NEVER JET HOT

I was looking at one of those newspaper comment threads, and I had to laugh when I read this about Wal*Mart. It's funny because it's true! "Walmart is one store I will never go in to again. Every time I have ever been in one, the employees and customers all seem to be like zombies. Slow moving, and at appears that someone has taken their brains out and eaten them. I don't like it."

Sometimes the quote thing at iGoogle pops up with a gem; "Rogues are preferable to imbeciles because they sometimes take a rest." - Alexandre Dumas ...but what about rogue imbeciles?

I want to get an MP3 player for my mom who is in her 80's... She has to be able to figure out the buttons, and they can't be horribly tiny like the Creative Labs MUVO I gave her a couple years ago. It will be streaming jazz, she likes all of stuff I plan to put on it, so searching for tracks won't be an issue. Is the Ipod the only good options? I listen to music on my Palm Tungsten at work, and a lot of people call THAT an ipod because I am listening to music on it. I suspect their brand name is going the way of the "Band-Aid" if Apple doesn't nip that in the bud. Any suggestions?

We changed to one of our cart vendor's extra-fancy whiz-bang store templates for our main novelty store at ThatRestlessMouse.com - One of my favorite features is that "You May Also Like" suggested other items box. We think you will like it too, at least subconsciously. Grokdotcom.com says; "Early-stage buyers, on the other hand, are still gathering relevant information with the intent of eventually making a decision. They're still task-oriented, but their task is to decide what to buy, or from whom to buy it, instead of actually buying it. What they come for is insight, and the more of that they find on your site, the more time they will spend with you." ... The downside is that we have to go through all of our over 300 items posted there and convert it to "WiKiTeXt" for "forward compatibility". So until we finish that, some items will have bunched-up text and possibly no picture except the thumbnail. We have also noted the problem wher...

We changed to one of our cart vendor's extra-fancy whiz-bang store templates for our main novelty store at ThatRestlessMouse.com - One of my favorite features is that "You May Also Like" suggested other items box. We think you will like it too, at least subconsciously. Grokdotcom.com says; "Early-stage buyers, on the other hand, are still gathering relevant information with the intent of eventually making a decision. They're still task-oriented, but their task is to decide what to buy — or from whom to buy it — instead of actually buying it. What they’ve come for is insight, and the more of that they find on your site, the more time they’ll spend with you." ... The downside is that we have to go through all of our over 300 items posted there and convert it to "WiKiTeXt" for "forward compatibility". So until we finish that, some items will have bunched-up text and possibly no picture except the thumbnail. We have also noted the problem wh...

Our sites often get hits from people looking for local novelty stores, I.E. "Novelty Stores Vancouver" or "Novelty Stores Peoria". Yes, I understand the appeal of visiting a bricks and mortar novelty store, esp. a huge one like Archie McPhee's in Seattle. That being said, much of what your local novelty store stocks is available on TheRestlessMouse.com, without the sales tax (except for 8% in Washington state), probably at a lower price, sure there is a shipping fee, but it's only $4.99 for standard shipping. So you have to wait a few days. Anticipation makes it more fun!

Just my opinion dept. I'm not buying into the "Groceries are so much cheaper here" myth. The new WinCo foods apparently is trying to give that impression. Cereal is shoved on the shelf in turned-over cases, with one box stood up for display, guess which box customers throw in their carts. I spent five minutes replacing display boxes until Teresa made me stop. The floors and lighting are purposely hideous. There is no muzak. It even smells funny, like something was spilled on aisle 9 but there was no one to call. Many items are packaged in completely illogical amounts. Who wants ten pounds of carrots? I'm not kidding, ten pounds! Even if they were priced the same as the other store's regular size bag, what am I going to do with ten pounds? Rabbits would follow me home. They even make you bag your own groceries! I've got a bit of advice; When people get wise to the fact that the prices aren't much cheaper than Safeway, they will avoid your store in d...

I recently switched one of our cars from getting oil changes at "Jiffy Lube" to "Oil Can Henry's" - the final straw was when I overheard the snotty lady who was managing the Jiffy Lube making a snarky comment about the dead bees in the back window (So I leave the windows rolled down. So sue me.) The new Oil Can Henry store in Smokey Point is run much more efficiently, although I don't care for the fact that there is no waiting room- They give you a free USA Today and you are trapped in your car for the whole procedure, of course it's the same as all oil change places, they will "recommend" various dubious procedures and manufacturer recommended changes of this and that, My Ford Exploder has almost 300 thousand miles on it, It's like a cut-rate aquarium under there (My seals are old and brittle) huh? nevermind... One thing I like about Oil Can Henry's is their costumes, I guess supposed to evoke the early days of automobiles, but it seem...

We had to adjust the shipping rates a bit as the USPS made an astronomical jump in rates. I tried to configure it so we continue our policy of just about breaking even on the shipping department overall, although rates are now so complex that we would spend our whole day figuring if we always charged actual rate, so some will end up paying a little extra, some will be paying less than it costs us to ship their package. But the exact amount you would pay is always displayed on the shopping cart screen at every step. For some reason it likes to display "Overseas" at first, you can of course use that drop-down menu to get to your preferred method. If I can't figure out how to change the default back to "best rate USA" I will get with my shopping cart service to help resolve that puzzling issue. The post office raised their package rates so high, I fully expect my carrier to be driving a new Chrysler 300 with spinner hubcaps and rich Corinthian leather appointment...

I was at Safeway just before midnight, there was a line of pathetic shlubs like me buying cards, flowers and mass-produced candy in fancy boxes. There was a guy at the card section poring over each one, trying to find the words that would make it all go well, me, I saw one with Snoopy on it, who doesn't love Snoopy? He gave me a dirty look. I also carved our initials in a newly poured sidewalk. (Well, pictures don't lie, do they?)

One of the most useful books I have purchased from a clearance site is Al Hoff's "Thrift Score" - All about buying more fun dreck at thrift stores, how to, what for, what to watch out for, etc. Plus bonus blurbs like this; Charley Lang of California glued 1170 completed [jigsaw] puzzles to the walls and ceilings of his house. He bought most of them at Goodwill. "They're 79 cents," he said, "but I get a dime off for being a senior citizen." That book was written in 1997 so it's only ten years old. If you have the opportunity, and you love thrift stores as we do (My son even works at one!) - I recommend picking that one up.