Paper Shredders, Coinstar and Hook and Ladder in Midtown

This Coinstar kiosk is located at the Safeway grocery store in Midtown Sacramento on 19th.

Who knew that cross-cutting paper shredders won’t last more than a few years if you don’t oil or lubricate the blades? I have been trying to buy a new paper shredder for my home office, which is all gummed up and has stopped shredding. My husband suggested we go over to Office Depot in Midtown on J Street when we were wandering about on Sunday. Looking at paper shredders was not my idea of a fun time with my husband. It was better I decided instead to shop for said item online and in freeing up that obligation, we stopped by Hook and Ladder for a snack and a cocktail. Check out the branded fruit slice with the H and L letters in the photo below. It’s supposed to lend a scorched flavor to the bourbon, second to the chocolate bitters.

A craft bourbon cocktail at Hook and Ladder in Midtown Sacramento

Before we embarked on our journey to Hook and Ladder, we visited the Coinstar kiosk inside Safeway on 19th Street. I have never seen a machine like this, but you know I lead a rather sheltered life, just selling real estate in Sacramento takes up enormous amounts of my time and is typically my focus. If you are not familiar with Coinstar, for I surely cannot be the last person in Sacramento to know about this, it’s a free-standing device where you can dump all of your coins, which it automatically tallies and gives you something in exchange.

If you want paper money, they take a percentage of the amount, so it’s not four quarters for a dollar. However, you can exchange the coins for other forms of negotiable instruments at face value such as gift certificates, redeemable at dozens of vendors, including Amazon. My bag was becoming much heavier than normal, and it was due to all of the coins I cart about. I’m not even sure where my coins come from as I rarely transact any business in cash apart from buying movie tickets and popcorn. I suspect they turn into coins from coat hangers at night when I’m sleeping. We got about $45 after dumping our change into Coinstar. You can find a Coinstar near you at this link: Coinstar locations in Sacramento.

Nobody really uses change for anything except parking meters still take quarters. I often leave my change on the counter at a store because it’s too much work to pick it up, unzip my change portion of my wallet, slip it in and return the wallet to my bag. Don’t even get me started on the worthlessness of pennies.

After all of this, though, here it is Wednesday, and I still don’t have a paper shredder. The problem is I went online and there are too many choices. So, I made no decision. Office Depot has 113 different cross-cut paper shredders. Some that cost a lot more do a lot less. Eliminating the commercial and industrial paper shredders still leaves me with 66 choices. A handful of products have videos to show you how they work. They work by putting the paper in and pressing a button. Do you need a video for that?