Boxing Day Sales

I'm all for Boxing Day. If you can challenge the lineups, sure, get the deals and come home a happy camper. But there should be a rule that it's ALL on sale, not just some stuff. As it is, it's not on all sale. So, you get to the store, see something, ask how much, and, alas, not on sale...but you buy it anyways, because it's not going on sale: it's Boxing Day, for crying-out-loud. If it's not on sale now, who knows when it will be!

Enter Boxing Week. Yes, a whole week, dedicated to sales that DIDN'T occur on Boxing DAY, when the masses come out and anything that was bought at regular price on Boxing Day is now ON SALE! Did I not learn this lesson years ago? Did I not get taught this valuable lesson before? How could I have reached this point in my life and not be annoyed by this enough to learn my lesson?

Ok, I'm actually only down $25, what I can tell. It could be more, but I'm basing this on two items. Yeah, two, give me a break....isn't it the principle?

And you know the only logical thing to do is, right? Go right down there, buy the items I purchased and return them back. If you haven't done it before, don't knock it until you do. Sure, I'll probably waste my time is several lineups, but, again, it's the principle.

I'm going to have to remember next year NOT to buy anything at regular price. Maybe that's the one thing I forget each year....hmmm....I'll have to work on that one.

Christmas.....bah, humbug?

Merry Christmas, everyone! Ok, it's actually the end of Boxing Day, but it's still Christmas season.

Shopping was brutal this year. I mean it, I am DEFINITELY going to have to start shopping for everyone come January for the next Christmas in 2008! I can't do any of this last minute business again! But actually, it's not the shopping that really kills me, is the lack of preparation. You see, shopping would be sooo much easier if I had a plan. Yes, a plan. If I think someone needs, say, a hair dryer, bam, I go get one and strike that name off the list. But can I plan? Can I decide what to get people first instead of wandering up and down aisles hoping that the perfect gift will just jump off the shelf and scream "Pick me!"?

So most of my gifts this year were more of the "this will do" variety. A little thought being infused in the gift, a six-degrees-of-separation connection was made between my favourite people and the inanimate objects that spoke out to me from the shelves, and almost everyone got a gift. There's always someone you forgot to think of, and it hits you square in the forehead. Flick! Ouch! I actually have a couple people I forgot...maybe more, but I don't want to think of who else I missed.

What sucked this year most is that I didn't have absolutely knock-out gifts for everyone. I like to think I do each year. I did end up giving my dad exactly what he wanted (a leather case for the GPS he bought a couple of weeks ago --- how could I not? He kept on telling me that he saw it at Best Buy but it was $50 so he didn't get it). The only "wow" thing I could think of getting my husband was a universal remote control. Yeah, I know, talk about a sucky gift! It wasn't even one of those Logitech computerized remotes that can do practically anything (I don't doubt it could even flush your toilet for you...). Nope, it was just a simple device, and it's not like we needed another remote to add to the 5 or 6 we already have. I was actually hoping that this remote would help solve the volume control problem we've been having with the other two remotes...it's been almost a couple of years, and I still hate having to get up and adjust the volume on the TV set. It was a hint, I guess, to my husband to get that volume issue fixed. Subtle?

But what I really should have gotten for him, if I bit the bullet, was Guitar Hero III. He has become absolutely obsessed with this game in the past couple of days, having played it on my dad's Wii and spending a few bonding hours with his friends last night on a PS2. I was thinking of getting it for him, but I didn't know if it was worth investing in PS2 accessories when Wii, XBox and PS3 are so popular these days.

Like in many previous years, my dad and I trudge over to an electronics store to spend our Boxing Day morning. Getting on in years, we haven't gotten around to attacking any 6am lineups. We walked through the doors almost 5 hours later, only to find that many of the things we were secretly hoping were still available were, obviously, gone. We made a pact to come again next year and see if we could bring home something decent with us.

Browsing around the store, I come across a Guitar Hero III bundle for PS2. It's not on sale, there's a pile in the corner, and another pile at the end of the aisle. Hmm.....should I call my husband?

I could hear a shrill of delight as he casually says, "It's your decision if you buy it". Hmm....yeah, right. But how could I deny his inner child?

I brought it home for him and his thankful eyes and shy grin was thanks enough for me. As we speak, he set up a TV in the garage and is jamming away at the guitar while he and his friends also play some rounds of poker. He says they're having way too much fun; I think most of them are there for the guitar and not the poker.

I'm returning the remote control the second I have the chance to do it. I figure that I may still get that volume control fixed anyways. After all, my Guitar Hero out in the garage thinks I'm a pretty cool wife, and I'm not beyond using a little a bribery to get what I want.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Shopping & Politics

I FINALLY started my Christmas shopping today! Yay! I actually hit Metrotown, probably the busiest mall at anytime of the year. But I did something smart! I hit only one store and stayed there for 2.5 hours, browsing around and picking up some books for the kids I need to buy for.

One thing, though, I did shop at Chapters, and I couldn't remember why I shouldn't have. After the fact, now, I do (after a little research). Not so smart, after all: principal shareholders of Chapters support Israel Apartheid in the Middle East by financing "lone soldiers" who wish to serve in the Israeli military without having any actual family in Israel. Palestinian civilians, including children, have died at the hands of the Israeli military, driven out of their homes, and thousands remain in captivity. These shareholders have managed to influence Canadian policy on the Israeli war.

Now, I don't pretend to know the whole story. I am a victim of self-centred egoism, worrying only of my current needs, what I should've needed in the past and and what I really need to happen in my future. The world is so much bigger than myself, but "Current Events" actually turns out to be History, because, frankly, I couldn't care less, so I thought. That does need to change. For me, the term Current Events has always meant Social Studies from high school, and since it was never my strength, I've come to alienate myself from it. My mere action of switching stations while the World news is on TV indicates my subconscious fear of war, military regimes, and murder; to ignore the issue should be deemed unethical.

So does this mean the presents I have under my tree will ultimately fund the gun, the bullet, that will cause the untimely death of a Palestinian, perhaps a child? I shudder to think, extrapolations and impossible algorithms aside. Yes, I've contributed to the consumerism of the Holiday Season without any ethical guidance. Will I return the presents? No...they're wrapped (my practicality is blunt, sorry). Whether it's a sin or not, it was an unknowing sin, and although I don't claim to be eternally righteous, nor am I wicked. My sins are not deceptive or habitual, and I repent often (already fulfilling my Advent obligation just a couple of days ago through the Sacrament of Reconciliation, being a practicing Catholic).

Don't barrage me on making Christmas political. Remember, I'm the self-confessed egoist. I'm simply expanding my emotional attachment to all things mistletoe and Baby Jesus and making sense of it all. Perhaps by reassessing my place in the world and how I belong, I may come out a changed person. And change really is good....right?

Identity Theft

So it finally happens....I become an official victim of identity theft.

I got a call Sunday afternoon from a Visa rep from my bank saying they wished to discuss the recent transaction actiivity on my card and to call them 24/7 when I receive the message. Well, it snowed something wonderful on Sunday and I was busy building a snowman with Gabe, so I didn't actually have time to look at my phone until the early evening and notice the voice mail.

So these criminals (I say plural, since in my overrun imagination, there's a circle of thiefs infiltrating through hundreds or thousands of fake credit cards in the province alone, never mind the nation) went on a $1400 spending spree on my card in the previous 2-3 days. A couple of grocery stores, Linens N Things, Canadian Tire, and obviously some gas purchases (since they were driving throughout the Metro to buy all these things!).

Good thing my bank is on top of this. $1400 is really unusual spending for me, well, at least in one weekend. Perhaps if it were one major purchase, then maybe it wouldn't have been flagged. Maybe it was the $1 purchase at the Chevron that tipped them off (they say thieves try the card at the gas station self serve to try the validity of the card). I wonder what was bought....I mean, the almost-$500 at Canadian Tire would be awesome for Christmas gift giving! And I wonder if they bought some tasty Malibu with the $200 at the liquor store? I mean, really, if they wasted it on something like sambuca, I'd be terribly disappointed. And Linens N Things...I hope they were at least decent sheets they bought, with at least 220-thread count. If not, they're the ones that got ripped off.

So the card is cancelled and I cut up the card I had in my wallet (yes, I had the card, so they actually duplicated the whole darn thing for their use!). I'll be getting another card at the bank on Friday, but I'm wary on using it at all for the Christmas Holiday shopping. I guess it's a cash-only Christmas. A very Charlie Brown christmas, indeed. Sorry, Family!