The Chronic Consumer

Have you seen the new Heinz ketchup packets yet? They’re now able to open in two different ways, depending on whether you want to squeeze the contents onto something or whether you want to dip stuff in it. Plus, each packet now holds about three times the volume of the old school packets.

I haven’t come across these yet, but all I can say is it’s about damn time!

(AP Photo/H.J. Heinz Co.)

Have you seen the new Monopoly: Revolution Edition that’s currently on sale? I haven’t come across it in stores (I rarely venture into the board game aisle), but I read an article about it. Instead of a square board, the playing surface is round; instead of paper money and a banker’s tray, there’s an ATM system; and instead of the metal tokens, there are now clear plastic ones.

Frankly, from looking at the picture, I don’t understand how the money thing would work. Is every player’s total simply a number instead of cash? Is the total kept track of in the middle section there? I have no idea.

As I said, I’m not a big Monopoly fan, so I probably won’t be buying this version anytime soon. Still, if you have it, I’d be interested in hearing how it stacks up against the old-school game.

After 10 short years, my dishwasher is already on its last legs. I thought a major appliance like this would last a bit longer, but I guess not. I’m not really sure what’s wrong with the thing, but sometimes it simply shuts down about 5-10 minutes into the cycle. I might call in a repairman to take a look at it, or I might just bite the bullet and buy a new machine.

I’ve heard some good things about LG Steam Dishwashers. I’m not familiar with the brand itself, but these steam dishwashers apparently have separate cycle settings for the top and bottom racks, allowing you to attack stubborn pots and pans in one section while running a gentler cycle for your delicate dinnerware. There’s also a quick steam cleaning mode for when you want to shine up your dusty china for a dinner party or whatever.

Sounds great!

I don’t wear much jewelry, but I’m starting to develop a hankering for diamonds for some reason! The only diamond I have is in my engagement ring, and that’s just a tiny half-carat thing. It’s nice, but it’s not enough!

Recently I’ve been looking at certified diamonds from different online wholesalers and am thinking of buying a bunch of loose diamonds and have them set in a tennis bracelet or some kind of necklace. This might be cheaper than buying a pre-set piece, plus I can be sure of getting the setting I want.

My hankering for diamonds will probably just remain a pipe dream, however. At this point my finances simply won’t allow me such an extravagant purchase — at least not yet!

So now that everyone has had a few days to mull over the Apple iPad, it seems that most people agree that the only ones who will buy this thing are total Apple fanboyz. After all, what seems to be the purpose? If you want a phone, then the iPhone is the product for you. If you don’t need the phone component, then why not just get a touch? I’m not sure what this bigger tablet is supposed to accomplish — especially when it doesn’t even come with a physical keyboard. Seriously, if you wanted to sit there and tap out 500-word blog posts on the virtual keyboard, the iPhone or iPod Touch would work just as well, right?

And the price. The iPad starts at $499, then moves up to $599 and $699 depending on the storage size. Data packages will cost extra. For worldwide users waiting on the 3G model, those will cost $629, $729, and $829. Wow, for those prices I can pay off a whole year’s worth of low cost term life insurance premiums or something, ya know? That’s pretty insane!

Look, I like iPods as much as the next person and have a bunch of them. But I’m getting tired of people falling all over anything and everything Apple releases just because it’s from Apple. In other words, no iPad for me!

(AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

I’m getting pretty tired of our upstairs bathroom and wish we could remodel soon. Actually, it doesn’t even have to be a big remodeling job or anything like that. Just swapping out a new plumbing fixture or two would make a world of difference. Like if we had new sink faucets or maybe some new hardware on the cabinets… The place might look as old and depressing as it does now. Maybe we can look into this in greater detail over the summer.

I’m not really in the market for a DVD player right now because my DVR handles discs as well. But I couldn’t help but be wowed by this nifty little number from Samsung while I was browsing around online today. I absolutely love the shape and color, and think the design simply blows other models away. I’m telling you, if I was going to buy a DVD player right now, it would be this one! It’s sooo sweet!!!

Have you heard of this thing called Perfect Flush? It’s a little contraption that you install on your toilet that subsequently allows you to control the volume of the flush — in 10 different increments. This is supposed to save you money on your water bill and keeps the green folks happy as well. I’m not quite sure how it works or how hard it is to install, but at $79, it might be worth trying if you have a big family.

Incidentally, I’d venture to say that 99% of toilets in Japan have controlled flushes as a default. They come with two settings, not 10, but that seems to work well enough for them. And those types of toilets have been around for a long, long time (more than a decade, that’s for sure). Oh, well… better late than never, I guess!