Window Shopper

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This year has been, to say the least, busy. I have wanted to find a way to go on a vacation for months but it was a “no way” to me because something always comes up. Ever been there? Yep, I sit in front of the computer, looking at all the places I could be going. Sigh. It’s not fair, is it? I can count on one hand the number of times I actually had a vacation.

But there is one tiny little difference between you and me. When I was trucking, I got to go to almost all the states in the U.S. plus Canada. It was awesome. The one thing I had problems with, especially when I was first starting out, was what to take in the luggage. And how much luggage do I take? Well, you learn quickly that you do not pack six suitcases when one will do. Why? Because you lug that stuff all over the country and then, when you get ready to unload and go home, all that luggage is still in the sidebox, having never been opened…even once. Oh, you learn all right.

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Some day, I will have a new HDTV that hangs on the wall in a fantastic house with light colors. We currently have a 27″ analog tv that will soon have to be replaced due to it wearing out. The picture turns fuzzy occasionally. Sound is getting to be a bit more difficult with the movies. It simply is getting to be a little old. I hate it when comfortable things get old and worn out.

But I do know how to dream so I dream big. In fact, my HDTV is going to be 52″ plasma and mounted on the wall with a plasma mount. I am definitely moving on up to the east side! HA! Of course, that’s not all I want to do with the house. The kitchen will have a great oven and top in the island in the center of the room. Huge refrigerator with lots of freezer space. We want cabinets everywhere with a walk in pantry.

There should be at least 3 bedrooms, two and a half bathrooms, an office, a family room with loads of bookshelves and where the plasma tv is living. I know I’m missing something here. Frankly, I think that would be about a 3,500 sq. ft. home. I can live with that. And plenty of acres for the dog to run. Yes, I think I could live very nicely like that.

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I really do not recall how old I was when my Mom and Dad started going out on “dates”. I must have been pretty young since I needed a babysitter. I think I drove her crazy…but that’s a story I can tell in a minute. Mom and Dad would get ready for these dancing dates. I can understand now why they went out like that. However, in those days, it was a miracle if I thought about anyone besides myself.

They would start getting ready, dressing up in some snazzy stuff. Dad would be in a suit. What was so great about his suit was really the silver cufflinks that he loved to wear when he and Mom went out. I remember that they sparkled. And that’s all I remember about them! But Mom loved Dad. I think those were a present from her. He loved them and wore them each time they went out.

Now, when they left, I had free reign to drive the babysitter nuts. And I got ‘er done too! I think she babysat me twice. One time, I locked myself in my parents’ bedroom and wouldn’t come out until they got home. That was quite a while after my bedtime, I’m sure. The other time, I just threw things all over the room so that she had to clean it up before they showed back home. I was terrible to her. She only babysat me twice. My parents were not amused. Sigh.

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This is one I should put on my wish list for the family. Fat chance! Are you looking for a really good deal on an HDTV for Christmas? Or maybe you want one for yourself as a reward possibly? Let me tell you about this one place that has a lot of goodies on their site. And you really should check out their Great Deal Of The Day too.

Second Act has the HDTV for you. Doesn’t matter what you’re looking for either. I can run a few names past you. How about Sharp, Hitachi, JVC, Samsung? Are you familiar with those? Second Act has those and many more to choose from. And they have a Great Deal Of The Day each day that changes at 7am CST. The current great deal is running through tonight but will be gone by morning. So, if you are looking for a Samsung 56 inch HDTV, you had better hurry.

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Do you have that awful sense that you have no idea what to get the family and friends this year? I have it every year and this year is no exception. It is a major struggle for me to figure out what to get some people in my family. When asked what they want, I get some silly thing like “I don’t know.” That’s it. They do not know. Big help, Irving!

So, what do you get the one person in the whole family that simply either has everything or has no clue what they want? I dunno either. Why do you think I’m writing this???? Duh!! Anybody got any ideas? I’m fresh out.

(drums fingers. Hums a little tune. Taps foot. More humming. More tapping. More drumming.)

You just aren’t going to tell me, are you??? Just like my family. Harrumph!!

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There are times when I think that people have lost it completely. What am I talking about? Pets. I happen to have a catalog for pet products at home that is unbelievable in some of the things it offers. In fact, a large portion of the catalog is taken up with these pet products….clothing for dogs and cats. Have people lost their minds??? Has anyone truly looked at the animal that has to wear this getup? Most of them are totally miserable. There are a few who wear those items proudly but they are certainly in the minority.

How about giving animals as pets for Christmas? Now, I understand that parents want their child to have a great Christmas, get the pet they have wanted for x number of days, weeks or months. But have you thought about who is going to care for this animal? The reason I ask this is because, of course, you will get the all powerful…”I will. I will take care of the dog, I promise. Oh, please, please, please can I have one? I saw the most adorable dog walking down the street yesterday. Can I have him?

This child is going to promise the moon to get the dog he/she wants. When the shouting is done and the presents are unwrapped and broken, the dog will be peeing on your tree or the couch. The kid will be off playing the latest nintendo game and doesn’t care what the dog is doing at all. Are you really ready for this? Didn’t think so.

So, play it smart this time. Buy a gerbil. Raise the thing yourself. Teach the kid to be fascinated with the animal in the cage. When they won’t feed it, at least you have control of the food supply and water. Just don’t let the turning of the wheel bother you at night.

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One thing that had plagued me for years was sensitive teeth. There were some products out there on the market but nothing that would really deal with my particular problem of sensitive teeth. In other words, I am certain it helped someone but not me. The dentist was no help. He had cleaned my teeth and that made them more sensitive than ever. Perhaps I simply went to an old fashioned dentist. The only way the teeth stopped being sensitive was to find something that would dull it for the time being.

Then I was given a sample of Biotene which is a toothpaste made especially for sensitive teeth and helps dry mouth as well. Actually, dry mouth brings on the sensitive teeth. I never knew that before. This is a one-of-a-kind toothpaste that will fight bacteria growth which is found in the infections in the mouth and gingivitis, which is a gum disease.

Applying the toothpaste to my mouth caused no problems whatsoever. The taste was bubblegum. Now, I am not a fan of the bubblegum taste and I think perhaps they could bring out the product with the minty version for those of us who want that “minty fresh” feeling. After several brushings with the sensitive toothpaste, the sensitivity does appear to be going down. Even a cold sore was reduced and not felt nearly as much. Dry mouth was not nearly the problem it has been in the past.

From sampling this product, I would say they have a winner for those who are interested in finally bringing down the sensitivity problem and getting rid of those nasty cold sores especially now that we are going into the winter season.

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One of the things that is developing into a family tradition is the strangely wrapped gift. My husband is trying to turn into a master at the craft. I must say that he has really done us proud in that endeavor. At times, others have tried..oh, they have tried to beat the mastery of the gift wrapper, but alas they have failed.

Well, maybe they have and maybe they haven’t. One year, my sister and her husband set out to try and fool us about our presents. For some reason, they feel the need to give multiples and this year was no exception. There were riddles. We had to guess just to open the next one. Frankly, we were terrible at guessing what they had for us but it was such fun. No, I won’t tell you. Na na.

Then, there was the year that my husband wanted to make a spectacular entrance over at my Mom’s where we always celebrate the day. We had bought her one of those “high/low” outside thermometers. Trust me, she wanted one so much she could practically taste it but there were none available locally and had not been for many years. Hers was broken. She had to “suffer” with an old ratty one she did not like.

My husband wanted to disguise the present because my Mom is really good at guessing what’s in the box. So, he got a long, thin box about 6 ft. It was less than a foot wide and about 3-4 inches thick. He had packing peanuts in it. The present was seated in the middle. It was approximately a foot long and about 2 1/2 inches wide. Obviously, the box was WAAAAAAAAY too big for it. When he finished placing the present inside, he started to wrap it putting plain wrapping paper on it, then decorating it to look like a STOP LIGHT!!! It was awesome.

We have had many more such stunts in the past years. Can’t wait to see what everyone has to fool us this year. It’s so much fun.

Now, if you want your Christmas to be a bit brighter, why not think of a way to keep them guessing? Wrap the presents in a much different way than what you normally do. Use newspaper, for instance. That is an excellent wrapping paper and costs a whole lot less. Decorate it. You could make it look like a scrapbook. The wrapping paper can be as much fun as the present itself. Have some fun!! What I found was that wrapping used to be boring and drudgy. I hated to do it. I loved buying the presents but pay someone to wrap things. Now, my husband does it but it’s much more fun!!! We both figure out the wrapping. A blast.

Try it and see. If you can’t get the husband to do it, find a friend and have a wrapping party. You might find that you can wrap their present under their noses and they won’t know a thing. LOL!!! Your turn.

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What tech toys are you looking for now? My personal quest is for an affordable laptop. Yeah, I know. There are some out there but they have to be affordable AND have the goodies too. That can be a challenge to find.

So, I went to this page that had excellent search capabilities and I did come up with a few really good deals on laptops. What do you know. I found this really great Acer that had a number of the things I was looking for in a laptop. Duo core, 15 inch screen, 200GB hard drive, 2GB of DDR2 memory, webcam, free shipping and a Canon all-in-one printer with it. Now that’s a good deal. The price was good as well.

But what kind of tech bargains are you looking for? They have hot deals on just about anything you are looking for in electronics. Think! Do you need an iPod, PC, HDTV, how about a cell phone? This place can give you comparison searches. Now that you have an idea of what you want, want to know what other people think about that particular product? Reviews on many of the products they have listed are available to you, the consumer. The site is loaded with information on each of these products including prices and where they are located. That laptop is for sale in my home state!

Techbargains has coupons and deals galore. One way or another, YOU are going to save money on the toys of your dreams. Oh, and don’t forget to sign up for their newsletter that will have the deals of the week in them. You can also have alerts on your special items. I really like this site for the information on the best deals for you.

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Usually, I have something to say about shopping or a review of some product but occasionally I simply want to wander off the path and tell you something that I find to be either funny or really stupid. I think this one fits both. I found this particular item when I was looking for the stupidest website ever…using the word “stupid” to search. A large variety of stupid items came up but there was this list of stupid sayings and quotes that really caught my eye. This was the one that had me laughing out loud.

“Your food stamps will be stopped effective March 1992 because we
received notice that you passed away. May God bless you. You may reapply
if there is a change in your circumstances.” - Department of Social
Services, Greenville, South Carolina

Does no one actually read what they have written here? That wasn’t the only one. There were many more. Want a couple? Ah if you must. Suffering sooths the savage beast or something?

“We are sorry to announce that Mr Albert Brown has been quite unwell,
owing to his recent death, and is taking a short holiday to recover.” -
Parish Magazine

Uh yeah. I am so glad that he can recover with a vacation, don’t you? Wonder how we can do that too?? More? You really do want to suffer. Wow!

“If somebody has a bad heart, they can plug this jack in at night as
they go to bed and it will monitor their heart throughout the night. And
the next morning, when they wake up dead, there’ll be a record.” - Mark
S. Fowler, FCC Chairman (that makes me feel safer!)

I see a theme here. Okay, that about does it. If you want to suffer more, I suggest you go search out stupid for yourself.

Happy Shopping!!!

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