The pursuit of PDA

This is the part of my life that I call being stupid.

I’ve been dreaming of getting a notebook or a PDA for as long as I can remember. Many times when I’m doing nothing like waiting in queue or just lepak-lepak, I wish I have a device (like a notebook or PDA) where I can do something productive like write a blog post or read an e-book or start that super secret book I’ve been thinking of writing for so long. Therefore when the wife presents me with a credit card a few weeks ago, it was like the Malay saying: orang mengantuk disorongkan bantal. Suddenly I can afford to buy anything without saving for it slowly every month like I used to do.

It was the 3rd day of Ramadan and I was off from work due to a serious cold. Later that evening I dreamt that I bought a PDA, like how weird is that? And when I woke up I was feeling all happy and cheery for a while before it occurred to me that owh shite, it’s only a dream. It was then that I heard a voice, softly whispering use me, use me, it’s okay, you can pay for it later. That was my credit card talking to me!

Okay - okay I made that final sentence up but the urge to get myself the PDA was so strong that time I just couldn’t resist driving myself to Mines Shopping fair right there and then. To make matter worse I instantly laid my eyes on this cool O2 XDA II mini pocket pc phone for sale for only 700 ringgit. And after trading in my trusty slvr L7 I had to pay only 450+ for the PDA. It took me like just 2 minutes to decide. That decision proved to be one huge mistake, a faux pas that I really wished I hadn’t made.

I knew something was amiss when that guy quickly makes way with my credit card and swipe it at his machine when I was not even finished testing the phone yet. So stupid of me, first rule of credit card: never give away your credit card to anyone especially to shady hand phone seller. When I found out there’s something wrong with the phone’s speaker it was already too late, that guy already came up to me with a receipt in hand. He gave me another pocket pc which I did test and found to be working but only for 2 days when the screen started flickering whenever I charge my phone. I went back to that guy only to be told that I probably dropped the phone and something and he ain’t fixing it. I felt like strangling him right there and then but common sense tells me I’d probably get into more trouble than solving any.

So today’s lesson is: don’t buy any phone from The Mines Shopping Fair. Heck even the folks at Pertama Complex or Low Yat is more trustworthy than them. At least they don’t sell broken phones to people. Lesson number two: next time when you hear voices from your credit card, ignore them! They’re probably the devil's whispering.

My wife, was not mad at all with me. She’s just hugely disappointed with me and we didn’t talk much for a day or two following that incident. Yeah I know it’s me who’ll be paying for all that but still she’s upset that I got duped by those unscrupulous salesman. But we’re cool now. Let this be a lesson for us all. I should be really happy right now that I finally got a PDA of my own but instead I’m still feeling terribly guilty and wrong whenever I look at that thing. Sigh.

I want my L7 back!!

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O2 XDA II Mini specs:

• Intel Xscale PXA272 (416 MHz)
• 64 MB SDRAM, 64 MB ROM
• 2.8" Transflective 65,536 colour LCD (240×320 pixels)
• I/O: cable (USB), IrDA, Bluetooth, SD & SDIO flash card
• Integral 1.3 MP camera
• Tri-band 900/1800/1900 MHz