Juicing that $20

One of my pals said that when he was a kid $20 seemed like a lot of money. But these days, he lamented, a twenty ain’t worth nothin’. It will barely move a car’s gas gauge off the “E” peg.

I don’t like it when my wallet is running on fumes, either. Does the humble $20 bill still have any juice left in it?

Well, not always. When searching for bargains I’ve bought plenty of things that weren’t worth the money. I never gripe about the bad stuff, though. On the other hand, when I find something good I do like to mention it. Here are a few picks:

1) Dover Thrift Edition books
Dover, a U.S. publisher, sells a number of classic titles that are often priced under $5. Many are about $3. I’ve even seen them for just $1 on occasion. These are typically books that have been around so long that the copyrights have expired, thus putting the material into the public domain.

For $20 you can fill a bag with Kafka, Dostoyevsky, Euripides, Voltaire, and other A-list writers.

These books are printed on paper that isn’t as white and glossy as what fancier books often use. I sometimes find Dover’s approach easier on the eyes because the paper generates less glare at the beach or under bright lights.

The price-tag on formal education has certainly gone up, and $20 won’t make a dent in that realm. But when you can get some of the world’s best books for less than pack of cigarettes it’s a reminder that education, at least in some regards, demands less money than it does effort.

2) Modern Chinese by Vivienne Zhang
I first mentioned this four-book series way back in December 2015. At the time I had only had the third book of the series. I was impressed with it so I eventually bought the other books. Studying Mandarin Chinese has been a very difficult endeavor, so I’m up for trying anything that might help me.

Zhang’s Modern Chinese books are essentially common phrases put into a very simple layout. The sets of phrases are accompanied by succinct explanations of the related grammar. There’s no academic mumbo-jumbo.

I wouldn’t suggest that this series, or any other series, is sufficient as a sole-source for studying the language. That seems to be a standard contemplated by some folks. Those folks are probably far better students than I am, and, as such, they’re capable of refining their materials to an elegant minimum. By contrast, I just have to throw stuff at the wall and see what sticks. I found that Modern Chinese helps some of the material stick pretty well.

The books cost about $10 to $12 each.

3) The Aocome Portable AM/FM radio and MP3 player
A few weeks ago I bought one of these on-line for about $14. I was curious to see if anything that cheap could be remotely worthwhile. The gamble paid off. This turned out to be a useful mix of retro and modern.

The retro part is that it’s a portable radio that has a built-in speaker, a physical on/off switch, and a physical volume control that’s a simple dial. If you remember the pocket transistor radios from the ’70s, this device will have a familiar feel. In fact, the generic version of this product, purveyed by other sellers, has been marketed as the “old man radio” in some cases.

There are some modern twists here. The device has a digital LED readout; a micro SD card slot and a USB stick slot for playing MP3 files; an audio-in jack that allows the device to be used as a speaker; an audio-out jack that allows the use of headphones or an external speaker; and a numerical keypad for user inputs. It is charged via a standard mini-USB cable. The battery is removable and is a common type of cell phone battery. A standard mini-USB cable is included, as is a standard 3.5mm patch cable for the audio jacks.

The MP3 feature is very basic. On the plus side, it’s easy to pause, and to resume, play. However, if you want to organize a large collection of files, or you have any other MP3 needs outside of basic playback, you should be aware that the file management options are very limited. For me, it’s not a problem, but your circumstances might be different.

As befits a pocket radio, the monaural speaker is very small. The sound is surprisingly full-bodied and even at high volume it doesn’t distort much. I never bothered to test the battery life; it’s hours and hours, and keeping it charged has been easy.

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Now that I’ve shared this information I’m going to sit in the backyard, listen to the radio, and do some reading. That’s really my only choice. After all, I sure can’t afford to drive anywhere.