Given yesterday's back-and-forth with the house, I was surprised when the realtor called this morning and said now the owners said it was mine to pick again. Huh.
I'm going out there again tomorrow with the realtor, and I asked my aunt to come look at it too. But you know what? I kind of don't want the place anymore. I feel like the owners played a game of cupidity in instigating that little bidding war, and that I got pressured into offering a higher rent than was originally listed. So I'm thinking maybe I'll only take it at the original offer. I have the great luxury of being able to wait for the right place, not having to take whatever looks good first.
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Took my father to a doctor today; he got two antidepressant prescriptions. We went to Wal-Mart to get the scrips, because they're so cheap. I haven't stepped inside a Wal-Mart for years, both because of their unethical business practices and because I can afford better than the cheap crap they sell. Still, I guess it's nice that they finagle deals that benefit those with not much money. In this case.
While I was there, I saw this machine called Redbox that rented out DVDs for a dollar a day. That's exactly the type of business scheme that rakes the poorer consumer over the coals. It sounds good, but it's a rotten deal in the long run, just like most of the cheap unhealthy disposable dross Wal-Mart sells.
There's no late fees, the box proudly proclaims; no, you just get charged another dollar every day you don't give it back. So if you're a poor working mom and you get your kids a movie, and don't find the time to get back to Wal-Mart or McDonald's or outlet mall to return it immediately, that movie cost you $7 at the end of the week. And if you lose it, the machine charges you $25. Yay! Way to overcharge for your crappy DVD!
By the way, I read somewhere that something like 60% of union families shop at Wal-Mart. Given the facts, why? Why? Why are Americans so proudly hypocritical, uninformed, and ignorant of facts?
I got lost on the way to the store and on the way back, so the whole errand took three hours. I have a terrible sense of direction.
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And now, the Republican Horror Show Link of the Day. Here at Daily Kos, we see that McCain's negative ads are all Obama's fault. Republicans love throwing blame around. After all, it's still Clinton's fault the economy is this bad, right? Right?
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2 comments:
So, I'm partying on Friday night by kicking back with my "Prufrock and Other Poems," like one does, when what the fuck do I find but this:
"Polyphiloprogenitive
The sapient sutlers of the Lord
Drift across the window-panes.
In the begining was the Word."
Well, I'll be damned! Not that it clears anything up, or anything. But I like:
"Along the garden-wall the bees
With hairy bellies pass between
The staminate and pistilate,
Blest office of the epicene."
That's kind of sexy, in an I'm working on my post-doc in Literary Biology sort of way.
And now's the part where I say, just to keep things lively, I can't quite figure why you're so irked with the buck-a-day movie rental model. I don't think there's a length of time that a person could keep the DVD where it wouldn't end up costing less than either the standard rate, or the standard rate + fine, is there? And, the borrower is pretty much in control of the price. And, much as I'm all about single motherhood -- my sister's one, for instance -- should they get to hang on to stuff that isn't theirs, because they're busy?
I have always prided myself on being polyphiloprogenitive. Or at least a master of the subtle schools, controversial, polymath.
No, they shouldn't get to keep it forever. But the Netflix business model (which starts at $4.99 a month, I believe) is so much more cost effective. Hell, renting it for 3 days at Blockbuster for $3.99 is probably a better idea if, like most working stiffs with kids, you can't get back the next day. Mostly I just chafe at the way that some businesses push false economies (cheap sticker price, terrible bargain in the long run) to those who can least afford them.
Also, I didn't mention that those boxes offer only the newest, glossiest crap --- no older films, nothing even hinting of mental content. Yes, there's probably great truth to the market deciding that, but I do think that on the whole people (even poor people! wow!) would rather have at least the option of something other than Rob Schneider's latest direct-to-disc.
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