Once again, on cue, the New York Times prints something relevant to me. I’ve been thinking/wavering about buying a PDA, and yet today’s paper has an article about gadget-buyers’ remorse. This is just about enough to tip me away from spending my money on something I probably won’t use that much. Or, if anything, maybe I’ll get a cheap monochrome model. The article kind of reminds me of the futile pursuit of happiness, too.
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Author Archives: Tin Man
Long Weekend
I’m at the end of a four-and-a-half-day vacation. I had today off for Columbus Day, and I took Thursday afternoon and all of Friday off as well. It’s all gone by way too fast.
Matt has a really good post about what we did on Saturday. It’s true, Matt needs a little help with chopsticks… but he did get the food into his mouth, so I think that counts as a success.
I also got to see Matt use his PDA a lot, and it only made me want one even more. I spent several hours yesterday researching PDAs online. I found a Sony Clié comparison chart and a Palm comparison chart, and there’s also the T-Mobile Sidekick, which seems amazingly cool. I could tool around Manhattan, stop into a coffee shop, and IM with my friends. Amazon.com is offering a great rebate on them right now.
But I’m also thinking, if I get one of these, will I really use it? I don’t know. Maybe I should just get a low-end Palm or Clié to start. I’m also thinking, maybe instead of a new gadget I should get a new bed. I have a cheap mattress, and hey, you spend a third of your life in bed, so if we’re talking about value per dollar spent, that would be lots of value.
Other things I did this weekend:
– Saw the doctor again. Even after a 30-day course of antibiotics, I’m still having issues, although not quite as bad as before. Apparently there’s no more bacteria — just residual inflammation. So I’m taking an anti-inflammatory drug, and apparently it might take another week or two until I’m completely better. They still don’t know what caused it — apparently doctors don’t know a whole lot about the prostate. This isn’t all that fun when it flares up — I’m tired of it already. Hopefully it will be over soon.
– Bought Will Shortz’s Favorite Crossword Puzzles, and I’ve done about a third of them already. I enjoy the New York Times daily crossword, so I figured, why look forward to just one per day when I can curl up at home and do as many of them as I want? Will Shortz, the New York Times crossword editor, is a hero of mine: like me, he has a law degree from the University of Virginia, but unlike me, he enjoys what he does, and his career has nothing to do with the law. It just goes to show what you can do with a law degree.
– Bought Tend Skin, which supposedly works wonders for ingrown hairs and razor bumps. Shaving is really hard on my neck, and I hope this helps.
God, I’m usually not this consumeristic. (I’m not even sure if that’s a word.) But I guess we all go through phases.
Anything But Black
I received a postcard in the mail today. It’s a promotional card from the state of Pennsylvania, trying to drum up tourism. It’s clearly geared toward New Yorky types, because on the front, superimposed over a picture of an Amish man driving a buggy, it says:
“Like you, the locals won’t be seen wearing anything but black.”
Hahaha. I get it. See, it’s funny because, like, we New Yorkers always wear black, right?
I wonder how much idiocy it takes to try to appeal to a certain group of people by invoking that group’s stereotypes.
How about, “Hey, Jews! Come get away to Hawaii! Becase we know your mom is driving you crazy.”
“Hey there, WASPs! Try our delicious milk! It’s 100 percent pure and white, just like your country club.”
And then there’s the Olive Garden commercials, of course.