With all the computer-induced drama that I have had this week, I was almost tempted yesterday to go online, go through all the online circulars, and daydream about which laptop that I want to buy as soon as I have the funds to do so. When I first quit my job as a law clerk, I would spend a couple of hours every Sunday doing just that. I would either run down the street to Wally World and get a copy of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, or I would sit in front of my computer and look at everything from Toshiba Satellite laptops, which always seemed to be on sale, to the rainbow-colored Dell Inspirons.A few times I even came close to purchasing a laptop. I still had retirement money in the bank, and I figured that a laptop would be a good investment both personally and professionally. I could take the computer to court once I got a job--I was still delusional enough back then to believe that a firm would hire me--and I could sit in the bed at night and work on the novel that I have yet to start. Nevertheless, I talked myself out of the purchase every time. I figured that I needed to save the money for a rainy day.
Well, that rainy day has come and gone, so now all I can do is daydream. These days daydreaming about what I can't afford is closer to a self-induced mental torture than to fun; hence, the reason that I forewent the sale papers yesterday and chose to clean carpet instead. I figured that urine-free carpet was a slightly more achievable goal than a new computer.
Still, if I have time later in the week, I may sneak a peek at a few web sites and see what they have to offer. I have already been to Wal-mart and priced new printers. Those all-in-one printers that I could have sworn were $30 are no longer there, or, if they are, they are no longer $30. I'm not sure if $30 was a special rollback price, if the store sold out of them, or if I simply mistook the Canon Photo Printer that Wal-mart now sells for $30 for an all-in-one. I just know that the cheapest all-in-one printer that the store has now is $50, and I don't have $50 to waste. If I did, I would have bought a new fish tank by now. The hood on my Marineland Eclipse System 12 decided to die last week, and a new hood for that particular type of aquarium, after shipping, costs more than a brand new, larger aquarium of a different brand. Until I have $50 to spare, my two remaining goldfish are going to have to make do with the little lamp that I stuck beside the aquarium. It emits a fraction of the light of the hood, but it's the only solution that I could come up with.
Like I said in my previous post, "Murphy's Law" is a lot more accurate than "Just Bloggled." Maybe my luck will begin to change soon, and I'll be able to find a job that pays well enough that I can buy a laptop, an aquarium that actually allows my fish to see the food that they're eating, or at least a printer that isn't possessed by the Ghost of Disconnected Past. Keep your fingers crossed for me.
