Amazon Filler Item Finder

If you're like me and use Amazon but are too cheap frugal to pay for Prime and get free shipping, you'll like Amazon Filler Item Finder.  From the website:

Certain items at Amazon.com qualify for free shipping, but sometimes the purchase falls short of the minimum $35 needed to receive the free shipping. Enter the amount you need to see a list of products that qualify for free shipping.

According to the creator of this script, the site has been up for 6+ yrs. and mentioned in several other websites. (but I hadn't heard of it before).  It's a brilliant concept and even though I didn't find anything I wanted for the $8.51 worth of items I currently need in my Amazon cart to get free shipping, I bookmarked it and imagine I will use it again in the future for suggestions to bring my total up to $35 to get the free shipping.  I also again might not use any of the suggestions, but it doesn't take but a few seconds and you never know!

What's really ingenious is that each result is basically an "affiliate link" where the site owner makes a small commission on each sale for the referral.  Clever, and I wish I had thought of it. (or at least been smart enough to write the script)

Amazon Filler Item Finder

Not Exactly a Ringing Endorsement

I have been seeing more and more recipes calling for a pinch of saffron (I'm thinking it's going to be the next trendy ingredient).  I've never used it in cooking, but was familiar with it because I had once thought it might be a lucrative crop to grow. (labor intensive, though)

I had looked at it on Amazon before but that had been a year or two ago and I was wondering if it had gone up in price since that time.  I sorted the different brands by customer ranking and under one highly rated I found this critical, less-than-favorable review:

(click for larger graphic)

The Best Way to Prepare Oatmeal

I've been buying oatmeal through Amazon for the last several years and my preferred choice has been McCANN'S Steel Cut Irish Oatmeal, Quick & Easy, but recently my favorite grocery store has been carrying it at a competitive price so I now buy it there.

I was going through some files in my "ToTG" folder, the one I save video embed codes, funny emails and other Notepad documents with things I use often, like the Word of the Day image or simple tables HTML I sometimes want to use in a post and found the following, a comment in an argument about the best way to prepare steel-cut oatmeal.  The date of the document was over a year ago and I didn't put in the URL to the comment, sorry.

(Me?  I just heat up water, measure out a quarter cup of oatmeal in a bowl and when the water is boiling, I pour some on it along w/ some cinnamon and Splenda then put a plate on the bowl to hold the heat in.  I then make my coffee and by the time I've let it steep and then had a cup, my oatmeal is soft enough to eat.)

Like many inane arguments, it got heated and this post pointed out how stupid it was to argue about oatmeal. 

All of you are wrong. I get so frustrated reading these mindless diatribes and misinformation. Pour the entire tin contents down a hippo's mouth. Hippos cannot break down or digest oats. Wait approximately 3 hours. Recover the steamy moist oats after it has followed the creature's digestive tract. Place fresh hot oats in your children's mittens, boots and ear muffs for added protection against the cold. Apply mortar patches to crumbling basement foundations. Place the remainder in a fine china bowl and enjoy with some Vermont maple syrup.

Spam of Amazonian Proportions

Here's some scam-spam I just received:

I use Amazon quite a bit, so at first I thought it might be legit, but a glance at the return address proved otherwise.  So, I'm posting it here in hopes the email spiders will nab it and they get a ton of spam sent to them:

Customer_Care@upstages.org

It's too bad it's not for real - I could use a hundred bucks credit to my account.

Wired Up

I always heard coffee wires some people up, but I never thought that meant literally.

My Coffee Style

You Are French Press Coffee

You are the type who savors the process of making coffee almost as much as the coffee itself. You love the smell of coffee and the anticipation of your first cup every morning. You probably even enjoy grinding your own coffee beans for each cup. You are a very calm person with a deep outlook on life. You get enjoyment out of everything. You know how to observe and savor. Even the simplest pleasures mean a lot to you, and you don't take anything for granted.

What's Your Coffee Style?

---

These results are spot on. About a yr. or so ago, I bought an inexpensive French Press on Amazon, along with a blade grinder and an assortment of whole bean coffees. The blade grinder was - as I have read - less than optimum for grinding the beans, but I fell in love with my new coffee maker.

It's really easy and fairly quick to make a few cups of coffee in the morning; I fill up my electric kettle with water and while it's heating, I measure out the coffee grinds into the press, adding a tiny pinch of salt. After the water comes to a boil, I pour some into my large insulated cup to warm it, then add the exact amount of water for the measure of coffee I'm using. I've found it's good to first pour a splash or two of water onto the grounds so they can "bloom", then finish pouring the rest of the water. I put the lid and plunger on the pot, then set a timer for four minutes.  When the alarm goes off, I slowly push the plunger down and my coffee is ready to drink.

Maybe it's not as fast as a drip coffee maker, but the coffee is much, much better. I used to get heartburn after drinking regular coffee and would sometimes have to dilute it with milk and add some sugar or sweetener, but not now. I've also started drinking Death Wish coffee, supposedly the strongest /highest caffeine coffee in the world.  I dunno 'bout that, but a couple of cups of it get me cranked up for the day.  I've made the mistake of drinking more and was up all night.  

Hot or Cold Dinks

I was just reading an article from one of my recipe sites, Spiced.  The recipe was Homemade Chocolate Ice Cream and the author was writing about his favorite ice cream flavor being vanilla, but why wasn't there a vanilla syrup for chocolate ice cream like there is chocolate syrup for vanilla?

Well, I've never used it for ice cream, but there IS such a thing as vanilla syrup and I started to reply and say so...but I didn't want to be one of those insufferable people who feel the need to point things like that out to others.

I mean, I don't want to be one of those people any longer;  I'm working on that, honest.

I've seen vanilla syrup in grocery stores, usually in the coffee aisle, right there with the powdered flavorings and creamers and the liquid form is in the milk section along with the other perishable items that need to be refrigerated.  A quick search online shows that you can make it yourself, or buy it from Walmart or Amazon.  I've never made a simple syrup w/ vanilla, but it sounds easy enough and the closest to an ice cream syrup;  personally, I've never cared for the coffee flavorings - they just don't taste very good and leave an aftertaste.

Back in grade school, I fell in love with a girl who sat right next to me.  I was far too young to be physically attracted to her, but there was *something* about her that drew me to her.  I finally worked up the courage to tell her she really, really smelled good and she told me her mother wouldn't let her wear perfume, so she dabbed a little bit of vanilla extract behind her ears.

That was when I learned a life lesson;  boys are either hungry or horny, one or the other, all the time...just not both at the same time.

Maybe that's what I need to do; create a perfume that smells like baked goods.  Oh wait, they already have.

Anyway...something caught my eye on the Amazon listing:

(click graphic for larger view)

For Your Hairy Brownies

I really like shopping on Amazon, finding it easy to get certain items without having to buy from the local Walmart and most of the time the items are less expensive on Amazon than they are at that "discount" store.

Earlier this evening, I searched for an unfamiliar candy ingredient I saw in a recipe and saw the sale listing on Amazon in the search results.  After finding out what it was, I started looking at other items on Amazon, checking out the related items.  I looked at baking chocolate and saw a high rating for a Ghirardelli brownie mix.  I glanced at the price,  reasonable enough for four boxes of premium mix, then scrolled down to read the comments when I saw a "Frequently Bought Together" listing.  Amazon has these under nearly every product and usually there's a price break when the items are purchased together.  It's mostly like items or those that compliment each other, such as several pieces of microwave cookware or a set of knives with a sharpener.  I couldn't understand this pairing, though:

White Tea For Me

You Are White Tea

You are a gentle person who tends to prefer quiet and contemplation over excitement and action. You have always naturally been lower energy, and you even have slowed down more as you have matured. You like to savor. You look for quality in all aspects of your life. You intuitively understand people and appreciate authentic relationships. Like white tea, you are subtle and unveil yourself slowly. You have a depth that others take time to discover.

What Color Tea Are You?

---

I can't recall ever having white tea; I've tried quite a few other kinds; Earl Grey, English Breakfast, Chai, Green and others and all sorts of herbal teas (properly called Tisanes) but never White. After seeing this quiz yesterday, I put some in my Amazon shopping cart (only six bucks and one of the highest rated) and will complete the purchase when I have enough in total to qualify for free shipping. I probably should sign up for Amazon Prime, but I'm usually in no hurry to receive my items.

As I've mentioned before, sometimes these quizzes are so far off from what and who I am they're absurd, but this one is pretty spot-on for me, esp. the second paragraph.

Amazon Cloud

I got this email from Amazon the other day:

You may have noticed that songs from 11 CDs you have purchased from Amazon were added to your Cloud Player library. This means that high-quality MP3 versions of these songs are available for you to play or download from Cloud Player for FREE. You can find your songs in the "Purchased" playlist.

In addition, we're excited to announce AutoRip. Now when you buy any CD with the logo, the MP3 version of that album will instantly be delivered to your Amazon Cloud Player library for FREE.

I've been aware of the Cloud Player, but since I don't have a device (other than this computer) to play my songs on, I didn't use it.  I download free music from Amazon all the time and have purchased quite a few mp3 albums as well as a dozen or so CDs.  I can't remember when they started the Cloud feature, but I reached the limit quite some time back and deleted a lot of the songs that were in my Cloud as so to make room for new ones.  I already had them on my computer and couldn't see the need for my Cloud except as backup. 

It's nice that my purchased CD tunes are now in my Cloud. That will save me from having to rip the music to add to my mp3 jukebox.

On my Cloud page it says I have room for 250 more songs.  I could get more space if I bought it, but...The best thing about it is that it's much easier to download the songs now.  The settings were confusing and seemed to change on their own and when I got new songs, they sometimes didn't download to my computer but were instead put into my Cloud  Here's what's in my Cloud right now.

There are some duplicates in my mp3 jukebox, but I've been working to get rid of them. Some are dupes that happen to be on two albums by a particular artist or band and some are freebies I got from Amazon that happened to be in different collections. At last count, I had over 21,000 songs. Before updates to Windows Media Player, it tallied up the total size and time of all the mp3 files and I had enough to listen to music non-stop for a couple of weeks.

They're Expensive Hear

I've been using a cheap set of headphones I bought from WalMart to replace another cheap set I bought from Amazon a few years ago, so I thought I might price them again and see if there was one of decent quality that wouldn't cost too much.

These sound OK, but they just don't have the range I'd like.  For one, the bass  level isn't very good.  I've gone into the equalizer and tried to adjust it, but these phones just won't handle it.  They also don't have the volume I want; they're perfectly fine listening to talk radio or most music, but when I play my AC/DC I want it LOUD, y'know? (what's the use of listening to it if it's not played at the intended sound level, nearly enough to bust your eardrums!)

I have some good quality "bud" type phones that give me the volume and sound that I want, but they're uncomfortable and I read something just the other day that said they can give you an infection that can cost you your hearing.  No thanks, if I lose my hearing I want it to be because I played "It's a Long Way to the Top" at too many decibels, not from some eardrum rot.

So, I went to Amazon and typed in "headphones" into the search box, then selected the highest rating,  4 stars and up. I probably shouldn't, but trust most of the reviews there and haven't been steered wrong...yet.

A list of headphones came up, so I clicked on the first one. At the top of the screen were the words "You purchased this item..." and gave a date from a few years ago. They weren't BAD headphones, but they just didn't tolerate me sitting on them or getting up and trying to walk away with them still on my head. The set still works, but only if I hold one of the wires "just so". I don't know why I keep them, but figure they'll be good for something someday - maybe I can fix them or use the jack for something else.

Yeah, right.

I don't remember what I paid for the original headphones, but they were new.  They're not something I would buy used - the thought of putting something on my ears that have been on someone else's grosses me out.  The new price is really reasonable for an inexpensive set of headphones, but I really don't think I want to pay that much for used ones. (click image for larger view)

Amazon Needs a Language Translator

Several times a week I get an email from Amazon with items of which they think I might be interested. I had looked at popsicle molds this last week, so that was the theme of the email - sticks in bulk, how-to books, flavors and such.

The mold I had looked at was a large one made of plastic and in one of the reviews someone had mentioned the product had BPA in it and recommended another mold made of stainless steel. I looked at that one (that's the one I would buy IF I were to buy one, I think) and then noticed one of the related items at the bottom of the page, a Dr Pepper popsicle, already made, ready to freeze then eat.

(I'd link to it, but I think the numbers and such in the URL would go to my account. Better safe than sorry) The name of the product is:

Dr Pepper "SODA POPS" Freeze & Eat Frozen Treats

I've mentioned before that sometimes the comments after an article are more interesting than is the article and the comments and reviews after Amazon products are no exception. If someone writes a comment that gushes about the product, there will always be someone who comes along and accuses the poster of working for the company. (Sometimes I wonder myself) Other times people gripe about the product not being as advertised, then someone will post a reply saying something like "It SAYS at the top the serving size is only 4 oz, you dumbass!" I've seen flame wars on Amazon rival just about any I've seen on political sites.

Under the Dr Pepper pops there was this fractured English review. If someone is spoofing, it's still funny. If not, it's hilarious.

Good thing but look like freezy turd delicious and good for babie eating for good and brittle bone i am from the ukraine sorry englais not arsome but i think all should 2 buy because for fast eating kids! Thank you for all of the shipping and fast times with no wait for delivery all the way to glorious ukraine, where sale of frozen soda in cafeteria is forbidden on penalty of goats. love the thank you sir!

On second thought, if they're like "freezy turds" then I might NOT want to purchase this item. I'm also very glad I live in a country that doesn't eat "babie" and where goats aren't penalized...or are the penalty, either way.

The mangled wording made me wonder if my favorite Russian made her way back home? I bet she's got some fast eating kids by now but hope they don't have brittle bones from eating those freezy turds.

Amazon Email Socks It To Me

I just got this email from Amazon concerning some seller feedback I left after buying some diabetic socks. The mail wasn't really from Amazon, but forwarded from Arrowson, the company that makes the socks.

Here's what they said:

Dear Customer,

We are writing to you in regards to your recent feedback. We feel that we offered you a very good deal even with the "increased price" and we did not deserve a poor rating for that. Please note: we are working extremely hard to provide our loyal customers with top quality products, best possible price, fast and FREE shipping. We would certainly appreciate positive feedback but we were shocked that you left us a poor rating. We take our customers satisfaction very seriously and your feedback really hurt us. We would offer to submit a partial refund in hopes that you would consider this matter resolved.

Please let us know if a partial refund will work for you or we could also arrange for a return for a full refund. We will be waiting to hear from you.

Sincerely

Arrowson

---

Most of the time, I let stuff like this just slide like water off a duck's back, but the email annoyed me. Here's my response:

Wow, you guys are touchy. Let's review what I said, keeping the drama* out of it.

"I put these items in my cart, then came back a couple of days later to find the price had increased by quite a bit. Don't like that. Other than that, the socks were good."

So, I objected to the 33% price increase, that was it. Did you miss the part where I said "other than that, the socks were good."?

Just now I went back to the listing to find you've increased your price yet again. (10% + ) Is that still "a very good deal"? I don't think so, not so much. I have to pay nearly twice that much for diabetic socks at WalMart, but they're twice as good, so....

When I first placed the order, I got a notice that I needed a few more dollars on the order total to get free shipping. That's why I didn't place the order that day, deciding I'd find something else to bump the total up over the minimum required for free shipping. Since I am not privy to the deal you and Amazon have concerning the shipping of your products, I was not aware you paid for the postage.

*drama: That's from you saying I gave you a "poor" rating and being "shocked" because of it. 3 stars of five isn't poor, you know. You got one star taken off for the price gouging and another because the socks weren't quite as good as I hoped. As I said, they were good, but not as good as other diabetic socks I have purchased in the past.

What I don't understand is that my review was from an Amazon survey, not on your product page and only Amazon, you and I know what it said. If you like, I will leave a public review , but with this warning: I will give you TWO stars this time and post your whiny email for all to see and I won't be quite as "glowing" with my praise.

No, I don't want a return/refund because I've already worn most of the pairs. I don't even want a partial refund because, after all, it's a caveat emptor merchandising world, isn't it? I'll know better next time, that's all.

I'm so sorry I "really hurt" you. -snicker-

Sincerely,
(me)

---

A word of warning to everyone: Don't mess with me 'n my socks.

Great Amazon Deals

Was browsing through Amazon last night and saw there were some kitchen deals; I've been wanting an ice cream machine (even though I shouldn't eat ice cream) and have been wanting a nice mixer. I clicked on the "kitchen and dining" tab to peruse the bargains.

You'll need to click the pic to view the screenshot clearly...



...but I bet you'll be as puzzled as I was trying to figure out why a doggie comb and flea treatment would be classified under "kitchen and dining".

I mean, I've seen 'em at a table, but...

Me and Lani

As I announced a few months ago, Lani Rose was the winner of the Marlboro Music Contest.

Just minutes ago I signed for a package from Marlboro and it turns out I was a winner too. No, I didn't win the jukebox, but I DID win a ten dollar gift certificate at Amazon.

Cool. It's not even a down payment on the thousand dollar camera I want, but I can purchase an mp3 album or add a few bucks and get an ice cream maker.

Or, I can put it aside, forget it and then remember it after it expires, like I've previously done winning lottery tickets and phone cards. -sigh-