Amazon’s shopping fairies sometimes drop the price when you’re not looking.

In this post: Condolence call, shopping diversions.

There isn’t very much to write about today because I never do anything interesting unless you give a crap about laundry, so I’ll begin this post with a brand new Howdygram feature!

Classic movie fans such as yours truly are struggling with the loss of Joan Fontaine (96) and Peter O’Toole (81), who both died within the last 48 hours. I don’t believe they were together at the time but I’m not positive about this.

My favorite Joan Fontaine movies include Rebecca (1940), Suspicion (1941) and The Constant Nymph (1943). She sucked in Irwin Allen’s embarrassing Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1965), but so did everybody else. Regarding Peter O’Toole, I love Lawrence of Arabia (1962), How to Steal a Million (1966) and The Lion in Winter (1968). As far as I know he never sucked in anything whatsoever.

And now for Monday’s shopping diversions! From Amazon I ordered a supply of 19" x 24" indestructible poly mailers, and from Wal-Mart I ordered Crisco sticks, three packages of Hefty foam bowls (the 28-oz. size), two jars of Fleischmann’s bread machine yeast and five six-packs of cheap Armour Vienna sausages because I’m suddenly addicted to them and the price on Amazon DOUBLED since I ordered a case of 24 last week.

Incidentally, price-baiting happens a LOT on Amazon so you have to pay attention. You can order something at a terrific bargain and go back a week later to buy it again and discover they’ve doubled the price. For instance, when I bought Vienna sausages from Amazon last week they had a case of 24 cans for $12 (50¢ per can). The price today jumped to $22.95 (95¢ per can) so I wound up buying from Wal-Mart, where they sell six-packs for $3. I do have a secret Amazon trick, though. If you let something sit in your cart for a few days and go back to check on it, the shopping fairies sometimes drop the price when you’re not looking. It’s always worth a shot if you’re not having an emergency.

It’s almost 7:45 p.m. and time to debate a few dinner options before my blood sugar starts to drop. Tonight I’m considering: 1) a couple of baked chicken whatnots with low-carb pasta sauce and melty mozzarella; 2) three teeny cans of Vienna sausages with wad of hot mustard; and 3) braunschweiger on low-carb toast with sugar-free sweet pickles.

I’m almost feeling adventurous enough to do ALL THREE. Send mouthwash.