The Price of Being Cheap

I love books.  LOVE them.  The way they feel, the way they smell, they way the look lined up on book shelves.  I love “meeting” the characters and “seeing” their lives unfold, I love when a book can make me laugh or cry.  I would love to spend every dreary day curled up with a book and a cup of tea.  Books are powerful.  Good books, anyway.  For all these reasons, I have struggled for years with the idea of an e-reader.  I know.  My life.  How does one endure such hardships?

Not HAVING the book, smelling the book, turning the pages, this takes away from the experience!  I don’t want to walk into your house or a library and admire your…Kindle collection?  How do you share a book you loved as kid with your own children if it’s not THERE to BE shared?  I stood firmly with Team Real Books.  Until a *stellar* friend said to me “I used to feel that way, too.  But how many books can you carry right now in your purse?  Because I have 25 on my Kindle in mine.”  Mind.  Blown.

Even after that epiphany, it was a good six months before I actually got a Kindle – much to my husband’s chagrin.  “Just use the Kindle app on the tablet!!”  Yeeaaaaahhhh. Nnnnnooooooo. I’m not fighting you AND the kid (there was only just the one at that time) for the tablet.  Reading on someone else’s schedule because you share the “device” the book is on??  You have got to be shitting me.  This definitely is a Team Real Books point.

I used the gift card my grandmother gave me for Christmas to purchase said e-reader.  I got a little one, no keyboard, no touchscreen, you know – the one “with special offers!”?  Yeah.  My reasoning behind that is simple.  I got an e-reader to READ BOOKS. Not to play games and search the webs.  THAT is what the tablet is for.  Plus, I didn’t want a back-lit screen, my eyes are bad enough already.  Ok, ok, and also because I’m cheap.

For a long time my e-reader and I enjoyed each other’s company.  Years, in fact.  It never quits on me, so I just keep downloading and reading.  It helps that I don’t wash it like I tend to do my iPods.  And then one day we moved to Dubai.  And I left my beloved e-reader on that fucking plane.

nooooooo

I realized this grave error about the time we FINALLY were leaving the wretched airport to go to the hotel, which was about, oh, an entire, agonizing, Saw movie later.  Actually said as we were driving off into the sunset (literally) “I think I left my Kindle on the plane.”

I was pretty pissed off about this because I was in the middle of a new book.  I take heart in knowing that I can recover my books through my Amazon account, so, there’s that.  Plus, at least now I have an excuse to maybe upgrade my e-reader.  Maybe skip those “special offers”.  So when United emailed within 24 hours that they had found my Kindle, and we could pick it up at the airport’s lost and found, I was pretty psyched!!  Happy dance, best day ever, level psyched.  And more than a little shocked.  I would NEVER expect to get back misplaced tech!

Kindle retrieved, book destroyed, happy Erin.  And then I tried to purchase and download the second book in the series.  Chances are you have an e-reader that isn’t as cool as mine.  Mine ONLY connects to wireless when you are directly performing an activity that uses wireless.  The actual 2 second downloading process, for example.  Hotel wireless, you have to launch a browser and “sign in”, right?  So as soon as you’ve signed in and then click the title of the book in the Kindle store – it  disconnects from the damn wireless.

nooooooo

Way to go, Erin.  You just HAD to be cheap and get the “this is for READING ONLY” e-reader.  Congratufuckinglations.  Now you don’t get any new books until 2015.

Two for one first world problems on this fine Thanksgiving-Eve:
1. I lost my kindle and it was returned promptly and undamaged.
2. Due to wifi network restrictions, I have to re-read books I have already read – AND LIKED.

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3 thoughts on “The Price of Being Cheap

  1. I, too, had the “Special offer” kindle. Finally ditched it for the iPad mini. Figured I could browse the web and read instead of holding my phone in one hand and the kindle in the other. Also, if you’re looking for new books, I have a ton I can send you, in .mobi format.

    Like

  2. I’m just bringing your attention to this bc it’s been awhile since you posted anything. and “so he’ll be a girl?!” is on and you’re asleep but I’m thinking of you and wish you were watching this ridiculous thing together!

    Liked by 1 person

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