Sweet mother of the gods. How hard is it to blow fifty bucks?

It took me most of an hour at Fred Meyer this evening to figure out how to spend my annual holiday bonus from my ever-so-generous employers. Do I buy the wireless “G” card for the laptop, even though I already have a wireless “B” card that does almost everything I need? Do I buy a webcam, even though I haven’t used a webcam at home since Blogathon? Do I get a game, even though I already have two games I’m juggling what little gaming time I have to fit in? Do I buy a couple of DVDs, even though there’s nothing on the Fred Meyer shelves that remotely appeals to me? (They lack anime, completely.) Do I buy a sound card, even though the only machines that could most benefit from a newer card are equipped with LiveDrive devices that Creative doesn’t provide connectors for on the cards available to choose from?

I finally settled on a no-name DVD burner, even though I already have one in the A/V rig. This gives me the ability to install games on the gaming rig that come on DVD-ROM, as well as the ability to watch DVD movies on the computer that’s equipped with 5.1 speakers and happens to have its screen facing the bed. It cost me another $30 out-of-pocket, but still that’s not too shabby, all things considered.

Man. I didn’t have this much trouble picking out presents for everybody else, so what gives, eh?