Saturday, May 17, 2008

This is my Happy Dance!!

o(^-^o)(o^-^)o o(^-^o)(o^-^)o o(^-^o)(o^-^)o o(^-^o)(o^-^)oo(^-^o)(o^-^)o o(^-^o)(o^-^)o

So after Sports Day preparation today (yes, I went to school on a non-event day Saturday voluntarily!), Tomabechi-sensei took me to Yamada Denki in Hachinohe to check out prices for a washer-dryer combo and fridge.

To make a long story short, I ended up getting a brand new front-loading (or "drum-type" as they call it in Japanese) washer-dryer combo!! I LOVE it!! I can press a single button to set it to wash AND dry (or to just wash, or just dry), plus it even tells me exactly how much detergent I need for the load! There's also a timer, so I can set the time when I want the laundry to finish and it will start it automatically!! It's so BEAUTIFUL!!!! It was a little more expensive (~20,000 yen or $200) than the older model I saw at the Shimoda Jusco (like a Japanese Wal-Mart), but it's a slightly higher end brand and it's better designed and easier to use!

I also bought a fridge. It's pretty standard, except that I can choose which direction I want the door to open--very important since I want it to open towards the left, which is NOT standard!!

And although I was planning on waiting, since the prices at the shop were so reasonable/good, but I didn't think I could be bothered to try to find it on my own, I also bought a 20" Panasonic LCD TV! (Not a necessity by any stretch of the imagination, but nice since my new place is pretty small.)

Everything will be delivered on Mon. May 26th (free delivery)!

The warranties on the washer-dryer and TV last for 5 years, and it's 3 years for the fridge, so I guess I need to stay on as a JET for the maximum 5 years to get the most out of my purchases? =P Well, at the very least I suspect that (unless something goes horribly and drastically wrong this year) I will probably stay for 3 years total (i.e. another 2 years)!

All in all, I'm quite thrilled with the day's purchases. (You can probably tell that I'm happiest about the washer-dryer, though.) Best of all, if my calculations are correct, I should have just missed the statement period for this month (on my credit card), so I hopefully won't have to pay for everything until the beginning of JULY! (Giving me a lot more breathing room budget-wise.)