October 28, 2003
Dreams
When I was much younger, I used to look forward to seeing the Sears Wish Book on the table at home. That, and Santa riding on the Norelco cordless razor in the television commercial heralded the beginning of the holiday season. But that was then... I grew up with Sears. My daughter grew up with FAO Schwarz.
I bring this up because today I received the Hammacher Schlemmer catalog in the mail. It's full of the same impractical stuff that the Sears catalog had, only it's geared more toward adult tastes.
The Eyestrain-Reducing Computer Light on page 51 is certainly practical, and beats the hell out of this bare light bulb I've wound up with on my desk. Ah, but this is Christmas, and dreams aren't always practical.
The Bose Wave Clock Radio/CD Player on page 49 would be fun at work, but how long would it last there without getting legs and "walking off" somewhere. I guess that I could lock it up every night. However the Hand-Crank Emergency Radio or the Fail-Safe World Band Radio would probably be better choices since it's always an interesting exercise trying to find an open outlet to plug devices into.
I could certainly use the Stargazer's Identifying Scope, especially since I left my planisphere in the car last summer and the heat sort of warped it a bit (well, a lot).
Ooooh! The Genuine Pay Phone would be fun to spring on my daughter, especially since she's taken a liking to talking all the time to her friends.
Oh, it's much too early to even think about Christmas shopping, though I do have friends who claim that they're already done with it. Where's the challenge, I say. There's nothing like the excitement of waiting until the last possible moment then dashing off to the maul to compete with all of the other men.
However, receiving my Hammacher Schlemmer catalog in the mail was a welcome distraction in an otherwise busy week. There have been many people out on vacation, and the work still needs to get done. The time change didn't help either -- I hate driving home in the dark! So the chance to find a quiet corner in the house and browse the pages of the catalog was therapeutic to some degree. I'll be glad when the marching band season is over, but that will just be replaced with the concert season and all of the contests that go along with that. But being busy is good, and it beats sitting around with nothing to do. I just wish it weren't so tiring!
Oh, if by chance you're thinking about getting me a gift this year, the Aeroboat seems to be a practical gift, and it's a steal at $21,000.00.
Dream on Mark, dream on!
Posted by mjwoods at October 28, 2003 10:55 PM