So, is Paris really going to Jail?

It's the subject of dinner conversation (until I change the subject) and the fodder of tabloids. Maybe if she really goes away we can worry about bringing home troops, melting icecaps and what's going on in Darfur.

Sony Repair - It's giving me despair.

Our Sony Cybershot W-5, purchased less than two years ago, is giving us woes. Spent about $300 on this nice little 5 megapixel point and shoot digital. It gets used frequently but not weekly. Kids have their own camera, i'm the primary photographer in the family. Hubby likes his Panasonic video cam.

The damn Sony's lens stopped retracting when turning the power off. This happened during a two-day trip to Disney...and it wasn't even subjected to Space Mountain or the Tower of Terror. I contacted Sony to get it fixed, they want $181 (plus shipping, insurance etc) just to open the camera up and look at it.

I sat and fiddled with it last night and finally, in exasperation, pushed the lens back in while turning it off and on, as instructed: http://www.fixya.com/support/t120057-lens_retract Thank God for Google. I entered " Sony Cybershot "lens won't retract" " and got the www.fixya.com site. Bravo to the posters there.

Now, how long do I trust it to keep working? I can't live with a $300 camera planned for obsolescence in two years. That's just plain wrong.

I'm a sucker for discount codes and coupons

I love a good bargain and give me a coupon code any day of the week and I'm
on your website like white on rice.

How some of the big retailers on line can offer such measly discounts is beyond me. So I thought I'd do a little comparison shopping.

Some friends are going to Alaska and British Columbia this summer, so for their anniversary I decided I'd buy a couple of tourbooks.

I thought I'd look at the following three titles:

Frommer's Alaska 2007 List Price:$19.99
The Lonely Planet $21.99
Alaska for Dummies $19.99 (I love those "Dummies" books - always right to the point and comprehensive).

I went to Barnes and Noble's website first. I was already on the AAA website getting free (for us as members) tourbooks and I noticed that AAA members get an additional 5% discount if you go to BN.com from the AAA site. The Barnes & Noble average discount was a measly 10%. Even adding the 5% AAA discount and the free shipping, this was simply NO BARGAIN.

I went to good ol' Amazon.com next. The average discount was 30% plus free shipping for
orders over $25. And no sales tax. Good deal.

Next, I Googled "Borders." It turns out, Borders Books & Music sells through Amazon.com, however, you can get on their email list and have coupons delivered to your email box periodically. There is one for 20% right on the website. Some of the ones they send are 30% but have a short window of use - like just a specific three or four days.

I wound up ordering through Amazon.com because the party is a week away and
I know I'll have the books in time. Had I been in a crunch, I'd have used
the Borders coupon and went to the local bricks and mortar store and bought
them there (and paid the sales tax).

FYI - If you don't need the most current edition, try Half.com They are affiliated with eBay and you can get some great deals. I've bought books listed as "good" or "very good" and they looked nearly perfect.

My garage sale went bust

My neighbors and I had a garage sale today. The weather was good and we thought the merchandise was interesting. Some kids stuff, CDs, bed linens, clothing, furniture, dishes... you know, the norm. The ad in both the newspaper and Craigslist called for 8am and of course the early birds started showing up at 7.

By 8am I made $20. By noon we made $60. It did not go well. The kids would not part with the stuff I made them clean out of their rooms. They are already back on the shelves.

If a brand new pair of pants with the $50 tag still on it is marked $5 why do people need feel the need to haggle at 8:15 in the morning? Is it to take advantage of my uncaffeinated state? Or should I have marked it $10 and taken 5?

Unless one is moving and has a lot of big stuff that they don't want to deal with, I'm now of the opinion it's better to donate to a local charity that will come and take it away for free. Take the tax deduction and feel good that someone who needs the cash more than me is going to make good use of the stuff. My time is to valuable.

The upside of the experience is my neighbors and I had a nice chat under a tree. The last time that happened we were suffering the aftermath of a hurricane.

IKEA is coming!

Sometime this summer, supposedly, IKEA is due to open in the already overly congested Sunrise area near the Sawgrass mall. I've already got my friends with SUVs targeted to take me.

I am so excited. I love IKEA. I buy their smaller stuff when visiting the in-laws up north and pack it in an extra suitcase brought just for that purpose. The kids need new desks for their rooms and I need a new table in the family room. Oh, and some meatballs for lunch.

The furniture isn't as durable as Ethan Allen or Thomasville, but it's not disposable either. If you buy it with the knowledge it's only good for five or ten years, it's worth it. Lots of goodies like throw rugs, CD organizers and laundry sorters are incredibly priced. And there is NOTHING in the world like their cool little organizing drawers and shelves. The same ones that cost three times the price at Pottery barn.

Years ago, their beds and picture frames came in European sizes so you'd have to buy special sheets and the posters from US museums wouldn't fit. I hope they've adjusted this stuff for the US market. I'm not planning on buying any beds or posters.

I happened to be crusing their website looking at the lamps. I have to buy two lamps, one for my daughter's room and one for my desk. I'm very disappointed with the selection. A number of years ago I changed almost all the light bulbs in the house to CFL (compact Fluorescents). The Ikea selection still require a lot of a halogen, which are hot and not energy efficient... neither of which are appealing to a house in Florida with kids who never remember to turn off the lights. So I think I'll just go to Target or Wal-Mart for the lamps.