Thursday, November 30, 2006

THE INCONVENIENCE OF CONVENIENCE

i generally keep things simple... i don't feel the need to dress up my cars in the latest outfits... i own a "simple" home - more cozy than it is fancy... i have one credit card... i don't accept subscription offers that are automatically renewed or extended beyond the "free" trial period if i don't call and cancel the offer... that is just too much hassle... keeping things simple makes my life so much easier and stress free, and i like it that way...

so after having had enough stress dealing with a corded/wired mouse and keyboard, i decided to go the wireless route... my thoughts when i bought this wireless mouse and keyboard was to simplify things - no wires/cords, less restrictions on the mouse movements, etc etc... if you use a corded mouse you are familiar with the several times you may have to position the cord (tugging and pulling) in an effort to maneuver the mouse... it gets annoying having to do that, and has on occasions, brought me close to cursing... especially if my legs get tangled and strangled by the cords...

i've had these wireless peripheral for a long time now, but it seems to frustrate me more than the old corded ones...why the frustration?... simple:

I NOW HAVE TO GO TO THE STORE, MORE THAN LIKELY JOIN A LINE, FORK OVER MY HARD EARNED CASH TO BUY BATTERIES FOR THIS MARVELOUS PIECE OF TECHNOLOGY TO WORK...

i find myself pressing the little red "connect" button on the bottom of the mouse repeatedly to squeeze more life out of the battery... when something goes awry with mouse, pressing the "connect button" on the bottom of the mouse, resends the mouse's signal to a receiver wired to the computer and resets the mouse... i have discovered that i can do this when the battery is weak (which cause the curser to freeze) and it will actually squeeze more life out of the battery... i do this until the battery becomes too weak to even respond to the "connect" button... then i open the battery compartment, spin the batteries and shake the mouse...sometimes i even hit the mouse against the palm of the opposite hand to "wake" up the battery... when all efforts fail, i am forced to get new batteries...

the first time i had to replace the batteries i realize that i will have to do this for as long as i am using this wireless CON-TRAP-tion... the first set of replacements were some little cheapy "dime for a dozen" batteries (since i am going to be buying a lot of them i may realize some savings if i buy the cheap ones... plus, you get more batteries at a lower price)... big mistake - they die so quickly the savings realized from their low price quickly vanishes with the high frequency of replacement... in other words, i have to buy a whole lot more of them... so, off to the store i go...

then i decided to feed this thing premium batteries... i figure they would last longer thereby eliminating the frequent trips to the store and i may actually save some money since i will not have to buy as much... but i still have to buy them... so, off to the store i go...

then i thought about stocking up on batteries to cut back on the frequent trips (i know, i know - i am a genius)... till i have to pay for them... have you ever bought premium duracells in bulk?... they are expensive... then i have to think about where to store them (bear in mind that battery life diminishes - it never increases)... i feel forced to use them up before they die...

then there is the issue of diposing of the dead batteries... i am a tree hugging environmentalist when i feel like it and when it helps to make my point (and for the purpose of this blog i am hugging a tree right now)... but i will put an axe, machete or chain saw to a tree if it bothers me too much (like constantly having to mow around it - if cutting it down will shave a few minutes off my mow time by allowing me to mow in a straight line versus having to deal with it as an obstacle, i will be mowing in a straight line)... now i have a grocery bag of dead alkaline batteries (not all from the mouse and keyboard) waiting to be disposed of... and that problem keeps growing, leading to another problem - that of poisoning and pollution...

in my desire to

**pardon the interruption**

THE BATTERY IN MY KEYBOARD IS ABOUT TO DIE...

*connect..connect*


see what i mean?

aw shucks... i am going back to my old mouse and keyboard... much simplier...

I DIDN'T EVEN MAKE IT TO CONVENIENCE FEES AND AND ALL THAT STUFF...

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

hahahaha....there is a lot i could say about this post...but i am choosing to say nothing!!

J.D said...

do you have to make frequent battery stops...?
lol

Anonymous said...

i am thinking about buying in bulk....lol

Anonymous said...

LOL what about re-chargeable batteries? :minuhkno:

Anonymous said...

Bwahahaha @ the DHR codes.

Just the other day I was thinking about how much money I spend taking and printing digital pictures. I thought it was a great idea to go digital because I didn't have to wait 3 days to get film developed just to pick out 8 grey pictures that I didn't want to be charged for.

The downfall though...technology...it starts off as an option then it becomes a necessity.

SimplEnigma said...

LOL...sorry to hear about your experience...But it's one of the unwritten laws of that dude Murphy. Simplicity will more often complicate things than not, especially in this technology age. Reminds me of this entry my girl COE wrote: http://thecomedyofme.blogspot.com/2006/10/nothing-in-life-is-free.html