TSS: Did you hear me squeeing from where you are?

This week was a big week in Melbourne. It's school holidays, the Royal Show is on (think county fair type deal), it was grand final day yesterday (more about that later) and it was the boy's birthday yesterday. That means a full day out yesterday for a birthday party, and people coming for dinner tonight. I really haven't decided what I am going to cook yet so I should really be working on that instead of writing a blog post, but never mind!

Whilst the boy was very excited about his present, which was his first mobile phone, I was more excited about the present I bought myself on Friday. I actually chose a bad day to buy it. I work on the edge of the city, and the store I bought it from is in the city centre. What I had forgotten was that there was a massive parade of the players who were playing in the AFL Grand Final. I should have realised when there were so many Collingwood fans wandering about the city, but I didn't. So I walked a few blocks and then caught the tram to the city centre, went and bought it, and then went to catch the tram back again, only to discover that they weren't running because of the parade, and so I had to walk all the way back to work. Made an already longish lunch even longer!

So, what did I buy?

I bought an e-reader! A Sony Touch e-reader to be precise, in red! I had been waiting for the Sonys to be released in Australia for a while now. I have been keeping an eye on various review sites for opinions etc, and had a bit of a play at the store, and then I was sold!

So far I am really impressed. Yesterday afternoon I sat out in the sun and read for a while and there was no glare. The e-ink screen is really clear, and it seems really easy to use, although I haven't tried to do a lot with it just yet. The touch screen is really good, and I was really pleasantly surprised at how fast the page turns are.  I also bought the cover with the light in because I do read a lot at night, so for a few more dollars it made sense to get that one, rather than the plain cover.

My main reason for choosing Sony in the end was that I wanted to be able to read in multiple formats, and I didn't really want to be tied to buying from Amazon. I am hoping to join the city library service, which has an ebook lending service, and I will be able to do borrow from them using this reader whereas I wouldn't have been able to on a Kindle.

I did struggle a bit not to get it out on Friday afternoon at work and have a play then, and I did manage to resist that temptation until one of my co-workers who I know is a fairly avid reader walked past, so I had to show her!

Last night we went to the drive-in movie theatre. The boy had a friend staying over and they wanted to see a movie that I had absolutely no interest in, and so I transferred over a book that I won a while ago and hadn't read because I don't like reading on the computer, and sat in the back of the car and read while the boys watched the movie! The movie sound got a bit distracting at times, but for the most part, they were happy and so was I!

I mentioned the AFL Grand Final. Everyone here was pretty shocked here when the Grand Final between Collingwood and St Kilda ended in a draw this year, which means that the two teams come back again next week to do it all over again! This is only the third time that this has happened. It does seem a bit crazy that there is no way of deciding a draw on the day, but it was very interesting to see the crowd and players reactions! Neither of those teams is my team, so I am kind of an impartial but interested observer.

What this means is that all of a sudden I have not only the 3 books that I was part of the way through in book form, but also now another book in ebook form! Normally I have two books that I am reading at any one time, but I am beginning to feel a bit overwhelmed by having so many on the go. I think I need to just go and read and finish at least one of them. After I have decided what we are having for dinner and gone and bought the ingredients, and started cooking. Maybe I will get to read tomorrow.