Hello, Guten Tag, ( since you said, Hausfrau, thought perhaps you spoke Deutsch, German!) Welcome to the forums, I do understand about loving the little Pleos, furbabies of all sorts. I also have many Pleos , thirteen currently, so I guess when you say "Mid Life Crisis" it can be for any age.

I think you will be very pleased with the Pleo you have purchased for $199 from the Hong Kong seller, I know of at least one other Pleo member here who has a Pleo from them but you are correct the batteries usually need replacing . I do sell the Egg charger Li Polymer batteries right here on the forums, through the link to ebay. ( but if you buy them from me you can save having to pay Ebay their fee, which is currently 9%

) anyway, I do welcome you to the forums, I also live in CA, the Golden State, I live in Bigfoot country though extreme Northwest of Ca. I wish you luck with your new baby!
RedwoodsMama