Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Retailers Running Scared

Today's paper has the headline,"Stores Offer Steep Discounts To Lure Skittish Shoppers." I can attest to that after my husband's trip to buy a new winter jacket yesterday. Trying to get him to buy any new clothes in the first place calls for a major campaign, but the fact that he failed to find an acceptable replacement for his old jacket last year gave me some added ammunition in getting him to shop early for one this year.

So I had cut out the big full page Macy's ad for 50% off all men's winter jackets and taped it to our kitchen phone last Sunday. When he picked me up from work yesterday, he gleefully told me how he had bought a new jacket for one-third the original price! I was immediately suspicious that, being a clueless shopper, he had been suckered into buying a total reject jacket. But when we got home and he showed me a what appeared to be a stunning Calvin Klein black leather jacket, I was speechless!

In addition to the 50% off from the original price of $240 (which I thought was low for Calvin Klein and leather, but I postponed my skeptical comments), the sales clerk told him that there was an additional one-day $100 promotion on that jacket. On top of that, my husband had noticed signs in the store saying that Macy's cardholders could get an additional 20% off any purchase during the sale. He didn't have his old card with him, but asked if he could still get that discount too. Well, I had cancelled our credit card account there when Marshall Field's changed to Macy's some years ago - but that didn't matter! The clerk checked to see if they had records of our account, pronounced it still available, and gave him another $20 off. So the final bill was $80 plus tax!

An additional happy surprise was that, after he tried it on for me and duly accepted my compliments on his choice, we looked at the fabric label and discovered it is NOT leather! That explains the original low price, but not how they can make polyester look just exactly like weathered black leather. I was really fooled! This jacket is completely washable - do not dry clean - ha ha ha ha ha!

So, I have new repect for my husband's shopping abilities and bargaining smarts - and a realization that if you need to buy ANYTHING, do it now! Forget waiting until the after Christmas sales at 75% off - the stores are doing that now. Doesn't that make you wonder what their profit margin is on a $240 jacket - like $200!!! Sigh.

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Elder Brother



I'm the oldest in my family of 7 siblings, and I've read my share of "birth order" studies, but I never expected to learn something about my position in the family from a book called The Prodigal God (see side bar). The author quotes a line from Wise Blood by Flannery O'Connor (one of my favorite writers), "...there was a deep, black wordless conviction in him that the way to avoid Jesus was to avoid sin."

The elder brother has an attitude toward parents/society/God that has him saying, in effect, "Since I am obedient and respectful, you owe me. I am my own savior." This conformist has allowed herself a certain superiority. Much to think about.

Friday, November 14, 2008

Amazing Recipe: 3 Ingredients + 3 Minutes!

I just finished reading the cookbook, The Food You Crave, by Ellie Krieger. I found a half dozen recipes worth copying, but one was perfect: Maple-Glazed Walnuts. I made some for a friend who gave me a ride to a weekend seminar. We ate them there, and when several people asked, I was able to rattle off the recipe without looking - so simple!

2 cups walnut halves (no chopping!)
1/3 cup maple syrup
1/8 t. salt

Cook walnuts, salt, and maple syrup in a heavy skillet over med. high heat for about 3 minutes, stirring constantly, until the syrup bubbles and is almost all absorbed by the nuts. Turn out onto some waxed paper, breaking up any clumps. Cool and serve or store in an air-tight container. Eat as is, or sprinkle on salads, mashed sweet potatoes, etc. This has Christmas gift written all over it!

Monday, November 10, 2008

Cellphone Guilt

A week or so ago, I watched as my daughter set her cellphone to wake her up the next morning and decided to learn how to do that with my phone. Once again, I forgot how to get to "Tools" and had to find my little phone handbook (buried under a stack of Stuff To Do in my bedroom) to figure out how to do it. In the course of all this, I realized I had 17 messages waiting for me on the phone. When I finally figured out where I wrote down my password, I was able to listen to stuff starting from last January! Two from Aunt M.E. - forgive me!

My penance is:
5 Hail Marys (with my password on the end) every day.
Learn how to send text messages and send one to my son every week.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Electioneering - Up Close and Personal

Got up in the dark at 5 am today to post signs and station myself at the polling place for my precinct. I had volunteered to take the 6-9 am shift there to encourage people to vote in favor of calling a new constitutional convention in Illinois. (See my previous post.) Luckily, it is warm (70s) and sunny today - and I only had to run back down the block once for a bathroom break!

Despite the predictions of long lines to vote on Election Day, there was only a slow but steady trickle of voters in the morning. Most voters only nodded when I made my pitch, but a few told me they were definitely going to vote Yes. A few said, "No way," but that's no surprise since my precinct has a lot of teachers, police and fire fighters - all of whom were told by their unions to vote against it. They're afraid that a new Con-Con would be used to cut their pensions - not true! Only one guy wanted to talk about it - AFTER he voted. When he asked me why I was in favor of a new Con-Con, I began my talking points (I had done my reading!) and he wanted to debate them, but some of his neighbors came out and he got distracted. End of debate. At any rate, most people were nice even if they figured out ways to avoid walking by me so I couldn't hand them a voting card. I still called after them anyway.

The big surprise? There were NO other poll watchers or electioneers standing around with me within our legal space limits. Where were the Republicans and the Democrats?? They're always there at every other election! They must have decided Illinois was a done deal. I thought I would have to fight for my fair share of the lawn space for signs, and outshout the other guys when voters came by, but this was a cakewalk. Our cause is a longshot, but the great weather today and lack of "distractions" at the polling place have given us our best chance.