Ya'll know how much I dislike shopping. But I made a purchase the other day that was pure delight.

I bought a mouse.

Not the kind that Elbereth—our grandson's California king snake—would like to eat, but a replacement for my computer mouse. I'd been living for quite a while with its reluctance to register clicks properly, but then its scrolling started acting up. I even lived with that for a while—I'm always too ready to believe that the problem must somehow be my fault, or a temporary glitch, or anything else that lets me avoid having to shop for something new.

But when it started not scrolling at all, and replacing the battery didn't help, I reluctantly headed to the Best Buy website. And what to my wondering eyes should appear, among all the mouse choices, but the very same model mouse that was failing me, the one that I really like and had served me well for many, many years.

Thirty years ago that wouldn't have surprised me. Now, however, I find that when it's time to replace an item, it's no longer sold. Shoes, jeans, bras, mixers, computers, software.... You name it, most of the time I am not looking to replace my worn-out item with something "new and improved," but rather with the same thing that has served me well and requires no learning curve—but in working condition. And most of the time I fail in my endeavour.

Not this time. Could I have found a better mouse? Could I have found a less expensive mouse? Perhaps. But I bought it then and there, and picked it up the next day at the Best Buy down the street. I installed the battery, plugged it into my computer, and was able to continue working with no more thought than how nice it was that my clicks and scrolling were now dependable. I consider that $20 very well spent.

If only I could achieve the same success with my jeans.  Even the pair I bought just a couple of years ago, and finally decided would be an acceptable substitute for my old favorites, is no longer sold.

I wonder if I should have bought two mice....

Posted by sursumcorda on Sunday, January 26, 2020 at 6:43 am | Edit
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That IS a miracle! I hate shopping, too, for some of the same reasons, so when something I like very much and use often breaks, my thought is: "Gone forever." It's something I find silly about the minimalist movement: we're told, "If, after getting rid of this or that, you later find you need it after all, you can just buy another one!" I'm like, "What?! No I can't!" Haha! My mom has kept appliances - that still work, amazingly - that were wedding gifts. If they develop a problem, she gets them repaired if she possibly can. I get why! ;) Anyway, happy for you that it was actually simple this time! :)



Posted by Sarah on Sunday, January 26, 2020 at 4:21 pm

So: is it "Ya'll" or "Y'all?" Discuss.



Posted by Stephan on Thursday, January 30, 2020 at 4:49 pm

I totally get this. We share the same dislike of shopping.

Stephan, definitely y'all.



Posted by dstb on Thursday, January 30, 2020 at 5:32 pm
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