Tag Archives: shopping

Starting strong…

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If nothing else, I can say that I started the day strong. When others were getting booted and being timed out on the AT&T and Apple websites, I managed to reserve my iPhone 4 for pick up next Thursday. By 5:50 this morning, I had my confirmation email and realized, somewhat disturbingly, that I had reached what was likely to be the high point of the day. Seriously, on a work day, what’s going to be better then the moment you confirm that you’re going to have your hands on this summer’s neatest new toy?

All I need to do now is show up, hand over $199 + tax, sign a new two year contract that I have no intention of staying in longer than a year, and wait in line for the 7 AM opening of the local Apple Store. It’s like any other high holy day, except with bottled water and granola. And it’s possibly the only time of year when I don’t really mind standing in line and being forced to socialize with total strangers. Of course then there’s the inevitable anger when iTunes grinds to a halt under the volume of people trying to activate new phones. That’s part of the price of being a ridiculously early adopter.

Despite what I consider one of the better starts, the day ended, as most days do… with my being annoyed. However, I wasn’t violently annoyed in that wanting to bludgeon someone with a desk chair kind of way, so perhaps I’m making progress and getting through the anger stage into acceptance… or is that indifference? Eh, who can tell the difference anyway. See, I’m growing as a person.

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Surviving Friday…

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I’m happy to say that I officially survived Black Friday here in Memphis and managed to pick up a few things without beating people to death with their own 40-inch flat screen televisions. Every year people are surprised that I would show up anywhere on this day, but like everything else I do, I have my reasons. Black Friday is essentially everything I hate about people all wrapped up in one day. And while I basically have no use for people, my weakness in this case is that I like to watch them interact with one another. It’s like my very own retail-baited Petri dish. The draw of watching stupid people in large groups simply overcomes my aversion to being in close proximity to them. Mostly, though, I went out this Friday morning to be a human shield and for whatever lifting or toting might have been necessary.

I’d love to say that I went out Friday with great goals of finding perfect Christmas, but what I actually ended up coming home with was a new Bluetooth keyboard and a 1TB Time Capsule. I’m just starting use to the keyboard and it’s definitely different than the wired version that I have been using. I haven’t decided yet if I’ll miss the number pad and full-sized arrow keys yet or not. The bottom line is that it’s one more device that lets me cut the wire and adds a surprising amount of space on the desk. Less clutter = good. The Time Capsule is a horse of a different color. I know I’m probably more paranoid about backups than most, but there is something reassuring in knowing that every file on my computer is being backed up multiple times a day. My backup files should never really be more than an hour or two old now… and that kind of instant restoration makes me happy.

No frontrunner…

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So, after two years of paying for the registration, maintenance, fuel, and other sundry bills on two vehicles, I’m thinking it’s about time to pull the plug on that. Yeah, it’s been nice having one when the other is down for maintenance, but realistically I can rent a car much more cost efficiently than keeping one on standby just in case. Part of me says I should be looking for something economical and fuel efficient, but the other part (the side that usually wins these arguments) says that I might as well get what I want since it’s going to be something I live with every day for the next 3-4 years.

With that in mind, I drove four vehicles this afternoon: a Jeep Commander, a Toyota Tundra and FJ Cruiser, and a Ford Escape. Yeah, I know, no mileage winners here, but my logic is that because SUV’s are so discounted right now, I would be taking my savings on the purchase price rather than at the pump. Basically on any of these, my payment would come down about $100/month while consuming gasoline at roughly the same rate as either of my current vehicles.

Here’s my quick assessment. The Commander has a huge cabin and keeps the slightly rough “Jeep” feel without the kidney jarring or wind noise of the Wrangler. The Cruiser is a remarkably impressive vehicle. Simplistic interior with clean lines, but I worry that once the novelty wears off I’d just have a rather odd looking vehicle. The Tundra was the come from behind contender. It impressed the hell out of me with its quick pick up from the light and extremely easy handling. The Escape was the least impressive of the lot and felt quite constrictive and more like riding in a raised station wagon than a truck or SUV.

In any case, there is no clear frontrunner and I’ll be doing a lot of research. If any of y’all have any personal experiences, feel free to chime in.