Saturday, March 10, 2012

Go Go Gadget ... what?

Another little diversion from the gaming-related talk, but sort of on-topic.

Talk about First World Problems!

I've sold off most of my VTES collection, and I have made enough money that I want to reward myself with a gadget of some sort.

Edit: Please think of this more like a "fantasy rant" than a real shopping list... I'm not sure whether I'm actually going to buy something "big" or not...

I was originally thinking about replacing our Home Theater In A Box with a proper receiver and speakers, but after doing a fair amount of research, it seems like it's still too much cost and setup hassle for the amount of improvement it would give our little living room.

I'm not incredibly interested in a tablet right now; my ipad2 and my Galaxy Nexus (call it a 4-inch tablet with phone capabilities) exactly fill that niche for me.
It's all the rage right now, but a wifi ipad3 or full-sized Android tablet wouldn't add much.
And although I'm vaguely interested in a 4G-enabled tablet (whether Apple or Android or other), the data plan would exceed my new "buffer" of money within a few months. And then I'd be 'stuck' with it as a new long-term expense.

I could also get a new laptop (or wait for a Windows 8 tablet/desktop hybrid device thing); my primary 'Windows PC' these days is a good-enough-for-browsing-and-email netbook/laptop hybrid. But see the "gaming PC" comment below, and we've got no shortage of 'computers' in the house.

Another idea is more of an "un-gadget"; I've seriously considered adding a "free phone with no data plan" to our family plan, to assure that no matter how much I mess with my primary 'phone' (currently the Galaxy Nexus), I can still make and receive calls. That would still add a minimum of $9.99 a month, though, and I honestly don't make and receive regular phone calls very often at all. Also, if I chose this option, I think I'd wait to see what Verizon says about their shared data plans. If I could get a "free" Android phone and still not have to pay more for data, at least it would be able to sync contacts.

Instead of a gadget, I could buy more boardgames. There are certainly a few on my list that I wouldn't mind owning. But I still have to catch up with playing the ones I've already got :)

Same goes with videogames, really; I haven't turned on the PS3 or Wii in weeks, never mind my supposed "Gaming PC" which I updated a couple years ago and has mostly been doing nothing since then... Of course I could get something new and video-gamey and use it as motivation to get back to digital gaming, but there's also the fact that most new video games just don't interest me, and I suck at online twitch-factor games :)

A truly "unthinkable!" idea is to -- gasp -- save the money instead of searching out for something to buy just because it's shiny. And save it for guilt-free small purchases here and there, or for the next big thing I haven't discovered yet. But seriously, I would like to buy myself something symbolic for crossing this threshhold, even something tiny.

All that being said, your thoughts?

4 comments:

  1. Why grr, pete? Because I sold the cards that were doing nothing in my closet for years? I still have decks, just not planning to do anything with 20k+ collection and I would rather have those cards in the hands of active playgroups.

    I probably will end up not doing anything specific with the money other than paying the bills, but I just want to buy myself a token something. This was kind of a "fantasy braindump".

    Don't worry; I didn't sell the autographed Legend of the Leopard. That's priceless.

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  2. How about something really symbolic. Find a nice statuette of a vampire or gothic someone or other to put up on the mantle (I'm reading Neil Gaiman's "Sandman" series right, Dream or Death would fit). Or a vintage poster. Or an old, hard-to-get gaming book. Or a small gargoyle statue. Something you could put up on your shelf or on your wall to remind you of your accomplishment.

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