Your link to Northwest Indiana. tm
Your link to Northwest Indiana. tm |
|
| [sidebar.htm] |
Power Shopping The Winter Olympics are officially over! Thomas has not given up on his ‘golden dream’ of having Power Shopping recognized as an Olympic sport…it is only a matter of time. Who would have thought…Snowboarding would ever have gotten this far? And can we talk sportsmanship? I was ashamed at how some of these ‘so-called’ athletes behaved before, during, and after their event…especially that Italian ice dancing couple! The International Olympic Committee should have banned them from the ice rink and revoked their Italian citizenship. Thomas would have ‘b#t*%-slapped her in front of millions of spectators then sent her packing to…Siberia! Which brings me back to Power Shopping. The IOC won’t recognize Power Shopping as a sport, but they allowed the Olympics to be tarnished by ‘drug testing discrepancies’, ‘feuding’, and ‘cold-stares’. Thomas would never display such unsavory behavior if Power Shopping were added to the list of competitions. [Now, stop your laughing…I am being serious!] What is that, you say? You have me ‘caught-on-tape’ exhibiting ‘questionable’ Power Shopping behavior? Dang those hidden video security cameras! Shopping Ritual and Etiquette Lesson 51: Pursuing A Cheap Flight! Spring Break is at the end of March and Thomas needs a vacation before he ‘takes-a-life’! Since I had such a relaxing time in Los Angeles last year (aside from that whole car break-in incident on Rodeo Drive), I decided to go visit my niece and nephew again. Thomas spent the better part of two weeks Power Shopping for an airline bargain. Guess what? There aren’t any! Oh sure, a person can save a few bucks by taking the ‘red-eye’ from Chicago to Los Angeles. Did I mention that the flight leaves …at 1:00AM…on a Tuesday Night? OH, yeah… you also have to take out the garbage from the previous flight AND help wash and wax the airplane! Thomas has been saving up ‘frequent flyer’ miles for years. I have over 60,000 frequent flyer miles with United Airlines and nearly 75,000 with American Airlines. Since it only take 25,000 to get a free domestic flight, Thomas decided to ‘cash in’ a few miles. First I went to the American Airlines website, punched in the dates I wanted to go, then went to checkout through the awards program division. Simple, right? Wrong! There was only one flight, near the dates that I wanted, that I could use my miles on. I would have had to depart 3 days before I wished and return 6 days later than I planned. Oh, yeah…I also would have had to wash all of those little windows on a 747 jet! So I went to the United Airlines website and punched in the information. The flight itinerary was worse than American Airline’s plus I would have been on ‘lavatory duty’! So instead of using flyer miles, I decided to purchase a flight. Last year, I paid $193 for a round trip to LA from Chicago. I figured since gas is so high, that the flights would be ‘slightly’ higher. Try American Airlines @ $1,100 and United Airlines at $1,200! Thomas wanted to purchase a flight, not the entire airlines!! So I decided to go another route in my pursuit of a cheaper ticket. I have used Travelocity, Orbitz, PriceLine, and Expedia in the past. I have had the most luck with Orbitz, so I started with them. I went to their website and punched in the dates and time that I was considering. A number of terrific deals popped up. I narrowed the field to 3-nonstop flight choices, all at $254 each, and singled out the one with the best departure time. [I should mention now that 2 of those flights were the same United Airlines flights that UA wanted $1,200 for]Thinking I finally had found a bargain, I continued to final checkout. NO BARGAIN! There was a ‘price adjustment’ and the $254 flight was now… $789. And I would have had to help load and unload the luggage! I then went to Expedia…same story…$254 until final checkout of $789. Travelocity was even higher…$998. And I would have had to share a seat with a female mud wrestler named “Big Mamma”! Everyone knows that Thomas loves a shopping challenge, so I spent the next 3 days surfing the Internet in pursuit of a flight bargain. Well after midnight of day 3, Thomas finally found a bargain on Orbitz…roundtrip Chicago to Los Angeles with a layover in Las Vegas for $300. But there is a catch…no peanuts…no food…no in-flight bathroom privileges! Next, Thomas has to make a hotel reservation and rent a car. Back to the Internet! And now… DON’T DOUBT THOMAS! THINK LIGHTBULBS! I know that light bulbs are not glamorous, but everyone needs light bulbs, including Thomas. Meijer [nationwide] has a deal on their own brand…3 4-pk for $2.00. You have a choice of 40, 60, 75, or 100 watts. THINK FURNITURE BY THOMASVILLE! Target [nationwide] has a line of furniture, by Renovations, a division of Thomasville Furniture. On sale this week is the Heirloom collection. Choose from a side table at $112, a chest at $220, an armoire at $240, and an audio pier at $130. THINK 1-GB COMPUTER JUMP DRIVE! OfficeMax [nationwide] has a 1-GB JumpDrive Secure, by Lexar, for $39.99 after $30 rebates. THINK STORAGE SHELVES! Plan on doing some Spring Cleaning? Need some shelves for storage? Menard’s [nationwide] has a 5-shelf kit, by Rubbermaid, on sale. The 36-inch x 72-inch x 18-inch charcoal resin is only $24.88 after rebate. There is a limit of 2 kits per household. THINK LAWNMOWERS! It is time to start gearing up for spring and summer lawn care. Need a new lawnmower? Sears [worldwide] has a Craftsman front-wheel propelled, rear-bag mower on sale for $259.99. Sears has mowers as low as $139.99. THINK ALL LEATHER SOFAS! Ashley Furniture Industries [nationwide] has a ‘special purchase’ on all leather sofas…$599. The matching loveseat is on $579. There is a variety of colors to choose from. Now, about those hotel reservations… Motel 6, in Los Angeles, is only $53.99 per night. Their tagline states: “ We will leave the lights on for you”. Sounds like a ‘deal’! Thomas |
|||