enough stuff already!
Aug. 1st, 2005 10:15 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chhotiiWhy do we keep buying stuff, even though we have amazing amounts of stuff already? We have more stuff than we ever have in the history of the world. We have more stuff than anyone in the world (except other, even wealthier Americans). And yet...
Mom asks for a calculator. I have, probably, 3? calculators: 2 tiny cheap minimal ones, plus a nice-ish HP scientific calculator. They are somewhere in my pile of office-y cruft. Looking for them has not been an issue, because Mac OS X has a nice little calculator program amongst its built-in Applications. It even has a virtual paper tape, so I can look back and see if I made any typos in the inputs. If I need any calculation more complex than the basic +-*/ set, I fire up Excel. Mom has a laptop running OS X too, but she seems reluctant to explore the scary realm of the Applications folder, even when I explain the advantages of the virtual paper tape for checkbook balancing. Looks like the household will aquire another calculator to replace the ones I don't have time to look for.
It's nice how a laptop computer is so general-purpose, it replaces a whole pile of other cruft: a calculator, a typewriter, a CD player, a DVD player, a newspaper... Now, if only I could get the computer to grind coffee...
I accidentally got a bag of whole bean coffee from cafecanopy.com. We don't have a coffee grinder. I'm not really interested in buying yet another kitchen appliance when I can buy coffee that's already ground, no matter how cheap it is. Anyone with a coffee grinder want some decaf beans?
I'm still dithering on the decision to buy a mosquito magnet. Reading on the web, some people are happy customers, some are really, really, really unhappy. Without buying one, it's hard to predict how well it will work for your yard, plus they break down periodically. OTOH, it would be nice to enjoy summer evenings outside, and I'm tired of losing more calories in blood than I gain from harvesting berries. Dither, dither, dither...
Mom asks for a calculator. I have, probably, 3? calculators: 2 tiny cheap minimal ones, plus a nice-ish HP scientific calculator. They are somewhere in my pile of office-y cruft. Looking for them has not been an issue, because Mac OS X has a nice little calculator program amongst its built-in Applications. It even has a virtual paper tape, so I can look back and see if I made any typos in the inputs. If I need any calculation more complex than the basic +-*/ set, I fire up Excel. Mom has a laptop running OS X too, but she seems reluctant to explore the scary realm of the Applications folder, even when I explain the advantages of the virtual paper tape for checkbook balancing. Looks like the household will aquire another calculator to replace the ones I don't have time to look for.
It's nice how a laptop computer is so general-purpose, it replaces a whole pile of other cruft: a calculator, a typewriter, a CD player, a DVD player, a newspaper... Now, if only I could get the computer to grind coffee...
I accidentally got a bag of whole bean coffee from cafecanopy.com. We don't have a coffee grinder. I'm not really interested in buying yet another kitchen appliance when I can buy coffee that's already ground, no matter how cheap it is. Anyone with a coffee grinder want some decaf beans?
I'm still dithering on the decision to buy a mosquito magnet. Reading on the web, some people are happy customers, some are really, really, really unhappy. Without buying one, it's hard to predict how well it will work for your yard, plus they break down periodically. OTOH, it would be nice to enjoy summer evenings outside, and I'm tired of losing more calories in blood than I gain from harvesting berries. Dither, dither, dither...
