Vacation injury

Years and years ago, my family was vacationing in Hong Kong. There was a big sale event at one of the major department stores which we frequent whenever we were there.

There were so many people everywhere we look! The escalators were full, everywhere we looked there were people. Then the descending escalator stopped...but only the "stair" part. The "handrail" part kept moving. And my mother just happened to be at the bottom. All the people on the escalator fell on her, she fell and injured her arm. She lost her expensive bracelet too.

She tried claiming from the department store. She consulted a lawyer who assured her that they have a good chance of winning. However, she needed to stay in Hong Kong while the case was being processed, and she didn't want that since she needed to come back home after the scheduled vacation. So she never got compensated for her injuries and the loss of her bracelet.

Is it the same in the USA? If you're a tourist and met some accident in say, Austin, Texas, would an Austin personal injury attorney (like this one: O’Hanlon, McCollom & Demerath – Personal Injury Lawyers – 808 West Avenue, Austin, TX. 78701 – 512-494-9949) be able to file your case for you even if the time came for you to leave?

I felt that my mother had enough hassles incurring the injury. Sure it was an accident. But the department store should have at least offered to help my mom, which they didn't.

While my mom never got to press charges, our family never went to that department store again. We were just too disappointed with it.

As Seen On TV

Believe it or not, I actually enjoy watching infomercials. The ones wherein a "breakthrough" product is introduced, and available only when you dial a certain number and if you dial now, you get a huge discount and freebies!

These offers range from the "best acne treatments", cooking aids, exercise equipment etc. We've actually bought a few "as seen on tv" products, although we never really called the number flashed on the screen. We'd eventually find some of these products in some stores like ACE hardware or another store.

Some of them actually turn out to be good buys, like the Jack Lalaine juicer. I haven't used Proactiv, but this acne remedy is now available everywhere, which attests to its effectiveness, I guess. A friend loves the George Foreman grill. So they actually have some very good products, although some do turn out to be lemons. Well, this applies to most things anyway.

Black Friday Sale still on in the US!

I am very, very tempted with Black Friday deals!  There are so many deep discounts still available.  I'd love to give some of them as gifts (some of them to myself, hehehe).  My only problem is shipping to the Philippines.  While there are shipping companies, I'm sure they are expensive and might just cancel out any discount I get.  The best way would be to ship it to a friend or relative...but I do not know who to send it to and when they will be home.  Balikbayan boxes are also an option, but I don't think a box will arrive in time for Christmas, or if it does, it will probably get held up in customs since there are so many shipments arriving now.  Oh well.  Maybe I can still choose some deals and have them shipped after Christmas.  But that means that I'll only be getting personal purchases and not so much for gifts.

A little bit of shopping

Yesterday was a clinic day but the patient load was much much lighter than the past few weeks. I'm guessing it's because of the long weekend and the fact that there are less sore eyes cases nowadays.

It's a good thing my clinic yesterday was in a mall. I was able to do some shopping in between patients, since there were lull moments. Just a few stuff that I had been planning to buy for a while but just haven't gotten around to. I bought jogging pants, T shirts and underwear for my little boy, and some soybeans to make our homemade soymilk. I contemplated whether I should buy wrinkle cream for myself, but I realized I still had some Olay total effects so I just bought pressed powder since I didn't like the current one that I am using.

Believe it or not, I'm not really very fond of shopping unlike most of my female (and male) friends. I do hate to spend! But I do enjoy some retail therapy once in a while. And while I had to go back to the clinic to see patients again, I did enjoy a break from the routine of work.

Browsing buy.com

Ever since our laptop broke down, we haven't been able to have it repaired. Sigh. No time! As of the moment, I am typing away at my mom's laptop. But of course it is different. Firstly, I can't work when she needs it. Secondly, I cannot store data on the hard drive since this is not mine.

I am very much tempted to look through the specials at buy.com and get a new laptop for myself. There's a Sony Vaio notebook there for a special price of $699.99. With free shipping too! Well, I guess the free shipping does not include international shipping but since my cousin's supposed to come here soon, I wonder if it would be okay for her to bring it home to me if I have it shipped to her?

In any case, we still hope to have our laptop seen by an expert, so that we'll know if we could still use it. What I regret most are the stuff inside our hard drive. Some are quite important, others are sentimental. I am hoping that we could somehow recover the data that's on it.

Grocery

I am not a person who usually indulges in retail therapy. I window shop, yes, but before I actually buy something for myself, I usually think twice, thrice and three times. That's why I do not have many clothes, shoes or bags in my collection.

But things are different when I'm in the grocery. Since I do have to stock up on grocery items once in a while, it's a must that I go once in a while. And it's on those trips that I indulge my shopping tendencies. I compare prices, try out new foodstuffs and grocery items. And while I'm standing in line to pay for my purchases, I browse through the magazines on those pop displays near the cashier.

I guess I'd have to say that of all the errands/chores I have to do, grocery shopping is probably my favorite.