Transportation and Lodging Not Included

Online coupon for a Vanilla Ice concert?  Christmas shopping…DONE!

Awwwe....now nobody will know what to get you.  

I don't know what to get me either.  

It's that time of year again, kids!  Time for running all over creation (or the internet) to buy Christmas presents for all the people you know or care about.  Me?  I at least have to buy a plastic spider for a coworker because of a comment made during a meeting, but other than that, I'm still taking suggestions. 

Of course, if I accept suggestions from all of the Spam emails and internet advertisements that manage to slip through Ad Blocker, things could go off the rails pretty quickly.  

So, there's one big online shopping site that, for strictly Blag Purposes, we'll call "Nile.com".  They take their suggestions after stuff you've already looked at.  This is both smart and remarkably annoying.  It stands to reason that if I look at and buy movies on occasion, then I might be interested in other movies, particularly ones of the same genre.  It's annoying when I buy a copy of "Birdemic: Shock and Terror" on Blu Ray (since you can't stream it anymore, and it's a true classic of cinema), and Nile.com thinks I also want a copy of The Room, Troll 2, and Manos: The Hands of Fate.  I mean...I might want those movies for the same reasons that I wanted Birdemic, but I don't want anyone to know that.  Yes, I recently bought a camera strap, but doesn't it stand to reason that I will now be good on camera straps for a little while?  I really don't need another one, even if it comes recommended by a website.  Yes, I know I ordered a large box of breath mints once, but I really don't need to buy them on a subscription basis, even if I save 8 cents per container. 

Well, all of this nonsense changed recently.

For some reason, I apparently subscribed to a site that promotes coupons that come in groups.  I forget what the site is called.  They send me group-related coupons all the stinking time, and I rarely, if ever, even remotely want or need whatever it is they're selling (Looking at you, Botox discount).  I've also never used this site to buy gifts for anybody...holiday-related or otherwise.  They have recently solved all of my problems.  This year, for Christmas, everybody on my shopping list may want to expect tickets to the big Vanilla Ice / Salt-N-Pepa show.  They're half price, so I can sort out all of my Christmas shopping in one fell swoop, give everybody what they've always wanted, and save money all at once.  Wins all around!  Self...you are one crafty consumer.