When you’re overcome with frustration, embrace it. Be grateful for the ability to simply acknowledge.
1% back on my airfare August 12, 2008
i just booked my tickets for vacation through expedia. one thing i have learned more recently is that you can almost always find a coupon or get money back when shopping online. so as i was about hit ‘purchase’ i realized that i needed to go out and find my deal. after less than 2 minutes of searching, i was able to secure 1% cash back on my purchase (not much, but hey, it’s something!).
so i’ve captured a few tips for saving when shopping online:
- Always do a Google/Yahoo! search for deals before making your purchase. I do a simple search on [merchant] or [product] + coupon, deal, offer
- Check to see if there are any cash back rebates for your purchase. You can go directly to Fat Wallet or Ebates, or do an internet search like above. Microsoft Live now incorporates cash back into their search results now too.
- Some deal sites have RSS feeds, so if you have regular purchases from a particular merchant or buy a particular product all the time, you can be notified of deals.
Happy shopping (and saving)!
Sweat Sessions July 21, 2008
It’s funny how the traffic at the gyms flows based on location. I am used to frequenting gyms on my way home from work. I’d leave work by car (typically from SV), get on the road and make it to the gym in either at Portrero or in Colma/Daily City around 6:30 or so. Recently I have started work downtown….at a bank….which means I leave work around 4:30/5:00 (saweet!) Today I head to the gym with a big smile on my face thinking I was going to slide right through before the high-traffic sweat sessions commenced. Much to my surprise….I arrive to a jam-packed body bustling workout frenzy. *Every* machine was taken! I mean what’s the deal with people who work downtown? It’s like they live in a totally different corporate world from us ‘valley commuters’ who leave at 7a and return home at 7p…if we’re lucky. i digress.
so here i am, gym clothes on, seriously thinking about throwing in the towel and heading home. Had it not been for the package of peanut M&Ms….AND the vending machine vanilla madness cookies, i really would have. so instead i try to salvage whatever B-side machine left that will raise my heart rate above sleeping.
so I here I find myself on the stationary bike that only allows you to use your arms. yes, that’s right – you grab a hold of one handle in each hand and pedal with your arms while you sit lazily in a chair. It’s true, I felt like someone should be propping the pillow behind me and bringing me my meds. After ‘pedaling’ rigorously for 20 minutes and seeing that I had only burned…80 calories! I gave up and found the next empty left-over options – the rowing machine.
I strap my feet down and grab a hold of the handle (oars). Pushing off with my feet, I take one big pull on the handle, only to practically fly off the end of the track with so much momentum. After doing this a few more times, I turn the resistance as high as it will go. Easy as pie. Now i *know* those professionals I see on TV rolling look much stronger than me. They certainly don’t look like they’re barely working and board on the water! I am really starting to believe this is 24 Hour Fitness’ way to make us all feel better about ourselves.
So….off to the next equally amusing machine.
My final attempt was a the stair machine. The way this ‘works’ is that it is actually a set of ’stairs’ that rotate so that as one stair folds under the machine another appears at the top (think Farris wheel for stairs). Here are all the reasons why I fail at this machine
- The stairs are black. They did not think to put a piece of colored stripping at the edge of each stair so you can tell where the stairs are (after a while I become dizzy looking at the stairs appearing and everything looks like a big black hole)
- The stairs are not deep enough for my entire foot (size 10). Therefore, I find my toe gets caught in the stair’s hinge causing me to trip up the stairs (which I cannot recover from because it’s a dizzy black hole when i look down).
- Speaking of tripping, there’s no easy way to save yourself if you screw up for at least two reasons.
- 1. there is no way to jump to the side of the stairs (i.e., to put your feet) if you need to stop quickly. you must simply fall off the staircase (how embarrassing)
- 2. the buttons to make the stairs go faster/slower is in a very inconvenient place on the interface. The buttons themselves are flat and require a lot of pressure to activate. These two together require a lot of attention – again causing me to trip up the stairs.
So….I have decided that going to the gym at rush hour is just asking to look stupid. Or maybe i just am for spending so much time on this silly post!
One Shoe. One Bag. Zero Life. July 14, 2008
I have had this obsession lately with shopping at Ross and Marshall’s. I am not sure what it is, but there’s something almost meditative about being surrounded by so much chaos. I mean it’s not like these are particularly nice places to just hang out. You could compare it to trying to find your contact in a wet sauna. You’ll be extremely excited if and when you find it, but you know once you find it, it might be too dirty or gross to wear again.
I go to these discount stores for only 3 things. Activewear (Nike and Adidas are very cheap), shoes, and bags. Today I found what was almost the perfect shoe. I mean it almost had a halo floating around it when I picked it up. But the key here is the word ’shoe’ – singular. The sister shoe was no where to be found. I looked everywhere. I looked and I looked. knelt down. Went down aisles that weren’t even my size. And then I stopped for a moment when I realized – I’ve been looking for this damn shoe for 1/2 hour.
Then I realized, this was beyond Meditative. This was stupid.
So…I didn’t buy the shoes and I high-tailed it home, checked the crock pot dish, then laid down on the couch for a nap. When I awoke I realized, I had no life.
Am I reaching the end of the [Face]book? July 8, 2008
I find myself not as interested in Facebook these days. I’ve had an interesting relationship with FB. First getting to know it, but not really understanding it [read: value?!] As any social application, critical mass of friends is key. As my friends started to get into FB, I also found myself getting more use out of it. Mainly to see what others I know are doing. But then it’s as if my friend enthusiasm curve is leveling out. i am beyond the days of adding masses of people (I connect with about 1 – 2 new people a week). But the excitement of new people has subsided.
There is the idea of using FB to follow brands/objects (become a fan), joining groups (get email updates), find events, etc. However FB has yet to be the app that replaces all of my existing tools/processes for this.
Sooo….. am I getting to the end of the book? Could there be something more exciting out there (likely) – maybe in a different genre?
I almost want to jump to the last page!
ah…and here i am. July 7, 2008
I took on double duty dinner making tonight throwing together a chili crock pot dish for mon/tues dinner while fixing the usual pasta with marinara for the Sunday night dinner in front of the Simpons (rerun!)
I am now exhausted, full up, and happily geeking out on any entertainment my computer provides me while lounging on the couch.
Life Online Begins Again July 6, 2008
Today, I begin blogging. Again. As it goes, I have a few blogs started out there, though I’ve been terrible at maintaining them regularly.
I recently began a new work-related project. This has led me to meet some very cool people like Evany and Annie. Both are very smart, creative, and talented women – both bloggers. They’ve inspired to start a new blog.
At last, I begin again my personal journey online. I am sure there will be (alot of) slow times for postigs and then there will be the days of numerous rants (really?!). So let’s just see where it all goes…..
