Sunday, February 01, 2004
 

At one point before the break, the ethical vegetarian animal sex professor (I need an abbreviation for this-- EVASP?), in one of his more manic modes, encouraged several of us students (= poor) to go out and buy an iPod. Earlier this week, when I was in his office, he was positively showing off the thing. So I decided to do a little price research. Yow. Even the little ones cost an arm and a leg. And then it's 99 cents per song? I have many an mp3 already, and the music free-for-all seems to be at its end, but yeeouch.

I get the feeling this means that my 1995 (or was it '94?) portable CD player is a bit behind the times.

Then, out of purely tangential curiosity, I looked up Blackberry prices. And the monthly rates. Heart failure ensued.

I mean, c'mon, people. I don't even carry a cell phone. Or even a day planner (this latter lack being total stupidity on my part, but I have a thing about calendars; don't ask). I do have a cell phone, but I call it the "car phone" still, because that's where it stays. It's there for emergencies only (such as last year's interstate blowout). I did carry it onto this rich, rich campus recently and was actually embarrassed. It's at least twice as big as the ones the undergrads were carrying, plus it has a long antenna that has to be extended all the way in order for the phone to work.

Moving on.

I do need to do some spending myself, though not on pricey in-vogue equipment. My phone-with-answering machine is on the fritz and has been for several months, but the problems are increasing. This time, I'm getting one that has caller ID too, because caller ID is on the phone plan I'm paying for (cheapest way to keep the features I want; long boring story), and I'm not using it. Please tell me you can find them for less money than this. My CD-alarm clock also seems to be malfunctioning, which makes me sad rather than mad. I've had that thing for years upon years. Given its age and the number of times it's been transported, I guess I shouldn't be surprised that it's on its last legs. I don't even have any clue how much those things cost nowadays (lapsing into octogenarian mode), and, after doing the phone check, I think I just won't investigate right now.

Le sigh.

Alice is having a good time, for free, watching birds out the window. Perhaps I, too, should take up the simple life. Or, in Alice's case, the spoiled life.

Elvisette philosophized at 9:59 AM