christine-murphy dot net

I know I’ve blogged about this cute little TV before.  But I just happened to find it on sale at Buy.com, for an even lower price than I paid for mine.  Go and check out the Haier Hlt71 7″ Portable LCD TV.

Unless you are living under a rock someplace, you know that all over-the-air TV signals must change over from analog to digital as of June 12, 2009.  This was supposed to take place on February 17.  But President Obama wanted to postpone it by a few months, and both the House and the Senate voted in favor of this.  So now, those who have not gotten ready yet still have a few more months in which to do so.

We had long ago taken advantage of the government’s converter box coupon program, which unfortunately has run out of money.  However, you can always purchase a converter box without a coupon, such as this one, through Buy.com.

But I had no way to hook up a converter box to the little portable TV that I take on trips, when we stay at little B&Bs with no in-room TVs.  And besides, who wants to lug the box along?  Anyhoo, I can’t sleep without a TV being on (long story as to why), so I started searching for a reasonably priced portable digital TV.

Most of the ones I found were very expensive.  I decided to keep looking and hold out for a lower price.  I was so thrilled to have found the Haier TV, it was exactly what I was looking for, and at a price that I was willing to spend.  And now Buy.com has it in stock for even less than what I paid for mine in December.

I don’t just use it for trips, I also use it at home, I have it set up on my computer desk so I can watch my shows while I work online.  I’ve had this for about two months now, and I am very pleased with the quality.  The picture is crisp and clear, almost high-definition quality (although this is NOT an HDTV).  It picks up just about all of the available DTV channels that we pick up on our bigger TVs, even with the standard telescoping antenna that comes with it.  The antenna is detachable, in case you need to replace it with a stronger one.

It’s about the size and thickness of a trade paperback book, and it tucks nicely into a large zippered cosmetic bag that I bought for this purpose, along with the power cord and the remote control.  It has a little stand thingy in the back, that flips out when you want the TV to stand up.  It takes up a LOT less space in my suitcase than did the old portable analog TV.  That old TV was just in black & white…this one is color, and the screen is bigger.  Oh, I just love this new technology!

The TV also comes with a rechargeable battery, which charges up while the TV is plugged in and turned on.  You can watch it on the battery for about two hours before it needs to be charged up again.  Very handy for when the power goes out!

So, if getting ready for DTV includes the purchase of a little portable TV, you can’t go wrong with this one.  It works great and the price is right!

In today’s mail came my copy of Stampin’ Up’s *Sale-A-Bration* brochure.  This annual event runs from February 1 – March 31.  The brochure contains all of the free products that can be earned during this promotion.  In today’s economy, where we are all looking to save a buck, by clipping coupons, shopping at discount furniture stores and all…who doesn’t like free stuff?

If you order $50 worth of product from Stampin’ Up, you may pick one free item from the brochure.  No limit to the number of fifty-dollarses you can spend, each fifty bucks earns one free item.  All Sale-A-Bration items are limited edition. only available through this special promotion.

You can also earn free product by finding a Demonstrator and hosting a workshop…free item for each $300 that is sold at the workshop.  If you want to become a Demonstrator yourself, well, there is free product giveaways involved with that, too.

If you don’t have a Demonstrator and want one, please visit my friend, Annette Stewart.  From her blog, you can learn more about the promotion, download an onkline copy of the brochure, and place an order online.  If you do order anything from her, please tell her I sent you!

Purchase $80 or more from The Baker’s Catalogue, and get a FREE one-year subscription to Cook’s Illustrated.

There are cool kitchen gadgets galore over at The Baker’s Catalogue.  And if you are a bread baker, this site is a must.  This is where I buy my yeast, as it’s not convenient to get to stores that sell bulk yeast, and those little packets and jars in the regular supermarket are way expensive.  I get SAF yeast at The Baker’s Catalogue for $5.95 a pound.  Run a package of supermarket yeast through the barcode scanner, or look at the unit price, and be prepared for a shocker.  Those little three-packs of yeast cost a LOT more per pound.  If you bake a lot, you’ll save a fortune buying mail order yeasties from the King Arthur Flour people, even with the cost of the shipping factored in.

Yeast keeps for ages in the fridge, in an air-tight container.  It keeps even longer in the freezer, so it’s worth it to stock up to save on shipping costs, and freeze what you can’t use right now.

You don’t have to buy $80 worth of yeast, though, to get the free magazine subscription, they have tons of other cool stuff, as well.  They have bakeware, tools, gadgets, and many quality ingredients that may be hard to find at local stores.  Shipping is super-fast, and customer service is awesome.

Cook’s Illustrated magazine is awesome.  I’ve been subscribing to it for years, and it is one of the top food magazines out there.  Even if you don’t want to try a subscription right now, pick up a copy at the store and give it a try.  It not only shows you the *how-to* of cooking, but also the *why*; as in why some recipes work and some don’t, etc.

Please go and check it out!

I had not taken advantage of this in a while.  But when I saw the Retro Metro alphabet set for only $20 (retail $149.95), I had to grab it!  Good thing I did, as it is now sold out.

Sizzix.com has a $25 minimun order, so I picked out a few more dies I’d been wanting, some of them also marked down.  I got the Animal Dress-Ups Santa Outfit, for my Animal Dress-Ups Kitty that I already have.  I also got the Animal Dress-Ups Girl Outfit, but I got mine for just six bucks.  Finally, I got MacKenzie’s Cat Latte, which was not marked down, but it’s cute and I wanted it.

But hey…I saved $152.48 off retail…not that I woud have paid retail, at least not for the alphabet set!  I have many Sizzlits alphabet sets, and I never paid full price for any of them.  I either got them really cheap as Tuesday Teasers, or on sale/with coupons at Michaels or A.C. Moore.

You can check Sizzix.com every Tuesday to see what will be marked down for the day.  In case you forget, you can sign up for the Sizzix Scoop, a free email newsletter which will remind you of Tuesday Teasers and other special sales.

I just love finding bargains like this!

And I know this sounds mean, but to that I say, “GOOD RIDDANCE!”  You can read an article about it HERE.  I’m glad the commercial collection agencies have been going after them. That’s what they get for being jerks with lousy customer service.

I have hated them since they sold me a defective stove some years ago, and they refused to make good on it.  The delivery guys brought it in, turned it on for a minute or so, all the burners and the oven, to make sure it all worked.  Then they left.

A few days later, I cooked something in the oven for the first time…I even remember what it was, it was a beef-noodle casserole (recipe to follow in my next post here).  I preheated the oven to 350°F, prepared the casserole, put it in the oven to cook for the appointed 30 minutes.

Before the 30 minutes were up, I started to smell something burning.  I opened the oven, and, as Alton Brown would say, it was NASA-hot!  A LOT hotter than 350°!  I swear, it was so hot I almost burnt my face off!  And the cheese on top of my casserole was all burnt on top…yeccch!

Well, it didn’t take a rocket scientist from NASA to figure out that the thermostat was a dud.  And thus began an epic battle to get it fixed.  I suppose Mike could have tried to repair it himself, but he was afraid if he tried, and he screwed it up, it would void the warranty.

To make a long story shirt, Circuit City refused to make good, they told me to deal with Whirlpool, the manufacturer.  Whirlpool told me to call Circuit City.  It went on and on, until I FINALLY got someone at Whirlpool to agree to send a repairman out to look at the stove.

Mike took a day off from work to wait for the guy.  The guy showed up, opened the stove, looked at the thermostat, and said, “yup, it’s busted.”

NO DUH!  And that was all he could do for that visit!  Never mind the fact that I TOLD them that I knew it was the thermostat, PLUS I gave them the exact model number of the range.  Was it really too much for me to expect them to be prepared, and have the repair guy have a replacement thermostat in his truck?  But nope, he said it had to be ordered, and it would take something like a month to get it.

A MONTH?  Where did they have to get it from?  Outer Mongolia?  Delivered how?  By carrier pigeon?  I mean, this was the manufacturer I was talking to, they don’t have these parts on the shelf?  Even if there wasn’t a part in a local shop, there is such a thing as overnight delivery.  I was so desperate to have a working oven, being that Thanksgiving was about a month away by this time, that I was willing to pick up the tab for overnight part delivery.  But they said no, I had to wait another month.  I had already lost enough time with the runaround between Circuit City and Whirlpool, all over a defect that was not our fault!

I felt that Circuit City, as the store who sold me the stove, should have arranged for either a repair or a replacement as soon as I told them that they’d sold me a defective appliance.  But they didn’t care, in fact, their phone reps were very rude to me.  I was also not too thrilled with Whirlpool.  As a result, I never set foot in a Circuit City store ever again.  I tend to hold grudges for a long time, so when I heard that CC was having money problems, I rejoiced.  Now I am glad they are going out of business for good.  If this is the way they treat their customers, it’s been long overdue.

I’m not too impressed with Whirlpool, either.  Maybe it’s just their local service shop, but sending a guy to tell us what we already knew, and then making us wait a month for the stupid part is a pile of crap.

And I haven’t forgotten that, either.  Our ancient clothes dryer kicked the bucket last weekend, and we decided that it would be best to buy a new one.  I decided to buy from Sears, as they have a good record with us.  If you buy an appliance there and something goes wrong, they will send a guy out to fix it, they don’t do all of that runaround crap. Mike used to own a condo years ago that he rented out to a tenant, long before I met him.  He bought a fridge from Sears for the unit, and it had a defect.  Sears guy went over there and fixed it, no problem, no hassle.

Still, I bypassed all Whirlpool dryers, just in case.  I chose a Sears Kenmore brand.  I don’t know who actually makes the Kenmore appliances, but if it has the Sears brand name on it, then Sears has to honor the warranty if something goes wrong.

Anyhoo, if you want to go over there and be a vulture, Circuit City is liquidating all of its stock, so maybe you might get a good deal on a big screen TV or something.  But if they didn’t give good customer service when they were in business, certainly don’t expect it now.  If something goes wrong, it will be up to you to contact the manufacturer and hope that they will do something about it.

So if you are looking to buy a big-screen TV in time to watch the Super Bowl that our beloved Patriots will not be in, buyer beware!  After 2 1/2 months of the runaround, I finally had a working oven…a scant three days before Thanksgiving!