Information overload has turned me into an indecisive person

After seeing my latest credit card bill, I suggest ALL Amazon purchases require a breathalyzer test.

Ha! I can see how drunk Amazoning could be very dangerous. I could probably convince myself that ordering a $500 can opener made sense simply because the reviews were so stellar.

I've read some things about FOMO - fear of missing out - in relation to social media. I think my problem is something like that; that I'm afraid I'm missing something better if/when I make a decision.

I think it's a reflection on the information age - info overload. TV has added greatly to that. Too much trivial stuff and too many worthless opinions out there - mine included. I stopped listening to me around 201, in April.

I think I stopped listening to me too. There are so many other people to listen to that I no longer have time to listen to me, I guess.

When hundreds of people review each can opener life gets complicated.

Coming with age, there comes some real wisdom and understanding. Give yourself credit for your many experiences. Shopping for cars and hi-tech gadgets benefit from reviewing, but low-tech gadgetry like can openers...it's not helpful. In fact, I still use a manual one...just so I remember how to use my hands.

Here you go Boomerang

http://www.amazon.com/Farberware-Classic-Can-Opener-White/dp/B005NKJTMW/ref=sr_1_3?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1453991499&sr=1-3&keywords=basic+simple+can+opener&refinements=p_36%3A1253523011



Don't worry, it got 5 stars. I just saved you 488 bucks.

That's the one I have. Regardless of weather events or power failures, it works.

I feel your pain. Just got off Amazon shopping for a GPS module for my ipad.

Got so overloaded that I couldn't decide and came here for a break.

So you might say, you got lost?

part of this is easy for me because I still don't shop online
the majority of my purchases are still made at small local independent shops - even veggies mostly come from tiny local markets - I buy what they have.

the exception is clothing - I do use local online swaps for clothing. I recently exchanged 8 subway tokens for a Lands End squall coat I was after. The coat is $325 Cdn + shipping + duty online . $25 in tokens was an excellent deal. Best part - the coat is one year old - and has features lost in the recent redesign of the coat. The woman selling it dry cleaned it before putting it up for swap. Based on the condition, she can't have worn it more than 3 or 4 times.

I do use yelp for meals/services. It's helpful for meals - I look at people who have similar views pro/con of places I've reviewed and follow them. It's paid off in all sorts of random ways, including an invitation to a magician's jam/party in Manhattan. It's also led to some amazing meals and food festivals.

Balance eh. I still trust my purchasing instincts most.

___

edit : can openers. I tend to use the OXO good grips line of kitchen stuff as my hands are occasionally arthritis grumpy during bad weather. I learned about them in an online cooking group.

I buy a lot of used stuff that I mostly find online.

Recently I bought a stove. I had researched and searched for about 6 weeks before finding what I wanted for the price I was willing to pay.

I got really caught up in reading about the merits of different stoves. One thing that came up in nearly every discussion was how fast X stove would boil Y amount of water. People discussed this endlessly. These were "home cook" forums talking about residential stoves. For whatever reason I found myself really immersed in how fast a stove would boil Y amount of water.

The stupid thing is -- it really doesn't matter to me at all! I boil Y amount of water every couple of weeks. I'm not in a dire situation where if the water takes 4 minutes longer to boil that my life is ruined. But it complicated my decision making because I thought maybe I should be concerned about it.

Anyway. I found a stove that boiled water and did other kinds of cooking and feel pretty good about it.

I do buy quite a bit off Amazon. It's just so convenient and it keeps me from having to drive around. For example, printer ink -- it's cheaper on Amazon and saves me a 12 mile round trip to the nearest office supply store that sells the ones I need.

I really like this.

It sort of comes down to that doesn't it.

Does it do what we need it to do.

I kind of hate shopping, so once I find the thing that does what I need I stop shopping. I know it drives some people crazy (my dance friends go nuts that I don't want to keep looking at fabric and bling once I've found what I went out for - I don't care if there are paillettes 0.05 mm bigger/smaller than the ones I found that work for the project)

Shopping online is good for the environment. It turns out that sending out one delivery truck that serves many people has a considerably smaller carbon footprint than everyone driving to stores. If you add in the fact that online shopping cuts out the transportation between stores and the warehouse and the electricity needed to run and heat the stores, you get a real environmental benefit.

Mine is older but just as sturdy, probably bought it in the eighties. I've always had small kitchens, small counterspace, limited cabinet space, so I got rid of my one and only electric can opener. My counter has my small toaster, my ice cream maker (out there to remind me), and an ordinary smallish food processor, small coffee maker; exception, right now I've got the small crockpot on the counter cooking beans. Plus, as time passes, I uses less and less canned food. Right now, my cupboard has two things in cans, canned tomatoes of different sorts, and Jemex juices (small volume, made in Mexico), and those have a tab top.

My main online purchases are books, though I get more books from thrift shops than online. Presently like ABE books better than Amazon, price wise, but still keep an amazon book wish list.

So which stove didja get, eh?

Do you have any sort of e-reader, Osso? If so, I'll send you a link to Bookbub. I get an email every day with about 5 books that are either free or $1. They have some pretty good stuff. You could probably read them on your computer but I hate doing that and always suppose others do too.

Also, I have a friend in the used book business who turned me on to bookfinder.com. There was an old book I was looking for and I found a beat up paperback for $33 -- too rich for my blood. He found me the same book through bookfinder for $8!

I got a great deal on a used 48" Bluestar! It has 4 burners, a grill and a griddle! Right now it's sitting in Mr. B's warehouse waiting until we get to the kitchen remodel. I can't wait to get it installed!

It looks like this one:

I think I've known about bookfinder before, but have forgotten. No, I don't have an e-reader, always a money thing re buying new stuff, but I've also not been very interested; might change my mind if I ever picked one up. Re reading books on the computer, I'm a crazed news and other stuff computer reader already, prefer books.