Recently I’ve obtained several new toys. Each acquisition was more or less unplanned, considering the state of my finances. But somehow their time had come.
Toy #1: Over the years I’ve had a couple of cell phones. This past year I’d gone without, trying to save money. But recently I’d been getting too paranoid, noticing the number of bees at the playgrounds we frequent. If my son is stung he will go into anaphylactic shock. I do carry his epi-pen wherever we go, but still. We need a way to call 911 in a hurry. So to ease my mind I picked up this sweet little Motorola GSM phone, whose manual I haven’t had time to peruse.
Toy #2: Then my trusty digital camera died unexpectedly. It had done right by me for over four years, and I couldn’t bear going without. Even a couple of weeks was painful. So I replaced it as quickly as possible. Still playing with that purchase (it’s good fun) and reading the manual. I swear will have photos up shortly.
And just last night I acquired another toy to figure out.
Toy #3: Yes, I finally have a DVD player. But I didn’t buy it. It was an early birthday gift for the little man, from a certain someone. For years I’d been debating whether or not to, then meaning to get one. At first I was reluctant because the cost was still high, as my early adopter friends can attest to. And I could imagine myself blowing way too much money on either DVD purchases, or a Netflix account, or both. After a while the price of the players plummeted. But still. I hesitated. I toyed with the idea of getting a Playstation 2. It can play DVDs and Dance Dance Revolution. But then the peer pressure kicked in. I don’t respond well to it. I became even more reluctant. Especially when my co-workers started nagging me about it, in incredulous tones, “What? You don’t have one yet? But they’re only X dollars!”, which brought to mind many childhood memories best left forgotten. So I was prepared to go without a DVD player indefinitely. Like my lo-fi friends who insist music must be listened to on vinyl instead of CD. But that all changed last night. When a certain geek bearing a gift stopped by. And reminded me that “nothing says romance like consumer electronics”. Heh.