Blockbuster should make a business out of going out of Business

Two stores nearby are closing. One had today as their "first day of clearance" and MAN prices were all higher for USED stuff than new at Amazon!

The other is done February 19th and are trying their hardest to keep prices stupidly high. The only perk to that store is they are selling blockbuster by mail disks:

This was one of those cases where I went last week to check it out, decided disks without cases were lame but the internet convinced me otherwise. They were $2.99/1, 3/$6.00, 5/$7.50. As you can tell the blu-rays disks were the same price.

Buying meds with coupons

I saw this linked on a deals site: http://www.internetdrugcoupons.com/

I didn't have insurance for about twenty years so I know how expensive some of that stuff can be. This is a huge list of links to coupons for various drugs. They also have a link to create your own discount drug card for free. I put one of these on file at Walgreens about five years ago and when I needed some meds last summer it was still active and saved me about 40%. I also used it after lasik to buy those expensive eye drops that kept me from going blind but I don't remember how much it saved that time.

While couponing has certainly taken off in the past few years most people remain cynical of using it for medication. If you don't have a drug prescription plan, what is the harm in printing this card and putting it on file the next time you go by? The worst thing they can say is they don't accept this plan and that seems to happen with "real" insurance plans all the time anyway (trust me, I worked in a doctor's office for a few months a while ago).

Silence for my Sony

Even though I knew our time was over back in October I finally closed my Sony card a few minutes ago. First there were little rewards to cash out, then purchases yielded more rewards and I bought a Sony holiday gift but finally....

I just had to make the call and do it.

It was one of my easiest closings ever. I said the new rewards program was terrible, the customer service rep said she understood and it was done. It took longer to get to the prompts than to close the card.

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I've been using a Discover More card as my primary card for a few months and am pleased with it. Over the holidays they were giving 10% back at Depot and Lowes so I saved a nice chunk of change on my Black Friday purchases. I applied the credit to my statement but had the option to cash them in for higher value at different stores or even transfer them to your bank account as cash.

Most stores have $25 gift cards for $20 in rewards or $50 for $45 (I agree, this is stupid math)  but the travel options are pretty awesome. Sandals Resorts, Alamo Car Rental, Universal Orlando Resorts and others let you cash in $20 in rewards for $40 or $40 for $80. Carnival Cruise Lines lets you trade $40 for $80, $60 for $120, $100 for $200!

There wasn't a sign up bonus when I came on-board but I am still happy with my credit card decision. I still carry my MasterCard but no one has turned down the Discover yet :)

Kinda makes me interested in makeup



Lady look like a dude

Remember a few weeks ago when everyone was talking about that woman who used makeup to make herself look just like Drake?

I didn't go look because Drake's music annoys me and if one more person tells me he was on a Canadian show I will deport THEM to Canada! If the most interesting thing a singer has done is be Canadian how good can he be?

She swapped ethnicities!

Anyway I saw this picture on facebook and it linked to the same girl's facebook page. How crazy is that? She went from being super normal, I saw her at the bus stop to JLo!

I didn't realize she'd done so many looks:

Her head is even as oversized as its supposed to be!

This is just awesome.

I wonder if Kanye would apologize to her?

"Transformers needs me" Pfffft!

She does video tutorials for a lot of her looks here: http://www.youtube.com/user/dope2111

In other news

Why is the empty glass the only one with a napkin?

Does anyone who doesn't live on an HGTV sound stage light candles? I keep being tempted by these gorgeous labras and numis but the last time I burned a candle was in early December when I wanted to get a nice "I burn candles for fun" vibe going on my Christmas display.

(Side note: Waiting for a candle to burn to the perfect height is not fun and will not be repeated by me!)

Look at this clever idea for cord management from this month's Martha Stewart Living!

They suggest cutting holes into plywood for cords and fitting the piece into the back of a shelf - creating a faux wall. My only concern would be heat buildup in a small space as chargers are all about heat. This could be easily replicated using sturdy cardboard covered in cloth or wrapping paper.

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I came into work at 9am this morning - extremely painful since its one of my favorite Snore Times. I forgot early office mornings are so non-productive! We chatted about Resident Evil, various ways of changing some routine stuff and tried to figure out where the paper we ordered was wrongly shipped to. Plus look - its 11:30am and I've already caught up on work and am now blogging!

I feel badly for people who normally come in that early but are just as productive as me with my normal noon start time. Its such a waste (albeit a paid waste).

Happy Chinese New Year / Blue Monday

Sad blue dragon is sad

Today is Blue Monday, supposedly the most depressing day of the year.

"The date, a relatively new phenomenon, was determined by Dr. Cliff Arnall in 2005. He used a formula that factored in holiday debts, the hour of sundown, cold gray weather, the amount of time since Christmas had passed and despondence over failing to keep New Year's resolutions." Source

In slightly cheerier news, today is the chinese new year! This is a year of the dragon so red (MY FAVORITE COLOR) and water (MY FAVORITE ELEMENT) are going to be everywhere! Its a drizzly day and I will be going home soon to celebrate with chinese food.

Whether your day is half full or half empty - enjoy it!

Fandom: A Continuation

I downloaded Dead Reckoning and am beyond impressed by the narration. The tv actress Sookie is ridiculously annoying but this lady has just the right amount of southern accent. Its been years since I listened to an audio book as a sequel to a print novel and was pleased by how many more details I picked up.

When I read I skim over the boring details but when I listen I catch them all.

I was super pleased to find Eric and Sookie's foretold separation are merely vamp convention; which will probably be resolved in the next book. I was less pleased to note a lot of story telling disparity. I think this writer planned a trilogy and anything beyond that is just being spun on the wind. When "long kept secrets" are revealed they often don't jive with timelines in other books.

I don't know if this is bad writing or the characters are lying to each other but its happened enough times for me to stop suspending disbelief.

Annoying but I keep reading. I figure her target audience are tweeners so I can't let my 33 year old self get overly critical :)