Sunday, August 23, 2009

Dinosaur Train

Proof that the people behind PBS Kids are evil geniuses. Dinosaurs and trains? Together in one show? I can only imagine how much money we'll be spending on licensed merchandise from this cash cow, er, "educational programming."

Monday, August 3, 2009

Why I love Prime

So, after nine years, Tommy's lawn mower needs replacing. The new model which is the "replacement" for our old Black & Decker cordless is, by most accounts, inferior to the version we have, so we did some comparison shopping and decided to buy the Neuton 6.3. Decision made, I navigate to the Amazon page. As a Prime member, I have two One-Click options: 2-day shipping by Thursday for free or 1-day shipping for arrival Wednesday for $3.99.

I pause. It's not that we really need the thing by Wednesday instead of Thursday. Lawn-mowing is for the weekend, after all. But this is an over-70-pound box. And they're offering to overnight it. For $3.99.

I actually went to the UPS website to check the cost of overnight shipment for such a heavy package. It's almost $300. They're offering me $300 worth of shipping for four bucks. Is there any way I'm not taking them up on this deal?

So, feeling very Marie Antoinette-ish, I chose one-day shipping. Now I sit back imagining an oversized box being rushed out of the warehouse and loaded on an airplane, winging its way toward me along with much more urgent items going to people who have paid many more dollars for the privilege. It's an insane bit of unnecessary luxury, and it's so much fun!

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