Graphic Artist, Writer and Girl Geek
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Posts Tagged with ‘kindle’

The Bathtub Kindle

January 31, 2012

I’m a tech-nerd through and through. I love gadgets and gizmos. So it’s no surprise that I own a Kindle and absolutely adore it *pets*. I do have “actual” books and I love them, but e-books are my reading preference for a bunch of reasons that are not limited to the ease of use and practicality of e-copies versus paper. I understand that bookstores are shutting down and I don’t want paper books to go obsolete, but with kids always around and little time to spare, I am embracing this new revolution of reading medium.

However, there are some downsides to an electronic device being your primary reading vessel. Especially if you’re a klutz, like me. Bathtub reading, a very relaxing, enjoyable experience, may not be so relaxing or enjoyable if you drop your Kindle into your bath water. I myself, have never taken the chance. I don’t take the chance because every time I’m in the kitchen and my hubby is around, I can fool him by screaming and holding up my ketchup drenched finger for him to see. He falls for it every time because it’s quite plausible that while chopping a carrot, I’d chop something else off.  I don’t dispute this — I’m no delicate flower and on occasion I make little itty bitty boo boos. Like cutting off the tip of my toe off with the lawnmower. Who hasn’t done that? Right? Right!

I’ve learned my lesson.

Moral of the story?

Don’t cut the lawn. And don’t take the Kindle into the bathtub. You’ll get electrocuted and probably burn down the house.

So it’s with great effort that every night around bath time, my husband has to bribe me with treats and a bedtime story to get me to put the Kindle down and take a shower.

Well last night, he left me. He went to bed and there was no one around to bribe me to bathe myself. What’s a girl to do? Either go to bed stinky or trudge down to the basement shower (can’t chance waking the kids upstairs) and do a quick rinse down. Well I wasn’t up for either so I decided I was gonna take a nice long, leisurely shower. With my Kindle.

Which is when I had my lightbulb moment. Behold:

This is so simple, I don’t need to outline the steps, do I? Okay, fine, you twisted my arm, I’ll keep talking.

Step 1: Get an extra large freezer bag, straw and your Kindle.

Step 2: Place Kindle in bag.

Step 3: Hand seal the bag except for a little opening at the end where you can put your straw in.

Step 4: Place straw in bag and draw the air out. Okay fine, I really wanna say — suck it! You really don’t want to skip this part ’cause if you do, the air between the Kindle and the bag will make it hard to read when it’s covered in droplets of water.

Step 5: Ta-da! A vacuum seal without a vacuum. You rock!

Step 6: Go take a shower with your Bathtub Kindle!

Now I’d like to see you read your paperback in the shower!

DISCLAIMER: I accept no responsiblity for any damage you, your home, your bath scrubby or your Kindle endure by using my method to make your regular Kindle a Bathtub Kindle. 

Seriously people, use your noggin! Don’t submerse the thing, don’t take it into a hottub or God forbid, sauna, with you — the heat probably isn’t good for it whether it’s in a bag or not. It’s just ziplock, not a space suit!

E-Reading Between The Lines

July 7, 2011

It became obvious to me a couple of years ago that e-readers were going to become very popular. A friend of mine who’s a voracious reader got herself a Kindle for Christmas and seemed very pleased with it.

I scoffed at the idea of passing up my reliable and trusty (although sometimes dusty) paper books. First of all the cost of an e-reader was outrageous. We were talking about paying upwards of $300! And you still had to buy books to read after that! I had also read some e-books on my laptop and didn’t enjoy reading that way. I know a laptop and e-reader are a poor comparison, but I was an e-reader virgin back then and didn’t know better!

My husband had been hinting at buying me one for a while, but I kept refusing. And the space on my bookshelves kept shrinking. That’s when I saw an ad for a Kobo E-Reader sold by Chapters.ca right around the time of my birthday last year. They were selling for the amazing low price of $149. By the time I got on board they were sold out across all Chatpers stores within 100kms of me.  Ordering online got you one in 3-5 weeks. 3-5 Weeks?! Now that I wanted one, I wanted it now!

Desperation + Determination = Psycho Stalker.   The stalking kept me occupied while the stores waited for their shipment to come in. It also gave the stores something to do — like answer my calls. No matter how much I badgered the Chapters employees, they were mostly always friendly and the Kobo E-reader was still coming in on Saturday. Dammit!

Finally, I got my Kobo on, yup, you guessed it — Saturday. UGH! Well I shouldn’t have been in such a rush to get it because it was severely unimpressive. It constantly froze and died. Ordering books was a pain in the butt — their software didn’t always run right so you couldn’t tell what was already on your e-reader and what wasn’t. The entire unit looked and felt flimsy. I had major case of buyers remorse until the thing wouldn’t turn back on! Huzzah, it’s crapiness saved me.  I took it back to the store for a full refund since I was still within the 2 week return period.

And then I got myself my preeeecioooooussssss. *strokes*  I luuuver my kindle something fierce. It is beautiful and convenient. I can order books from Amazon with one-click *titters* while in bed! Ha! This may or may not be an advantage. Guess it depends on how big your credit limit is ;)  It also comes with wifi and 3G (which is free! *googly eyes*) and all for under $200. The one thing I was concerned about was buying an electronic device from an online retailer. If I had problems with it like I did the Kobo, I couldn’t just drive to the store for a refund/exchange.

I needn’t have worried because Amazon’s customer service/return/exchange policy is the most amazing I’ve ever experienced. When I got my Kindle I also ordered the case with a built in night light that used the kindle’s battery. The case was great but the design was poor. These little metal clips insert into the kindle to access it’s power/battery. Well the clips bend. Easily. One of the two clips were already damaged during shipping.

I didn’t realize I had a problem until I started looking online and found that the kindle shouldn’t jiggle around like it was. I was worried it was gonna damage my baby. So I called Amazon even though a month had passed since I’d recived it. They said no problem, they’ll send me another one. Then it happened again, but I think it was my fault this time. I dropped the kindle on my bed and it kind of flopped in it’s case, bending the metal prongs the wrong way. The Kindle was now loose in it’s case, again. Called Amazon. Again they sent me another one. Then I read online that you had to velcro the kindle to the case to prevent the metal prongs from bending, so I did. Only now, with it velcroed you couldn’t get it out without bending the prongs. By this time, I’d had it. This case was nice but so not worth my own home fixes to make it work. Another call to Amazon and a new, different case was on it’s way to me.

Never got the hassle from Amazon, never paid for shipping either way, and got the replacement items quickly. I loved Amazon the moment I knew I could return the first case even though it had been more than 30 days. But what happened next just launched Amazon past any other online retailer one may shop at.

It was the week before my birthday and I had just finished watching a movie with the hubs, but to fall asleep I need to read. So I grabbed my Kindle, turned it on and saw lines. It wouldn’t refresh…half the screen was missing! I was mortified. I showed my husband and he thought the screen was damaged somehow. But I don’t know how it got to be that way.

I was so upset. All I wanted for my birthday was a morning of peace and quiet with my Kindle. I hadn’t been without my precious since I got it last September, I felt bereft without it. I couldn’t sleep. It was 1:43 in the morning. Instead of keeping my hubby up, I decided to email Amazon and hope that they would get back to me during regular business hours. Imagine my surprise when they’re online system’s PHONE US button was active. I clicked it and got connected to a rep immediately.

By 1:48am I had a new Kindle shipping out to me with priority one day shipping so that I’d have my Kindle before my birthday. No questions asked. Now if that isn’t amazing service, I don’t know what is! For the customer service alone, the Kindle is the right choice, hands down!

Has anyone had a bad experience with Amazon? If you don’t have a Kindle what e-reader do you prefer? Or are you anti-e-reader? Let me know – I wanna hear what you guys think!