it keeps me coming back. I may buy the Anker power banks, but that’s not what I come here for.

If it were always boring mundane items listed here, I wouldn’t come back… Even if it’s boring mundane items that I buy.

There needs balance:

“I need to log on to Meh today to see what weird crap they’re selling, maybe they have a chicken face for my tree… Oh boo! It’s only ear buds. . But the kids need new ones so I’ll pick some up”

And some people would probably like Glen plushies too. You could even have a Breakfast Octopus plushie and sell them as a set!

@Kyeh YYEEESSSSSSSSSSS

@Kyeh People have asked for that for years.

@Kidsandliz

I KNOW!

@capguncowboy The shipping kills it.
/image Changli mini truck

/youtube Donut media Changli

Back in the early 2000s when Daewoo went bankrupt, some dealers were selling their leftovers for half price. Sometime afterwards, I saw a bunch of them at a junkyard – still wrapped in plastic. These were brand new cars being taken apart for parts, because they were more valuable versus the entire new vehicle itself.

@capguncowboy @narfcake
Ooo, I kind of like that. Too bad they’re not street-legal.

@capguncowboy @narfcake like when they were giving yugos away when you bought something another car a bigger car

@capguncowboy @Kyeh @narfcake
/image tuk tuk

@capguncowboy @Kyeh @narfcake not street legal, but I could still use one if cheap enough… It’s quarter mile from front to back of my woods. When building bridges, etc, would be nice to not have to haul everything. Unfortunately, I doubt something like that would ever be cheap enough for casual occasional use.

@2many2no @capguncowboy @Kyeh @narfcake That is not a real, traditional, tuk tuk… No bicycle pulling it.

@capguncowboy @narfcake

I wanna jeepney.

/image jeepney

Definitely street legal in the Philippines

@tinamarie1974 LED bulbs that are actually 6000K would be very well received by some, and loudly decried as less than worthless or actually offensive by a benighted few. (Most folks would just check the price and then see if they were low on that size.)

@werehatrack I am sure you are right, but he asked what items I would like to see, not what I think the general population would want. So these are a few off the top of my head that I would purchase anytime if it were a decent price.

@tinamarie1974 But I would like to see the 6000K bulbs, and I’m pretty sure that I’m not alone.

@werehatrack well, that is great! So TWO Of us think bulbs are a great idea

@tinamarie1974 @werehatrack Which is funny because a lightbulb over your head is kind of the classic cliché for a great idea!

@Kyeh @tinamarie1974 @werehatrack

/image uncle fester light bulb

@tinamarie1974 @werehatrack If not bulbs, perhaps a desk lamp. Granted, I just bought one from a thrift store recently – also by a brand that was kicked off of Amazon.

https://www.taotronics.com/products/tt-dl092-led-desk-lamp

The adjustable color temperature is a really nice feature. Their $70 price isn’t so nice, however.

(I got it for $6.)

@werehatrack I’d be interested in the small “spy” cameras to put in my apartment since someone with a master key has been busy lately (fortunately not in mine yet) - BUT they can’t require a paid subscription for them to be useful.

Another pasta drop, with random pasta amounts again.

@raptorgorawr Here’s hoping that another global situation that allowed this to happen does NOT happen. Pastadrop came about as restaurants were closed, hence the surplus of pasta.

Oh. And Crocs Santa Cruz Leather Loafers. Size 10 us men. I can’t find them anymore.

And a couple of giant bean bags.

@capguncowboy I second the corn

@capguncowboy you know… if you ask for Candy Corn they’ll go one worse and give us stale Circus Peanuts. If you want stale Candy Corn again, you need to ask for… I don’t know, what’s slightly better than Candy Corn but still horrendous… Black Licorice perhaps?

PANS! GLANDS! CRAYONS! AWESOME!

@2many2no
This is the one I use and love it. Have a couple around the house.

Because I live in Florida, the power goes out all the time. Since purchasing this battery, I have not had to start up my generators because these usually last long enough until the power comes back on. I still have a calendar reminder to test each generator at least once a month so the gas doesn’t clog up in the carburetor but I don’t have to do it in the middle of a storm.

I have several upgrades to the1800W batteries. I have 3 of the external batteries that are 1.5kwh each and two 100W solar panels (novelty item but they do work).

The solar panels would be great if you’re camping but not so much in a home setting. The USB C output really does do 100W. I used this device to power outdoor equipment at a neighbor’s house because they didn’t have easy access to an electrical output. I’m talking about heavy power items like hedge trimmer and circular saw.

@PooltoyWolf Plushies are an acceptable alternative.

@narfcake Those are just as snuggly but less useful in the pool, heh!

@PooltoyWolf They’ll dry out.
/image wet plushie

@narfcake The poor thing!

@PooltoyWolf I agree… because dinosaurs are animals too.

So inflatable animals should include inflatable dinosaurs too, hopefully!

@OnionSoup Inflatable dragons are pretty dope, too!

@f00l

After all: of them temp isn’t acceptable, the the CATS aren’t happy.
Are they?

/giphy cat misery

@f00l
/image C.A.T.S. All your base

@scilynt Sounds like you want a lot of the stuff I want to get rid of! Videogame stuff, PC parts, thinkgeek kind of collectibles. But probably most people don’t want them!

Mehbee we need an online swap meet, like Meh-bay.

On the other hand still finding pasta. except the mice found some of it first.

@kennn01 Somehow, actively commenting on a shirt that says “meh” just seems wrong. A brief one-shoulder shrug might be more appropriate.

@kennn01 I really liked the 3/4 sleeve shirts. Most comfy shirt I own

@kennn01 I mean…there’s a way to get more of those shirts.

@remo28 I stuck googly eyes all over the motivational posters in my office

@OnionSoup @remo28 Sounds like they should sell googly eyes.

@remo28 or weird kitchen items I’d love to have some more quirky kitchen items

@f00l Especially the black-on-black flask t shirt.
Which I HAD.

And then mice ate it.

@brainmist @f00l
Wow, even with fierce dogs you have mice problems?

@f00l @Kyeh Tragically, the bigger the dog, the less interested/ maneuverable. Plus there’s a room I close off in the winter (not insulated). Left the shirt in there, mice got hungry, shirt has some very interesting holes now.

@brainmist @f00l
Oh. Very sad.

@f00l @Kyeh It was not a good place to stash spare shirts!

@brainmist but also include women’s sizes. I finally gave away my pair in an exchange.

@Kidsandliz I am blessed with biggish feet and a willingness to wear slightly too-large socks. (Extra toe space!)

@OnionSoup Mehrkins!

printer cartridges

@ironcheftoni Quite possibly the toughest thing since there’s like a bazillion different models, some friendlier than others to remanufactured or third-party cartridges.

@ironcheftoni Surely TPTB at Meh can locate an office supply chain that is downsizing. It would be a little time-consuming though to put some appropriate bundles together.
[You don’t want to accumulate TOO many pens at one time. The ink doesn’t keep for ever. Probably should’t ask me how I know.]

@phendrick My favorite pens are Zebra Sarasa Gel medium point. I been buying them forever, although sometimes hard to find in stores. But they are usually stocked during back to school season. I only found out just recently they are marketed to lefty’s as the ink dries fast and one does not get a line of ink down the side of the pinky finger.

@ironcheftoni TIL, left-handed pens.

@OldCatLady Including in the larger, harder to find sizes. Both refrigerator and freezer kinds.

@OldCatLady Oh yeah, LOVE those!

@OldCatLady yes, there is no number of ziplock bags that would possibly be too much.

@OldCatLady @OnionSoup I bought them the one and only time they sold them years ago. I clearly did not buy enough.

@Frcal Interesting list because I’d want most of that too, except the android stuff, sorry went to the white side on phone/tablet OS.

Turntable especially. Better than the ones that convert everything to bluetooth, but less than $2000 or whatever a high-end turntable goes for these days. Used to be an audiophile and haven’t fully recovered but just too much other stuff in life to deal with it became less practical and important.

@medz for pets or humans or both?

@Kidsandliz people, but both would be cool. Something to buy in advance and avoid a hefty markup in time of grief.

@medz good one.

And zip ties, blindfolds, quick set concrete and large human size sacks or carpets would be useful.

@medz @OnionSoup uummmmmmm

@medz @tinamarie1974 don’t worry, I’m not part of Meh’s dark seedy underbelly: the mehfia.

@medz @OnionSoup @tinamarie1974 I have this insulated water bottle sitting on my desk.

@ExtraMedium @medz @tinamarie1974 I like that!

@ExtraMedium @medz @OnionSoup so many things!!!

@ExtraMedium @medz @OnionSoup @tinamarie1974 You certainly appear to have a lot in common with @koolhandjoe… now that’s a scary thought (although you are missing mutilated dead dolls ).

@Kidsandliz Nah, that’s a marketing photo. Though I do have a rather large collection of skulls in my living room displays, so maybe not far off.

@ExtraMedium @Kidsandliz lol… I have a dog skeleton in my office at work… Fake not real. Name is “Prospero”.

I also have a “stuffed unicorn skeleton” (unnamed in my office)…

Unfortunately, I have to be tame in what I do at work… So it’s cutesy stuff.

@ExtraMedium @medz @OnionSoup @tinamarie1974 Amusing how many college profs have these in their offices:

@ExtraMedium @medz @OnionSoup @phendrick and just as many students (if not more) feel the same about some of their professors.

@ExtraMedium @medz @Onion Soup @tinamarie1974 Yeah, but what do they know? It’s not like most are subject experts. To most students a “good professor” is the one who gives the most 'A’s for the least studying.
On the public ratings board, each semester I usually got 1 or 2 One-Star reviews with the comment “Worst teacher ever”. Considering I typically had 150 - 200 registered students per term, I didn’t feel too bad about those. E.g., Cuisinart or Dyson does worse on Amazon ratings. The reviews I most took to heart were the ones that said something along the lines of “Learned a lot from him” or “Tried to explain why, not just how”.

@ExtraMedium @medz @Onion @phendrick I dont know about that. Having been a student for quite a long time (graduate degree here), I feel like I could absolutely fulfil the role of providing accurate assessments on my teachers/professors of yester year.

Some were over the moon fantastic and others were less than acceptable. The vast majority fell somewhere in the middle.

My assessment has nothing to do with the grade I earned, I scored well regardless of my opinion of the person paid to teach the course. My assessment would be based upon other factors like their accumen of the subject. Not their ability to reach me, but to reach and excite the average or below average student who struggles to comprehend the topic at hand. Can they pivot and provide a different perspective to help a struggling student keep up? Are they available with real guidance if a student reaches out for help?

@ExtraMedium @medz @Onion @phendrick @tinamarie1974 That approach you used is far more mature than many students. Research has documented repeatedly that ratings tend to track with grades (and thus is one explanation for grade inflation - studied more on the undergrad level though since at the grad level you can only get 2 C’s or below before being kicked out).

Students aren’t always aware of what they will find most useful after they are done with school either. And ratings also tend to correlate with how much they like the subject matter vs a class they were forced to take that they didn’t want to take. Many students think, for example, having to take organizational behavior is a waste of time and yet the surveys of MBA’s several years out that class is usually ranked as one of the more important ones they took compared to how they ranked it when they were done with their MBA.

The other problem is that what is often asked on those things don’t match up with what is observed in the classroom watching someone teach and often don’t correlate well with good teaching (why people with PhD’s and so know research can’t put together valid and reliable ways to measure this is beyond me). I think it is hard to have really good reliable and valid teaching evaluations with input just from one group (eg the customers/students or other faculty…) just at one point in time - especially since recency effect influences how many respond. I think there needs to be input from more than just students, they need to look at actual assignments and how they were graded, did students know the criteria in advance, how they were tested, did testing have a mix of fact recall and application questions, observe what actually went on in classes and not just for one day.

Of course, especially with MBA students who have been working for a while come in with far more practical knowledge than your typical traditional aged undergrad or a traditional aged undergrad who goes on immediately to get an MBA (which I think is not a good move - they’d get more out of many of the classes if they had a better context (eg work experience) to put the subject matter in. And research documents that they pay bump is higher for MBA’s with at least 2 years of professional work experience than those without that (of course some of that is also due to more years of relevant work experience).

I team taught (5 faculty) integrated business core. I learned a lot from watching 4 other faculty and their assessment of me was based on an entire term of two sections of that (we were together over both), 9 hours a week with each section and 60-70 students in a section. Initially I was stressed out over 4 other faculty listening to me each and every time I taught. I then got used to it and it was like they weren’t there. As a result I think those evaluations I got of my teaching when doing those classes were far better and far more accurate than any others I have gotten. And the students fill them out in class so you have close to 100% return rate which is also far more accurate than other ways to do it where you often get 20% or less, generally the most disgruntled (and a higher percent of those) and some who were really happy or a few students who were really conscientious and fill out everything every time.

@ExtraMedium @medz @OnionSoup @phendrick @tinamarie1974 Put that ashes of problem students at some places I have worked and you would be the one without a job. And if you have learned how not to have students push your buttons it’s a lot less stressful even if they are having a temper tantrum in your office (or after class in the classroom). I figure they earn their grades. Whether or not I like them or their behavior that has nothing to do the grade they get on the work they have done (well outside of cheating - that behavior matters) if they meet the known in advance criteria, whether or not I spend time helping them, etc. All students get treated the same regardless of how they act. Now writing them a letter of reference - that is a different matter.

@ExtraMedium @Kidsandliz @medz @OnionSoup @phendrick I agree 100%

@ExtraMedium @Kidsandliz @medz @OnionSoup @tinamarie1974 “you would be the one without a job”
Heh. My department chair had one. And he fielded more student complaints than most. (And dealt with their parents.) To the best of my knowledge there was never any blowback to him from that.
Also, FWIW, at my community college, the school’s teacher’s evaluations were done after the final exam reviews were covered. I’m sure that made for totally unbiased evaluations.

@Kidsandliz
Out of curiosity, how many times did you have a student come up to you after the first day of class, and make a point of telling you how bad they were at business classes and/or how much they hated such?

I pretty much averaged at least one per class, telling me about their dislike of math and their poor preparation for it. My usual silent reaction was to think, OK, I guess you will not do well in my calculus class either, with your bad algebra skills, so I will not agonize over it. And those were usually the students who neither turned in their assignments nor came to get help over the material. And, if still in the class at the end, came to ask for their grade to be raised.

@phendrick When I taught stats (undegrad) it was clear most had a math allergy and when they walked though the door had forgotten anything they knew from college algebra (aka remedial second year high school algebra). So I spent time trying to get them to understand what each thing did using words before resorting to the math and basically told them just memorize the formulas and when to use which one; in the future you will be using stats computer programs or excel and so all that will matter is knowing when to use what, how to interpret the results, etc. That helped. I’d have a handful telling me they were unhappy to have to take the class and hated math (god only knows how they survived finance and accounting - they probably took the minimum which will hobble them further down the line since they need more than the minimum to get promoted beyond a certain level of management).

With other classes in management often I wouldn’t get negative comments per say but I had to work to keep the involved and get them to understand how this works - harder when their only work experience is in fast food or retail. I did a lot of experiential activities (setting them up to fall into the traps since they didn’t believe that would happen to them - this is in org beh, negotiation, classes like that) and then working afterward to get them to connect the concept that was in action back to the business world and how it might play out there. Often those with little experience really couldn’t do it on their own very well as they had little context.

@JT954

Automotive cleaning products. Can be exterior and/or interior.

I just washed my car 2 days ago and I was thinking exactly this!

Including sizes for both bigger and smaller feet.

@tinamarie1974 I’d buy those!

@ExtraMedium Thanks!
I still have more suggestions, though - will the staff keep checking? I was going to list things that I succumbed to buying from the Zon on Prime day.

@ExtraMedium て本当にありがとう。

@ExtraMedium @Kyeh Always

@Kyeh Please keep 'em coming.
@2many2no Do itashimashite.

@ExtraMedium

I was going to list things that I succumbed to buying from the Zon on Prime day.

@Kyeh
SSDs, RAM, extension cord, a power station, a projector, and a leaf blower – mostly because some Warehouse items were an extra 20% off. Nothing all that interesting here.

@ExtraMedium Hopefully you get something useful from it. This isn’t exactly what a market research firm would put together as a “focus group”

This isn’t exactly what a market research firm would put together as a “focus group”

@ExtraMedium @ybmuG Yes, but this is meh, which crowdsourced their office decorations through Project Seligman.

@ExtraMedium Coupons for $8 off, instead of the usual $5 back-scratchers?
Hmmm…,
Must mean a lot of the prices on SideDeal are getting boosted by $3…

@ExtraMedium @phendrick

@ExtraMedium @narfcake @ybmuG re The Shark video,
Just curious: Offhand, about what percentage of the executive grunts at Mediocre have beards? I’m guessing fairly high, by personal observation of the occasional glimpse.
(Does that bewhiskered group include @Thumperchick, @mandirose, @riskybryzness, … ?)

@ExtraMedium well that was unexpected! Thanks much!!

@ExtraMedium Aw, awesome! I tend to forget I have codes, but the thermometer is useful for a lot of local places, so what good timing! Thanks so much!

DIPLOMAT! RAT-A-TAT! FAT CAT! AWESOME!

@brainmist @ExtraMedium “the thermometer is useful for a lot of local places”
You sure you’re supposed to stick it there?

@ExtraMedium Well, thank you!

@ironcheftoni You can cross your fingers that this will have (more than usual) delayed shipping and you can score another coupon.

@njfan like the ones that come in irk? Sell a pack of different colour reusable meh shopping bags?

@njfan @OnionSoup Or design some different ones equally as off the wall. And a pack of different colors is a good idea. So many stores are charging for shopping bags now that reusable one are in higher demand. Not to mention we’d be paying meh to advertise for meh

@OnionSoup Yes, exactly. I know I’d buy it. I once got an IRK and that bag was big and durable (ironically, the handle broke but it was good while it lasted).

@OnionSoup soup spoons they NEVER come with a set of silverware.

Reminds me of an ex boyfriend who would consistently pocket soup spoons at restaurants for that reason

@tinamarie1974 spoons in general!

I don’t know why the cutlery drawer at home it’s always no clean spoons, 2 clean knives, and 50,000 forks.

Forks seem to breed like rabbits. I swear we have twice and many forks (or more) than we’ve ever purchased… But spoons are an endangered species.

@OnionSoup @tinamarie1974 It’s that spoon-dissolving coffee you keep brewing.

@tinamarie1974 @werehatrack I actually don’t use coffee spoons for coffee… I find they’re perfect for yogurt cups though. My wife is probably dissolving them in her coffee though.