Window Shopper

Welcome back!

Are you in the after Christmas blues? Maybe you got some stuff that simply is not going to work, no matter what you do. Hey, I heard about this woman who got a DVD player for Christmas. The tray wouldn’t come out. What do you do with that?? You take it back.

If Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving) wasn’t good enough, now we have the day after Christmas when the stores reopen and the reverse rush begins. Sigh. Isn’t getting a tad ridiculous here? First, you have the after Thanksgiving sales. Those take care of the people who are willing to do their shopping early enough to actually get the items on their lists. Next, you have the middle shoppers. These are the ones that shop all December, getting the best deals they can find but the real sales do not start until closer to Christmas.

The next set of sales comes during the last few days before Christmas. This is the time that you really cannot find the one thing you really, truly wanted to give a person because you waited entirely too long. However, they have excellent sales on things like big screen televisions and you could get that instead. Your spouse is likely to never speak to you again but, what the heck, it’s Christmas.

The last day before Christmas is the worst. That’s when there is little that you actually wanted left in stock. However, you find quite a few sales and a number of people you know that are as ridiculous as you are..waiting to to the last minute.

Then Christmas day happens. All the paper is stacked up to be burned or picked up by the garbage guys. The presents are all opened, some to be played with until they break, some to be used sparingly because you really didn’t want it but you won’t hurt the person’s feelings. Then there are the ones that you just know you have to return at first light on the day after…after what? After Christmas, of course.

The day dawns bright and clear and you are ready to go at 8AM. You get to the store and there’s a mob scene. Everybody has something in their hands that they simply cannot use or do not want. Some of it is broken, some not the right style or size, some is just not you…like the lamp from the movie..The Christmas Story…you know, the one with the lamp shaped like a lady’s leg.

The doors open and it’s a stampede to the customer service desk. The line is already so long it’s going to take the better part of the morning to get to you. The item you brought is a DVD that is not working. You have no receipt, nothing to show it was bought here. The store clerk looks at it and wants to know what’s wrong with it. You tell her that it does not work. She scans it and…. nothing. Are you kidding me? Nope. This item does not come from this store. You groan and think of the hours you have wasted already, standing in a line you did not even need to be in for this item.

Outside, you call the person who gave the DVD to you. They claim they did not give that particular movie to you at all. They have no idea who gave it to you. This is not working well. Is this a nightmare or what???? Actually, yes. Time to wake up! There. Now wasn’t your day better than that? I thought so.

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Most folks will be traveling to destinations for family reunions or some type of get together. But not all people do that. Some are interested in going to Las Vegas or other places to have a good time with just a spouse or friends. If you are one of those people, you will need to get those Hotel Reservations in right now if you expect to find accommodations available to you then.

Hotel Reservations can set you up with hotel rooms, motels, those vacation rental places like a cabin and many more options. Headed for Miami, Reno, Hawaii, New York or possibly over to Italy, France, England? They will help you with all sorts of options like going places with your family this holiday season. What an adventure it would be to head for a place and stay for a couple of weeks. You might need a condo rental instead of a hotel. They can help you with it. Plus, you will get a special internet rate on all of the services they provide.

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Have you found yourself in that position? I have…many times. This year, I decided that was not going to happen to me again. After all, when you have a limited area of shopping, it is imperative that a person get on with the shopping and get it done before the last few days before Christmas. Well, those days are here. My biggest problem at the moment is really that I bought some things online and they have not yet arrived. In fact, I have one item that could, potentially, show up around the New Year’s celebration day. *groan* Then I have to mail it out to the intended person. They would get a New Year’s present, I guess.

One of the very basic rules is that if you buy online, you should not buy after a certain date, say December 10th or so. That would be about the last you could expect things that they send out by media mail, for instance. Now, priority should be better but I have seen cases when it was not. So, unless the company you are buying from actually states that they will get it to you by the 24th, then I would not buy after about the 10th. The problem I have is that I broke that rule. Sigh.

Now on eBay, it’s a little different. I would not buy after about the 5th there. Well, that is if I buy from there at all. Some years ago, I started keeping track of the sellers I particularly liked. Some have left eBay. Others have grown considerably. But, I primarily do business only with those same sellers because eBay has turned into scammers and cheats who are willing to take the hit on their reputation to get the money. For the most part, they do sell the item and send it but not always. I would avoid eBay unless you have confidence in those sellers. Always check the feedback comments! Always!

Other than that, my shopping is done. And when all things have landed at our house, we are pretty much ready for the big day! Whew! This year has been a bit frantic. People never know what they want until you hand it to them. Have you ever noticed that? That means that whatever you get them is going to be a complete surprise, sometimes good…sometimes not so good.

You can usually tell when a gift is being tolerated, right? They get this sort of frozen, “this is nice..what is it?” sort of look to them. I tend to inwardly laugh because I know that they did not want this item but they have to be extremely polite. I suspect my face has shown that very look a few times. On the other hand, if the gift is truly wanted, there is a totally different reaction. Some people jump up and down, if nowhere else..on the inside. Some simply look pleased but you know they are screaming inside. LOL! I am waiting with anticipation for the big day just for those reactions.

Happy Shopping!!

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This particular post has nothing to do with buying anything, at least right here. But it has everything to do with the big bully google and what it is about to do to bloggers who, for whatever reason, have not complied with a terms of service that none of us agreed to with google. See, google wants to run the net. Google wants to get bloggers and website owners to comply with their orders. The funny thing is that those of us who did not sign up to be bullied by them are getting spanked and then delisted by them. Do you know why they are doing this?

Glad you asked. This goes back to the paid to post companies that hire people who have blogs to write posts and reviews for them. When the blogger contracts to do that and writes the post, they get paid a certain amount of money. Now, in the meanwhile, google is getting people to put icons and widgets on their blogs in order to make money. The blogger keeps the widget there and when someone clicks on it, they can get paid…very small amounts and not paid until a certain amount is reached. Those programs are called adsense and adwords. They belong to google.

So, what’s the problem, right? Well, seems that google is not happy to have only some of the money pie. They want it all. The companies that hire the bloggers sometimes use the google page rank to qualify bloggers to work for them. Most of the companies did this for quite a while. Since google feels it’s power now, they decided to change things by dropping the page rank to an unacceptable level for the companies so that they would fire the bloggers who are no longer qualified.

In the meanwhile, google expects the blogger to come, hat in hand, admit that they did wrong and beg to get back in the good graces of the big bully google. If that does not happen by the time they want it, google will delist the blogs involved. When that happens, they will get what they want, to destroy the blogger’s income.

Here’s the punchline. The bloggers who do this paid to post blogging are, for the most part, in need of the cash that they get from these posts. Usually, they are women at home taking care of kids, grandpas and grandmas trying to make a buck to supplement their incredibly puny social security checks, disabled folks, young people who have no other income, people who do not want to end up homeless. Does google care that they are doing this to people? NO! They do not. All they care about is that someone is cutting into their money pie.

If google must strike anyone, it’s about time they decided to hit the major companies instead of the little guys. Why don’t they? Because the big guys will slam them so hard, they won’t know which way is up. But the little guys are not strong enough to fight the big bad bully google…alone. Now it’s time for bloggers to rise up and resist the google bully. Tell google how you feel. Do not be afraid of their tactics. That’s what it’s all about…fear. If they can get you afraid of them enough, they win…you lose. Of course, the blogger pretty much loses anyway because this fight is really between the big bully and the big companies.

Take the time to put in your two cents here in the comments field or in your own blog and link back to this one. It’s time to let google know that we will not take these bullying tactics without a fight.

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The truth is that I have never known what a “guffaw” was until tonight. It’s totally crazy. I mean, I knew what it was supposed to be. I did see Mary Poppins. Remember the scene when Dick Van Dyke’s character was telling about laughter and what it sounded like? Well, he did cover a number of them at the time.

However, my experiences have taught me many things but the guffaw was not one of them. Tonight, I found out. See, I wrote a story about our dying television set. It isn’t gone yet but it will be some day soon. And I mentioned my husband who really likes gadgets, all kinds, so I mentioned a few of the gadgets.

That wasn’t what did it. What really did it was when I specifically said something about needing a technoweenie to do the work on putting everything together when buying a new set and accessories. I knew when my husband had read the story. There was this silence, then what sounded like choking, then the “guffaw”. You know, laughter. It took me a minute to figure out that’s what he was doing. I actually thought he was choking. Must have been the cough drop he usually has in his mouth. Musta swallered it.

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I have told you before about my family and their need for making lists at this time of year. And I have mentioned how impossible it can actually get if you cannot think of a thing you really want or that they could afford even if you did want it, whatever it is. Now that the biggest part of the buying is over, do you start thinking about what they actually got? Did you “pad” your list with those things that you secretly hope they will buy for you so that you don’t have to go out and get it yourself? Ah ha!

I think I really did do a bit of that but mostly I couldn’t think of too much that I wanted. It’s an amazing thing. You live your life dreaming of things you want, places to go, people to be around. But when someone starts to ask you what you really want, it’s freeze up time. It is for me, at least. There are people who would list half of the store if allowed.

Now, I truly want a new car, a house to live in for the rest of my life and a couple of laptops..one of me and one for my husband. They are practically essential to our making a living these days. THOSE are the things I really, really want. But it’s extremely unlikely that our family could do any of those things. Times are hard and dreams can sometimes be too far out there. But some day, I will have the things I want. I believe.

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Every year, our family wants us to think of all the things we want and post it online in a list. Then, when everyone starts buying things for others, it really is important that no one gets someone else the same present. For one thing, that’s less returning to the stores who are getting to be a bit more picky about holiday returns.

The problem I have is that when I get some of this list of already purchased items, I tend to forget it almost as fast as I heard it…at least selective items…and always the wrong ones. It is such a pain. The worst part is that I can fix the problem by simply writing it all down. What a concept!!! Sigh. But I do not do that. Mostly, it’s because I get this information over the phone, sometimes when I’m already doing something else. Yet, if I would just write it down on something, it would save a lot of hassles. Why? Because there was duplication this year. And it was all my fault!!!

I will not go into details because my family reads some of my blog. So, I will only say here that it would be in your best interests, if your family does such things, to have a handy spiral notebook to write these things down so that they are not forgotten. See, between my sister and myself, we are the keepers of all the family holiday secrets. If one knows, the other one usually knows too. And I forgot!!!

So, one of the holiday shopping don’ts is to make certain that you have an original idea before purchasing that big gift. Another thing is to check to make sure that whatever you want to buy will be available by the time you go after it. Too many times, we have seen that product on the shelves all the way up to the last week before Christmas. We got the money together, went into the store and……it wasn’t there. We usually had wanted that particular item to be the BIG GIFT but they ran out. And it truly is bad that this particular store no longer handles lay-a-ways. Sigh.

For a wonderful holiday gift giving time, make sure there is no duplication and check the store for availability before you count too much on that item.

Happy Shopping!!!

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As I have said before, we live in a rural area of the Ozarks in what used to be a retirement village but these days it’s really more of a retirement and family village. Quite often, especially in the summer time, we will see the moving vans bringing new families and retired folks here from other parts of the country. They are from such varied places that they tend to form clubs or groups of people from a particular state.

Also often, we see the bigger moving vans that bring people who have a job with large companies that relocate them here for the purposes of starting up new offices or stores. It has happened once in a while that a family will come here because of a corporate relocation, meaning that the company will find and arrange for a place to live. I rather like that companies are willing to do that.

The main thing is that our area is growing pretty fast now. It will take our village many more times the number we have living here now to fill up but some day that will probably happen. Right now, you can still see wild life in your front yard on certain days. Not bad.

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Now that I am older, I do not have to spend as much time in the bathroom in front of the mirror putting on makeup or trying to do so. There were times when I thought that the makeup itself was out to get me. A confession needs to be inserted here. I was never very good at putting on makeup anyway. Maybe if I had bought more makeup mirrors, had them in my room, in my purse as well as the bathroom, I would have done better but I doubt it. It just was not in me to have a load of makeup on my face to start with.

Growing up, I was not allowed to have makeup on until I was seventeen. That sounds excessive these days but back in the dark ages (the 60s), it was more appropriate to wait until a person started to grow up a bit before having all those so-called adult things. The makeup was only allowed at special functions like dances and dates. And I was okay with that. It was a different time.

Currently, I could care less if I have on makeup. YEAH!!! I’m free, I’m free. And I realize that women everywhere are asking themselves “what is wrong with that woman??” and my answer would be that I never really liked all that stuff on my face so I rarely used any of it. Please do not comment here what a heathen I am, please. I think women with makeup on are beautiful. I just don’t want to spend the money on that anymore.

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Don’t you like to play with the idea of a makeover to a part of you or your home? A makeover would not work for me. LOL! But a makeover in our kitchen and bathrooms would be fantastic. Yet, it is unlikely to happen anytime soon. But when it does, I have plans!! For instance, our kitchen faucets are really bad. One is sort of broken off and is very tough to turn on and off. The other one wants to drip, drip, drip all the time. So, what do we do to fix that?

I checked out a few types of faucets to see what we would like and would use. There were a few that looked okay but the kohler faucets looked great. They seem to be easy to handle. I had a couple of personal favorites but I didn’t want to influence your choices.

Then, I decided to take a look at kohler DTV custom showers in the bathroom. WOW! Those are pretty good. Actually, I saw the word “custom” and that did it for me. They have several to choose from and you can pick the one you want. That is awesome.

With a new shower in the bathroom, my thoughts turn back to the kitchen. You know, if the faucets get replaced, that sink is going to look pretty bad. What about changing out the sink too? So, I went to look at Stainless steel kitchen sinks and it was great there too. You can see your face in the stainless steel! I love that.

In the end, I am thinking strongly about all this because the company says that they have free shipping on the faucet and accessories over $99. How about that?

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