Anyone out there a fan of The Big Bang Theory? I am new to the show, but it took hardly any time at all for me to fall for the socially inept Sheldon. It's so refreshing to see a sitcom that celebrates intelligence and nerds (not that the two are necessarily linked!). And Sheldon has got to be one of my favourite television characters of all time. Can't get enough of that guy!
I was watching an old re-run yesterday and in one of the scenes Sheldon was packing for a train trip to San Francisco and creating a database of his clothes and tagging them so that dressing himself would be simplified. That made me internally horrified because there are some days that I could see myself doing that! Once I got past being horrified, I jumped right to sheer delight after a flash of bright blue caught my eye. There it was... right on his bed... Sheldon has a FlipFold!!!!! I have a FlipFold!!!!!
Now maybe it is common knowledge that Sheldon has a FlipFold - I haven't been watching that long, or in chronological order for that matter. What I do know is that I love my FlipFold, and I have been mocked for owning one, but somehow, knowing that Sheldon has one too makes me feel better!
As my sister will happily confirm, I have a reputation as being a bit of a sucker for infomercial purchases. It's not that I'm necessarily an impulse buyer (although I can be!). I find that infomercials suck me in and wear me down slowly until one of two things happen:
- Finally it's 2am and I decide that after
succumbing to my reckless consumerist tendencies carefully weighing the pros and cons, I will remain disorganized and inefficient unless I order whatever it is they are schlocking. OR...
- I stumble across a booth at a mall or some other public place where they are selling the exact item I've been obsessing over and then I'm done for... somehow unable to defend myself from their pitch men/women!
Over the years I have amassed an array of infomercial purchases. Shall we take a stroll down 'As Seen On TV' lane?
The FlipFold
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| I feel so happy just looking at it! |
I remember one day when my mom came to visit and help me out around the house when Knolan was younger. She offered to fold laundry for me. She started folding, and then she looked up at me and said, "you want me to use your folder thing, don't you." That was such a funny moment for me, as I truly do love my FlipFold... I love it so much and I'll never get rid of it. BUT... the funny part is that I only use it in fits and starts. Truth be told, I hadn't used it for about 6 months, but when I saw mom sitting there folding, all I could think was how great it would be if she would use the FlipFold. I swear moms can read minds! That thing honestly makes me feel like we have some order around here. Occasionally I will haul all of the clothes out onto the bed and flipfold them all and put them away again. Looking at a perfectly Gap-store-folded closet is good for my soul.
The Food Saver
This was definitely a long, drawn out decision. I had been watching the late night infomercials for the Food Saver for weeks. We had also been throwing out a lot of food that had gone bad before we got to it. It's those darn examples of ways you can use it that get to me. I was sitting there watching the commercial thinking, "wow, I could fit a whole trout in there!" Do we ever eat trout? Noooo. I watched as they showed how you can re-seal a bag of chips. Have we ever had leftover chips in the bag? Noooo. We really didn't need this, but I will say that we used it a lot for the first year. Then we ran out of sealer bags and didn't buy any more for the next 4 years. That's a whole other story. We bought the new bags at a Pro Bass store - talk about a nightmare for someone like me! By the time we'd walked through the whole store, I'd convinced myself that I needed a new boat and a crossbow.
The Magic Bullet
This is hands down the greatest infomercial item in our house! All credit goes to our friend Fab who bought it for us as a housewarming gift. Having said that, it was only a matter of time before I bought it... Fab bought it because he'd seen me oogling the infomercial many times!
The Original Dryer Balls
These balls are supposed to eliminate the need for fabric softener and are also supposed to cut your drying time down. They might work, but it probably would have helped if I actually stopped using my dryer sheets and also if I had actually set the dryer to run for less time. Basically all I did was throw the balls in the dryer and the rest was business as usual. Why, you ask? Beats me... I'm a mystery even to myself! Now the balls are somewhere in our house - maybe under a dresser somewhere - and I'll be surprised if we ever see them again.
The Miracle-Fibre Mop
To be fair, this was actually my husband's doing. I had seen ads for this many times on TV, and I had often thought it would be a good idea to buy a mop and actually start cleaning our floors, but Ken was the one who took action. After watching the pitchman at the Home Show do his demo, Ken simply couldn't leave without this gem. It worked well for a while, but as is often the case in our house, the mop has gone missing - likely during a move.
The Play and Freeze Ice Cream Ball
I must add a disclaimer here - I actually bought this as a gift for Ken's dad. This was the ultimate in rationalization. I wanted this ball so badly. You put all the ingredients in and then you play with it until the ice cream has firmed up. You can shake it, roll it, toss it... it's fun! Ken's dad had once showed us how to make this crazy cottage drink called Yukkaflux (not sure on the spelling) where you dump a bunch of fruit and alcohol into a jar and pass it around the fire shaking it for an eternity until it's good and saturated and ready to drink. I thought to myself that this would be the perfect way for me to get my hands on this ice cream ball without the guilt of buying it for myself - after all, Ken's dad clearly likes to shake things and pass them around... he'd love it! Well, we have made ice cream in this contraption and it tasted great... buyer beware, though - it's a lot of work! Probably a good way to work off the ice cream before you even eat it, though! :-)
The Sobakawa Pillow
I saw the ad for this buckwheat-shell-filled-pillow many, many times. Since I'm constantly on the search for a pillow that stays cold (I love to flip the pillow over to get the cool side) and feels good to sleep on when you're a tummy sleeper, I simply had to try this. Again... no idea where this pillow is now. It wasn't really all that comfortable to sleep on, but it did provide some good airflow!
The Furminator
With 2 cats, I am also constantly on the hunt for something that will easily remove cat hair from our furniture. Then I saw the infomercial for this little gadget - the Furminator!!! Apparently this pet grooming comb would basically remove 50% of the fur from our cats so that the amount that would end up on our couch would be greatly minimized. I wanted to buy it for so long, but never ordered it. Until one day I was at our local pet supply store and saw that they were on sale for half off! Wheee! When I bought it, the cashier warned me to brush the cats in the garage. He wasn't kidding! I'm surprised the cats didn't end up hairless by the time I looked at the pile of hair that this thing generated! Again, this is one of those items that works exactly as advertised... as long as you remember to use it. (FAIL!)
The Gripper Flipper Whisk
I regret to inform you, dear readers, that this is "the one that got away". After watching this infomercial for weeks on end, I finally decided that I had to have it. After all, it flipped like a spatula, it gripped like tongs, it whisked like a whisk, and it apparently strained too! You could whisk pancake batter, then flip the pancake with it, and then grip the pancake to serve it! It was actually a cool little gadget. So, at 3am one night, I ordered it. And I waited, and waited. Until one day I forgot I was waiting for it. Then months went by until one day Ken asked about it. It never came! And I had no idea how to contact these gripper flipper people (it must have been before these infomercial types seized the internet). I kept looking and watching for the commercial to see if I could track down a number, but alas, I never saw that commercial again. I suppose if I had been really resourceful, I could have gone through my credit card statement and tried to figure out how to contact them that way, but I think by then I was just tired of the whole thing and wanted to move on with my life. But... if I ever see this thingy in the As Seen On TV store at our mall, I will do a little happy dance and buy it on the spot!
Anyway, it has actually been a very, very long time since I've ordered anything from an infomercial - probably has a lot to do with the amount of money that having kids requires! But, I have to admit, every once in a while, I will sit through another Magic Bullet commercial - it's got a bunch of wacky characters and great snack ideas. What more could I want?
Wait... don't answer that. :-)
all hail the magic bullet!
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