Score: CD-RW spindle

If you'd have asked me about this post a few years ago, I would've said the author had lost his mind... Rewind to February 2004.

At the time I had discovered that my CD burner was acting up and I thought, "they sure don't make'em like they used to). Fact was, I had really put that drive through the paces over 4 years or so. It was time to replace it... and DVD-R was the next new thing. And was it ever! I mean, you don't know until you use it for yourself how handy it is to store nearly 5Gb of data on a single disc - especially if you're like me and have downloaded gigabytes of fan-subtitled foreign film. I never looked back.

Until one day I realize that I need an audio CD to play in the car. Well, I don't want to burn a permanent CD-R for it... I want it temporary so I can swap MP3 files at my liesure. Where are my CD-RWs? Turns out that the ones I had were already expired - I'd rewritten them once too often. And good luck finding new ones affordably.

My shopping tip for the week: look in your everyday office supply store. For me it was the local Grand&Toy. I picked up a spindle of 25 for "only" $35. That's right - I paid a buck forty apiece and liked it. Truth: it's getting harder and harder to find CD-RW. The average Canadian retail price works out to be OVER two bucks apiece! That'd be a 5-pack of Verbatim I found at The Source/Circuit City for $14.99... and next best was $19.99 for a 10-pack of Maxell at Staples. I mean, what the hell is going on?

DVD-R are nowhere near that expensive. This sh*t is insane, I say!