I just treated myself to an Apple Bluetooth keyboard and mouse. (Discount secondhand blemished units from eBay, but they look and feel brand new.) It’s great: two less cords tangling up on my desk, and I can type this from just about anywhere in the room. (Of course, it’s pointless to type from such a distance that I can’t read what’s on the screen, but it’s still pretty cool.)

The bluetooth input devices needed a bluetooth adapter, so I picked up a D-Link DBT-120 at the Apple Store. The adapter is smaller than my thumb, and it began working as soon as I plugged it into a USB port on my iBook. As I opened up System Preferences and saw the new Bluetooth section pop up, I reflected that this is the Way that computers should work.

I was also missing my old Fire-I webcam so much (the one I lost in Dubai) that I ordered another one. (Again, secondhand from eBay, but arrived looking like new.) The Logitech Quickcam I’ve been using has been a pain in the neck; on most days the video ouptut is jerky or nonexistent until the cam is unplugged then replugged, the “snapshot” button on top is prone to accidental pressing, the lens cover doesn’t attach securely and tends to fall off, the screw attaching the camera to its malleable base comes loose too easily, and the image quality is average at best. Now that a Fire-I camera is once again hooked up to my firewire port, all is well once more with my webcam section.

I also went to the T-Mobile store and tried to buy a new Nokia 6600 cellphone (because my Sony Ericsson T300 is another pain in the neck to use), but the 6600s were out of stock. Just as well, I suppose, since I’ve spent more than enough on electronics this month.

(And this isn’t tax refund money: I was saving up. I did all my taxes and got my refund last month, and it was the tax haiku all over again.)