Monday, November 30, 2009

Overheard at Fort Meade, MD

Actually... "intercepted by Ft. Meade" would be more descriptive.  From a private communication this morning:
So... you know what pisses me off?  Last year I bought Bobby (ed: that would be SN3) the "Planet Earth" DVDs from the Discovery store for either XMas or his birthday, I forget which.  It was just around the time the DVDs hit the market and I paid something like $79.00 for 'em.  So I get this screaming (e-mail) "ONE DAY ONLY CYBER MONDAY SALE!" from Discovery this morning and guess what?

"Planet Earth:  $19.95"

Makes me wanna firebomb the bastards.
The last bit is true.  Acting on my feelings is an entirely different ball o' wax, however.

14 comments:

  1. Understood. I just purchased a Marlin .30-30 and paid 499 for new rifle, scope and sling. Nice rifle, and all that.

    Ten days later, Gander has Thanksgiving ad showing same weapon for 340.00.

    Oh well, this is how the Man keeps us all down, right?

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  2. So far, similar occurences for me on every single Christmas present I've bought. Here I thought I was being all organized by buying early.... foiled again.

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  3. Darryl sez: Oh well, this is how the Man keeps us all down, right?

    Capitalism. Gotta love it. My correspondent had no sympathy for me, saying that was the price I had to pay for being "first in." And he's right. I STILL wanna firebomb 'em, though.

    Staci: I'll be doing my shopping after this month's credit card bill closes, LOL! But I WILL be "on time."

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  4. Ok, so what you're saying is you paid FULL price for something? You didn't get it on sale? You didn't have a coupon? Didn't order it online and get free shipping or any percentage off?

    Wow, you must be rich or . . . I'll go with wow, you must be rich!

    (I'm teasing you. Sometimes I do feel like oh, the heck with it, just buy the damn thing, but then I know if I just hang on, sale/coupon/what-ev-er will happen!! I'm pretty much a die-hard shopper.)

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  5. It's a BBC series, Discovery only co own part of the rights. I could have got that for you for a LOT less! Likewise if you want the latest one "Life" let me know. It was beautiful.

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  6. Oh Gawd, can I ever relate to this. Just this Black Friday we flipped open a circular and we saw a Cuisinart coffee maker for $79...the ad won't say if it grinds the beans or not. As you know, we have another model that grinds the beans at a preset time, and it's been listing at $99 forever.

    The rational move would be to say "Well, it's $20 and we bought that thing six years ago, we're happy with it, so we don't give a fig whether this one grinds the beans or not." That would make SENSE.

    And yet...I keep on trying to find out. Just so I know how mad I'm supposed to get.

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  7. That's why I love gift cards. They are always the same price and it's up to the people I give them to, to monitor the sales.

    I jest.

    The only gift I care about this year is the one I'm getting for The Oracle. He thinks our iMAC is our mutual gift to each other - and it is - but that's not all there will be.

    He's getting a Remington 1100 (or 1187) 12 gauge shotgun. I'm hoping to score it this weekend. I know approximately what I'm going to spend and it will be worth every penny.

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  8. Kath sez: I'm pretty much a die-hard shopper.

    Being typically male, I'm a die-hard BUYER. The only things I've ever really shopped for are houses and cars. And I still seemed to leave money on the table...

    Alison: "Life" hasn't run here, yet. AFAIK. But I'm sure Discovery/BBC made a TON of money on "Planet Earth." I bitch about the price I paid vs. what I'd pay now, but the feedback I got on the gift made it all worthwhile.

    Morgan: I hear ya. I usually take the opposite approach, in that I DON'T wanna know. Saves a lil bit of my sanity.

    Kris: The Oracle is a lucky dude. In more ways than one.

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  9. "Our" Christmas (note: NOT holiday) present to each other is a humongous 40" TV. But we don't have your self control, Buck. It will be installed and running late this week. What is more amazing, our bill from Comcast will come down when we sign up for a six month (renewable) package of HD broadcast shows. About $20. And we'll get about 30 more channels than we originally had. Big business leaves me wondering if it doesn't degenerate as it grows.
    Anyway, Merry Christmas, Buck. Lift one for me, too.

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  10. Cat: You'll LOVE HD! And I hope your selection of Comcast HD channels in better in ABQ than what it is here in this back-water...

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  11. HD here to me other than nature programmes is all a bit meh. Its not all that different to our old format. It makes a massive difference to your TV. When we used to watch your shows here they were notable for the slightly fuzzy retro feel they had to them. It makes a huge difference to your programmes now. But I kind of miss that if Im honest. It was American TV that retro look. It felt different. You knew immediately it was an American show! Now its all the same. Odd thing to notice but its true.

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  12. Ali: You guys use PAL, right? The system is superior to the US NTSC standard, which is what our old lo-def transmission uses. But I find I'm almost ALWAYS watching HD these days... even for the news. It's much better than our old system.

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  13. That's what it is. Thanks. We use Pal and HD now. I only notice a major difference when its sports or nature.

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  14. Robert has enjoyed those DVDs over and over. He loves them.

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Just be polite... that's all I ask.