Kitties, Marketing, and Economic Puzzlements

Today is the day I become the kind of person who talks about her cat on her "frequently updated website." Stanley, the cat I brought back with me from France was sick yesterday so we brought him to the veterinary hospital. The worst thing a doctor can say is, "well something is wrong but I don't know what it is!" That means two things: it could be bad, and it could cost you money.

Luckily, after giving the cat three kinds of medicine, and IV fluids, and x-rays, and blood work, and more medical attention than I've had in two years combined (I need health insurance, srsly), he seems to be doing better!

In other news, back to the macaroni and cheese taste testing: I ventured out to the big super market and intended to purchase comparable products for a true taste test. I have no idea how many varieties there were of boxed pasta with powered cheese product. Additionally, and to my great horror, I did not pick the famous Kraft variety as I thought I did, but the store-brand who's packaging is identical for (very effective) marketing purposes. Needless to say, the taste test is postponed until I acquire the "control" for the macaroni and cheese "clinical trials."

Lastly, I went to an Old Navy today and they were selling flip-flops for $1.00 in order to get people into the store. (For you economics geeks, this is known as a loss-leader, and is used to bring people into the store to purchase other things at an inflated price). There were possibly 200 people in line, at a maximum of 5 pairs of shoes per person. What was bizarre was that almost NO ONE had additional products. everyone had their five pairs of shoes, and that was it.

I tried to take a photo on my phone, but my phone is three years old and therefore... let's go with "not so good anymore"... but I hope the image ALMOST captures the feel of what was going on: 10 check out lines, 200 people, each with 5 pairs of shoes, no sales tax. And since it was 11 AM, all the good colors were gone. All that was left was black, brown and white.

Perhaps if the sale wasn't during a recession people would have ventured into the other sections of the store? Feel free to comment and help me figure it out.

Thanks for reading and best regards,
Alya

Russian phone calls

I heard a noise this morning that drew me out of my sleep. I couldn't quite place it. It was as if someone was trying to contact me...

My father called from Russia and as a result I woke up to every phone in the house making this annoying ringing sound. I was under the assumption they didn't do that until about 9:30 or so.

Of course, no one ever calls me on the house phone so I never pick it up. I assume if you are calling between 9:30 am (when phones turn on) and 4:30 pm you are a telemarketer, and if you call after that, you're looking for my mother or a donation. No one calls me on the house phone, I have a cell phone, and no one I know even knows my home phone number.

But if you call at half past six in the morning, you have a problem. So I get out of bed, go downstairs and get the phone (yeah, it's THAT loud). I am so tired and out of it my entire conversation with my father, while my mom is on the phone, basically was the following:

me: Hello? Who is this and why am I awake?
mom: You don't have to be awake. (burn)
me: But I am. What are you selling. I don't want any.
dad: It's your father.
mom: Where are you standing?
me: ...what...
mom: Where are you standing?
me: Up.
mom: In the house? Where in the house?
me: At the top of the stairs to my part of the house.
dad: How did you get a phone?
me: I went downstairs
mom: Okay well it's just dad so go back to bed.
me: I thought you were a time-zone confused telemarketer.
dad: I'm not.
me: Good.
mom: I don't remember putting a phone up there.
me: Bye dad.
Click.

No...seriously? Is this my family?

Is it just me or does it seem like from this conversation alone, not only have I been relegated to the top floor of the house, but they also have attempted to cut me off from humanity? They both seemed SHOCKED at my ability to acquire a telephonic device at 6:30 in the morning.

And thing of it is, I'm really just thinking about this, and dwelling on it like a high school kid, because I don't want to think about how Adam Lambert was robbed of his idol crown last night. I've said it on Facebook, and I'll say it again: His not winning Idol is a blessing because now he can shape is own career and he won't have to sing "no boundaries", which is a HORRIBLE song. Plus, whoever that kid who won was... will be forgotten in no time.

Yeah, this might end up being that kind of blog. But you were hoping for that, weren't you. You're so cynical, Dearest Reader.

Thanks for reading and best regards,
Alya