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Wednesday, May 03, 2017

Just What I Need

As a member of a couple of “online communities” I am rewarded with about $20.00 per month in Amazon gift cards for the past few years. Bought things we’ve needed, as well as things I wanted like a Fitbit. The past couple of years I’ve been saving up, with nothing really leaping out at me to buy. Could’ve bought some sneakers or a baseball glove – things I don’t need. Or some Columbia pants, though it’s hard to know exactly what you’re getting. So the gift cards piled up.

I didn’t get anything last Christmas. My Fitbit broke and I wanted a sports watch. Why not get an Apple Watch?

There are several reasons for and against. Considering the gift cards, the focus group rewards, MyCokeRewards cashed in for Amazon gift cards, and my eBay sales, it wasn’t like this was coming out of the regular pot. And I never get nice things for myself. Most of my wardrobe comes from thrift stores. Hopefully you can’t tell.

What would I do with an Apple Watch? Hopefully it will motivate me to work out more. The Fitbit sure didn’t. As an old geezer I’m going to have to take time to learn the functions of an Apple Watch that I will use. Some things are easy and intuitive, like changing watch faces and starting and stopping workouts. Sending texts and emails are easy, but I’ve got to figure out how to get more notifications to pop up on automatically on the screen. Not sure how to change some of the settings and notifications. No idea what the watch is doing to my wireless use. The phone and maps could come in handy, though I wonder how much I really need most of these features when they’re also on my phone. But it looks cool and everyone who sees me knows I have the latest gadget, so I win, right? No.

The heart rate feature is cool. A little higher than I expected. I’ve quickly learned I’m good at standing. Probably need to use the “breathe” reminder more often.

The Series One watch is “water resistant.” Don’t get sucked into those commercials where people are surfing and playing in the ocean. Don’t do it. I opted for the newer Series Two, which is even more “water resistant.” I wanted to be able to run and sweat, and wear it in the Peachtree Road Race if I want. If it’s raining I probably won’t, and I try to avoid watersprays anyway. Series Two has a feature that shuts down the watch openings during workouts (if you so choose) and after exposure to water can blast vibrations out the speakers to remove water. But I’ll still be careful. No swimming or showering. Not even sure I’ll wear it out on the beach, with the sand blowing and such.

I hemmed and hawed for months before ordering. Reid said to get it. Chris said to get it. So did Steve and Ben. Young Ben has lots of toys, but wisely warned that few people actually NEED an Apple Watch, though only you get them they’re fun to have, he went on to say. Even Ceil said I should get one, and stayed after me until I did. So I can blame her, right?

Now that I have it I’m still beating myself up. Should I really have something so expensive if I don’t use it enough? Should I sell it and use the money to pay off other things, or to buy gifts for others, or pay other bills? Does this mean I should never by myself nice things? Even if its “free”?

Then it gets into: how many “things” do I really need? Will this make me happy? More fulfilled? Really? I’m selling shoes and bobbleheads because they’re stacked up in my bedroom. How much stuff does one person need? Sorry to get all existential right there. That’s a subject for another day.

Then there’s Murphy’s Law. I just had to pay the IRS this month. Anna backed into a car in Athens. Now she needs to pay a deposit on her new place. Sure, it would’ve been hard to pay for these things with Amazon gift cards, but stuff just never ends.  

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