Bought a rotavap, something I thought I'd never be able to afford, but after months and months of penny-pinching. eating a few meals a week etc. I finally managed to find one that I could afford, at a a grand 150, and it literally just arrived, at the very moment I'd picked up a beaker and put on my full-face visor, only to have to take it off and put the beaker down again as the delivery man from DHL arrived at the door.
And things went rather well..not only did he carry the big, very heavy wooden crate into the front of the house, but he asked if the VAT tax had been paid, and then looked at something and told me that it had been paid. I'm 100% certain I didn't pay it, and afaik nor did the geezer who sold it me. I really did not want to pay the £70 demanded of me by pieces of shit that did nothing whatsoever to earn it, I'd gotten a demand from the shipping company by phone first, told them I'd pay on delivery, only for the delivery guy to tell me it has been paid.
Weird, I don't get that at all, because I quite definitely haven't given them my card details. My old man does have an acct with them and he looked up the tracking number for me, but he didn't do anything other than check the ETA of my parcel of goodies (well, big wooden crate), but anyhows...) and whilst the seller knocked the stated price down from a K, 150 to a couple of hundred dollars, they govt fucks were still trying to rob me of £70-something, which is money that can go a very considerable way towards getting myself a new vacuum pump, and one of the diaphragm pumps, with a teflon diaphragm and interior coating, so as to be much better suitable for lab work, and to suffer less harm by far if anything corrosive gets past the U-tube trap immersed in either a bath of dry ice and acetone, or in liquid nitroge to force things headed for the pump intake to condense inside the trap instead.
Also, bought some food and drink. 2 big bottles of coke, the proper kind with real sugar instead of sweetener crap, several bottles of milkshakes, snickers bar flavor and maltesers flavour, plus two canned meals (basically a liquid lunch in milkshake form, inteded to provide a balanced set of fats, carbs and proteins along with vitamins, and one can contains everything an adult needs for one half day. Cost about a pound each, got 2 of those and just had them both, so that should do me for a while. Both of them, I picked chocolate flavour (they do three, chocolate, vanilla and strawberry)
Got a few chocolate bars, and a tin of small cigars. They didn't have the kind I wanted but had to make do. Also, got a box of rice krispies cereal. Going to grab some choc. milk before I have that, now I know I have enough money for more than a bite to eat now , due to my now not having to pay that evil tax on my rotavap. I shudder to think how much might have been demanded if the seller had stated the 1.150 grand rather than a couple of hundred dollars.
Just got to read the instructions and set it all up then I'm good to go