sunset in the Sunset

I left work around 5:10 this evening and had a 6:30 appointment for a cut and color in the Outer Sunset with my longtime hairdresser Lucy. I've been a client of Lucy's since 1985.

I got to Lucy's salon (Virtuoso) at about 6, so I had about a half-hour to kill. I sat in the car listening to my CD and then began to notice a really nice sunset. So I pulled out the cameraphone and took the shots seen on this blog entry.

All of the pics were taken while sitting in my car on Judah Street and 32nd Avenue facing west. The first pic is my view from the driver's seat. The second pic is the sunset from my rearview mirror, and the last pic is the N-Judah streetcar taken across the street speeding east.

Not bad for a cameraphone.

Rain, snow or fog + wipers on = Headlights ON

It would seem many drivers in California still don't know since summer 2005, one must have headlights turned on when windshield wipers are in use due to rain, snow or fog. On my 15-minute drive to the gym today, I must have seen at least 7 cars without their headlights turned on.

These are probably the same drivers that talk incessantly on their cell phones and hold up traffic because they are engrossed more on their conversation than they are on driving.

Please turn on your headlights. This is to make yourself visible to other cars, pedestrians and cyclists. And while you're at it, hang up, shut up and drive. It can wait until you've reached your destination.

Neti pot update

It's been a bit over a week since I first began using the neti pot in hopes to wean myself off nasal sprays. I'd been off Rhinocort for about 4 days and only took oral antihistimines. My travel neti pot arrived today from Amazon, so it reminded me to provide an update.

Unfortunately, life without nasal spray didn't last long. A few days later, my nose felt like it did after swimming when water gets inside. My head felt congested and my throat sore. It was time to return to a nasal spray. This time, Nasonex. The good news is that unlike Flonaise, Nasonex works. Flonaise burned and stinged and had no effect whatsoever for me. Nasonex didn't. I started to feel the effects of it almost immediately. I'll save at least $15/month by switching my prescription to Nasonex.

In conclusion, the neti pot is a great supplement to nasal spray, but not enough to rely upon completely alone. For me, it will be an effective aide should my allergies go through really bad patches when sprays and pills aren't quite enough.

Nasal spray vs. Neti pot

If you've been following me this week on Twitter, I just began using the neti pot to treat my chronic sinus problems. My original intent was to switch to Nasonex, but remembered an unsuccessful attempt to switch to Flonaise about 10 years ago. I then decided this would be a good time try out the neti pot. Perhaps this could wean me off nasal sprays completely.

It's been 4 days since I stopped using Rhinocort and started administering jala neti (nasal irrigation). The last time I was without Rhinocort was during a conference in Fort Worth, TX in 2003 and my sinuses were miserable. The use of the neti pot so far has been quite effective. While I'm blowing my nose a bit more than usual, I've been able to breathe through both nostrils REGULARLY and not sneeze as much.

So far, I have yet to hear any negative results of using the neti pot. I've had relief from watery, itchy eyes by using contact lens saline solution as a rinse, so it made perfect sense to try the same process for my nose. After all, sneezing and watery eyes are the body's reactions to rid itself of pollen and other allergens. The neti pot only speeds up the process to prevent the uncomfortable reaction.

I'm hopeful continued use of the neti pot will further reduce sneezing and nose blowing to a bare minimum. Benefits for the body and wallet. Rhinocort was $50/prescription at my previous employer and is $35/prescription at my current one. I've since ordered a second neti pot (non-breakable) that I'll be able to take with me when I travel. I'm still taking oral antihistimines. That might be something I'll still have to continue using. Updates to follow.

Ms. Money Bags (for now)

We're on a rampage. Now that I'm back to work with leftover severance and an upcoming $3K tax refund, there were numerous big ticket purchases over the past 2 weeks.

Above is the quilted laptop bag. It is my new, girly and sophisticated briefcase bought today (in black) from Edwards Luggage called the Knomo Toyah. I'll be taking my first business trip in my new job to attend a conference in Atlanta next month.

Because I was issued a company laptop, I know I'd need to take it with me. I could have ordered a bag from the office, but I wanted a bag with style. And something I would be proud to carry my Sony Vaio in if needed.

I was very selective about the requirements. No leather. Too heavy. I'd been carrying a gorgeous Coach leather messenger bag for about 5 years. I'd been carrying Coach leather purses for even longer and switched to jacquard fabric about 3 years ago. Man, what a difference in weight. Wear and tear is less visible too. Bag also had to be sleek yet roomy enough to carry my papers and checkbook.

The Knomo Toyah fit the description perfectly. It's lightweighted professional elegance. It will also serve double duty as my purse when I travel on business. This will keep intact my ability to carry-on luggage only. I can't wait to carry it to work with me on Monday. Like Tiffany & Co., there is a unique serial number given to each bag and can be registered online. I did that once I got home.

Third of the big ticket purchases is a new coffee table. 

Last big ticket purchase today was our leather recliner chairs. After admiring Josh's and Amy's Mission-styled recliners for years, we thought that's what we wanted in our place. I found some leather ones online at Macy's this past week and went for a test drive.

There was another recliner in red (Pavia Club Style, as shown in picture) which looked like a regular leather chair. This is what grabbed my attention. I reclined back and it felt very comfortable. It's unassuming and multi-tasks well as a chair and a recliner. I phone ordered it tonight about an hour ago. It's on backorder but will be delivered around the first week of March.

Next is the installation of wall cabinets in the bathroom.

First Week

Yesterday was my first week at my new job. So far, I've been very impressed. There is a huge difference coming from a struggling company to one that's doing well. When I started my previous job 6 years ago, I took a $12K cut in pay. I accepted this current job at $9K more than what I earned before my last one ended.

Day 1: Spent first few hours going over benefits package. I can opt for Kaiser or Blue Cross for medical coverage. Kaiser is free. Blue Cross for single coverage is $35/month. I was paying $90/month at my previous employer. When I reached my 5-year anniversary, it was reduced to $65/month.

Got my tour, introductions to my department associates. Around 3 p.m., IT comes by with my computer, a brand NEW laptop in a humongous cubicle in the back row. I notice later that most managers get the larger, back cubicles. This is my first job with "manager" in the title. Woo hoo!

At my previous job, I got a 7+ year old desktop (eventually replaced) with an even older screen monitor. It was inside a cubicle with a crappy desk chair which took 3 years before the mailroom guy took pity on me and gave me a new one. In 6 years, I moved at least that many times. And each time I moved, I'd be down for a day because I had a card terminal and dinosaur dial-up modem that required a specific phone line routed within my cubicle. When I left the company, I still had the SAME monitor.

Day 2: Attended first all-hands company meeting. CFO introduces me as "the blogger" and one of two new members of the Finance/Operations/Business Systems team. Found the vending machine only charges $0.25 for soda. Twelve cans would only cost me $3, still less than what Safeway or Target charge for the Diet Coke cartons I used to buy because the vending machine charged $0.65 at my old office.

Day 3: Sit in my first meeting with the other departments I'll interact with regularly. My reporting manager also issues a companywide e-mail with yet another introduction. I get over the next 3 days numerous return e-mails from various staff members welcoming me. I am floored at the warm reception. I found it interesting that all of the welcome e-mails except one are from men. Hmmm....

Day 4: Receive my first assignment to follow up with customer phone messages. It is likely in response to a recent mailing they received and have questions about it. I check to see if I have the correct resources to provide answers to the customer inquiries.

Day 5: Contacted and spoke to 3 customers. Two had questions I could address, but bring up other questions where I need to go back and find out the answers. It's bagel Friday at the office, so I grab a bagel and half a muffin as an afternoon snack. I also am asked to draw numbers for the office Super Bowl pool, so there is verification that we are "SOX compliant".

Overall, it is a major contrast from where I worked previously. The office is brand new, having only moved this past August. Friendly, warm, and many of them very smart. I have underground parking. A credit union ATM (co-op'd with mine and no-fee access), upscale grocery store, restaurants and free gym (courtesy of the company) are all in the same complex.

The last time I worked an office this cushy was during the dot-com days with a company that failed to generate enough revenue to stay in business. The company where I am now has been around for 10 years and a profitable business model. At least so far, I earn more money and don't have to work nearly as hard.

Life is tough. NOT.

Returning to work

Tomorrow, I start my new job at a high-tech company in San Mateo. The job has everything I could ask for: excellent location, salary and benefits. The company has been around 10+ years and is in growth mode.

Finding this job took me about 3 months (technically 4, but I don't count the month between Thanksgiving and New Year's where no company does much), which is about how long it's taken me to find work after my previous layoffs. I've been very fortunate to receive generous severances from each of the layoffs. Without it, I would not have had the luxury to be selective about where my next job would be.

Bottom line, losing a job sucks. But living in the pricey San Francisco Bay Area, layoffs, job elimination, and companies dissolving or relocating is a fact of life. For me, being in the same job in this area for an entire career area is naïve, and will get me nowhere if I want to advance.

Neti Pot

As seen on Oprah and written in the New York Times, the longtime Indian practice of nasal irrigation, also known as jala neti, has recently gained wide exposure. As a longtime allergy sufferer, it caught my interest. In the 20 plus years I've been in California, my allergies are usually at their worst between January and April. So far this year it hasn't affected me much.

But if and when it does strike, I may very well find myself heading out to the nearest drug or health food store looking for one of these mini genie lamps and performing this necessary but not-so-pretty looking ritual over the bathroom sink.

Happy cleansing!

2008 so far

It's been a week since I last wrote. I went shopping crazy again, taking advantage of after-holiday clearance sales to stock up on 2 more suits at Eddie Bauer and Levi's at Kohl's. I got some nice e-mails from friends and family with updates on their activities.

If you've been following me on Twitter, most of my recent activity has been interviewing with Epocrates, a software company in San Mateo. I had 2 interviews last week. I'll be going to my third interview this Tuesday. Prospects on joining them look promising. I applied to them over a month ago, so when I heard from them last week, I was pleasantly surprised.

Because most of my career has been in retail, I didn't have high hopes that software companies I applied to would find my experience suitable. Then again, I do live in an area where high-tech dominates the region. I'd never know unless I tried.

Stay tuned.

Online chat at Comcast

As you may have seen on my Twitter entry today, the Toshiba Regza 47" LCD flatscreen arrived today. Two men brought the TV up, took it out of the box and hooked our cable box to the TV. We were watching TV within 5 minutes.

As they were leaving, they asked if it was OK to take the empty box as well. Wow. I guess I'm still remembering my days at The Sharper Image when you had to pay additional shipping to get exercise equipment beyond curbside delivery. At least for this recent experience, things have changed for the better.

Once the TV was on, it was verified that digital cable isn't set up for HDTV tried calling, but a recording at Customer Service after a few minutes said their circuits were busy due to the storm and disconnected the line. I then went to Comcast's website online and ordered the service.

Not more than a minute after I purchased the service, Comcast's website prompted a message that a Customer Service rep would chat live online with me. A nice guy named Cecil came online and after we exchanged pleasantries about San Francisco's rainstorms, he confirmed that I purchased HDTV to add to my existing service. At the time I ordered HDTV online, the earliest available date I could get was Monday, January 14. When I was chatting with Cecil, he told me an earlier appointment could be scheduled for Tuesday, January 8.

Cool. It's been scheduled between the hours of 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. Not in time to see the Ohio State - LSU Bowl Championship Game on Monday (which would have been awesome), but I'll see the game on a bigger screen than the one we have now.

In contrast to my experience with Red Envelope over the holidays, my online chat experiences with REI and Comcast were very positive. It seems rather apparent Red Envelope didn't train and prepare very well their service reps to handle online chats. With REI and Comcast, I got an immediate response and much, much quicker service than I would have on the phone.

home from Scottsdale, AZ

Got back late this afternoon from Scottsdale (Phoenix), Arizona. Visits included Scottsdale Fashion Center, Taliesin West, and the Phoenix Zoo. We stayed in Old Town Scottsdale, at the Marriott. Very nice hotel.

I was pretty excited that I booked hotel/car rental/airfare for under $1400 for the two of us. While I think this is still an excellent way to book a vacation, we ended up paying an additional $140 in car rental. $10/day to upgrade from Economy A to Economy B, and then the killer tax and residual fees for about $100.

Weather was sunny, chilly and very dry. Tasty and cheap ethnic restaurants and movie arthouses were nowhere to be found. We tried a Thai restaurant in Old Town, but the dining room was a furnace and walked out.

When I was in NYC in October, I ate Chinese food everyday and when I got back, I didn't eat Chinese for a week. When we got back from Scottsdale, I ordered for dinner Singapore rice noodles for delivery. My love-hate relationship with Chinese food. Can't live with it, can't live without it.

98% of you need not apply

As it has been the past 3 months, I go online daily to look at job postings. Craigslist.org is a site I peruse daily, focusing on the finance/accounting and business/management listings. Every so often I look at the retail/wholesale and customer service listings.

This past Thursday, a CRM Implementation Analyst posting caught my attention with particular interest. "Implementation" has been a previous job title in my career, so I went to take a look. The duties described what I've done before, but a bit further down into the job requirements was something I found disturbing, "We are looking for someone with an IQ in the top 2% of the population, or better. "

This piqued my curiosty. I went to the link to direct me to their website and then to the job application. Although optional, the application asks you to provide your IQ. There's even a link to a website where a quick IQ test can be taken.

Now the academia in me (a few times straight A's, National Honor Society wannabe, finished in the top 10% in my graduation class) decided to take the test. I'd taken a previous IQ test at Tickle.com. My score was 122, which is considered high intelligence. The IQ test linked from the job application was a mere 107. This is considered average with a 14-15 point deviance. All the more confusing because I'm now either marginally retarded or highly intelligent! The website does tell mention the test is not intended for professional use.

I couldn't let this go. I took 2 more tests (FreeIQtest.net and TestCafe). FreeIQtest.net had me at 131, TestCafe, 107. I found my lower scores came from websites that had a time limit. My inferiority complex of not having scores among the brainy came flooding back.

Back to the job posting. I ended up not applying. I wouldn't want to work for a place where intelligence scores influences one's chances of being employed. I already have to be aware of age discrimination. Now IQ's!

I do not like this trend. No sir, not one bit.

last minute shopping

As the number of shopping days for the holiday season wind down, I headed to Irving Street and 9th Avenue to pick up some gifts. For me, there are 2 gift stores that are always required stops: Tutti Frutti on 718 Irving Street (near 8th Avenue) and Great Gifts on 1377 9th Avenue (near Judah Street).

Tutti Frutti is a fun, fun store. I always come here for office Secret Santa/gift exchange or White Elephant parties. Whenever Lisa visits, she has to come to Tutti Frutti and always ends up buying out half the store. Items include mini Etch-A-Sketches, Mr. T talking keychains, PEZ dispensers, Wonder Woman and Gumby lunch boxes, and Wallace & Gromit calendars. I rarely see anyone leave the store without a smile on their face.

The other store, Great Gifts, is a wonderful place to buy small personal items such as magnets, jewelry boxes, candles, and small cosmetic bags. They also sell puzzles, kites, toys, extremely cool shower curtains, bath items and household gadgets.

While both places are small and often get cramped with only a few people in the store, most items in the store are no more than $20. For me, it's a very inexpensive way to buy chic/retro/cool gifts from shopkeepers who obviously love being in the neighborhood.

Unless there's a last minute emergency, I'm pretty much wrapped up shopping for the year.

Online service experiences

With all of the online shopping I've been doing recently, the deliveries from UPS and USPS are now coming to me directly and regularly. Ever since I left specific delivery instructions on a post-it a month ago, I'm no longer getting the supposed "missed you" notices I used to get even though I was home.

Today I encountered different experiences with 2 major online retailers, Zappos.com and Red Envelope. I have been ordering from Red Envelope for about the past 4 years. I first knew of them from my dot-com days when they were 911Gifts.com. When they changed their name to Red Envelope, I thought it was an excellent choice, since the name is taken from a long standing Asian tradition. As a child, I got red envelopes regularly on Chinese New Year.

Up until today, I've never had to exchange or return anything at Red Envelope. I bought Lisa's and Michael's wedding gift from there. She told me she read my blog entry from December 4 and graciously asked if it was OK to return my gift. I said of course. So after I got off the phone with Lisa, I went online to Red Envelope to get a Return Authorization Number (Gift Return number to Red Envelope).

The website said to call Customer Service to get the Gift Return number. But when I saw the Chat Online option, I decided to try it. I used it once for an REI order where I mistakenly entered San Diego rather than San Carlos for store pickup. My experience online with the REI rep was quick and pleasant. Got everything wrapped up in less than 10 minutes.

Because this week is reaching critical stage for holiday shopping, I'm willing to cut a bit of slack, but the Chat Online experience at Red Envelope was less than satisfactory. It took about 5 minutes before I got a rep named Mustafa. I immediately wrote that I needed a Gift Return number. It took Mustafa another 5 minutes to tell me I need to be transferred to Whitney. After another 5 minutes, I got Rae Ann instead. When I wrote AGAIN that I need a Gift Return number, Rae Ann told me I needed to CALL customer service. I said OK and closed the chat.

This is what gets me. I call Red Envelope customer service. A person named (I kid you not) Rae Ann answers the phone. I don't understand why I couldn't get the Gift Return number via chat. I went back to the Return + Exchanges policy to see if I erred in reading the instructions. The website does say to call, but it doesn't specifically state that you can't chat.

My other online experience is with mega-shoe purveyor Zappos.com. I've known about them for a few years, but mostly kept my shoe ordering to Nordstrom.com. But when I kept seeing FREE OVERNIGHT shipping everytime I went to the site, it pulled me in. I just returned my Eddie Bauer boots, and last night I decided to try Zappos.com out. It took me awhile before I finally decided on what I wanted as 3 previous pairs of shoes I liked were sold out. Ah, the demands of Christmas.

At 8:04 p.m., I got a confirmation e-mail that my order had been placed. At 11:58 p.m., I got my UPS Overnight tracking number. At 10:30 am this morning, UPS delivered my shoes. Wow, extremely comfy. I am still floored at the FREE OVERNIGHT shipping. ZERO SHIPPING FEE. OVERNIGHT. Even got friendly instructions advising to try on the shoes on carpet to minimize wear so that returns can be made easily.

I wish I was told this when I bought a pair of Ecco loafers at an unnamed shoe store in San Mateo's Hillsdale Mall 3 years ago. I wore them outside for a few minutes. When I realized they didn't fit as I thought, I went back the NEXT day in an attempt to exchange, NOT RETURN them. The store manager bitched that he wouldn't be able to resell the shoes, how expensive they were, etc. I yelled back and told him Nordstrom's located 2 doors down would take the shoes back without the attitude. He finally relented, apologized because he was having a bad day. I ended up exchanging the Eccos for a pair of Dansko clogs I absolutely love. But I will NEVER shop at that store again.

OK Lani, deep breaths now. As a longtime retail finance professional who's talked to hundreds of customers, it's something I get passionate about. While I can't argue about the lack of intelligence and compassion of many sales associates, customers are just as bad. STORES Magazine Executive Editor Susan Reda recently blogged about a recent shopping experience.

I'll stop for tonight. Happy Shopping!

Top 10 Blogging Cities

I read from SFGate's Technology Chronicles Nielsen's top 10 cities for blogging in 2007:

1. Austin, TX
2. Portland, OR
3. SF Bay Area, CA
4. Seattle, WA
5. Honolulu, HI
6. San Diego, CA
7. Dallas/Fort Worth, TX
8. Columbus, OH
9. Nashville, TN
10. Colorado Springs, CO

My initial thoughts would have the SF Bay Area #1, Austin #2, and Portland in the top 10, but lower, like #6 or #7. For me, the most surprising was to see my birthplace, Columbus, as number 8. I know 24 years is a long time to be away from a city, but I am still astounded by how much Columbus has grown in size and sophistication whenever I now visit.

No kidding. Sizewise (according to Wikipedia), Columbus is the 15th largest city in the United States. Right behind number 14, San Francisco.

Columbus, number 8???????????????????

My Cyber Monday

I spent most of Monday online. I spent the first half chatting via e-mail and phone to 2 recruiters about possible job leads. I've talked to so many recruiters in the past 6 months that it's starting to make my head spin. I don't take anything seriously until I hear from the company's hiring manager.

I spent the second half shopping for gifts. I got a good chunk of shopping done. Following in Josh's footsteps, I also updated my wish lists for the holiday. I added yesterday a second wish list from Amazon. I fully agree that wish lists can be construed as arrogant and self-centered. Then again, I think wish lists aren't that much different than wedding registries. I've always loved wedding registries because it takes the guesswork out of what to buy.

So, those of you out there that know me and seek gift ideas, look no further. The links are located on the left side of my blog page. I've tried to keep the list to items that won't break a person's piggy bank, but there are a few that are really "wishes". These are items I'd want to buy once I get back to work.

Online Crosswords

Having completed a second month without work, I'm spending a lot more time online. To keep myself occupied while waiting for job updates or recruiter e-mails, I do crossword puzzles online.

I currently do 3 crosswords at USA Today, WebCrosswords.com, and the Los Angeles Times. I chose these 3 because they are all in the same format (edited by Timothy Parker). If I choose the "regular skill" format, the puzzle will highlight letters in red if they aren't correct.

While this isn't the bonafide way to do a crossword puzzle, my ultimate goal is to see how quickly I can complete the puzzle. On average, it takes me about 20 to 25 minutes. I love it on Sundays when the LA Times features a total of 3 puzzles: Daily, Magazine and Calendar Sunday. Magazine and Calendar Sunday are the hard ones. It usually takes me about 45 to 50 minutes to complete them.

I bet you're wondering if I've tried the New York Times crosswords. No, I haven't. First of all, they're really hard. I'm not at that skill level. Second, they're only available offline. I did try online puzzles that were published 2-5 years ago. Still too hard.

This is a good way to kill time, but like I said about not working on Black Friday, I don't want this to be permanent. I look forward to the day I won't have time to do puzzles.

Perfecting Imperfections

Today's blog from Tara Parker-Pope located in the Health section of the New York Times discusses the problems many women have finding the right fit in jeans. As a recent purchaser of a different cut and smaller size of Levi's, I can totally relate. The blog references 2 websites one can go to for help in finding the right fit based on size, weight and personal preferences in clothing type.

One of the websites, zafu.com, requires you to answer a series of questions which should take about 3 minutes. I did this for finding jeans and bras. I wanted to find out if what I currently own was listed among their selections. For jeans (Levi's 550 Relaxed Bootcut Stretch) and bras (Bali double support, no wire), they were both listed in the results in the sizes I currently wear, however they were listed as "well fit" as opposed to "very well fit".

It was good to know I was on the right track and not delusional, as many women seem to be. Particularly those who have been chosen for TLC's "What Not To Wear". The only issue I had was knowing in jeans what my true body shape was. My first results yielded styles I've tried on in the past and didn't like the feel and fit. It took me 2 more tries before I felt the results were reliable.

The key to taking the survey is to be honest with yourself. If you aren't, the survey will yield inaccurate results and you're back to square one, uncomfortable, ill-fitting clothes. This is especially important for women because finding appropriate and well-fitting clothes isn't easy. It's any wonder why so many women have poor self-images of their bodies.

BTW, guys, zafu.com has a section for you.

San Francisco Auto Show

Yesterday, I tagged along with Amy, Josh, Fran (Amy's big sis) and Jeremy (Fran's son) to the San Francisco Autoshow at Moscone Center. This is the fourth show I've attended and it's always fun to imagine what life would be like in a new, cool car.

The pictures shown above are (taken with my cameraphone) views of the new BMW 1-Series. Specifically, the 135i model. It won't be available in the United States until early 2008. It will likely be available only in a 2-door model. If it becomes available in a 4-door sedan, it might very well be my next car. But I'm on my second 3-series (318ti and now 325i) and will likely stay with this series when I'm ready to buy another car.

Whatever BMW it is, it must have a stick-shift transmission. Even if I have to special order it again.

Black Friday online shopping

This past week, I went out to Mervyns to buy some new Levi's. I've been a dedicated Levi's wearer since high school. They're durable, never go out of style, and most of all, it's the brand everyone knows. My current stock have gotten baggy and needed to get new ones in a smaller size (yeah, baby!).

I usually buy Levi's 550's Tapered Leg, relaxed fit. This time I bought Levi's 550, Bootcut, relaxed fit. Man, what a difference. With a bit of stretch (I no longer buy jeans without it), the slight flare at the end, and one size smaller, they looked so much better on me. I bought 2 pair and probably would have bought more had I been able to find them in other denim shades.

This morning, I decided to buy 2 more online. I could have gone back out to Mervyns in another location, but because it's officially the holiday season, I tend to steer clear of stores and malls unless it's absolutely necessary.

I first went to Sears. I had already been there the past 2 days after seeing free shipping. I couldn't pull the trigger. I'd put in, then remove the items from the shopping cart. Today I was ready. It was totally cool when they took off $10, but once I entered my billing address, the site froze. After 10 minutes, I gave up and closed the browser window. I just went there a few minutes ago and they're now completely down.

Next, I went to Kohl's. My last purchase of Levi's came from them. I didn't see free shipping, but thought maybe I'd see something discounted once I put the items in the cart. Once I saw $8 in shipping, I removed the items from the cart and abandoned the order.

Now, the third retailer I know that sells Levi's online at a decent price is JC Penney. They have free shipping, no minimum purchase required from now until 11/26. I would have saved the most at Sears, but the site is down. Even though JCP's Levi's are $2 more than Kohl's, I'd still be spending less at JCP because of free shipping.

This was my first time shopping online on Black Friday. Cyber Monday is in 2 days. It'll be interesting to see what major websites choke under the massive amounts of traffic.