Five Best of ’08

I’ve heard that retailers are worried about the holidays, because people have less to spend, now that the "r" word is official. That is certainly true for us. Daughter is in the midst of her freshman year at a good state college, and tuition, room & board, and myriad fees have run us about the same as a good used car, and that will repeat each year unless she gets some scholarship dollars from somewhere. There will be less under our tree this holiday.

So, instead of creating a Christmas list of things I want, I am going to mention the best things I purchased in 2008. I do want to remember that I had a good year, even in troubling times. Perhaps, readers of Pam’s Pages will find the perfect gift for family or for themselves on my five best list—

First, I purchased a great book, Phantom, by Susan Kay, for my daughter. She has loved this book and is a fan of the Webber musical, which we saw on Broadway in May. The film version of the musical, available on DVD, is also worthy, but nothing beats the stage version.

Second, I suffered a huge loss of pictures and writing, among other things, when the hard drive of my iBook ceased to function. Having never had such a loss of data, after the shock wore off, I purchased a Western Digital “My Passport” 320GB Portable Hard Drive to use with “Time Machine” which is part of the operating system for my new laptop computer. Hopefully, I won’t suffer that kind of loss again, since the computer reminds me every ten days to back up the entire drive.

Third, my son wanted to have a smaller, more rugged music player, so his birthday present was an Apple iPod nano. I still marvel at the small size and seamless software of this device. Also, due to having flash memory, it is far more “guy friendly” than the older, hard drive model that he used before. Thus far, it has performed flawlessly, so it makes the list.

Fourth, hubby likes to listen to television, loud television, when I don’t, so he requested a new set of wireless headphones. I ordered a Sony Wireless Headphone for him, and he loves this device, which lets him soar and me snore.

Fifth, I enjoy a pot of tea from time to time, and my favorite tea is Taylors of Harrogate Yorkshire Gold Tea. These bags make a pot, not just a cup, and this tea has a lovely color and aroma. Oh, and it tastes good, too.

So, there are five diverse items, with prices beginning under ten bucks, that I have purchased for myself and for my family during 2008. The links are to Amazon.com, and while you are there, remember that they stock my debut novel, The Gift Horse, and Trinity on Tylos, by yours truly, and books are a great gift.