Tag: retail-therapy

my new curve

Yesterday, at lunch, I wondered aloud to my friend Deb about how long I had to wait until I get a new phone… I am on Verizon, and I have recently started getting the itch that the end of my two years was coming up soon (around the summer usually), so when I got back to the office, I called customer service to see when I could succumb to my need for new technology. Turns out, I have been eligible since early April (thanks for telling me! Sheesh!), so off to the Verizon store I went.

When I got my Motorola Q, I really wanted a Blackberry, but at the time, there weren’t any available that had cameras, and none of those were good enough to make me want to give up having a camera on my phone. Well, recently, the Pearl came out, and I had originally thought about getting it when I had a chance, but after playing with the kinda-qwerty keyboard, I was pretty sure that preferred having a full qwerty at my disposal. After a few minutes of looking on the Verizon website, I had found what the very thing that I wanted: the Blackberry Curve. It is smaller than my Motorola Q, and it does EVERYTHING I want in a phone: email, pictures, internets, texting, qwerty keyboard, and my most wanted feature… IM.

So like I said, I was off to the Verizon store to cash in my $100 towards a new Curve. I also found out that I could get James a phone for free, so I got him the LG VX5400, which has everything his Motorola Razr has, but is just newer, more lightweight, and frankly, a bit cuter. The jury is still out on whether he likes it or not, but I have to say, that the Curve is like the best phone EVER. Seriously, I still joke that I would get my old StarTAC back in a second (I totally would), because it was the best phone I have ever had; but the Curve comes in a very, very close second. This phone rocks. The camera is great, and the internet is lightening fast. Also, I get to use the Blackberry internet plan, which is $20 cheaper than my old one. Rock!!

All in all, I got two phones, cashed in my $100 on mine, and ended up with a rebate of $100 instantly, and $50 mail in; making my Curve only $50. I am extremely happy with my purchase, and being that it was long overdue for a new phone, I couldn’t be happier that it all happened this week. So, if you have IM, make sure to hit me up; I am on yahoo (duanecmoody), AIM (theduanemoody), and even the Blackberry messenger (which I am pretty sure is only for peeps with Blackberrys).

I love a good deal, and this one was just too great not to blog about… not to mention the high I am riding after getting a shiny new piece of electronic equipment to play with!!!! Everyone loves that, right?!?! I also ordered an orange silicon case for it; which I can’t wait for. So far, I have nothing but love for the Curve! Good show, Blackberry!

buying things will take your mind off of it…

So James and I came home from the vet frustrated with our situation yesterday, because we really weren’t getting much in the way of answers from the people at Banfield. With our frustration, we called to speak with the vet, and honestly, she took about 15 minutes to really talk with me, which did make me feel better. She told me that we need to get the x-ray and the ultrasound, and if those don’t show anything, we need to do an endoscopy. We are taking it one thing at a time. X-ray and ultrasound are currently scheduled for Thursday, and hopefully, we will know more then.

I honestly hope that it is nothing. She thinks that it might be an ulcer or something similar, and if so, there is medication that he can take that will make him better. She also informed us that we needed to try and make him eat, which we were actually successful with last night. We are trying different types of wet dog foods, really anything, to get him to eat. We found a treat he likes, and honestly, if that is what he will eat, I will buy a bunch of it to get something in his stomach. He is still weak, but he definitely seemed better after eating last night. Also, he isn’t yelping as much anymore either; which is a great sign. Thanks to all of the well wishes and thoughts you guys, I really don’t know what I would do if anything happened to my baby, and I really hope that he will get back to his old self sooner, rather than later. I am just praying he gets better soon. I will give updates about the tests on Thursday when we get them done.

James and I were driving home from the vet yesterday, and honestly, we were just silent in the car, because we were so worried. The call with the vet changed a lot of that, but we are still concerned, and can’t think of much else. So, like the good little consumer, I have turned to a little well-timed retail therapy to help take my mind off of this week’s situation. Coincidental to these events with Sydney, two products that I have been urning for came out today:

The NEW Tivo HD receiver (the much more reasonable $300 version)
and
Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111!!!!!!!!!1!!!!!1!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, I have my confirmation order number for the tivo (after getting rejected by the website, and having to call in, sit on hold, get rejected by the system, and having the customer service person (who was really sweet, and actually called back and gave me confirmation) complete the order and call my back), and I am going to pick up GH during lunch. Is this enough to make me not worry about my little man? Absolutely not. However, it really does make me feel a little bit better; even if it is momentarily.

Tonight will be some shredding at my place, and hopefully, we can get little man to eat a little more. Hope everyone is having a good day. Now, WHEN will my new tivo arrive!! HURRY!

on a high

Who needs anti-depression meds when you can just buy things!?! Seriously, I feel so bouncy and happy today, all because I have some shiny new things at home. It doesn’t come from the items themselves, but it was the actual “getting new things” that does it. It could have been anything. But this boy loves his technology, and I got a hefty dose of it.

And yes, I did need a new ipod. At least, that is what I keep telling myself. LOL I did order this kick ass skin for it from ifrogz.com (papaya wrap with the mandarin band, in case you were curious). I was going to go with my tried and totally trusted iskin, but the motherfuckers decided not to make orange cases anymore, and I am sorry, but that is just rude. I was holding out hoping that they would eventually add orange to their colors, like they always had, but no dice. They should realize that not everyone likes generic blue, red, pink, white, green, etc.; some people actually like vibrant colors, and ifrogz has my back. I can’t wait for it to arrive. I might have to just use to the old ipod until the case arrives, so that I won’t scratch up my new baby. Oh yeah, his name is Charlie. How cute is that?

As for the computer, I am IN LOVE with Vista. Perhaps, I am more in love with the fact that my computer actually does what you want when you click on something now. And it does it fast. When you drag a set of mp3s to make an itunes playlist, it takes less that 1/2 of a second, before, it took like 20 seconds. No lie. HUGE improvement. I don’t know why I waited so long to get a new PC, but I am glad that I finally did. Vista is pretty, but a bit muddled, as they make simple tasks difficult to figure out. It took me like 20 minutes to map my home network; although, to give it credit, it jumped right on the network upon just plugging in the ethernet cord. I guess you can’t have everything. I am going to attempt to burn a DVD tonight, and hope that it goes smoothly; after all, that was one of the reasons I wanted a new PC.

That’s about it for me today; it is difficult to concentrate, but that isn’t a bad thing… I am riding that retail therapy high. It feels really good. I can’t wait to get home and organize my music on my new PC, as I discovered that MOST of the music on my other ipod isn’t on my hard drive anywhere. Oh well… something for me to do! I also want to get some videos on there, that will be cool.

James is on spring break this week, and will be leaving me and Sydney all alone from Wednesday to Sunday. If there is anyone out there that wants to do something, this is the week to do it, because I will have access to lots of free time. Anyone interested in doing something one, two, or all of those nights?? Let me know! I am ready to hang, ya’ll!

Hope your Monday is going well!

the result



shopping spree!, originally uploaded by duanecmoody.

So here it is, what was purchased. Basically, I got an Acer with an Athlon 64 X2 processor 4200+ (faster than intel!), and upgraded to 2GB of memory. MUCH cheaper than an HP of the same specs. I also added the service plan and the spyware upgrade, because that is what was wrong with my laptop… well worth it for the peice of mind.

Also, I threw in a new ipod (mine is TOTALLY full, seriously, I have to take things off to add new stuff), and Bose desktop speakers. Overall, I spent less than $1400, and I have 24 months to pay it off! Goddamn, sometimes, retail therapy can be a fantastic thing!!! The wine in the picture is to prevent me from having buyer’s remorse!

Thanks for all the words of advice from everyone on the whole computer purchase, I really appreciate everything. I took it all to heart, and it really helped me. The guy at Best Buy totally hooked me up, and I feel like I got exactly what I wanted. Which is exactly what I was looking for!!!

the wednesday run-down

Today, there are 5 distinct thoughts running through my head, so I thought I would give you a run down. In summation, here it is: 1) come on Dems!, 2) get this CD NOW, 3) examining relationships, 4) buying too much stuff?, and finally 5) comments on TV things. Let’s get started, but let’s keep it brief.

First of all, most people don’t think that I am critical (enough) of the Democrats actions. They are wrong. This is just great; now we can EXPECT an attack on Iran. Why were these guidelines abandoned? This just seems to keep getting worse and worse; if we don’t at least put caps and regulations on things, then things will continue to go in the same direction, and there will be NO changes. That can’t be allowed to happen! We need to send a message, that is LOUD and CLEAR to the president; no more occupation! No more war! Things just seem to be idling along, while real action needs to be taken. This is seriously disappointing, to say the least. UGH. We need some people that will take real action, fast.

In lighter fare, I am proud to announce the American release of a GREAT UK artist’s sophomore disc, entitled Back to Black. It is none other than the fantastical Amy Winehouse, and you must do yourself a favor and buy this CD today. It is only $8 at Target and Best Buy, and it is definitely $8 well spent. Let’s show our appreciation for bringing great artists to our shores, rather than leaving them as imports. Amy’s voice is an old classic voice, much like Billy Holiday, and it has power, class, soul, and life. The music is fantastic, like a hip hop jazz, and you will enjoy this if you enjoy great music. Do yourself a favor and pick it up today!

Relationships. UGH. Sometimes they are great. Sometimes they suck. Sometimes you realize that certain relationships in your life are not worth fighting for, but for whatever reason, they go on, because you let them. You don’t want yourself to be like them, so you do your part; even when they don’t do theirs. All that leads to is frustration, and the occasional cryptic portion of a blog post. I am just wondering what I will do next time they take it upon themselves to call. Perhaps I will just let it go for months on end, as it seems they prefer to do themselves; or maybe I will do what I did this time, and just suck it up, and sit through another fake attempt to maintain something that isn’t really there in the first place. Oh well… we’ll see. Relationships can really take it out of you. Thank God for the good ones.

I spent a lot of money yesterday and goodies that made me feel better. Sometimes, you just gotta pull out that card and swipe it. I am glad that I did, but I need to calm down. This is kind of a suggestion and a reminder of that need. Retail therapy! WOO!

Finally, I just want to say this, if you watch 24, were you not extremely excited that Martha came back this week? Even more than that, can you BELIEVE what she did to Logan?!?!? I LOVE YOU JEAN SMART!!!! YAY! Also, if that Sanjaya Malakar makes it through, I will be PISSED. Melinda, girl, you are my favorite, and I hope you win. Lastly, I wouldn’t mind having a three-way (or a four way if James wants in) with Chris Richardson and Blake Lewis. Those boys are hot AND they can sing!

Hope everyone is having a great hump day! That’s the run-down! I’m out!