The definition of "a rip-off".

I have an e-reader, and I love it. It's a Nook Color from Barnes and Noble, and it is a wonderful piece of technology. Reading on my Nook is my preferred way to read now. It's so handy to be able to find the definition of a word instantly or explore a topic or place further by searching it on Google. You can get a book that you want immediately instead of having to drive to the store or wait for it to arrive via mail. You can connect with other Nook owners and browse their virtual library and borrow books from them. And you can use the Nook like a cheap iPad: it has apps, games, and the Internet, of course. Like I said, I love it. :)

Some days though, I get mad at my Nook. -_-

Let me explain:
Last year I read a new novel written by a new author. I saw the book at B&N and it interested me so I bought it in hardcover form. I liked the story; the book ended with a cliffhanger so I was really hoping there would be at least a second book.

Two weeks ago I saw an article in the paper saying that the second book had just been released. Yes!!! I thought. Where can I get it? I checked Barnes and Noble's website for pricing, and they had both a hardcover copy and an e-book version. The printed copy was only $10.74, but the e-book was $9.99. ??? The e-version was almost as expensive as the bound and printed copy!!!

This happens so much that it has started to really irritate me. Why does an e-book have to be so outrageously priced? I'm pretty sure that all you're doing is taking the computer file of the book from the publisher and do some quick formatting to change it to a different type of file. Then you save that on the server. That's it. If you're eliminating all these people and equipment and materials that normally would be involved in the process of printing a book shouldn't the book logically be pretty cheap to produce? Why should I pay $10 for a digital copy when I can get a physical book to put on my physical shelf for only a dollar more?

In another instance, I tried to borrow a book from a Nook friend of mine. I put in my request, and a day later I got an email from Barnes and Noble saying, "You friend has already lent that book once, and books can only be lent one time." One time?! If I buy a book, even at $.50 book at a garage sale, I can lend that book to others an infinite number of times!
This has frustrated me so much that it has made me want to stop buying e-books. But guess what? I tried to find that book I wanted--the one that was $10.74--and no store in town had it. So I ended up buying the $9.99 e-version. o_O Once I started reading though I forgot about my grudge. I finally had my new book, and I could read it in a font size that was easy on the eyes, and I didn't have to worry about losing my place in the book, and I could look up new words, etc. I was happy again. ;-)

A truly traumatic experience.

About two months ago I noticed that Paige and I were itching our heads rather frequently. At first I didn't think much of it, but then it really started to bother me. Why do our heads itch?, I'd ask myself. It was just the two of us with the problem, but we were doing it often enough that it was catching my attention. I thought that perhaps we had dandruff or some kind of scalp dermatitis. So I bought a shampoo to target itching, but it didn't help. Hmmm... What was the culprit?

It didn't take long, and Abby started to itch the back of her head, too. Oh, no! I thought I had a sudden revelation: What if we have head lice?!? O_O

I did not want it to be true, but the fact that it MIGHT be the cause of the itching was too coincidental to be ignored. So I checked Paige and Abby's head, but I didn't see anything. I waited a few more days; still more itching. I finally did some online research so I'd know what I was looking for, and I checked their heads more thoroughly. With a dejected face I discovered we did in fact have it. :( Then came the brain-wracking questions: How did we get this?! Who could have given it to us? Who have we given it to???

Without being too descriptive let's just say I did multiple loads of laundry, vacuumed my house and its contents many times, and spent hours every day checking the girls' heads. We quarantined ourselves to our home; within two days the girls and I had watched an entire season of one of those cheesy teen shows they like. :)

I am super paranoid now about head itching. For weeks I had David check my head whenever I got the slightest tingle. The word "scarred" comes to mind. ;-)

I don't have any concrete answers as to how we contracted the lice, but I do know that earlier in the summer we tried on hats at a few department stores. I can only assume that we got it there. I didn't want you to have to read about the yucky details of having head lice, but I wanted to write this post so that I could give everyone some advice: if you or your child is tempted to try on that floppy sun hat on clearance at Target or the goofy Halloween mask at Walmart, DON'T DO IT! You just never know who tried it on before you and what they had on their head when they did it. :|

♪ So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodbye ♫

It has certainly felt like I have said "adieu" to my blog. I haven't written for months! This has mostly been because school has started again at our house. And once school starts I have very little free time for my hobbies. Now, I only have a few hobbies--blogging being one of them--but my chief hobby is reading. If I am given the choice between watching a show on Netflix, blogging, playing a game, reading, etc., I am going to choose reading every time. :) Unless a really good show like Merlin catches my fancy on Netflix. Then I'll watch every single episode in order at every possible chance I get! (Merlin is another reason I haven't blogged lately.)

Today David took Paige and Emma with him to my grandfather's farm. Dave goes there most Saturdays to chop down trees and cut wood. There is a lovely stream running through the property and a lot of woods for the girls to explore.

With the rest of the family gone, Abs and I have had a nice few hours together. She's napping now so I was going to sit down and read...or play my new puzzle video game. :) But then I remembered my blog and how I haven't written since summer. I figured God had given me a perfect opportunity to sit down and write. Or maybe He wanted me to do some dusting....? Nah. Definitely time to write. ;-)