Roland took the kids shopping for school supplies . He came back miserable that he had spent $ 100 . The kids wanted these fancy binders , and mechanical pencils , and Gary wanted a little white board to write his assignments on . Then he just bought erasers and notebooks and stuff .

A: Why was Roland so upset ?

Just making conversation . If I had only known the chain of events that one comment would put into motion ... You need to know something about the Indonesian people ... they are very gracious . Exorbitantly gracious . So gracious that if you express even casual interest in something , they will give it to you or buy it for you .

A: Why are they the way they are ?

All of that might be surmountable were it not for the abysmal sound quality we experienced . The thin , telescoping microphone seemed like it would do a better job at picking up audio than a standard Bluetooth headset , but it did n't hold up next to Jawbone 's offerings , and the fragility of the metal makes it seem like we 're only a day or two away from cashing in the warranty . The reception quality was n't any better -- we literally had to ask a friend of ours if they were speaking through a towel . Both on the receiving and transmitting ends , we found the Boom to be a disappointment .

A: Why is the narrator unhappy with their purchase ?

In the midst of my Palin Derangement Syndrome , Hurricane Gustav concerns / communication , and obsessive RNC watching / live - blogging with liz last week , I forgot to meditate . Not that I have a really set meditation schedule , but I was trying to get our new school routine established . Waking up early and hitting the ground running was quite a shock to the system from the last few , free - form laid back weeks of August .

A:
What type of news does the narrator seem interested in ?