Random Thoughts....

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Why did I think sweeping off my pollen covered porch was a good idea? Yeah, lets get that stuff airborne!
 
You should have hosed it down. ;)
 
So I'm cleaning the folk's e-mail inboxes (bless them, they throw a fit if I remove them from spam lists) and the most egregious spammer of them all is Pricemart whose opening line always is "Save by buying..."

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Reminds me of an old Burns and Allen Show bit, where George Burns opens the fridge and finds bowls and bowls and bowls of whipped topping. He asks Gracie about it, who says she learned that she can save 10 cents a serving over regular whipped cream by using Carnation evaporated milk and a few drops of lemon juice. At 10 cents savings per serving, she's excited to show how much money she's saved by making 200 servings!! (or something like that...can't find that specific clip online)
 
And I thought I was old.
 
*pulls the needle off his Bob Newhart stand-up album* You are. I'm just an old soul for comedy.

Plus, we never had cable. Growing up, we had to watch whatever we could get in on our 11" B&W TV with the foil-draped rabbit ears from syndication-specialized channels 18, 24 and 58 (boy, you could SMELL the wear and tear on the UHF knob when we'd spin it from 24 to 58...).
 
That smell was ozone from arching contacts.

We didn't get cable until the week before Mtv came out.
 
I don't have cable. My folks still do, not sure why.
 
I don't have cable. My folks still do, not sure why.

Inertia + stuff that's likely still on cable but a bitch to get otherwise.

I got my parents to go (largely) cable free for nearly a year now. There was some initial bitching but the cost saving is worth it and they've gotten used to catching up on Hulu and Netflix. The FiOS package they have still includes TV though, but local channels only. You also don't need cable boxes. 60 bucks contract free compared to 120+ a month is a nice difference for them, esp. since my Dad is relatively recently retired.

Personally I technically have cable, but only because it's included with my rent. It's Xfinity local...really wish I asked what the cable package was...as it's just local channels (and MD local channels because York), and not even in HD.

What kills me is that content is still so damn expensive, its like they WANT you to be on cable. I like crappy crime documentaries/shows on 2nd tier cable networks like Oxygen (Snapped), CNBC (American Greed) and Investigation Discovery (Who the (bleep) did I marry, Fatal Encounters, Fatal Vows, Etc.). These are a pain in the ass to find on the torrents, are a pain to find on YouTube, and they also aren't on Netflix or Amazon Prime and the stuff that IS on Hulu is limited in nature (never the entire season, only early seasons, etc.)

I'd be all for renting by the season for like 5 bucks...but that's not a option, oh no: Let's use Fatal Vows as a example.

Google: Purchase only -> 1.99 per episode, 22.99 for a full season
Amazon: Purchase only -> 1.99 per episode, 22.99 for a full season
Apple: Purchase only -> 1.99 per episode, 22.99 for a full season

Given the shitty TV that I watch, I'm essentially forced to hunt for episodes on YouTube to varying degrees of success or buy overpriced season packs on a streaming service. Getting through all 3 seasons of this show Netflix style is economically nonviable for most people, it's almost like they WANT you to go "I could get cable and X amount of other channels for this one show" and sign up for Xfinity instead.

Just out of curiosity...the cheapest Xfinity/Comcast package that includes Investigation Discovery in my area is "Digital Starter" for 50 bucks a month for a year not including the box, taxes, etc.

Playstation Vue has Investigation Discovery but that's only available in Philly. Still, it's only 50 bucks a month and that's all in...but you need to buy a PS3 minimum. That's 149 right there, at least that's a 1 time purchase though.

Sling TV doesn't offer it either.

EDIT: I think i found a workaround..it's still doesn't have everything though. :/

EDIT2: my sleep cycle is fucckkkked right now. Yesterday I ended up waking up at one then chilling in my bed until like 9 PM. It'll be 3 AM in a few minutes and I have to wake up relatively early tomorrow.
 
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Getting fucking tired of "sales" all the time on these online retailers. Starting about a year ago, I've not seen a "full" priced product on a website. If every day's a sale, is it really a sale?
 
Getting fucking tired of "sales" all the time on these online retailers. Starting about a year ago, I've not seen a "full" priced product on a website. If every day's a sale, is it really a sale?

Here in the states JCPenny tried to buck that trend with common sense pricing that was reasonably low (essentially their former sale prices) all year around, rather than jacking up prices only to "discount" them later. They would still give further discounted pricing on select items on the 1st and 3rd Friday of the month, when people typically get paid here + would do month long specials: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._C._...sent:_Rebranding.2C_decline.2C_and_turnaround


It failed miserably because their shoppers (the coupon clipping soccer mom demo) refused to believe that they weren't getting a good deal w/out the need for a coupon, store specific "cash/bucks" or a "*insert random semi-significant US day* sale" discount.

The result: the soccer moms were pissed that they didn't get coupons, JCPenny's arch rival, Kohls, made their insanely constant "kohls cash" and coupon sales even more constant, The guy in charge of the fair price scheme, Ron Johnson (former Apple retail exec), was sacked and the crazy coupon sales (with marginal overpricing otherwise) returned.

Tl;Dr: the sales are constant (and thus not really sales)because the average consumer is stupid yet wants to feel like they've done something tangible to "save" money when they haven't really done so in the first place.
 
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It should be pointed out that some of JCP's competition *doesn't* have such coupon/sale schemes per se. Part of the problem is that a lot of JCP's merchandise is things nobody under 50 wants.

Also, not so much of a recovery going on after their plan B following the 'one price' disaster was even worse.
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Score!

A couple of years ago while waiting on a job, I walked over to my workmates bus (who rarely gets out of the bus to walk around if he can help it), and almost right outside his door found $50. He was less than impressed. Serves him right, if he hadn't been so lazy it could have been his.
 
Random Thoughts....

I don't have a hangover but, holy crap. The coffee drive through speaker does not have to be that loud this early on a Sunday morning.
 
I don't have a hangover but, holy crap. The coffee drive through speaker does not have to be that loud this early on a Sunday morning.

I couldn't help but chuckle to myself picturing this scene.

"WOULD THAT BE DECAF?" :ROFL:
 
Its rainy and I don't feel like being at home.

Book+beer+people watching sounds like a good plan

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