Evolving at the Speed of Life

Gadgets and Gizmos and Widgets...Oh my!

I live in a reasonably sized one bedroom apartment.  By New York City standards it's pretty spacious.  But...my bedroom is literally 10 steps from my living room.  My dining table is virtually part of the living room.  And I can see the whole apartment from the pass through in my kitchen.

So why do I have two plasma TVs, Tivo (I was an early enough adopter to have Lifetime Service), a Time Warner DVR, one DVD/VCR combo, one DVD player, two PCs, one Apple Mac Pro, four iPods (of varying shapes and sizes), and a drawer full of mobile phones that are still in perfect good working order (although I use my Blackberry Pearl these days)?

Last night a friend asked for help using her new Blackberry.  I started going through it and she was looking at me like I was speaking Latin.  At that point I realized that technology had become part of my DNA. 

I've accepted it.  I am a geek.  I embrace it and I integrate it into my life on a daily basis.   Not exactly a fit with the shoe museum in my closet, but hey...

I'm currently driving the best car I ever owned.  A 2007 Toyota Prius.  I get in the car, plug in one of my iPods, and connect my phone to the built-in Bluetooth.  I set my destination on the GPS and off I go.  In a car that wraps around my lifestyle and fits like a glove.  While getting 45 miles to the gallon.

And apparently I've become entirely comfortable with sharing every detail of my life.  Online I try to keep up with this blog.  But you have the option to check out Facebook , LinkedIn, Twitter,  Fotolog or YouTube.   I'm there too.

Miracles Happen: Best Buy Apologizes!

Coming off of my big win (I am easily amused) with Superior Lighting and the lovely people (seriously...lovely) at Hunter Fan, I decided to take on Best Buy.  To be brief, they found some stupid loophole in my credit card contract and started charging me and back-charging me for finance charges.  Even though the purchases were made on a "no finance charges" promotion.

As I am known to be calm and unemotional (yeah, right!) I immediately canceled my credit card and shared a few choice expletives with the useless rep from Best Buy Credit.  Then I wrote to the president of the company asking him what a "valued customer" was?   I mean, all of the coverage on Best Buy talks about how they put their best customers (i.e. those who buy a lot, which is a category my geeky self definitely falls into) first and give them special treatment.  I won't bore you with all of my trials and tribulations with their so-called Customer Service, but suffice it to say that after having purchased 3 computers, 6 iPods, 2 TVs, 1 Plasma TV, 1 LCD TV, a dvd player, 2 phone systems, several appliances and no less than 3 cameras in the past 3 years I wasn't feeling particularly valued.  (By the way...that's the first time I actually saw that list.  I scare myself!) 

Yesterday I got a letter from Best Buy.  They've reinstated my promotional pricing, credited me for the finance charges and wrote a very nice apology.

So now I'm reflecting on my successes.  I can only think that you have to go psycho to get some attention and be treated like a human being.  My shopping would me so much more pleasant if that weren't the case.  I may have to limit my spending to stores where they appreciate me.  Like Bergdorf's shoe department.

Recreational Eavesdropping

A mother walking down Columbus Avenue with her son.  He was probably 4ish.  They walk past Vinyl, a new restaurant, and on the door is their logo (see picture).

Son:  Mommy, what is that?

Mommy:  Ummmm...well, before there was iTunes we used to listen to music on plastic disks.

Son:  Really?

Mommy:  Yes.  And sometimes those disks didn't fit on the record player.

Son:  What's a record player?

Mommy:  That's what we used to listen to music on.  So anyway, if the record didn't fit on the record player we would use that to make it fit.

Son:  Huh?  Why did they make something that didn't fit?

Mommy:  There's the bus.  Let's run.