Shopping

December 24, 2009

Christmas Shopping 2009

Looks like the online shopping is completed for Christmas 2009. Any last minute shopping will be done at the local malls or other shopping areas. At the Natick Collections, it has been really busy. The traffic around the mall is terrible and there are some issues with getting a parking space.

Best advice if you are going to the Natick Collection is to park near JCPenny. There's plenty of parking on the basement level and its easy to get out of the mall back on to the Mass Pike or Route 9.

Here are some good last minute stocking stuffer ideas:

• Lottery Scratch Tickets
• Purell Hand Sanitizers
• Gum
• AA Rechargeable Batteries
• Bath and Body Works have great sample sizes
• Small Yankee Candle Jar
• USB Thumb Drive

October 30, 2009

Wii Sales

Last Christmas you couldn't find a Wii any place. Stores weren't able to keep inventory of them for even a day. On Ebay, people were selling Wii's for $500, and were getting multiple bids!

This year it might be much easier to find a Wii, according to this Wall Street Journal Story:

Nintendo Co. said Friday it was caught off guard by how quickly the market for its Wii videogame machine slowed down and estimated that it would take some time for the home console to regain its momentum.

We got a Wii last year and its a fun machine. We don't use it that much, no real reason. We have plenty of games to play with, there's no real game that we feel that we have to play with all the time. It makes great fun with company is over and people are looking for things to do.

October 16, 2009

Books for Christmas this year

Looks like the Christmas 2009 is going to get a little nasty:

Wal-Mart launches a price war with Amazon.com, putting 10 hotly-anticipated new books online for just $10 each. Amazon then matched the price, after which Wal-Mart fired back by dropping prices to $9. Wal-Mart is also selling 200 bestsellers at a 50% discount. Combined with Google's move into ebooks yesterday, Amazon now finds itself under a two-prong assault.

October 13, 2009

Subaru Rust

If you are looking at buying a used Subaru Impreza, you should be aware that some of them rust very easily. This is probably more true for cars that are driven in the North East and North West. (I don't know how many people in the South West need to have all wheel drive.)

Take a look at the photo taken of the left rear tire. You can see some of the rust appearing between a couple of panels. The problem is that during a winter storm sand can build up between the panels and over time can cause rust.

Make sure that you look at the rear panels very carefully. If there is any signs of chip or rust, chances are that the rust and chip will get bigger.

September 01, 2009

Sony Camera

I am looking around the internet for some accessory for my Sony DCR-TRV720. Its an old video camera and there's not much out there. The camera works great and I am looking forward to taking it on my trip to the west coast.

I recall there use to be a camera shop on Hollywood Boulevard that use to sell all sort of lens for the Sony DCR-TRV720. I purchased a really cool fish-eye lens there.