eigo o hanashimasu ka?

we are planning on taking a trip to Japan in the summer and doing the necessary homework is just so tiring. if we left in may we could have got flights for about $550 but now just a couple months later the standard fare is 1000 and it doesn't look like JAL will be having a July sale :( oh well... that coupled with some deals posted on the internet made me even more frustrated. united and northwest HAD fares for 550 BUT i waited too long. sonofabitch!!! i hate that. the united one even tempted me further by including a free ticket to the EXPO 2005 [the reason we are going to Japan]grr i hate them all!!! the one thing that’s keeping me mildly pleased is that we did find a cheapish fare for 660 but being on China Airlines. places claim its a fine airlines with better service then American ones but I’m still skeptical. yes i don't know if i trust the people of my ethnic background :P maybe I need to embrace my Chinese background. [Which accidentally leads in nicely to...]

[sorry this may be boring..]
so i bought myself a new Kitchenaid stand mixer. I have had my eye on this one since yesterday but have wanted one for a long long time. I just found out the color i want was discontinued. So i figure i need to get it soon before i can never get one. On ebay some guy was putting them out once a day for 1-day auctions with a final price avg about 130 + 43s/h. but being greedy that sucker only accepts bidpay no paypal. so i look at bidpay.com and find that what they do is transfer the money from a credit card to a money order and mail it to the seller BUT charge you with their service fee. so with the service fee its a total of 183 for a remanufactured one from some guy on the internet BLEH so i check amazon and they have new ones for 250 and only white ones remanufactured for 170. sigh... well after some more rooting around and finding that there are two colors for the color i thought i wanted.

glacier blue AND lavendar
so i try checking amazon for a lavender one since i thought the color was glacier blue the whole time. and what do i find a re-man lavender one for 170 with discount of 25 and and and FREE SHIPPING!!! total price 144.99

***for those that don't understand the greatest of free shipping probably means you don't shop online. my advice to you is shop the internet and feel the "grab your ankles" burn when you purchase something i find it doubles in price because of shipping. [i think i should devote a rant just to the shipping situation]***

so i whip out the credit card and 144.99 later i own a new blue mixer *cry* I win!!! cheaper and more trustworthy then ebay and with free shipping w007 w007!!! i just checked ebay to see what the final price of that one was. 121.03 + 42.99s/h + 8.64 = 172.66

i have come to realize that i have a problem with shopping. its sort of like compulsive shopping but not. if these arguments fit i will be taking one home.

1. i want it
2. i feel i'm getting a really good deal AND/OR item becomes discontinued or sold out.

it makes me feel like i beat the system. either because i got it cheap or because i have one when everyone said its sold-out. its not that i need to use it right now its just that i NEEDED it. sigh... capitalist brianwashing and my chinese blood ;P