on the blink

Wouldn’t you know it? Barely a few days after school started, the monitor of my son’s laptop decided to go on the blink! Ya, definitely not good since he’s already on a budget and now has to go bargain hunting for a new laptop.

These days, you can’t be in college and not have access to a computer any more. So I guess he’s going to have to readjust his budget and see how he can work in the extra cost of that new laptop!

Thank goodness for the internet

So the school break is here and I’m sure most kids are home preoccupied with their ps3 or some other computer game. Mine are too except they play online games amongst themselves. We’re having a sort of staycation. Nowhere to go, quite honestly and I’ve been too busy to organize any short trips or even to take them to the mall, the poor things. Well, thank goodness for the internet, kids can now keep themselves entertained and I just need to check in on them now and then.

one practical gift

My daughter will be graduating from high school soon and we’re planning a surprise for her. Yes, the hush-hush party plans are in the works. I’m so excited. I know she loves surprises but the biggest surprise will be the movado watch we’re planning to give her.

She’s the vain pot in the family and is crazy about clothes and accessories, so what better present than this? A watch is a very practical gift and I’m the queen of practical. She’s going to love a new watch to go to her high school prom and when she goes off to college.

clueless salespeople

As I might’ve mentioned before, my oven’s dead. Has been for months now and I’ve been so busy I’ve pretty much shoved the shopping for it to the back seat. Okay, so whenever I’m at the appliance section, I will take a look around and note down the model numbers of the ovens I like. But that’s been pretty much it.

Quite honestly, when I come across words like inverter or a string of numbers like Symbol LS2208, I’m really clueless. Is it a new technology that makes the appliance more efficient or is it some obscure model number? I still need to get down and do my homework because they are so many models available these days.

Many times, finding a knowledgeable salesperson to explain these terms is not easy. Most of the salespeople these days know NOTHING about the products they’re selling. Which is very frustrating because they know less than I do, so how are they going to sell something to me that they can’t explain the benefits and features of ??

washing machine woes, part 2

In the continuing saga of my washing machine (read part 1 here), it has stopped working altogether. The repairman, who also owns an appliance store, has recommended I buy a new washing machine… from him… since it might cost another arm and a leg to repair.

Now I’m in two minds. To repair or to buy. Both will cost me !! If I repair, how long will it be before it kaputs again? If I buy a new one and this one is repairable, it’ll be a waste of money. DILEMMA!

On a side note, I’m convinced the repairman is a scam and just trying to get me to pay for a new machine. Am I over-reacting? Maybe. Maybe not since when he came the first time, he hardly tried to troubleshoot. He merely changed a part, charged me for it and left. As it turned out, the machine failed again afterwards which means it’s possible the part he changed wasn’t even the problem to start with. So what do you think?

washing machine woes

I’ve been busy, busy, busy! And now my washing machine has to go and break down. The repairman has been in twice and stayed about 5 minutes each time. He has since swapped one part and charged me an arm and a leg for it. The second time the spin-dry stopped, he came in, gave the front panel a few knocks and it was back up running so he left without doing anything.