"Are You This Picky With Your Men?"

That's what Joseph, the guy who sits at the reception desk at my office, said to me today when I dropped off yet another box for FedEx to pick up.

It all started innocently enough, but yet, it's the unfortunate reason I haven't knit ANYTHING all week.

Cell phone purchasing.

What a pain in the ass.

It was time to replace my Motorola V710. I had it for two years and was done with it. Technology had surpassed my boring phone and it was time for an upgrade. Also aiding my decision to upgrade was a strange class-action suit brought against Verizon for this particular phone -- which, to spare you all the dull details -- permitted me to return the V710, buy a brand new Verizon phone and get $250 off the purchase price.

Even someone as math-challenged as me could figure out that if I purchased a phone costing less than $250, I got to pocket the difference. (Hi. More yarn anyone?) Or, if I selected a more expensive phone, the first $250 would be covered.

Not a bad deal. Gotta love class-action suits. (OK, not really. I think they're all pretty stupid, but in this case I made out.)

So what kind of phone does a girl who loves pink go for?


The Pink Razr

It's adorable. It's pink. (A nice, light shade of pink, much more attractive, IMHO, than the fuscia pink introduced last year. Almost the exact shade of pink as my iPod mini.)

Problem was: I hated the phone. While still within the measly 15-day decision period that Verizon gives you to test out new phones, I decided the only thing I really liked about this phone was the color. The buttons on the side were all in the wrong place. It wasn't comfortable. And even with all the gadgets available today, I was still stuck sending text messages using the ultra inconvenient keypad as a keyboard.

So back in the box it went, whisked away by the nice FedEx man at work.

Next up:


The Motorola Q

Made by the same people who make the Razr. It's very hot now. And very thin. With a nice form factor. (Hmmm. I'd like to have those attributes...)

Joseph called to tell me another FedEx box had arrived at the front desk. The Motorola Q was about to become my new favorite gadget.

But then I started playing around with it. I found it uncomfortable. And unfortunately designed for right-handed people. The extremely useful scroll wheel was just not that useful for a lefty. The screen, while crisp, was kind of teeny. Worst of all was the Microsoft Windows Mobile interface.

Admission: I'm a Mac girl. I use a PC at work, but ultimately prefer my home Mac Mini. While I knew about the Windows Mobile thing going into this purchase, it just didn't sink in.

Until the had the phone in my hands to fiddle with. I didn't like the software at all. It was so, I don't know, Microsoft. I didn't like the calendar. I didn't like the datebook. I didn't like that it took 5 steps to get anywhere useful. I've used a Palm PDA for so many years I just wasn't ready to attempt to badly retrofit all my data into this Windows operating system.

So after two days of the Q, it too found itself in a return FexEx box waiting for the man in the FexEx uniform.

They say three's a charm (sorry for the bad cliche), but it's true. I've found true love.


The Treo 700p

Everything I wanted in a phone. Palm interface. Qwerty keypad so I don't spend 3 minutes typing a "I'll be home in 15 mins" text message to my husband. Phone and PDA in one package with an interface that I love.

Ok. It's not pink, there will be no slush money from the $250 rebate for yarn purchases and I've read more cell phone instruction manuals in the last 3 weeks than any human should have to read in a lifetime.

But I've found my new gadget and I love it. Now can somebody please bring me my knitting so I can get back to doing something fun?