Anticipation

She's making me wait.

I've been sitting on the fence for so long that my arse is getting sore. Ever since I bought a small drone as a Christmas present to myself, in 2016, I've wondered if I should invest in a better drone. The drone that I bought was essentially a toy: it weighed practically nothing (about 135 grams, I believe) and had basically no automatic control, which meant that everything was up to the pilot, from hovering in place to all movement.

And, in a gust of wind, it went flying off course and was sometimes hard to bring back. I lost count at how many trees it flew into. When it finally hit a tree, crashed to the ground, and lost the micro SD card somewhere in the grass, I was done with it.

It's been gathering dust in my basement for a couple of years.

I looked at other, better drones but I was concerned about the cost, the amount of time it would take to master flying it, and crashing or losing it. My first drone cost me just over $60 so I felt no pain when I crashed it for the last time and gave up on it.

I really wanted a drone for B-roll video footage, to get a bird's-eye view of my surroundings or to follow me from a height as I walked around. But when I got a three-metre selfie stick for my Insta360 video cameras, I was able to simulate a drone, so I gave up on a drone.

Until about a year ago, when I saw a self-piloting, portable drone in a YouTube review.

The HOVERAir X1 is another lightweight drone that can fold and fit into your pocket, and has a few pre-programed modes to fly itself around you, taking off and landing in your hand. It can follow you from behind or the sides, lead you from in front of you, orbit you, and more.

And, when it's time to land, you just hold out your hand and it comes to a rest in your palm.

I wanted it, but with a price tag of more than $500, I paused. I also learned that it couldn't fly over water, and that killed my plans for having it follow me in my kayak.

Back on the fence.

But a couple of months ago, drone giant DJI came out with a similar-style drone that cost just over $200 and seemed to have more features. Not only did the DJI Neo fly autonomously, it could also be synced with several DJI controllers for even better performance.

The DJI promo video even showed someone on a stand-up paddleboard with the drone following along.

I've watched a slew of YouTube videos that reviewed the drone, including one where a guy tested to see how tough the drone was by crashing it into several objects, from a person at low speed, to trees, to concrete walls, to a high-speed (about 35 kph) slam into a rock breaker at a beach.

Even then, the drone kept flying and recording video.

So I told DW that I was going to get one. She suggested that I wait until Black Friday sales started, so I've been waiting for a couple of months.

When most retailers started their Black Friday sales last Thursday, the drone wasn't listed with any savings. Amazon offered me a $60 gift card if I signed up for their credit card, so I did that an applied it to the drone. I also bought the expanded kit that included two extra batteries, a multi-charger, and a separate remote control, for when I wanted to try my hand at flying it, myself.

Last Friday, when I tested positive for COVID, I was feeling pretty down. But a couple of hours later, a package came to my door to raise those spirits back up.

My DJI Neo.

When DW saw the box, she said, "I thought you were going to wait for a sale?"

I told her about how most stores had started their sales already: Best Buy, Henry's, Vistek, even DJI itself were offering no savings. Not that I was surprised, and I told her that usually a new gadget doesn't go on sale shortly after its release.

"There might be further savings on the actual Black Friday," DW said. "Don't unbox it." In fact, she took it from where I was sitting, all wrapped up in a blanket, fighting my sickness, and placed it in our living room, tucked out of sight.

Truth be told, I've been too sick to take it out and try it. I suppose I could read the manual to learn about it, but I haven't had the energy.

So I wait, anxious for when Friday comes and I can either get a deal somewhere else (and return this one) or I can take my drone out for a spin.

Anticipation. It's making me wait.

Happy Tuesday!