Pesky Rodent
Amazon.com allows you to keep a wish list of things you want to have people buy for you. Sorta like a wedding registry, but for everyday begging. I reluctantly allowed Chris to register us at a local department store when we got married and I think this kind of nonsense is even more egregious when it is for no such life changing event.
I’ve seen bloggers, especially teenage girls, put links to their wish lists on their blogs. They basically believe that if they appear cutesy or suggestive enough on their website, total strangers will buy them the latest Christina Aguilera CD. Pretty blatant. To me, this is one step up from solicitation. Blech.
With that formal disclaimer out of the way: I am going to admit to having an Amazon.com wish list too. I don’t however, tell anyone where it is. I use it to keep track of things I want to buy for others. That way, when a birthday rolls around I have a better chance of getting something they might like. Oh yeah, aunt Marcia mentioned she wanted an electric loofa a few months ago. More often than not, I don’t end up getting wish list items at Amazon. It’s just a way of reminding myself.
While rubber-necking the deals scrolling by on techbargains.com, I was spotted a good deal on a wish list item for an April birthday girl. The downside was that I would have to hassle a rebate to get the 37% off, but it was from a website that knew pretty well and the shipping would be free. I put the gift item in my shopping cart and in another browser window went to remove it from my Amazon wish list.
While winnowing the gift from my wish list, I was reminded of another item on the list. At this point I should mention that I also use my wish list to keep track of things I might someday buy for myself. Turns out, the same vendor had a wireless notebook mouse for 40% off (with another friggin’ rebate).
If I want something badly enough I’ll just go ahead and get it, so my wish list ends up being a purgatory for the things that I don’t really need or might not like if I indeed did get them. Well the wireless mouse is no exception. Wireless mice offer these “advantages” over their wired brethren: you gotta feed them batteries, you gotta remember to turn them off to prolong the life of said batteries, and they can’t be, by nature, any more reliable/responsive than the simple wire they are replacing. Besides that, my current notebook mouse (which had acted up a lot last year) has been uneventfully reliable for the last few months.
So despite being 40% off, there was no logical reason for me to get the replacement mouse. I knew it would be a dubious purchase prior to check out, so my mouse sat in the buy.com shopping cart for the longest time while I mulled over throwing my money away.
Sometime next week when it arrives I will have to explain to Chris why she needs to start unplugging the mouse transceiver when she is done with the laptop.
You saw that coming didn’t you.