Bargains and lack of choice

WMD: I've discovered Costco. I've gone perhaps once before, some years ago, but never shopped on my own. Last week, I embarked on a journey into warehouse land, where I spent $123 to ensure that I have enough tissue, cat litter, garbage bags, porridge, pasta, tomato sauce, tomato paste, whole wheat bread and buns to last me for at least two months. I also have 20 new fancy coat hangars. Just this past weekend, I returned to ensure a similar supply of toilet paper, paper towel, mushroom soup, Raisin Bran and other items. By buying at a wholesale level, I am saving money. But choice of goods is quite constrained. Quality is not assured. The ginger snap cookies I bought will last all week, but they are moderately enjoyable. The cat litter was less than $8 for 50 pounds, and it's subpar. But just one box, about one fourth of the supply I have now, of my regular litter costs $9, so the cat will have to deal with it for the next few weeks. And that's what Costco is about. Note: the tomato sauce is just fine ...

Today's bLINKit: Tor is offering free science fiction and fantasy e-books for download. And need to sync bookmarks over two or more computers using Firefox? Try Foxmarks. I was sceptical, but so far, works well between my main PC and my laptop. And a site with headlines about how Barack Obama has added you as a friend/carries a picture of you in his wallet/thought you could use some chocolate. Click on what you find here and keep clicking.