Save Big Money

Allow me to share with you my method for saving big money on electronic stuff. I'm talking about TV's, cameras, sound equipment, small appliances and computers.


Many people are still wary of buying large dollar items over the internet. I can only suggest that they get over it already. There's a lot of money being left on the table if you ignore the net based options. There are a number of electronics retailers whose internet storefronts will allow you to keep a lot more dollars in your pocket while getting the gear that you want.

To begin, when you've determined what model you think you want, go examine it in person at Best Buy or whoever is still standing. There is no substitute for personal examination.

Then do a Google search, not for the item on sale, but for the internet forum or discussion group that is seeking, using or sounding off about the item that you want. It is here, in the group, that you'll find incredible amounts of information. Be forewarned that a substantial amount of the information is going to be backyard, over the fence gossip, from people who have nothing substantial to add to the discussion but apparently feel a need to express themselves. Don't be dismayed, as there always seems to be a nugget or two about performance from people who've already actually bought the item that you want and want to share their opinions. There are likely to be angry people expressing their distaste for the item and touting what they perceive to be a superior alternative. After you've waded through a couple of these sessions and confirmed what you're going to buy, you begin data mining for the big nugget. These discussion groups are constantly surfing for the best deal, and they offer up links to the sites that are offering items at a hot price.

I have used this method a few times, and the savings have been substantial. Beside the price difference, you'll want to find a free shipping offer (that can be worth a hundred or two) and free accessories (that can be worth a hundred or two, also).

Be alert to where your chosen deal originates. Buy from a retailer who doesn't have a store in your home state (I've generally found good fortune in New York) and avoid the sales tax. That alone is worth 8%-10% off your purchase.

Read the product description carefully! Some "too good to be true" deals are for refurbished items, and I've not been prepared to make that particular leap of faith. Yet.

I say "yet" because there's a different fiscal justification to which I've finally had to acclimate. Plan on five years or less until the item you so covet today becomes a recycled piece of crap. Five years is a little quick, but it will help you avoid depression if that's as far as it goes. The laptop on which I compose this stuff has been running mostly well for eight years or so, so that's a bonus item (knock wood).

Does this really work? The new TV arrived today. It was delivered to my driveway, free TV stand, free shipping, no sales tax, from a retailer in the NYC area. All in, about 30% under the best price we could find from a local store.

It's your money.

A Victory for American Manufacturing

Score one for the Americans, in this case the team at Ford. They've topped Toyota.

What's this, you say, it must be an anomoly. Nay, nay.

The Ford Fusion Hybrid has outperformed the Toyota Prius, the (until now) champion hybrid car. Since it's a foregone conclusion that gas prices won't stay under two bucks forever, the gas/electric pairing is going to be part of our future, sooner or later, and in these dreadful economic days, Ford is a ray of hope for the American future.

Who's made this wild declaration of American superiority, you may ask. USA Today said so, and then Car & Driver magazine did an extensive test and came to the same conclusion.

USA Today said": "OK, let's just get it out there: The 2010 Ford Fusion hybrid is the best gasoline-electric hybrid yet. What makes it best is a top-drawer blend of an already very good midsize sedan with the industry's smoothest, best-integrated gas-electric power system. It's so well-done that you have to look to the $107,000 Lexus LS 600h hybrid to come close."

Then Car & Driver put together a test group of the Toyota Camry hybrid, the Nissan Altima hybrid and the Ford Fusion hybrid. Their statement: "Ford has pulled off a game changer with this 2010 model, creating a high-mpg family hauler that's fun to drive. Nothing about the leather-lined test car, optioned up from its $27,995 base price to $32,555, seemed economy minded except for the mileage readings. On that score, the Fusion topped the others, turning in a 34-mpg score card for the overall 300-mile test run."

At the Pizza Planet, we buy Fusion twin Mercury Milans for part of our fleet vehicles. They''ve been reliable and durable and the drivers like them. Next time around, we'll probably try the hybrid models.

So there.

Today is for You, Donna Kiebawls

Today, a salute to our friend, Donna Kiebawls.

BTW, don't you think that Dion could have played Barney Fife?

The song -and this particular setting - is great fun. Dion did a terrible job lip synching, and from what might this set have been left over?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aub5Rp_hdBg

Yar! Now We're In the Pirate Business

The anti-pirate business, to be clear.

The pirates of the country of Somalia (whose tourism slogan is "Government-free since 1991"), who have reaped a bountiful harvest robbing ships and kidnapping the ships' crews, have some new boat pals to play with as the United States Navy is in the house.

By the way, Mr. and Ms.American taxpayer, can you hear the chorus of thank-you's from the nations whose cargo you are paying to protect? Anyway...

The 2008 numbers are in from the Pirate Statistics Bureau, Johnny Depp, President, and there were 49 ships hijacked last year and 889 crewmembers taken hostage. In response, the USA has sent warships, as have the navies of India, Britain, China, Russia, Saudi Arabia and South Korea.

I never imagined that Saudi Arabia had a navy, they having been blessed with such an abundance of sand. The vessel pictured here is a Saudi frigate, the Al Riyadh, that is one of three that the Royal Saudi Navy had built for them. Frigate, by the way, is an encompassing term that can refer to a variety of warships, so you may now confidently toss about nautical terms with your friends from the yacht club.

The week of January 22 appears to have been the kickoff of the '09 Pirate season (thanks to the NFL playoffs, we missed all the pre-season shows on ESPN Pirate Channel), as 22 ship attacks resulting in 3 hijackings have been recorded since then. Nice weather in the area was given credit for the early flurry of activity.

There ae some carry-over storylines from last season, too. The owners of the MV Faina paid a $3 million ransom to get their Ukranian crew released after four months. Oh, yes, lest we be misled into thinking there was an overriding humanitarian motive, the ransom also secured the return of the cargo: 33 Russian tanks and crates of small arms that were headed for Kenya.

The Russian navy has a fun toy in the area: the nuclear powered heavy missile cruiser Peter the Great. The ship had "detained" ten pirates in an action the other day. If the contemporary Russian definition of detained is similar to the old Russian definition of detained, the detainees won't be a problem for quite some time.

I have detected a hint of the problem in the language that is being used to describe these police actions taken in response to the pirates. There are words of" arrests", people are "detained", they are "held for questioning", etc.

I propose that all the joint naval forces agree that the new course of action, as commissioned by PFOS, American Blogger, is that heretofore all Somalia pirates or scumbags who look like Somali pirates or any dumbass who wanders into the area with his rocket launcher that he uses for recreational purposes, all of those people be blown right off the face of the planet. The winning navy, the one with the most confirmed pirate eradications each year, gets a handsome gift pack at the World Anti-Pirate Banquet that will be held in Champaign, Illinois, the weekend after the state high school football championships.

It's such a feel good story, eh?

Friday the 13th

So which is the worse, the Friday part or the 13 part?


I'm referring to the legend of the unlucky on Friday the 13th. It is an apparently recent superstition, as these things go, having its origins in the 19th century, when somebody linked up unlucky 13 and unfortunate Friday.

Friday is definitely the weaker in terms of negative vibes. This may be that it's worn out, as we have one every week, a Friday that is.

BTW, my dog when I was a little kid was a cocker spaniel named Friday. There is no connection, just sayin'.



So Friday has been negative connotations, e.g. the day of the crucifixtion, the day of the arrest of the Templars, the day of the stock market crash. Friday has a lot of things going for it, too. It's Stop For a Drink After Work Day, Start the Weekend Day, First Day of the Baseball Homestand Day, Day to Call In Sick and Have a Long Weekend Day, Get Out Early and Head for the Lake Day, and some others which I invite you to submit.


Thirteen, on the other hand, has some issues, generally stemming from the fact that 13 isn't 12. Twelve is "completeness": 12 months, 12 hours, 12 Days of Christmas, 12 Signs of the Zodiac, 1212 is when this missive posts each day, 12 apostles and some other 12 stuff that's good and wholesome and remind me, please, of what I've missed.

So, 13 is shunned because it's irregular. Clearly a case of number discrimination. 13 is a prime number, too, always a troublesome thing, and the multiplication tables that kids don't learn anymore stop at 12, so there's another anti 13 bias. Builders often skip numbering the 13th floor, furthering the superstition. The Munsters lived at 1313 Mockingbird Lane.


The fear of 13 is triskaidekaphobia.

There is one verified Friday the 13th problem. Writing up a bunch of facts, and having no punchline or big finish.

That is all.