What's the most useless thing you brought with you?

[thebegonia]

I'm simplifying my life and getting rid of almost everything I own, since I will officially be homeless when I come down there.

While I'm tempted to bring my jumper cables, snow shovel, bagel slicer, college diploma, knife set, fuzzy slippers, and flannel sheets, I have the feeling that I'd be better off putting it all in storage.

What did you think you would need that ended up useless? .... on the other hand, what did you kick yourself in the *** for not taking with you?


Sonia

[jaywalk81]

long sleeve shirts...

[tralfaz]

I regretted not having a dry erase board during first term.

So before coming down here for second term, I picked up a (wallpaper- type) dry erase sheet for very little money and am very happy as a result.

Oh and haribo gummy bears are pretty good to have too.

[MBA-MD]

A $700 PD kit was a waste. Sat on my shelf for 1st-4th term....and I even attended the AMSA Health Fairs in the hope of unzipping it once to get something out other than my Stethoscope.

I agree with the long sleeves thing too.

Good to have? - How about Bug Spray and chewing gum.

[kingalls]

One of my roommates brought down, and I kid you not, a winter coat. A big puffy ski-jacket type thing.

[restlesseye]

One of my roommates brought down, and I kid you not, a winter coat. A big puffy ski-jacket type thing.

was his name "George Costanza"

[restlesseye]

i would have to agree with the PD kit. also equally as useless i would say the bates book. sorry i really really hate that book.

[cuevasso]

Cereal...My friend who went a semester before me made me believe that I would starve!!!!!!!!!!

What a lie! ok, so you may not find some of the things that you like..but they do have normal stuff. PB and J....took up so much weight!!!

Unless if there is a particular type of food you can't live without, leave the food at home especially if you're worried about the weight.

But DO GET a very SMALL and PORTABLE transformer from ACE Hardware. I got one of them babies for $20 bucks in the states the size and weight of a pencil case.......AWESOME...and it was able to handle up to 1800W (that's huge if u don't realize). Down there, you have to get a big 3rd world country transformer that will cost you more than $100 for the same wattage! Ridiculous!

[zedpol]

But DO GET a very SMALL and PORTABLE transformer from ACE Hardware. I got one of them babies for $20 bucks in the states the size and weight of a pencil case.......AWESOME...and it was able to handle up to 1800W (that's huge if u don't realize). Down there, you have to get a big 3rd world country transformer that will cost you more than $100 for the same wattage! Ridiculous!


cuevasso, what you bought is a voltage converter, which is not the same thing as a transformer and is not suitable for things like computers, tvs, etc as it just chops the voltage and does not preserve the sin wave. The "third" world transformers that you are referring to are actually quite nice as long as you don't overload them and should be used for the above mentioned items. Electric motors and heating elements can be run off of voltage converters, but using anything else will shorten that piece of electrical equipments lifespan.

Z

[emt036]

Yeah and the "third' world transformer I bought here was made in Italy, if I remember correctly.

[tiredintern]

Dont bring sweaters and long sleeve shirts. A couple of pair of slacks / jeans are nice to have. I never used a water filter either, but I lived off campus and the water was pretty clean. Snorkel gear is good to bring with you.. you'll definitely find the time.

[jaywalk81]

i got those monstrous transformer at the hardware store by spiceland...3000watts cost about 150 US. heavy as heck ! must weigh like 15-20 lbs!

[Toddaa1]

Umbrellas are totally useless. they dont serve their purpose of keeping you dry and will likely break when one of those monsoons hit. You just have to face the reality that until someone develops a full-body condom, your gonna get a little wet.


-T-

[jaywalk81]

or bring down a heavy poncho...

[sey]

with regard to food, what do u guys think is worth actually hauling all the way down there? Is it cheaper to bring some stuff from home?

[RussianJoo]

I would bring a cow down for next term... It makes a great pet, will have local cows to hang out with and i will have fresh milk, also beef here is expansive so I could always cut her up and get a lot of steaks :P ...

It will probably take me atleast a couple of weeks to eat the cow...

[Naveenanirada]

"It will probably take me atleast a couple of weeks to eat the cow..."

Good idea, Just check with AA, they are having a special for cows, but only business class seats,mind you are available now.[A lot of Carribean students bring cows to economize, hence economy seats are unavailable at this time of the year.]
I have spoken to others who have done it before,and the concensus is that Jamaican Airline does it best, they even milk the cow and pasteurize the milk and this service is free.Way to go.Moo :D

[jaywalk81]

anyone has any ideas on bringing a goat or a lamb then?

[Silenthunder]

I wonder what AA's policy is on if they lose my cow!! :shock:

Would they reimburse my cab fare?

Would they make sure she was well fed and boarded?

Cheers,

Silenthunder

[Toddaa1]

I wonder what AA's policy is on if they lose my cow!! :shock:

Would they reimburse my cab fare?

Would they make sure she was well fed and boarded?

Cheers,

Silenthunder


You can always count on the airline industry to find a way of losing a metric ton of beef and not have a clue where it went.

-T-

[Naveenanirada]

I think that is a very legitimate concern-losing a cow.Actually , it so happened that one student lost a cow once.He was prompty 'refunded' with a brand new cow, I understand of the same weight.The only problem that ensued was that the student was ina hurry and did not verify if the cow was actually a cow or a bull.
Ofcourse after milking the cow[which was actually a bull, the airline guys made a mistake], he felt the taste of milk was definitely different and the quantity of milk was drastically less too.
This is really true, but to to cut it short ,this student refuses to drink milk even now and has only started eating beef lately after about 4 years of theraphy.Some guys are just unlucky,I guess.

[RussianJoo]

hahaha this is great... I am getting a lot of laughs about this cow bussiness...

but yeah if someone wants to bring some goats, chickens and what not we can be a selfsufficient univeristy, providing our own food source power and all....

thanks for the laughs..

[sheikh1]

A hot plate that I can't use, because I am not allowed to cook in the dorm

[daguru]

I brought down pants and long sleeved shirts, thinking that when we went out i'd need something nice to wear. yeah, umm...no. i havent been to a place yet that isn't full of people in tshirts and shorts, sporting some flip flops. honestly, bring your one shirt, tie and pants for the white coat ceremony, and no other dressy clothes. even the nicer restaurants here dont really seem to care if you wear shorts or pants...i just have a bunch of stuff to lug around for the next year....

oh, and i brought canned goods down with me, thinking they'd be too expensive to buy here, but it turns out they have almost everything, and yeah it'll be a bit more expensive, but not enough to make it worth carrying your stuff all the way from the states....

[thebegonia]

Back from vacation...

Thanks for the input. So I'll cross off the canned goods and the PD kit. I know there are other threads on the topic and I promise I'll look them up next, but will just a good Littmann be sufficient? No scopes needed?


Sonia

[thebegonia]

So I'll cross off the canned goods and the PD kit. I know there are other threads on the topic and I promise I'll look them up next, but will just a good <a target=new href=http://www.tkqlhce.com/click-1293101-5329523>Littmann</a> be sufficient? No scopes needed?

Never mind. I already asked this question. <sigh> I'm tired.

S.

[ZnS3104ever]

I brought my winter coat!!...I didnt bring it on purpose...when I left NY it was really cold so I forgot to give it to my dad at the airport and ended up wearing it off the plane to Grenada lol...

You should def bring cereal, candy, snacks, spices, I didnt bring enough flip flops ...so bring enough flip flops...I wanna bring a lot more t shirts and light sweat pants...its nice to go to class all comfy... I am also gonna bring more DVD's since my new apt will have a tv and cable!!...make sure you bring enough of shampoos ect...

[medic]

anyone has any ideas on bringing a goat or a lamb then?

As a companion you mean?

[Flounder]

mmmm lamb we could get the vet students to disect and then the bucher to chop it up and the cooks well to you know...

[jaywalk81]

i prefer steak.

[Grendel]

bring some headphones that you can call over the internet with (the ones with the microphone).....you can get them on the island but im sure they cost a hell of alot more than they do in Wal Mart (which is somethign like $20)

Im also going to invest in some better earphones to listen to music with.....the kind that blocks your neighbor from hearing your music in the library

Luke

[daguru]

yeah, they have these new ones that you can turn on a sound dampening system or something--basically you turn it on and it blocks out all ambient noise, like the person in the next cubicle snoring or whatever. i dont know if they are worth it money wise, but some people can't work when there is even a tiny bit of noise...

[jaywalk81]

those earphone/headphone can cost quite a bit. i saw one that was like $100 US !

[daguru]

oh, ok, i didnt know they cost that much. maybe it'd be better just to get a pair of those little earplugs that cost like 10 cents and then get a pair of the headphone/mic things. very useful for calling home, but i also have another pair of headphones to use when i run or whatever...