The Chronic Consumer

Because of my waking and sleeping schedules, I only get about 5-6 hours of sleep per night. That would probably be enough for most people, but I find that I cannot make it through the next day without taking a nap. The thing is, I am so busy these days that I don’t really want to give up two hours to napping — which is why I’m interested in taking “power naps”.

Now, in order for power naps to be effective, you have to be able to fall asleep immediately. I can’t really do that, so I’m going to buy a CD of soothing, relaxing music to help me along. This CD called Music to Promote Sleep looks like it might be good to put into my Samsung player during snooze time. I’ll check this out (and a few others) to see if I can cut my naps down to 30 minutes or so.

We’re thinking about getting a new TV for the bedroom. Right now we have a 15-year-old CRT (I think that’s what they’re called) model that is truly awful these days. We need to upgrade to an affordable LCD TV or plasma television soon. Actually, it would probably help if we knew the difference between LCD and plasma, which is why we ought to read some tv reviews before we go any further. The last time we bought a new TV was about 5 years ago, and we know the technology has changed significantly since then. Heck, we’ve been seeing 3D TVs in electronic store showrooms, so that could be an option too!

I’ll post again to let you know what we end up buying!

I still have quite a few months before my anniversary, but it’s a big one this year (our 10th), so I want to make my gift to Jerry pretty special. The problem is, he usually doesn’t want anything big, and would be thrilled with an Xbox or PS3 game. That’s not gonna happen, though. We’ve already talked about this a little bit and have agreed to go on a trip for our anniversary. We just haven’t settled on a destination yet.

I have always wanted to go on a cruise, and think this would be the perfect opportunity. I think it would be amazing to spend time on a luxurious boat with great food, terrific shows, endless shopping, and more activities than we could ever tackle for the few days we would be on board!

Initially, I was a bit worried about the cost of such an adventure, but after checking prices today, I’m happy to report that many Royal Caribbean cruises are within our budget range. We’ve been saving up for this trip for two years already, so we’ve got a nice sum to work with at this point (and another 4 months to add to it).

Our anniversary is in January, and nothing would be better than to take a cruise to someplace warm and exotic. I can’t wait!!

I was checking out something on WSJ.com today and came across an article about how the Department of Energy wants to crack down on so-called “luxury showerheads” that waste a ton of water each time they’re used. One of the examples cited in the article was this Hansgrohe Raindance model, which retails for more than $5,000. WHAT????!!!! Are you kidding me? Who in their right mind would pay that much for a freakin’ shower head? Only millionaires and total wannabes, I’m sure. Wow, I am just flabbergasted that such a product even exists!!

Have you heard that Broncos QB Tim Tebow has his own Nike shoe coming out already? That’s pretty crazy, especially considering he wasn’t even the No. 1 overall pick or anything. Then again, Tebow does have the best-selling jersey in the entire NFL, so maybe the marketing gurus at Nike are onto something.

At any rate, the shoe is kind of ugly, if you ask me. It’s supposed to coincide with the release of the EA Sports NCAA 11 video game, so it has details like “NCAA 11″ stitched across the velcro straps, and the EA Sports logo on the tongue. Also, the heels feature important dates from Tebow’s college career, and the word Promise, along with “September 27th 2008″, which of course was when Tebow made his famous press conference remarks after losing to Ole Miss.

I personally think these shoes are butt ugly, but I’m sure they’ll sell out quickly! (Nike is making a limited edition to start with.)

Okay, after going back and forth for the longest time about whether or not I should buy any diet pills, I’ve decided to go ahead and order Phentermine. I’ve resigned myself to the fact that there’s no way I’m losing this weight all on my own. I need the extra help that an appetite suppressant can provide, so I’m just gonna bite the bullet and place my order. If the stuff works, I’ll of course be ecstatic to finally be making progress. If it doesn’t, then I’ll be out a couple bucks and have to try again. I think the pros outweigh the potential cons here.

Have you heard about these Dyson Air Multipliers? I was actually searching for reviews of the best eye creams, but in typical fashion, started clicking other random links that I came across. One took me to a tech review website where I saw a post about these new “bladeless fans” from Dyson. Wow, they look pretty cool, don’t they?

I’m not going to pretend to understand the technology behind these air multipliers, but I guess it has something to do with utilizing the same principles that propel air through a jet engine. Maybe. Whatever the process, the result is a cool stream of smooth airflow that is more efficient than traditional fans.

I was on the verge of buying one of these things until I saw the price tag. $300 for an entry-level air multiplier? When a regular fan costs like $20? Um, no way! Sorry, but there’s just no way in hell I could ever justify spending money like that!

Have you heard this story? Some restaurant in Phoenix (I won’t bother printing the name) is offering lion meat burgers to “celebrate” the fact that the World Cup is being held in South Africa this year. Lion meat? WTF???

This, predictably, has drawn protests from animal lovers everywhere, though the owner defends his choice by saying that lions are on the protected list, but are not endangered.

Surprisingly, the USDA says there’s nothing illegal about serving the lion meat, which came from Illinois. (That’s another WTF right there.)

The restaurant owner only bought 10 pounds of meat, and offers the burgers for $21 each. There’s been no word on how many he has sold.