The Bad Touch

I often wonder if my touch is cursed to break anything and everything. No really. It seems to me that everything that comes into my possession is either already broken, or will break in an unreasonably short time frame. Again it seems this curse has struck again, not once in the immediate past, but twice.

The first thing that broke was my expensive graphing calculator I bought four years ago. I bought the calculator from the Parkland College bookstore, so naturally I got price-gouged -- I spent $140 for that calculator. I knew they were expensive, but I didn't think they would set me back that much. Hell, for another $200 I could have had a cheap PC built for me. Anyway, I was sufficiently miffed I spent that much on a calculator, but what really grabbed my goat was that one month later I saw the exact same model in the discount bin for $70. I got burned. During the time I owned the calculator I barely used it. I only took three math courses at the college so it isn't like there is that much mileage on the thing. I also use it to help me balance my check book. Well, somehow the goddamn thing broke. A week ago the calculator would blink on and off. So I changed out all the batteries, but that remedy didn't help the situation. To make a long story short: I brought the calculator to the math instructors at the college to have them try to trouble-shoot the problem. Today I learned by one of the instructors that the malfunction is probably a hardware issue; there is probably a loose wire or microchip somewhere inside the calculator. This vexes me because I took care of it: I didn't drop it or anything like that. What gives?

The other thing that broke was my shiny new 12.2MP digital camera that I only bought seven months ago! Yesterday I took some pictures, and then put it away. Literally one minute later I turn it back on, and there are two lines of dead pixels on the view-screen. Just like with the TI-83+ Graphing Calculator, I didn't drop or abuse the camera. What gives? My only saving grace regarding my camera is that there might be a one-year manufacturer's warranty against defects or malfunctions. I'll have to research this very soon.

My expen$ive graphing calculator, and an out-of-manufacture digital camera both shit the bed. The bad touch has struck. Twice. In the same week. URGH! You know, since I have a knack for acquiring broken things, I wonder what expensive piece of hardware will break next: my new PS3? my new Toshiba? my bicycle? Maybe all three? I'm not made of money. I cannot replace everything that breaks, or gets stolen, or gets lost.

Blah.

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