Hey, that other thread is getting unwieldy, and I just know that the holiday season of love, peace and understanding is just pissing a lot of people right the fuck off.
I’ll start off with Black Friday and Cyber Monday:
Coincidental to the shopping season, my P&S camera crapped out on me, so I went looking for a new one. Research narrowed it down to a couple of good possibilities and I settled on the Canon S95. I started searching early last week and found that the lowest prices were at about $369.
I figured I’d wait for the Black Friday sales, and sure enough there were ads for the camera at the Low Black Friday Price!! of only. . .$369. Okay. . .well, then let’s wait until Cyber Monday. Surely there will be deals online. Sure enough, ads pop up all over the place for the LOW CYBER MONDAY PRICE, ONE DAY ONLY!!! of. . .$369.
So apparently the way this all works is that if it’s a quality item in high demand, you can just go fuck yourself. If it’s a piece of shit or something that stores overstocked at a huge discount, you get it at what amounts to a fake low price for something that will be heavily discounted in the inventory sales in January. That’s okay; I mean, that’s capitalism and consumer beware type shit. What I object to is pricing something as normal (or even higher, in some cases) and tagging it as a “sale” item.
What is up with scratchy tags on shirts? Haven’t they figured out that screened on tags are the way to go? Why do some lines still manage to put the world’s coarsest material against their customers’ skin? I know, I know, 10 years ago wants its mini-rant back, but I was out this weekend wearing a new and fun shirt, when much of my enjoyment was irritated by this god-awful tag, so it’s fresh in my mind now. I ended up ripping it off in a bout of mini-rage.
I think I ranted (or whined) about this when I was pregnant last winter, and had a really itchy skin condition: It seems like there’s some inverse correlation between the fabric of your shirt and the texture of the tag. I think I have a couple of 100% silk shirts with tags made of a wool and sandpaper blend! (Oh, and the itchier the tag, the more likely that it’s sewn into a seam and can’t be ripped out completely without ruining the garment…)
Here’s an old standard refrain from every year’s Christmas mini-rants - Christmas music. I’m amazed anew every year at how much I hate it. I mentioned in the other thread that a co-worker was already playing Christmas music loudly for everyone to “enjoy” - and me with a washed iPod. I went shopping today for a brand new Sony MP3Man with 50 hours of battery life - hopefully I won’t hear another Christmas song until Christmas Day, the only day of the year that I’ll willingly listen to Christmas music.
Mark Twain’s autobiography is sold out. That was my “go to” Christmas present this year! I thought I had it all figured out. Well, tough shit, folks. Unless amazon.com comes thru, you’re getting your goddam Christmas gift late. I had the perfect plan, and I’m not going to think of another one.!!
Make sure it’s not puréed, though, or security may toss it away. If it is puréed, remember to put it in containers of the right size (100ml, and I don’t remember how much in ounces) and then into the Magic Bag Of Inertization, which turns Dangerous Liquids into Harmless Objects.
It is too early for bell ringers to be out soliciting donations. Please to be waiting for December at least.
Local radio stations: Playing christmas carols interspersed with the regular programming is driving me insane. Ipods and such are not an option here. You are really fucking up my groove when you follow Dark Side of the Moon with Rudolph.
I am also tired of hearing about “The Season” Bah humbug. The only saving grace is that since our recent move from central to south Florida has placed us in among a far denser collection of Jewish folk, the holiday glurge has decreased noticeably.
