Ieuan Dolby

A Wii, the Family and the Economic Experience



Posted: Saturday, November 22, 2008

by
The Mariners Articles

What a day I have just had. My legs are shivering, my arm muscles ache and the large decorative chicken that graced the mantle piece has forever been consigned to the bin, thank god!

It all started when I formulated this cunning plan (partly to help me mate Gordo (Gordon Brown) and his Darling) to get the economy moving forward instead of backward and it involved buying a large present for my wife at great expense.

When I arrived in Princes Street in Edinburgh it seemed that half the population of the UK had a similar cunning plan as the shops were jam-packed to overflowing with crazed shoppers. I know when the blinkers are on; the eyes are glazed over in a manic non-compromise glare, the elbows have been resharpened, the mouth is sealed lest the swear words boil out and nobody and nothing is going to get in the way of a bargain spotted! The supposed recession, depression, downturn or call it what you may that is supposedly with us was as far away from reality as I was about to don a tutu! Shoppers were out and they were buying, hands, bags and minds were full to overflowing with goods bought and seconds were already on the menu!

I joined the fray last wednesday to buy a Wii. I didn't really know then what a Wii was, it initially crossed my mind that it was "we" spelt wrong but after consulting an expert from behind the counter I was told that it was the greatest thing since sliced bread. Crikey! Something to eat perhaps?

My wife had said that she would like to try it so charged with a a mission to save the UK from deep depression I persevered and soon found out that a Wii was simply a drive through which games can be played on the television. In other words I was about to buy another decadent avenue of escape, a materialistic addition to an otherwise cluttered household, an extremely unsociable outlet for the frustrated, an expensive lump of plastic that bowed down to the bored, an exclusive item of sadness for those who are simply too reclusive, shy and unwitting to step outside and actually face another human or in other words something that will soon wither in fascination and end up in the attic!

I managed to buy a wii for mii and off I toddled home, happy for Gordon that everybody was out shopping even before they had got their rumored tax-rebate and happy for myself for having spent a whack of money on an item that was "the second most essential household item after the TV"! Knowing a little I was going to point out to my kindly sales-person that buying a Wii without a television was a bit pointless but I decided not to confuse his patter - a little bit of knowledge can be dangerous and maybe he knew something that I didn't.

Fast Forward to today!

It was my wife's birthday today! It was a great day and all my family came for lunch and it wasn't until they had left that we broke open my gift to her, the Wii and the Wii fit board!

One thing I must do after writing this article is to apologize to my darling wife as she never managed to the get the control to herself for a test and play. Between my four-year old son punching the living daylights out of some poncy opponent and myself learning Aerobics (I'm overweight it seems), giving myself two weeks to lose 1 stone and then running riot on the golf course my poor wife fell asleep on the couch.

Yes, I'm sure she will enjoy it once she wakes up! But for now my arms and legs seriously ache and thank you lord, that horrible chicken that I couldn't bare to look at has gone at last!
Ieuan Dolby is the Author and Webmaster of The Scribbling Mariners. As a Chief Engineer in the Merchant Navy he has sailed the world for twenty years on a variety of rust buckets and state of the art vessels. Now living in Edinburgh, Scotland with his wife and son he writes about cultures across the globe and life as he sees it; a seafarers escapades with a few tall tales thrown in for good measure! Further articles and photographs of his travels can be found at his blog The Seadolby Articles and Tall Tales.

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Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)
» left by Dianne Lehmann
 3 years 61 days ago.
133 fans.
Hi Ieuan.
 
That was riot and load of fun. I can just imagine what happened to that chicken. Thanks for sharing.
 
Dianne
» left by Ieuan Dolby 3 years 60 days ago.
10 fans.
Thanks Dianne
I've weaned myself off the wii now but my son is another matter! He loves the gold for some reason!
Ieuan
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