Gadget Lust

I did a little shopping last night, looking for post-holiday bargains. None to be had. And weird experiences in both cases.

Case one: A new iMac. My old iMac is starting to show its age. The internal hard drive is near maxed out, the processor is slower than I'd like. Newer iMacs are neater. So I took a l'il trip to the Apple Store to discuss options. Ideally, I wanted to trick out a model (maximum memory, maximum storage) and walk out that night. Only, they don't do that in store. The guy in the store recommended I buy it online instead. What the hell is that? Well, I'll probably do it this weekend.

Case two: A coffee maker. I have a nice cheap Black & Decker unit already, works great, even has a timer. But it lacks one important quality - it's not red. I was in Target looking for a coffee grinder (I want fresh beans!) and there it was - the red Mr. Coffee maker of my dreams. I took it home with a matching Red grinder.

But I opened the factory sealed box, and it was soaking wet! Seriously, water all over the inside of those plastic bags. And the filter basket was missing. I'm taking it back tonight, getting a refund on the grounds of sheer weirdness.

The consumer economy is going to have to meet me halfway if it wants MY stimulus.