Sweet Catastrophe

Tonight I really finalized everything for selling my Yu-Gi-Oh! cards. There had been some complicated things I needed to do to get everything in order and I finally broke down and did it. I have no idea what motivated me, but it’s done! Now I’ve just got to wait until I’ve got a little extra cash to buy a few proper card boxes for shipping and listing fees and I’ll be on my way! Between now and then I’m gonna do a little more research on what the cards are really selling for right now so I can decide on a price. I’ve decided to sell the whole lot in one go. It’s looking like I’ll have better luck that way. I may change my mind before then though, who knows!

Of course now I’m thinking of what I’ll buy with the money I make off the cards. It should be a pretty nice payoff if everything goes well! Of course, I don’t expect to have any problems finding a new toy with Buy.com’s Weekly Deals beckoning to me.

Like this week, they’re tempting me with the Calgary 500GB External Hard Drive. I think it’s pretty well-known by now that I’m really weary of my current external. I’ve never really used it as a ‘backup.’ All of my music and a large portion of pictures and other files live solely on my fidgety external. I’ve even been told by the manufacturer that they recommend I replace it before everything goes *poof*–Scary thought! I’ve also got a smaller external that I used to backup some of my more important stuff and it’s also the sole home for some media files. (See, my love of storage spills into my love for technology too….it’s sickening ) This Calgary external has three times the storage space my current has, so I could stop worrying about putting everything on DVDs to free up room! Do you have any idea what a painstaking process that can be? And mind numbing…

My favorite part–according to the customer reviews Buy.com provides, it’s quiet! That’s the big headache with my current external; it gives off some really rough white noise that just kills me.

Bottom line price is $84.99 plus free shipping! Eek! I can afford that!

Of course, I could always spring for a little extra and get the Western Digital they have up this week. It’s, hold on, you probably wanna sit down for this one–1TB–as in Terabyte. You okay? Yeah that’s pretty much amazing! And at $199 with free shipping, it’s still cheaper than what I paid for my current. That one might be a little dangerous though. All the drool would just be asking for trouble…

I gotta stop, man. They’ve got a 7-Port USB 2.0 Hub, and oh! They’ve got another Garmin deal this week! I can’t wait to get my GPS this summer! I wonder which one they’ll have on sale when I finally reach my goal and get ready to buy? My geek cup runneth over!

Now that I’ve backed out of Milwaukee, I’ve decided I can afford to start saving up for a good GPS system for my car. Milwaukee not included, I’ve talked myself out of the most simple trips just because of the driving anxiety I experience when taking trips even as short as two hours. The bulk of it really and truly stems from my fear of getting lost. Why does it plague me so much? I haven’t the slightest idea.

I learned a lot about GPS systems back when I was shopping around for one for Ryan. Of course, learning about it all just made me want one even more. I’ve figured out all the features I have to have and the ones I can live without. I’ve seen what brands have the best reviews, and which ones don’t live up to their promises. I also know what kinds of prices are fair.

As I tend to do when I’m broke and bored, I’ve fallen into online shopping and oh how I wish I had a little money to spare right now! I’m absolutely salivating over some of the deals I’ve come across. I’m particularly smitten with the Garmin StreetPilot c550 that Buy.com has for $179!!

The Garmin StreetPilot line is at the top of my GPS wishlist. The c550 comes standard with the feature most important to me–It speaks the street names, so you don’t have to constantly stare at the screen and then squint to see the upcoming street signs to see that you’re in the right place. The timing on the StreetPilots I’ve had experience with is perfect. They give you just the right amount of heads up that a turn is coming so you know you’re in the right lane. And I love how quickly they recalculate and give you a new route if you somehow hit the wrong turn or if you need to take a detour. It makes me so comfortable to know that I won’t be lost.

I’m so over missing out on trips that could be SO much fun, only because I’m scared to make the drive. I end up with anxiety over not going, and in some cases, I’ve lost money I’ve paid in advanced. It’s a pretty irrational fear that I’ve got to work towards getting over, and this is my first step!

I have been, and will continue to keep up with the incredible weekly deals over at Buy.com while I keep saving money. I’m really excited now that I know a really great deal isn’t out of reach, as I previously thought! I should have a great GPS system by the end of the summer!!

Remember back before December when I spent so much time searching for Christmas presents? I was SO excited to finally find Ryan’s Zune. I bought it Thanksgiving night after coming home. I’d heard about a deal one of the local stores was having and I was seriously considering getting up at 4am to take a shot at it. Instead, I really got down to it and did my online homework and found a fantastic deal. I found the Zune for only a pittance more than the local deal plus free shipping. I snagged it up immediately and headed through their Google Checkout, only to find new customers qualify for $10 off! After all this, I ended up only paying $12 more for the Zune than I would have if I had gotten up at 4am to fight the crowds! Sleeping in while everyone else fought over everything on Black Friday was more than worth $12 and that’s just one reason why Buy.com rocks!

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There are so many other reasons why Buy.com rocks–I love that they offer both professional, and customer video reviews of products, and even a price comparison engine–that’s just not something every e-tailer is willing to do.

Check out what my friend, Marv, has to say.

I’m hoping to stop being broke soon so we can get some new games in this apartment! A lot of my pals around here are graduating this year and I want to get in as much game-time as possible! Buy.com will definitely come in handy in that arena.

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I’ve been clicking through tons of stuff already this week, and I came across a cable organizer that zips a bunch of your cables together. I’m actually really interested in trying these out. The entertainment center looks atrocious right now, no joke.

It’s a really simple design but it looks super easy to sort out. They provide labels as well which is something we desperately need over here. If those boys unplug my router one more time while I’m in the middle of doing something—cup check. In the most ferocious possible way. I mean it.

You can read about ‘em yourself if you’re interested.

Ryan’s got one more week to do something about the cords himself and then I’m taking over.

Have you upgraded to Office 2007 yet? No? Why not? Oh yeah, Office is ridiculously expensive.

I found a little deal a while back that I keep forgetting to share though. The Ultimate Steal is a deal from Microsoft. Current U.S. students can buy Microsoft Office Ultimate 2007 for only $59.95.

The only requirements are a valid U.S. email address ending in .edu and that you be actively enrolled in at least 0.5 course load. (Their words, I’m guessing you have to be enrolled for at least half-time status.)

You purchase your license and download. A backup disc is also available for a fee, and if you ever need to re-download the software, or you have problems with your original download, they offer a variety of ways to grab it again.

The deal is valid from September 2007- April 30, 2008.

I’m signed up for a Microsoft survey program that runs in the background on my computer–after 3 months I’m supposed to be eligible for a free Microsoft product of my choosing, but I think if I wait for that, I’ll be cutting it close to the deadline for this deal, so currently, the plan is to use some of my small bit of excess financial aid this semester to get it. I really need it to be able to do all my ACED assignments at home, anyway and classes end in April.

So check it out guys! Seriously, it’s like a 90% off discount…just on the Office website, it’s $679.95 to buy new and $539.99 to upgrade… so yeah, you’re saving a little bit of money…it’s honestly one of the best deals I’ve ever found.

Can I just say, I’m mighty proud of myself right now. I went to Wal Mart tonight to pick up my final Christmas presents [don’t shoot me! There were a lot of people I didn’t see over Christmas so I decided to wait on their gifts until I wasn’t so broke.]

I wanted to check out some bar stools for Mom since her Birthday is this month and I had decided on a foot spa for my Grandma. No luck on the stools, but I found a few foot spas.

There were no prices up, so I narrowed it down to two. I found the one I have, and I knew how much it was, but I don’t really think it’s worth the money, so I found a really nice one as well and decided I’d go with that one if it wasn’t too much more than the one I have. I don’t even think you could guess how much this thing was, so I’ll just tell you. $3.66. No joke. Both the cashier and I did a double-take when we saw that. I guess it’s a leftover from the ones they sell at Christmas. I’m not complaining though!!

I found some sales on some salmon and flavored tuna and I bought a bunch of different rices to try out. I gotta stop eating so much junk, so let’s hope I like this stuff!

Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah.

Seriously, I’m getting an eBay migraine. Can I tell you how many Guitar Hero auctions I’ve bid on today? No. I can’t. I can’t count that high.

I wouldn’t be so bothered if I didn’t keep seeing these end at around $130. If you’re willing to spend $130, go to one of the Buy It Now auctions you ass! Leave my humble little auction alone!

I had a close call. I bid $103 just to jack the price back up…I had an angry moment…and I didn’t get outbid until it was down to 2 minutes and 23 left in the auction. I almost hoped I would get it, but I knew I’d regret it later. Anyone want to add the the “Jadeline Needs to Rock” fund? haha

In between all the cleaning today, I’ve spent hours on eBay. I’m trying to hard to get the gifts I want for Ryan. Kristi asked me how he gets so many cool presents–yeah they come at a cost! lol

I get an idea and I have to run with it. It’s hard enough for me not to run out to a store, buy a gift and give it to him immediately. Doing all this shopping around and then still having to wait until Christmas kills me.

I’ve spent so much time on eBay…I wish I hadn’t been clearing out my Watch list along and along–I’d like to be able to tell you the exact number, but I think so far in this search, I’ve probably had 50+ items on the list to keep up with.

It gets frustrating.

I’m starting to look for backup gifts now. I’ve already got him a little knife set–it’s nothing expensive–just a stocking stuffer. I’m looking into the possibility of some Ingersoll Rand air tools, or some of the sets we have, maybe even some big dvd sets. Tools are a definite standby, but I’m really iffy about those. I know he’d get excited over them, but right now he wouldn’t have much opportunity to use them, and there’s nowhere to store them. The option’s there though.

I’ve got an offer in right now on one of his gifts. They’ve got 13 hours to respond–ah scratch that–someone just bought the damn thing. Oh well!

I’m just ready to get these straight. I can’t tell you how determined I am to get ‘em.

I got a package full of new toys today! I received an ambient fireplace dvd, some colored flame candles, and insta snow powder!

I had to try out the insta snow immediately since we don’t get snow here. I poured a little of the powder into a bowl and poured a bit of water on it and the reaction was really cool! For a moment it just looks like wet powder, then it randomly puffs up into snow! Kind of like a marshmallow roasting!

Keri and I decided we needed to go ahead and put it into the freezer for a while, to really get that snow effect. I love this stuff!! We’ve already talked about buying some to freeze and dingdong ditch someone’s house. I don’t know what I’d do if I walked out my door to find snow, here in Valdosta! We’re still trying to figure out who would fall for it and we’ve got some pretty good ideas…

Next up I decided to check out all the contents on the Ambient Fire Video Fireplace. They’ve got a bunch of different fire scenes to choose from and for each one, you have a choice of a few different musical backgrounds, music with fire sounds, or just fire sounds. Keri’s got a s’more making kit that we’re saving for when it gets too cold to really be outside. We’re gonna pop in the dvd while we make s’mores to get that whole effect.

I’m gonna use it the next time Ryan and I make dinner together as well. I think it’s a much better alternative to finding something mindless to watch while we eat.

I haven’t tried my colored flame candles. I want to. Badly. I’m such a pyro and I adore green flame (you get it when burning some plastics and stuff like that) so I cannot wait to see these bright colors! My Birthday is the 26th though, so I’ve challenged myself to wait until then. I’m not even sure I’m having a cake, but if I have to, I’ll bake myself some brownies and use the candles! We’ll see if I can really wait that long.

Here’s a quick video of the stuff I got to play with today:

Kristi asked me yesterday if my Amazon Wish List was updated which reminded me to add the new Sting book, and the Mitch Hedberg cds I don’t actually own yet.

After that I went watch shopping. I stopped wearing watches a while back when the one I had died and I just never replaced it. I’m really picky about watches. I really like for them to fit my style, and also, I’ve got a really tiny wrist so it’s hard to find one I really like, that actually fits right. I hate having one slide back and forth.

When I get my bumblebee tattoo for my papa, it’s either gonna be behind my ear, or on the side of my wrist. Lately I’ve been really leaning towards the wrist–I can hide that with a watch if I want.

I can’t find what I want though!! My aunt actually offered to buy raymond weil watches for some of us–she’s got connections, but I haven’t found the style I want just yet. I guess I’ve still got some time though.

What kind of watch do you wear? Are you picky about your watches? Which arm do you wear yours on?