Aristo! Aristo! A la lanterne!: Amazon Borghood.....

Sunday, December 29, 2013

Amazon Borghood.....

Someone asked about the Amazon links I toss in on posts occasionally. Here's the whatsists and whyforths......

I've been an Amazon Prime 'member' for years now. That's a program where one gets two day shipping on most things without charge, even on an item of only a few dollars. This has shaped my shopping habits tremendously, as I simply won't bother going to the store when I can get the same thing shipped to my door for free, and at the same price or lower than buying local.

That means NO MORE WALMART for me, or it's equivalents. Certainly I still support local family owned specialty shops, like Collectors Gun Store, but the big boxes can live without my custom.

I once apologized to the UPS driver for all the packages he drops on our rural porch. He responded "Dude, this is my JOB. I LIKE my job. Order more!"

In addition to the free shipping, the prime membership gives me unfettered access to a large amount of video entertainment on-line. This is piped directly into my TV through the blu ray player.... which I bought on sale at Amazon (lol).

Our home has basic cable now, in package with the internet service. We have no desire for anything more than basic, since we have Amazon Prime, Hulu, and Netflix filling in just about everything we wish to see. Better, on shows I like I can watch entire seasons at a time, without commercials, rather than being doled a small gob of the show with a heaping helping of mind numbing blather.

Why the links? Because I am also signed up as an Amazon Affiliate. When people buy things through the links I post, a small percentage goes towards a monthly gift card, which I then use to buy stuff for home. It might be toys, but more likely it's just needful things like food, or books.

Yes, it's a bit like being assimilated.... but it's mostly like taking part in a capitalist marketplace where good ideas and business practice attracts money by offering value.

I can quit anytime. Really.... I can..... lol.

If you wish to try a sniff at Amazon borghood, here's a link to a free 30 day trial. Knock three times, and tell them Art sent ya....... Join Amazon Prime - Free 30 day trial

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Robert Heinlein

"Do not confuse "duty" with what other people expect of you; they are utterly different. Duty is a debt you owe to yourself to fulfill obligations you have assumed voluntarily. Paying that debt can entail anything from years of patient work to instant willingness to die. Difficult it may be, but the reward is self-respect.

But there is no reward at all for doing what other people expect of you, and to do so is not merely difficult, but impossible. It is easier to deal with a footpad than it is with the leech who wants "just a few minutes of your time, please — this won't take long." Time is your total capital, and the minutes of your life are painfully few. If you allow yourself to fall into the vice of agreeing to such requests, they quickly snowball to the point where these parasites will use up 100 percent of your time — and squawk for more!
So learn to say No — and to be rude about it when necessary.
Otherwise you will not have time to carry out your duty, or to do your own work, and certainly no time for love and happiness. The termites will nibble away your life and leave none of it for you.

(This rule does not mean that you must not do a favor for a friend, or even a stranger. But let the choice be yours. Don't do it because it is "expected" of you.)"