Weakness For Bright and Shiny Gadgets

March 7, 2008 · Filed Under , · 5 Comments 

phone.jpgI am so weak.

I mentioned in an earlier post that our phone was on the fritz. Like the great do-it-yourselfer that I am, I tested the phone line with an old rotary phone and came to the expert conclusion that our phone was “broken”. Bob Villa would have been proud.

So I went online and researched some cordless phones. My wife and I wanted something pretty basic. Just one handset with a simple answering machine. I read a bunch of reviews and came to the conclusion that the Panasonic DECT 6.0 was our best bet. So I ordered it online from the Best Buy website and had it setup for store pick-up to avoid shipping charges. Smart move.

My wife goes in to pick it up the following day and hands the Best Buy dude her receipt. He disappears to the back room, has a smoke, calls his girlfriend, and re-appears a few minutes later with no phone. Says something about how it was not pulled from the shelf like it should have been, calls another employee who shows up with the phone fairly quickly. My wife happens to notice a small sign talking about the store pick-up policy, and how if they don’t have your item in your sweaty little hands within 1 minute you get $10 off. It was obviously over 1 minute so she pipes up. The Best Buy dude says OK, and we get $10 off the purchase price! Second smart move.

In the meantime, back on the ranch, I try our old phone again and VOILA it has resurrected from the dead. Not sure how, but it just started working again. I call my wife, but it is too late, she already bought the phone. I tell her to hold on to it, in case our phone dies again in the next week or two. First dumb move.

So the box with the new phone, with the cool color LCD screen, and sleek design has been just sitting on the kitchen counter calling my name all week. “Kyle, open me up, you will love me, I am so cool!” and the other night I heard it say “Put down your bowl of Rocky Road ice cream and try me, your life will never be the same if you give me a try. Just try me, pleeeeaaaassssseee.”

I am ashamed to say the new phone won the battle, I am so weak. New gadgets, electronics of any kind and I lose self control. This is why I stay out of Best Buy type stores if at all possible. I will almost always end up with a new do-hickie for my thinga-mabob.

I justified the decision to keep the new phone by saying I could use the old phone in my office. Nothing wrong with my office phone except it is old. I also justified it by saying, “I have been so good recently, not spending money on things I don’t need, I deserve this phone.” That is an easy mindset to fall into. It is important to reward yourself, but perhaps a stop at Starbucks would have been more prudent. At least it wasn’t a Plasma TV or something ridiculously expensive. I can justify anything can’t I?

Moral of the story: If electronics start talking to you, it may be time to get your thinga-mabob checked!

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Comments

5 Responses to “Weakness For Bright and Shiny Gadgets”

  1. Lynnae @ Being Frugal.net on March 7th, 2008 3:33 pm

    I completely understand. Electronics speak to me too.

    You were a goner as soon as your wife brought that phone into the house. :)

  2. Kyle on March 7th, 2008 3:57 pm

    Lynnae, you are so right!! I was a total goner. I think there was a better chance of me putting the phone in a blender, spreading it on toast, and eating it, than actually taking it back to Best Buy!

  3. Andrew on March 7th, 2008 5:07 pm

    Don’t forget, Kyle… you saved $10 on the purchase and got free shipping. So you actually OWE it to yourself to use the phone. If you didn’t and you returned it, you’d actually OWE $10. So see, you’re SAVING money by using it. Welcome to Andrew Logic.

  4. Mrs. Micah on March 7th, 2008 6:50 pm

    They know that having it at home is much more convincing than having it in the store.

  5. Kyle on March 12th, 2008 12:22 pm

    Andrew, I like your logic and thus I officially love our new phone!!

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