Hey cats...how's tricks??
I took my tax refund (not all the $$ but a fatty chunk of it) and bought myself a laptop. Don't get me wrong-- I LOVE the thing (and I'm not just saying that because he's in the room with me now) but I haven't quite shaken off the pain of BUYER'S REMORSE. I haven't ever spent this much money in one sitting !! Ok, well, car buys not included...I never had any remorse when buying a car...firstly, there is no debating whether or not it's a necessary purchase (maybe if I lived in NYC or Boston I could debate it, but where I live--it's a slam-dunk MUST have) And secondly, I have always bought used cars (not that I wouldn't love me a shiny new ride, but I have a mighty aversion to taking on a new payment--and car payments are pretty substantial--when I have so many that I'm ignoring already) and they've all been thrifty buys--relatively.
But this purchase...not absolutely necessary, and probably not executed as thriftily as I coulda done. THIS is the one I bought by the way..I'm uhhh, mildly disheartened to see those less-than-thrilled-reviews NOW . As you can see, I didn't exactly " do my homework"...really did not make this decision the Consumer Reports way. I just went to Best Buy and wandered about the rows of laptops until I settled on one that had acceptable specs, an amenable price tag, and that I "had a good feeling about". Now of course, I'm not some kinda rube that thought the price tag price is what you **REALLY**pay . But I guess I hadn't emotionally prepared myself for the computer buying experience. I walked out of the store excited but also feeling a bit manipulated. I hate buying service plans, for one. Maybe it's New England-y and/or old timey of me, but I feel like if you patronize a store and choose to bestow your business on to THEM, then they should service your computer when it gets fucked up. But no, you can't turn to them for help unless you shill out an extra $220 for some 2yr plan. They should just, to use a trite turn of phrase, "stand behind their product". Ok, so they don't manufacture the computers they sell, but still... the point being, Staples is a hop, skip, & pirouette away from Best Buy and I could have easily gone there to buy a computer. I don't understand why, if the economy is in the shitter, and sooo many businesses are "on the bubble" (ummm, yes, I will skim over a feature from Yahoo! Financial on occasion) then why doesn't it seem like anyone is grateful for your business anymore? Some of the onus is on me--unquestionably-- I could have sought out a small, privately-owned business and I probably wouldn't have all these gripes. And I don't have a good reason as to why I didn't do that. Well, pretty much the same reason as why I didn't do any pre-purchase studying. Even though there was a good deal of moolah involved, this was essentially an impulse buy. I *could* have wandered the aisles of Best Buy taking notes on possible laptops to buy, but something in me was urging : Buy it before you lose the nerve!!!
Speaking of nerve, I still haven't mentioned to my father that I bought a laptop. It's stupid...ridiculous....I don't answer to my father and I shouldn't have to tell him I bought anything....or if I were to tell him it should be no big thing. But damn it, if the other voice in my head (not the "Buy it before you lose the nerve" voice..the counter-chorus) doesn't sound just like my Dad's voice. Yeah, I would SOOO prefer Jiminy Cricket, lemme tell yas!! Anyways, this voice would be the one saying "Save! Save! Save! You need to squirrel a li'l $$$ nut away for the imminent demise of your automobile!!" (it uses my dad's voice, but it has my superfluous vocabulary) It would be easier to tell that voice (and my father) to muzzle it, if I didn't see the very sound wisdom in that advice.
Well, I've got a grace period while my dad is at camp hunting--'tis the 1st weekend of turkey season don'tcha know?? He got a turkey yesterday morning and called---he told me the pounds and other specs of it, which apparently my brain did not retain (on account of ..yawwwwn) He's still hunting though, as you can get 2 birds per season (I always wonder if any hunter ever shoots a turkey and has it converted to cold cuts..if he gets another bird, I think he should try it) and probably he's enjoying a li'l break from my mom. Yikes, I don't blame him. I've been keeping an eye on her this weekend, and I told her I'd take her for a drive. After being asked "When are we going??" 10 or 15 times, I told her I'd get my ass in gear when 2pm rolled around. 'Kay so it's 2:05 right now, and she's told me about 3 times per minute in the past 5 minutes that "It's past two!! It's past two!!" I guess I can't defer wrapping this up any longer...
Will post again tonight methinks....
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