Mishmash Musings

OK, my old phone contract has FINALLY run out, so that means I’m free to get a new one. The question is, do I go ahead and do so and pay $60+ a month, or do I hold onto my old phone and enjoy the low $10 rate? Because money is kind of tight right now, I’m inclined to hold onto the old one for at least a bit longer. But that didn’t stop me from at least browsing through the new selection of cell phones — or Téléphones cellulaires as my Quebec friend always refers to them — to see what’s out there. Obviously, the iPhone 4 would have to be a consideration, but I have to admit that I kind of like the looks of this Motorola DROID Pro. I love the hard keyboard as opposed to the iPhone’s touchscreen, and now that Droid is becoming more popular, there are more apps to choose from at the app store.

I don’t know… I haven’t compared all features and prices yet, since it’s not like I’m going to go out and buy something today. It’s just something to think about, I guess!

I work from home most of the time, and have to keep my office stocked with various supplies — otherwise I end up having to run out to the store at the most inopportune moments. In addition to the usual printer ink and paper that run out the fastest, I also have to buy pens, pencils, laserjet 5 toner, paperclips, staples, envelopes, and stamps. I usually buy a bunch of this stuff at the beginning of the year and hope it lasts until my next shopping trip. With the exception of printer ink, everything usually does!

I really want/need to redecorate my home office sometime soon. I currently use a computer hutch instead of a desk, which is just one of the things I want to change. In addition, I need a new desk chair (my third in six years — I’m really hard on them, I guess), and I need additional lighting in the room.

As far as the lighting goes, I was browsing around yesterday and came across this very nice piece from hudson valley lighting. The lamp mounts to the wall, and also has a swing arm that I can pull out so the light shines right where I want it to. Isn’t that awesome? I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like this before. I really want this lamp!

I can’t afford to upgrade everything at once, and I need a new desk and chair before I do anything else. But hopefully I’ll have enough money at some point to order this neat lamp too!

I had been planning on waiting until after the New Year to get a new PC (because of tax reasons), but I’m not sure if I can hold out that long. This thing I’m using is almost six years old and is getting slower by the day. I swear, I can’t even watch any online videos from YouTube, ESPN, or other legit sources because of lagging and skipping. I think my video card is messed up — or just isn’t good enough to handle today’s media.

I’m not sure what I’m getting next, but maybe I should go with an industrial computer that is meant to handle constant multitasking. With my current machine, I can’t even do two different things at once because that puts too much strain on the system and everything slows to an absolute crawl.

Anyway, there’s 3 weeks left until 2011. Can I manage to hold out that long? (If you’re wondering why I want to wait, it’s because I don’t need to reduce my 2010 tax burden any further, but would like to get started reducing my 2011 burden.)

I need to replace my bathroom scale soon because I don’t think it’s accurate anymore. I periodically check the accuracy by putting known weights on there to see what the scale tells me. For instance, I’ll use a 5lb bag of flour or a 20lb bag of rice to make sure I get accurate readings for both. This time around, the scale failed miserably. I’ve had it for a while, so a new one is in order anyway.

It’s been a long time since I’ve looked at scales, and I was surprised about how high tech they’ve become. In addition to measuring weight and body fat percentage, they can now compute water weight and muscle mass too — as well as make recommendations such as “drink more water.” And, some of the models I’ve seen can instantly recognize up to eight different people. Wow! And they’re far more affordable than I expected.

I can’t wait to get a new scale in here to see if it helps at all with my weight loss endeavors!

I’m seeing lots of Halloween decorations up right now, of course, which means it’s only a matter of time before the outdoor Christmas decorations follow suit. Can you believe that the holiday season is almost here already? It seems like I just got done shopping for and wrapping all of last year’s gifts! Well, fortunately I like Christmas because of the time I get to spend with my family. I could really do without the extra traffic near the mall, financial concerns about being able to pay off our purchases, and all the other related stress, though!

Now that I’m finally making some headway with my weight loss, I was thinking about buying an Acai berry supplement to help boost my progress and also cleanse my body a bit. I had heard some good things about this product, and was fully prepared to try it out. But after reading this acai review, I decided to just save my money. The review says there could be some benefits to taking Acai supplements, but the benefits wouldn’t really have any bearing on weight loss. Oh, well… I guess I’ll just have to see how far diet and exercise alone can take me!

So I’ve been thinking about getting my brother an electronic cigarette kit to help him stop smoking. Cigarette prices are absolutely outrageous these days, plus there’s the whole health angle to think about. Now seems like as good a time as any to kick the nasty habit.

I’ve read that a lot of smokers have responded positively to electronic cigarettes. These devices give them the taste and feel of a cigarette without the harmful smoke. What I want to know is if anyone has any personal experience with these things. Did they really help you quit? Are you allowed to use them in restaurants, bars, and other places where real cigarettes are banned? If you have any info about these things, please let me know!