Done! (Well, almost)

My wife and I went shopping this past weekend, hoping to make a serious dent in our lists, thereby reducing our stress in the weeks leading up to Festivus. Judging by the traffic, we weren't the only ones.

The most amazing thing is that we are 1 gift away from being done! And we should be able to bag that today!

Slightly less amazing, but amazing nonetheless, is that only one of our purchases was on the internet. We made a determined effort to buy locally, and especially in our city. We weren't, however, willing to pay significantly higher prices just to support our local merchants and fill the city coffers. And we didn't have to! Prices locally were very close to internet prices, often identical and sometimes even less (and, yes, sometimes slightly more). Additionally, I think sales tax and shipping would have been about the same, overall.

Aside #8.25%: I continue to be amazed that small merchants haven't setup kiosks in their stores to allow them to special order from a wider stock, taking advantage of the same middlemen that allow internet sites to carry a wide selection with no actual warehouse. Instead they carry a small selection and sigh at lost sales when people ask for an item they don't stock, even though they carry other items by the same manufacturer! And then they blame Wal-Mart for driving them out of business!

Oh, and I'm proud to say that none of my purchases came from Wal-Mart. The pink-slip that comes a week later as a result of my choice of merchants may be my own.