Thursday, May 24, 2012

middle aged toys

It doesn't necessarily have anything to do with growing up, but I definitely have genuine desire for boring things these days.

My Shark Navigator vacuum.

I love this thing. I had a theory once. If I liked my vacuum more, I'd...vacuum more. It sounds dumb, but I hated using the upright bag vacuum I had. Not only are bags gross, but it wasn't exactly the best vacuum and um, the circumstances under which I bought it were unpleasant. Bad memories. But anyway, after fostering cats for a year or two I really needed to get a quality machine. I was tracking refurbed Dysons until I came across a review that mentioned Shark vacuums being just as good or better and much cheaper. They got great reviews, so I got one at Costco. (I was days before I was going to pull the trigger on Amazon but I happened to see it for cheaper at Costco during my one visit last year.) It came with a ton of attachments, including a hose extender and this pet roller thing that's magical and I dunno man. It's pretty great. I really should rinse out the (washable!) filters in the thing though. It says to do it every X number of months (there are a few different ones with different frequencies)...and though I'd say I probably use it way less than the average chore-performing american, I also fill up the canister 3 times whenever I do use it.

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I want a document scanner. Like the Fujitsu ScanSnap.

I feel like no matter how many times I read things about how long you really need to keep bank statements, receipts, all mail ever etc. I have trouble believing any of it. These Neatdesk double sided document scanner things are so damn expensive but they seem to get good reviews. I don't see myself splurging on it anytime soon, but that doesn't mean I don't want it for some bizarre reason.

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A CableCARD TV tuner. HDHomerun PRIME.

It's on sale RIGHT NOW. I might actually buy it tomorrow. Okay, I guess this is something I would've wanted 10 years ago too. But I finally have TV service since I thought it cost the same as just getting internet. However, I didn't realize that DVRs had such steep leasing fees. Silly me. Anyway, I already have a HDHomerun tuner and I liked it a lot. And if I get this I can save $12/mo on monthly fees! Which doesn't exactly make fiscal sense unless I get more than a year's use out of the tuner but it'd take up less room and there are fun things to be done to programs saved on a computer. =P

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My cast iron skillet is my new favorite thing. I got a Lodge skillet.

I still don't really cook but having a quality piece of cookware is helping. Sure, all I do now is eat massive amounts of bacon, eggs, and fried potatoes with the occasional steak...but I'll start using it for other things one day. I used to make fun of people who had things like dutch ovens on their wishlists (why are they so expensive anyway?) but I guess...I guess I am closer to understanding. Having to clean it shortly after use also forces me to do the rest of the dishes since I need the whole sink to scrub at it. I'm a believer of cast iron now. I made some potstickers. I want to make more just to achieve that nice crust on them. I don't even have to eat them. It's just so much better than they've ever turned out before.

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