November 29th, 2007
#388 - Choices
I hate it when I have to make a large purchase. There is something inside me that makes me have to research the subject to death before I can make a decision. I bought a car last year, it took me about 14 months to to figure that one out. It can apply to small purchases as well. I’ll see a new DVD come out that I want to get, but then notice it has multiple versions. I’ll have to go home and read some reviews to decide if I’ll be happy with the regular version or if I need the special edition..
November 29th, 2007 at 12:15 am
I’m glad I’m not the only one with the research-possible-purchase-to-death syndrome. Although, I have found that in some cases, such as buying a car, it helps. I means that I’m not intimidated by the sales person as I know what I want and how much is reasonable.
November 29th, 2007 at 12:18 am
I kinda like that with games. But if I hear bad stuff about a game yet still think it looks fun, I still get it. Sometimes things work out, and other times… “Red Steel”….
The Duck Has Spoken.
November 29th, 2007 at 12:19 am
I used to go pick trees. They
were always bigger than my house.
November 29th, 2007 at 12:24 am
I do EXACTLY the same thing… except with DVDs. If you look in the Book of Universal Law, volume 42, you will note that it states that the special edition is required on all DVDs… Trumped only by the Ultimate Directors Edition or a XYZ Anniversary Edition. (See Close Encounters of the Third Kind)
November 29th, 2007 at 12:32 am
That would take hours. But I guess it’s fool-proof! Clever Biff.
November 29th, 2007 at 12:56 am
Yeah, the time involved in such a task of testing tree’s would be way too much for me >.> I’m too impatient. I’d just any-many-miney-moe it and call it a day =P
November 29th, 2007 at 12:57 am
Biff is so lucky. he can do embarrassing, insane and borderline illegal things, and nobody has ever once been seen telling him to stop!
November 29th, 2007 at 1:24 am
It took me just a couple hours to buy my latest car. I couldn’t find a ride to work that Thursday, so I just went and bought a car two days before. Best impulse buy I’ve ever made, seeing as it’s now 10 years old and still running well. It was extremely risky, of course, especially since I didn’t even look under the hood(I did test drive it, though, at my sister’s & mom’s urging). But it was the only good-looking car in my price range, which was only $5000. Just finished my last payment on the thang this month.
That car is probably my only impulse buy ever, though. Takes me longer to decide on a candy bar.
My grandpa’s farm was also an impulse buy. It was on auction, and he just had to have it. I love it too.
November 29th, 2007 at 3:39 am
I am very much like that myself. I just put together a new computer, and to do so I had to do an insane amount of research about every single component. But this is good, as my understanding of what I bought has been enlightened.
I’m sure I wouldn’t dress up multiple tree’s for christmas, but I would smell them, shake them, poke them, stare at them from differing angles, sigh an ho-hum them, stop and ask “What do I need a tree for?”, consult someone, watch someone else decide and regret not getting *that* one, finally get a green one, get home and relize the only thing I really needed to do was measure one.
November 29th, 2007 at 4:40 am
Hehe, thats a good one
I got my biff book today! *dances*
November 29th, 2007 at 6:21 am
I do it with computer games… For that Reason I’m spending 25€ each month on computer game magazins and buy one new game (and perhaps and cheap-and-old-but-still-good one as well, while I’m there). If I would only purchase one cheap magazine each month I could buy another new game every 2nd month to test it myself. But then I would miss all the goodies on the magazine cover dvds
November 29th, 2007 at 6:49 am
i have to research things before I buy, I want a book, but I have to go to the books store’s web sight, compare prices, go to another, and some how manage to not want it.
November 29th, 2007 at 6:58 am
I do that with expensive purchases, too… It took me three weeks to work up the nerve to buy an xbox 360. My only regret about that purchase is that my wife plays it more than I do (D**n you, Oblivion, you wife stealer!).
I’ve found that it’s not really the whole buying the item that stymies me, but the actual parting with my money. I go through the whole “what-if-there’s-an-emergency-and-I-need-that-$300-for-something-important” routine.
November 29th, 2007 at 7:01 am
ShadowStarshine: LOL. I’ve done that, too.
November 29th, 2007 at 7:35 am
@Bobzone - Yay, a book dance!
November 29th, 2007 at 8:16 am
I haven’t had a real tree in many, many years. But this makes sense…try before you buy, people!
November 29th, 2007 at 8:28 am
why doesn’t he just buy a fake tree? that’d take out the hassle of doing that every year!
November 29th, 2007 at 8:40 am
I tend to do that with movies that I want to go see. I’ll research all of them before deciding which one is actually worth the time.
November 29th, 2007 at 9:26 am
Still not winter in Biffland!
It seems I always get a tree home, and there’s not enough room between the branches for the ornaments to dangle. :/
November 29th, 2007 at 9:42 am
Actually, from my psych classes we learned that people that research big purchases are happier, but people tend to be happier with compulsive small purchases than drawn out ones. We learned a lot of strange, not really useful stuff in that class.
November 29th, 2007 at 11:18 am
Heh, we have a fake tree.
November 29th, 2007 at 12:56 pm
Hi,
just wanted to say that my copy of the book arrived in Germany and seeing as I’m leaving on the 18th to go there, I very much anticipate opening it.
Thanks for the great purchase! I wish I could still transcribe, but I barely have time to even read the comics.
Thanks for brightening my day up every now and then.
November 29th, 2007 at 1:32 pm
Jeez Biff! Maybe you should get a fake tree and call it a day. But somehow I figure if he does that, it’ll be some rocket-powered, man eating, purple tree…
Yes, it does sound wierd, but I figure Biff is the only person who could pull it off.
November 29th, 2007 at 2:14 pm
Is Biff doing this at night to get the lighting looking right? Or is he going to realize he needs to invent a dark-aura producing device? That could easily lead to some great future tomfoolery.
November 29th, 2007 at 4:22 pm
And I thought my tree shopping took forever… Biff’s routine would take me days! Just got my book today, woohoo!
November 29th, 2007 at 5:49 pm
I only get special edition DVDs of musicals. Cut songs ftw.
November 30th, 2007 at 6:16 pm
I used to do a lot of research before buying something, I guess it’s sort of to protect oneself from a potential disappointment from buying, well, crap.
However…
Among my belongings, my most heartfelt is without a doubt my cross-country mountain bike, I didn’t buy it based on thorough research, instead I bought it based on a friend’s well-rounded recommendation.
Personally I think recommendations can be far more important than actual research.
December 2nd, 2007 at 7:58 pm
It seems me and ShadowStarshine have something in common. however, ill research deep, really deep. to the point whare i can defind pixel pipeline, and know any and all benifets of a 45nm chip over a cheeper 90nm chip. things like that matter, so why not reasearch them like crazy? Because of this researching, i have yet to find a good motherboard for my next rig
December 3rd, 2007 at 5:03 pm
I’m also really bad with expensive purchases. To me, $50 is a lot! I generally circumvent this issue by simply not shopping. However, my boyfriend will drop money left and right if he’s interested in something or if someone mentioned wanting whatever. It sort of drives me nuts, but money’s money, it’ll work out.
I wonder how many times Biff has used faulty/overpowered lights and burned down a tree farm?
December 6th, 2007 at 8:53 am
i dont have the patience for that. i hardly even do any research for schoolwork. i pefer my own ideas to somebody elses.
December 24th, 2007 at 4:39 pm
Ha, I’m currently in the throes of painfully intense research myself as I type this. Alternative power vs. sticker price vs. legroom vs. something I can actually find on the market, argh. And then throw serviceability in domestic vs. foreign make on top of it.
Walking to work has been fun and good exercise, but when summer (read: the bottom 9 months on the calendar wheel) rolls around in Texas, air conditioning with wheels is not optional.
Must… find… perfect…car! Yeah, no truck. I hear gas-guzzlers feed terrorists now, anyway.
April 10th, 2008 at 9:56 pm
I’m sorta the same way with compairing stuff, big, small, and strategy games.