My love hate relationship

There are days when I wish I didn't have a hand phone.
Days when I was on call and my phone wouldn't stop ringing.
Days when it was after work and people still kept bugging me about stuff.
Days when the sun is shining and I still feel a nagging need to check my phone.
The constant urge to check my phone surely borders on obsessiveness.

Actually, I can probably survive without a hand phone.
After all, 20 years ago this device hardly existed for the mass market.
It's just that nowadays, there is this pressure to be constantly contactable.
It's like being on call 24/7.

I'm not saying that the hand phone is all bad.
I mean I love its convenience - I can start fiddling with it if I run out of conversation topics at a dinner, play games on it during boring bus rides home, catch up with the news, spy on friends on facebook (yeah I do that) and whatsapp random people.
But I'm not sure if it has made me more socially handicapped.
After all, what did people 20 years ago do when they run out of conversation topics at a dinner table?
Turn on the radio?

Maybe there's a technology for every era.
Maybe I truly can't live without my hand phone.

A Guilt Trip

It started innocently enough.
I had found out through the Straits Times that my favourite bookshop had moved.
On its grand re-opening weekend I made my way down (post-call even) to sneak a peek at its new premises.
All was well until I ran into a crowd of eager patrons swarming throughout the bookshop.
I should have turned back and gone home, but my kiasu spirit urged me on.
20 percent off! This weekend only!
I braved the throng of people (some just standing around absorbing the atmosphere) and went back and forth the bookstore searching for a suitable buy.
Would it be Roald Dahl's "Ten Short Stories"? Or Yann Martel's "Life of Pi"? Maybe both!
Two books in hand, I headed for a last look at the medical section.
Ah, look - there's the "Pocket Prescriber"! Only  $42.78 (which means about $34 after discount).
I quickly search the internet for Amazon's price - which turns out to be USD $22.38 ie. SGD $28.79
Price difference notwithstanding, I chucked the 2 fiction books and whipped out my wallet for "Pocket Prescriber".
I can't say I regret the decision. Not yet anyway.
Most of the books I buy end up being half-read. The more interesting ones I finish off in one sitting and chuck  them in one corner.
Medical related ones like "Pocket Prescriber" probably fall into the former. But somehow I feel less guilty buying medical books. And my inner bookaholic is appeased.
Till the next time..