What does a $55 mystery box get you?

So about two weeks ago, I was surfing a few of my favorite deal sites and stumbled on the Stootsi Smorgasbord on Stootsi. One of their offers was interesting - a Platinum Box for $50. Fidy bucks is kind of steep for not knowing what you are buying, but it came with a "no sadness guarantee" - if you buy it, open it, and has a sad, you have 3 days to return it and get your money back. I figured it was worth a gamble.

They had shipping issues, and I didn't get mine until yesterday.

this is what I got

-APC Game Manager surge protector/ game storage device
-SMC wireless video streaming device
-SMC usb to powerline networking adapter
-Nike iPod sport armband (for Nano and Shuffle)
-JBL reference 410 headphones
-Monster subwoofer cable
-Sonic Impact portable speaker (sadly, it's pink)
-Sonic Impact CD case speaker
-Just A Drop poop odor eraser

So I decided to keep it. There isn't anything in there I want/need, although I'll probably keep the headphones as a spare. I have a hamfest, and I'm going to bring most of the stuff with me - I figure if I sell a few items, I should be close to breaking even. If I ship it back, I'm guessing I would eat shipping both ways, and I'd probably lose more than reselling it. But we'll see.

I'm not sure I would buy another one of these - reselling can be hassle, and I've got a ton of inventory I need to move/liquidate. $50 is kind of on the high side for buying random stuff.

Scenes from work, I've never seen one that small edition...

mad anthony: Darn it, where did I put my thumb drive? Oh, it's in my pocket.

coworker: Oh, and I thought you were just happy to see me.

mad anthony: yup, it's probably about the size of a thumb drive.

Scenes from work, nice legs edition...

Coworker: So you want me to pick you up anything?

mad anthony: no thanks.

coworker: That's right, you're trying to keep up your girlish figure.

student worker (joking): He does have some pretty nice legs.

mad anthony: Gee, I was hoping those hours on the Precor would pay off, but that isn't what I had in mind.

Evidently, "they" are at war with me...

I don't usually watch CNN, or a whole lot of cable news besides my weekly half-hour of The WSJ Editorial report (what can I say, Kim Strassel is hawt). But I finally made it to the gym yesterday, and they happened to have the TV in front of the elliptical tuned to CNN, where Lou Dobbs was informing us about the war on the middle class.

This is evidenly his meme, and the subject of a book I've never read by him.

There is often criticism of the fact that the term "war" is often thrown around in situations where it doesn't apply - the War on Drugs or the War on Terrorism, where the fight is against something that probably will never be defeated.

I haven't really followed Dobbs, but the stuff he was reporting on - foreign direct investment, airline surcharges on soldier's checked baggage - didn't really strike me as up there with Russians in Georgia. Does the government and businesses sometimes do things that leaves the middle-class worse off? Yes. Are they at war with the middle class? No.

For years, the press has been eagerly awaiting bad economic times, because bad news sells news. Now that things have slowed down, they are finding plenty of people who were worse off than they were before - a finance board I skim has a running joke of CNN's real American heros, people who are worse off - although many are due at least in part to poor decisions or planning on their part.

So how is mad anthony doing economically? My guess is pretty similar to a lot of people - not as well as I was a year or two ago, not as well as I wish to be doing, but nowhere near a bread line or eviction/foreclosure. I probably owe more than I could sell my house for, which sucks in that I can't make any drastic life changes like moving across country - but from a day to day perspective, doesn't affect my life. And it's not like I'm entitled to 50% gains in housing prices, although it is kind of depressing that by the time I was old enough to buy a house, it was the worst time to buy... and I bought anyway. Gas prices and higher food prices mean I'm not saving as much I would like, but I'm not pawning my stereo or running up massive credit card debt either. The biggest, umm, hit, to my finances - paying for the car I hit - is the biggest reason I don't have as much money as I'd like to. Luckily, because I work in a non-cyclical industry - higher education - it doesn't really affect me, and thanks to poor planning and staffing, I'm getting a ton of overtime.

So I don't feel like I'm being fired upon. And I seem to fit most of the definitions of middle class (PDF).

I'm going to be very tired very soon...

So I think I'll be getting a total of about 8 hours of sleep this weekend.

Well, maybe not quite. But it's going to be a hellish weekend.

I'm at work right now at our grad center, filling in for someone who is on vacation. It's super-slow, because we only have one class in session, and it's a low-maintenance class at that. That isn't to say I'm doing nothing, though - since I knew it was going to be slow, I dragged four laptops with me from main campus - 3 macbooks needing about a year's worth of updates on Mac and Windows Bootcamp, plus an IBM that needs a complete restore, so those are running updates while I type this post. I arguably didn't have to take them with me, and could probably have gotten more overtime if I'd done them some other time, but it's gotten to the point where I've got more work that needs to get done than I do time to work overtime.

Tomorrow I have a Hamfest in Westminster. I'm hoping to sell some stuff and get some much-needed money, as well as get rid of some crap. That's at 6am in Westminster, so I need to be out the door around 5am. I'm supposed to be at work tomorrow at 1pm to try to get some more machines set up - I've got 3 more laptops and a pile of desktops sitting at my desk. The idea is that this is the kind of stuff that I can get done without users being around, so I can do the actual installs and the like when they are.

I'm already tired - I had to be here at 7:30, and I didn't get to sleep until after 1am last night - I was packing and pricing stuff for Hamfest. I have some errands and church tonight, so I probably won't get home until 6:30 or so, after which I need to load the truck, eat dinner, finish pricing/signs/packing for tomorrow, and still get to bed early enough to be up around 4am, so I don't have bsom on my door at 5am calling my cell to wake me up.

I have more equipment coming in this week to set up. I've already promised some friends I'd hang out on Monday, so I can only put in an hour or two then. I'd hate to miss my Wednesday night auction, but I guess every other night is fair game. Normally work just cuts into my leisure time, but at some point it's going to start bumping into the few social events I have, and that's when I need to start making some hard choices.

Actually, that's not even totally true. I've already been horrible about making it to the gym - in the last week, I went one day - and my pants are letting me know this. This wasn't due entirely to work - my older brother was down here visiting early this week, which killed Monday and Tuesday night, and my weekly auction was Wednesday. Yesterday was the only day I went, and only because I passed up a chance to go with bsom to see our old landlord.

I hate having to give up my gym time - it's one of the few things I've generally been good about following through on, and losing weight has been one of the few things where I haven't been a total failure at. I've had other periods in the past I've been bad about the gym, and the limited summer hours don't help - at least once school starts, I can work a few hours overtime and still go, instead of having them be closed by then. Still, if I ever want to attract women, or at least not die at 55, I need to get more than 1 90-minute workout a week. My hope for the summer was to lose 10 pounds - instead, I've probably gained 15, which makes it all that harder once I start getting back to exercise and not eating dinner at Dunkin' Donuts

Things I could probably get easier than another cat from a shelter...

Every now and then, when I have free time to kill and an internet connection, I find myself on PetFinder.com, browsing available pussy...cats. I've long been considering getting a second cat to keep Nibbler, my 1-year-old black domestic shorthair company while I'm away at work. And I'm always amazed what steps animal shelters make people go through to adopt cats. Most have an interview and an application, and a home visit. One of the shelters had the application online, and it included 3 references, employer, and a number of questions, including "where will the cat sleep at night?" (the first thing that came to my mind is "where ever she wants to").

That makes me think that there are probably a number of things I could aquire more easily than a shelter cat, including:

- a subprime mortgage, at least prior to 2007
- a handgun, even in the state of MD
- a car


It also reminds me of a post from Megan McCardle a few months back with an interesting quote from David Friedman about his experiences attempting to adopt kittens. His observation was that shelter employees seemed like they would rather see animals put to death than risk them going to an inappropriate home. His view was that it was because it made employees feel important. I'm not sure about this - as one commenter pointed out, it may be more because they think they are doing good. But it's hard to imagine that a cat is worse off being declawed or left at home most of the day than killed. And I've heard a lot of anecdotes - although I don't know how true they are - that shelters are dealing with a large influx of pets from people who were foreclosed on or are otherwise facing financial troubles and can't keep up pet care costs.

Either way, it seems that cats and dogs are probably being put to sleep rather than with "marginal" owners that they would be better off with, and that strikes me as sad, if not tragic. I have talked to a friend who adopted two cats, and she did say that the requirements are sometimes more for show than anything else - that they often don't actually perform home visits or the like. But still, anything that discourages someone from starting the adoption process seems like a bad idea.

Nibbler kind of fell into my lap (and promptly fell asleep). She needed a home, and I decided to give her one I probably never would have seriously considered adopting a cat if not for her, but if I had tried to through an agency I think I might well have been rejected for lack of experience and not being home enough. I'm probably not the world's best cat-parent - I'm not home that much and I probably don't give her enough attention. Still, she's fed, cared for, and petted, and I think she's better off that way than on the streets or dead.

When I was rented my last apartment, my landlord told me he didn't bother getting references, because anyone could find a couple people willing to lie for them. Instead, he preferred to get a security deposit and first and last month's rent. Most shelters charge a non-nominal fee to adopt, and that probably weeds out some of the less serious adopters. I feel that the overly rigorous adoption procedures are probably doing more harm than good, and people and animals are worse off because of it.

A problem that bites....

Sometime soon, I'm probably going to have to break down and do something I've been putting off for years. Something both expensive and painful.

I'm talking about a visit to the dentist. One that's probably going to be painful, expensive, and otherwise suck.

I've been neglecting my teeth for years. When I was in college, I went to a dentist, and he did some drilling to fill a few minor cavities. I guess I have a low tolerance for pain, and when he did the other side, he decided it was causing too much pain to finish. So instead of drilling all the way and filling it with metal, he filled it with some temporary stuff and told me I should eventually get it done under anesthesia.

I went back a year or two later, he said there were some minor cavities but nothing major, but I should get them taken care of eventually.

I didn't. That was probably 4 years ago. Since then, the teeth on the side he filled in temporarily have started to get a ton of cavities - if I look in the bathroom mirror and open my mouth, I can see small brown holes. And once in a while, it starts hurting. Usually, if I wait long enough, it stops. It's been flaring up again the last few days, and hurting worse than it did before.

It doesn't help that in addition to not really being a big fan of doctors or dentists, I'm a bit of a hypochondriac. So I have ailments that may or may not exist that I worry about, but don't seek help for. I mentioned my tooth dilemnas to bsom, and he commented that if it gets infected, it could go septic, give me a blood infection, and kill me. Ever since then, I've started wondering if I have a fever - my forehead does feel kind of warm. If I do, it's probably more from allergies or a sinus infection or the hellish amount of work I have to do and the lack of sleep.

I'm hoping I can get by without too much pain or dying for the next month or so - we're busy at work, and I hate to take time off, especially for something that's my own fault for putting off so long. But at some point, I'm going to need to find a dentist, and this will probably cost me a fortune.

If I'm not dead by then. If I am, please feed the cat for me.

Happy birthday to me...

So it's my birthday. On August 11, 1980, at 2:06pm, madanthony came out the womb. And it's pretty much been downhill from there.

The older I get, the more I hate birthdays. Celebrating them is counterintuitive to me. Whether you think when we die is preordained or completely up to us, the fact is that we will only be on this earth for a certain amount of time, and a birthday is just a reminder that we're a year closer to when the time on our earth ends.

I'm 28 today. The average male lifespan is 75.2 years, which means that over 1/3 of my life is already gone - and that doesn't even take into account my shitty driving or love of bacon.

So I'm over 1/3 done with life, and I'm not happy with where I am. Without this turning into another post about how unhappy I am with certain aspects of my life, and how I feel like I'm trying to change those things but can't figure out how, I had hoped when I was younger that things would be different and better in a lot of ways than they are now.

Sure, you don't get fired for taking days off, but still...

I've mentioned my reluctance to take days off, and have gotten feedback - both from people in the meatspace and in the comments of the blog - that "you don't get fired for taking days off".

That's probably true. Few people are told their reason for termination is that they used their vacation days.

But that doesn't mean that using vacation time is a good idea, at least in my situation.

First of all, there are certain things at work that are my responsibility, and that if I don't do, don't get done. That means when I'm out, those things pile up. It also means that if I'm not around to do them, end users get angry because they aren't done, and when they complain, it will be me and my failure to do them that they will be complaining about. Having people complain about you is never good for your career.

Secondly, success at work is often about being at the right place at the right time - being the person who solves a tricky problem, who pacifies an angry end user, who gets something done. If I'm not at work, I might miss those opportunities.

Also, if I'm not at work, that means my coworkers need to pick up the slack, to do my job for me in addition to their own. That's not really fair to them, and how is it going to help me career wise to make them mad at me?

Then there is the opposite problem - if I don't go to work, and things work perfectly well, management can start to think that they don't really need me, since things work fine without me.

There are very few opportunities to move up where I work, and I don't feel like I have enough transferable skills to go elsewhere. When positions open up, a number of qualified experienced people apply for them. Doing anything to hurt my chances competing against said people is foolish.

Right now, I'm having trouble getting everything I need to get done finished. If I can't get everything done when I come to work every day, how would I get it done if I wasn't at work?

This isn't to say I never take vacation days - I've taken a few. With a few exceptions, though, I generally try to take them around holidays where work is closed, because lots of other people take those days off and there isn't a whole lot of work to do, since most of our end users are also off.

Ford's strange small pickup avoidance...

Ford has decided to shelve it's plans to build the Ford F-100, a 9/10th scale version of the F-150 pickup. Instead, they will dump money into more fuel efficient power plants for the F-150.

I think the F-100 was a bad idea - it wasn't small enough to make a difference. But I'm not sure more fuel-efficient big trucks are the answer either (and it will be interesting to see how GM's hybrid Escalade and Tahoe sell).

Now, I'm a little biased on this. I own a 2006 Ford Ranger, the little pickup that Ford has tried it's damndest to get people to not buy. They haven't seriously updated it since 1993, they never advertise it, most dealers only keep 1 or 2 in stock, and the interior lacks such basic accoutrements as decent cupholders or a mirror on the driver's side sun visor. Yet Ford has managed to sell nearly 30,000 of them in the first 4 months of 2008.

Any time a thread about the pickup market gets posted on various car blogs, people mourn the loss of vehicles like the Ranger. There seem to be a lot of people like me - people who want a cheap truck that they can haul things in when necessary, but don't need the size/price of a bigger truck. A smaller truck like the Ranger is also useful for people who don't want the added bulk of a full-sized truck. The Ranger doesn't get great gas mileage, but it's better than a full-sized truck. Yet Ford hasn't updated the Ranger, will probably kill it soon, and doesn't seem to be interested in bringing in the Thailand-built version it sells in other parts of the world.

Yes, I know car makers are smart and do lots of research. I know that designing and building new models, or even modifying them for US sales, is expensive and time-consuming. Maybe they do know something I don't. But it seems to me like there is a market for small trucks, and that if anything that market is poised to grow, as people want the ability to haul stuff when necessary but have to trade off against $4 gas. It seems like a niche that the right company could fill. The small pickup market might not be as large as crossover SUV's (a category in which Ford has managed to have 3 entries - the Flex, the Edge, and the Taurus X) or full-sized pickups, but there is a lot less competition as well, and a company with the right product could own the market. Ford doesn't seem to want to be that company, and I'm guessing at some point some other company will.

Is retiring early unpatriotic?

A coworker of mine recently sent me this article from msn claiming that retiring early is unpatriotic.

My first reaction was to fire off a joke response that personally, I thought it was unpatriotic of my boss to not retire now. I've long joked that I want him to retire so I would have a shot at his job - although in reality I probably won't get it even when he does retire, as I don't really have the people skills that the job requires.

But from a serious perspective, I think the claim of the article is silly - that because older workers who retire earlier are taking out of social security instead of putting in, they are contributing to it's collapse.

I've never been a big fan of social security - I think people should be allowed to make their own choices about retirement, and it annoys me that money gets taken out of my paycheck that I could be investing much more profitably than social security - and also that if I die young, that I can't pass that money on like I could with a retirement account (assuming I ever have someone to pass it on to, but even if I die spouseless/childless, I've got a cat who needs to be taken care of...)

But I really don't like the idea of creating government programs to solve a need, like social security, and then asking or requiring people to change their behavior to meet the need. I feel the same way about people who want to ban big macs or smoking because of the health care costs born by the government.

Aside from that, though, I don't think old people in the workplace is the blessing the author claims. While I don't think that the economy is a zero-sum game, where no new jobs or wealth are ever created, there is also not an infinite amount of jobs, and at times - especially during recession or unemployment - a person who doesn't retire is keeping someone else - probably a younger person - out of a job. It also means that younger people don't have the opportunities for advancement, the chances to gain skills/experience, and companies with lots of older workers may suffer because younger employees don't see a career path for them if the older workers don't move out of the way.

The fact is, retirement is a personal decision. My parents chose different paths - my mom retired at 62 when the mortgage bank she worked at got bought out and moved operations, laying her off - she couldn't see going out and finding a job knowing she would only be there for 3 years. My dad, on the other hand, is still working, and probably will continue to do so at least until he hits 70 - he likes his job, has been there long enough to have enough vacation time to do things he needs to do or enjoys, and he figures having a few years of income extra will help when he does retire. And people should base their retirement decisions on those factors, not on what msn writers see as patriotic.

I wish I could figure out how to talk to girls...

Yesterday was the employee picnic where I work - pretty much everyone from the non-academic side of campus gets together, eats crabs and meat, drinks beer, sits around and talks, attempts to play sports, and otherwise gets paid for doing something other than work.

So there's a woman in another department I know from working on her computer. Cute, bubbly, and according to her facebook page, recently single. At some point during the picnic, I'm standing next to her talking to her. And that's when I realize I really can't think of a whole lot to say. We make small talk for a while about the basic - where did you grow up, where do you live, ect - but eventually she drifts off to talk to someone else.

Why am I so lame? Why am I so boring? Why can I never figure out what it is that I need to say to people - well, especially to single women? How come I can fill pages of a blog with things to say, and have it at least be interesting enough that a small number of people - some of whom I've never met in the meatspace - voluntarily read it - but I can't figure out what to say to living, breathing people.

Maybe I just haven't met the right person, and that I just haven't found someone I really click with. There are a handful of people I can think of who I can seem to carry on conversations with, who laugh at my lame jokes. But they tend to be the people who everyone likes, who have lots of friends, who get along with everyone. It's probably more them than it is me.

Of course, what it probably comes down to is that I don't really like myself all that much. I'm not sure I'd want to talk to me, so it's pretty hard for me to figure out what anyone else would want to know about me.

Maybe I'll buy an old man car...

So I've been thinking about cars lately, as I often tend to do. I currently drive a two-year-old Ford Ranger. I think I'll probably hang onto it for a few more years - it's been fine reliability-wise, it's paid off, and it's already taken most of the hit depreciation-wise. Gas mileage has been around 16-20 depending on how much city vs. local driving I do, which isn't great, but isn't Hummer bad either.

But I'm a bit of a car guy. I'm always thinking about what my next car is going to be, even though - because I'm also cheap - I can't really bring myself to buy a new car unless the old one is getting expensive enough to keep running to justify it's replacement.

My original thought on cars was to keep the Ranger, but to buy a used, second, smaller, sportier car - probably a convertible - to use most of the time, and use the Ranger for snow or when I need to haul stuff, like Hamfests.

But of late, I've had another idea - trade in the Ranger for a gently-used, old-man car. You know, like a Grand Marquis, Town Car, or DeVille.

Looking at some used car websites, these cars go cheap used - they depreciate heavily, because evidently there isn't a huge resale market for old-man cars. They usually have low mileage and have been taken care of and driven slowly, probably with their left turn signal on the whole time. They have comfy leather seats, and one of my favorite features - automatic climate control. One of my pet peeves in the winter is fiddling with the heat while I'm driving - it seems like it only has two settings, on and boiling hot or off and freezing cold. Gas mileage is about the same as the Ranger, and while I probably couldn't fit quite as much as I can in the Ranger, between the giant back seat and the trunk I could probably haul quite a bit in a Town Car or Grand Marquis. Sure, I'd lose 4wd, but how often do I really need it - my workplace generally closes when the weather's bad, and traction control would be good enough for most driving anyway. Plus, I'd get a bumper that's normal height, so I wouldn't do nearly as much damage when backing into elderly women.

The one disadvantage of an old-man car over, say, a yellow truck or a flashy sports car is the lack of wow! factor - nobody ever says "hey, nice Grand Marquis!". Of course, if I'm trying to keep from being pulled over on the freeway, that could be a plus. And if I really wanted to, I could probably throw some blinged-out rims on it. In fact, I think a black DeVille or Town Car with a set of black 20" rims would look pretty flippin' sweet, if I could find one without the stupid carriage roof that old people seem to love as much as Matlock and bingo.

And now, a random picture post...

I had three pics that don't really fit anywhere, but that I wanted to post:

Holy Cow! - I was behind this Turkey Hill Duetto promotional cow pulling into a rest stop on my outlet trip to PA, and had to get a picture.

The Modernaire - I loved the hip name and art-deco styling of this motel that I passed on my PA day-cation.

SpitFireSuz and me - chillin' with my new internet friend at DuClaw on Monday.

Why I buy cheap stuff instead of good stuff....

Consumerist has a lengthy thread debating why people would rather buy cheap crap than quality items. It was inspired by this MSN article on what you should spend or splurge on.

Most of the time, I buy cheap stuff. Why? Because for what I use most of the stuff I buy, cheap is good enough.

Things I go cheap on:

Furniture - most of my furniture is from Ikea or Target, along with a couple of bookshelves from Staples and a few family cast offs. Yes, good quality hardwood furniture would be nicer. But I seldom have guests over, I have a cat who loves to claw furniture, and as a straight, single male, I don't really care all that much what my house looks like. Buying cheap furniture let me furnish a 1200 square foot townhouse, when my previous residence was a single rented room, without breaking the bank.

Electronics - Some of my stuff is more midrange than cheap, but some of it is bottom of the barrel. I have a Cisnet PC, a Trutech TV, a Zune as my MP3 player. I have a decent stereo system. Once again, I'm not an audiophile, I don't watch a lot of movies, and my cheap 32" no-name LCD TV is fine for watching Burn Notice and half-watching the news while typing on my laptop.

Clothes - most of my clothing comes from the clearance rack of Target and Old Navy. I work in IT for a college, so I can get away with dressing like a ragamuffin. Actually, it doesn't make sense for me to get too dressed up, since I'm sometimes crawling under desks or moving equiptment. My weight also tends to fluctuate - I've dropped ~90 pounds, although I've gained about 15 of that back, and plan to make a concerted effort to lose it and some more once my schedule slows down. It doesn't make sense for me to dump money into clothes that might not fit me in the near future. Plus, I have a bad habit of spilling stuff on myself while eating, and I'd hate to have a $50 shirt taken out by ketchup or a cup of coffee. Also, the more clothes I own, the longer I can go without doing laundry - so I'd rather have 10 $5 shirts than one $50 shirt.

Kitchenware - this is one that got a lot of mention in the consumerist comments as something worth spending money on. Maybe for pro cooks, but not for me. Most of the time, the only thing I need a knife for is opening the sauce packet from my Trader Joe's Orange Chicken. When I do cook, it's basic stuff like sauerkraut or pasta fagioli. I don't need copper-bottomed pots or $100 knives - my $10 tin knives will do fine. I own a couple decent Calaphon pans, but only because I got them on clearance for 75% off at Target a few years ago.

There are only two things I can think of that I usually spend a lot of money on. The first is my house. Buying it stretched my budget, and it was at the top of what I could afford. But while I wouldn't have bought a house when I did if I could go back in time, buying a cheap house isn't always a great move - houses tend to be cheap for a reason, and that means more expenses later on. It also means there may be some feature that makes it hard to sell when you it comes time to sell. Also, buying a house has significant transaction costs - the stress of moving, closing costs, realtor fees - so it makes more sense to buy the house you'll need in a few years rather than have to sell and rebuy soon after you bought.

The other area I tend to splurge on is cars. I don't buy fancy cars, and I don't buy a new car every year, but I consider myself a bit of a car enthusiast, and don't think I'll ever be one of those people who buys a vehicle and keeps it for 10 or 15 years. My thought of late has been to buy somewhat flashy but practical vehicles - my current ride is a bright-yellow Ford Ranger - and keep them for a few years. I've had the Ranger for 2 years, and I'm already thinking of what I will buy when it comes time to replace it, although that probably won't be for a couple more years.

My outlet advetnture...

So I drove up to scenic Lancaster, PA to go outlet shopping. I didn't have a pressing need for anything, but I figured that although I couldn't really justify taking a vacation this year, I could at least take a day-cation, and pick up some useful stuff while I'm at it.

I picked Lancaster because BSOM had gone there with his wife a few months ago and had good things to say about it, and there were some interesting stores there, including a Pepperidge Farm outlet and a QVC outlet. Sure, there were closer outlets, as a commenter on my previous post pointed out, but hell, I'm splurging - it's my day-cation!

I set off with a mental list of things I could use if I found good deals on them, and to not spend more than $100 - enough that I could actually do some shopping, without taking too big a blow to my accident-damaged savings.

First stop was the Tangier Outlets. My purchases:

Aeropostale:

1 checkered long-sleeve shirt - $3.90

Bannana Republic

1 long sleeve zip sweater - $12.99

Reebock Outlet

1 pair fleece sweatpants $27.99 (I know, not much of a deal, but I live in sweatpants during the winter, and it's hard for a short guy to find decent-looking ones with elastic around the legs

1 pair dazzle basketball shorts - $8.99

Then, after a tasty lunch at Sonic of a breakfast bistro sandwich, tater tots, a lime diet coke, and a fried ice cream sonic blast, I headed to the Rockvale outlets 2 miles down the road

VF Clearance Outlet

1 Perry Ellis sweater - $7.99

1 Perry Ellis half-zip sweatr - $7.99

VF Outlet

1 pair Lee carpenter jeans - $20

Steve and Barry's

2 pairs jeans - $8.98 each


That comes to $107.81, not including the ~$13 I spent on bread and goldfish at the Pepperidge Farm outlet. While I hate spending all that money all at once, and while there were a few things I was hoping to pick up that I didn't, like underwear, I think I did well.

I shopped the way I shop normal stores - headed straight to the back for the clearance racks.

My thoughts on outlet shopping - I'll do it again, for the experience, but it's not a great way to save money, and not just because I burned through almost $40 worth of gas. I'm not normally a brand-name shopper - most of my clothing comes from the clearance rack of Target or Old Navy - so I'm not exactly the ideal person for an outlet full of brand-name clothing. Outlet shopping is also better for outerwear and the like than for staples like undewear and socks, whose prices seemed pretty close to retail. And like any other kind of shopping, the best deals are on the clearance racks and on stuff that's out of season.

As far as the two outlet malls, I liked Rockvale better - it was bigger, better looking, and and had a lot more non-clothing stores, like Pepperidge Farm and QVC (which was fun to poke through, although most of the stuff is crap). But since both are so close to each other, so it's stupid not to go to both.

This may become a mad anthony summer tradition. Heck, depending on what people ask me for for Christmas, I might make a trip back up in December.