Monday, November 23, 2009
Cheap is not always bad...
Whenever I go grocery shopping, I have this tendency of NOT buying items of the local / house brand, eg: Kroger in King Soopers, GreatValue in Walmart etc. The house brand always touts that it has the lowest prices which makes me wonder whether the stuff it is made up of is of good quality or not. I am a big skin-care freak and I follow the 3 step care routine for my skin: cleanse, tone and moisturize every day. I needed some facial cotton swabs for applying the toner to my face and I needed some which wont leave the lint/fabric remnants on my face after I am done using it. So I go to the nearest King Soopers store to buy myself a good quality cotton swabs pack. I see two of the same type on the rack: one is of the Swisspers brand ( which was around $2.89) and the other one was of Kroger ( for $1.99). I took pride in myself for the fact that I reached in time to pick up the last of the packs of Swisspers which was left ( mind you I had never heard of this brand name before that day) and I didn't even glance in the direction of the cheaper cotton swabs. 4 days later, I head to King Soopers again unsatisfied with the cotton swabs I bought the other day. They left a lot of fabric strands on my face and it was some hassle for me trying to get them out from my face. I thought I would go and have a look in the beauty aisle again to check out if there was any other brand apart from Swisspers and Kroger for the swabs. But to my luck, there was no other brand. After a lot of contemplation ( and thought that if the Kroger one turns out to be worse that Swisspers ( I was sure it would be that way) , I could always come and return it , cant I?!). So I go ahead and buy the Kroger brand. I come home eager to prove my conviction right about the Kroger brand to be way worse than the Swisspers one. I wash my face and use the cotton swab to apply the toner. And what do I see??!! The swab worked like a charm! It felt soft on my face and left no lints behind. It absorbed the toner well and didn't drip. I was AMAZED. I never thought Kroger could even match, let alone surpass a more expensive, a more well-known brand by such a noticeable margin. Lesson to myself : "Money isn't everything. A cheaper brand could provide a better quality item, rare but very much possible."
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Transport Troubles!
I don't know whats with me and Public Transport ! Something bad has to happen everytime..well almost everytime.
Since the time I recall travelling in the Bound, I can think of only one scenario. I am trying to lock the door to my house, loaded with a heavy backpack and some books in one hand, fumbling around with my keys and thinking to myself " Oops its 8.28 am and the Bound will leave in 2 minutes" and then after somehow managing to lock that door, I sprint across the long corridor, trying to use my height to my advantage by taking 2 steps at a time and climbing down the four floors of the building,struggling to keep the weight of my backpack balanced on my back at the same time. I keep on running, taking in huge gulps of the cold morning air and trying hard not to get breathless and I am just about to applaud myself for making it in time to catch the bus which I thought I was about to miss,just to see the bus leaving the bus -stop. Damn ! This has to happen almost everytime and I absolutely hate missing the bus, especially after I have put in so much effort in trying to make it.
This is not the only time I miss this bus.The Bound is known to be notorious for being always before time. I work at LASP and the bus-stop where I wait for the bus on my way back home is a good 10-minute walk from the building where I work at and it includes crossing the road too. I always leave the office approximately 18 minutes before the bus is expected to be at the bus-stop( the reliable RTD time-table!) and I dont know how, the bus always manages to beat me to the bus-stop. Its always me waiting at the side-walk, thinking happily to myself " Yayy! I made it in time for the bus" and I often end up saying that too soon coz thats when I see the bus "bound"ing past me in full glory and full speed , when I am right there waiting on the sidewalk, waiting for the pedestrian signal to turn green. The Bound comes and goes and alongwith it brings a wave of irritation to me, every single time.
To top all of this, thats not the only bus I manage to miss. I work in Longmont and the Bolt takes me there. In the mornings,the bus operates twice every hour and in the afternoons its once every hour. To reach the bus-stop on the route where the Bolt operates, I have to catch another bus. I managed to get into this bus on time just to see that one lane of Broadway had been closed for some work and only one lane was functional. Pedestrians were walking faster than the bus I was in! I obviously ended up reaching late at the stop where I was supposed to catch the Bolt and I thought of putting the hour where I would have to wait for the next bus to some good use by going to lunch on the Hill which is just 5 minutes away. I ate a very nice Thai meal there and I was thinking to myself " Well, it wasn't that bad that I missed the bus afterall, I got to have Thai !" That was said too soon again. I caught the Hop from the Hill , almost 25 minutes before the Bolt was expected to reach the bus-stop where I was supposed to catch it ( which is almost 15 minutes more than what is needed ), but trust my luck with public transport to mess up things. The Hop was over-crowded to the point that there were people standing on the stairs in the bus and the bus was stopping at all the stops and it was taking ages for people to board and alight the bus! My bus was waiting at a red signal, very close to the stop where I was supposed to get off and while I was looking at my watch for the zillionth time in that half hour, I saw the Bolt going past and there I was, sitting in the Hop!! I was just cursing my luck when the signal turned green and I immediately got off the bus the moment it stopped at the bus-stop and I ran after the Bolt-the other bus, my arms waving wildly, hoping that the driver would feel some pity for me and would stop the bus. But I guess, I was really out of luck that day .The bus didn't stop for me..And that meant waiting for 75 minutes for the next bus! Gosh,I am so,so waiting to get my hands on a car ! (Sigh )
Since the time I recall travelling in the Bound, I can think of only one scenario. I am trying to lock the door to my house, loaded with a heavy backpack and some books in one hand, fumbling around with my keys and thinking to myself " Oops its 8.28 am and the Bound will leave in 2 minutes" and then after somehow managing to lock that door, I sprint across the long corridor, trying to use my height to my advantage by taking 2 steps at a time and climbing down the four floors of the building,struggling to keep the weight of my backpack balanced on my back at the same time. I keep on running, taking in huge gulps of the cold morning air and trying hard not to get breathless and I am just about to applaud myself for making it in time to catch the bus which I thought I was about to miss,just to see the bus leaving the bus -stop. Damn ! This has to happen almost everytime and I absolutely hate missing the bus, especially after I have put in so much effort in trying to make it.
This is not the only time I miss this bus.The Bound is known to be notorious for being always before time. I work at LASP and the bus-stop where I wait for the bus on my way back home is a good 10-minute walk from the building where I work at and it includes crossing the road too. I always leave the office approximately 18 minutes before the bus is expected to be at the bus-stop( the reliable RTD time-table!) and I dont know how, the bus always manages to beat me to the bus-stop. Its always me waiting at the side-walk, thinking happily to myself " Yayy! I made it in time for the bus" and I often end up saying that too soon coz thats when I see the bus "bound"ing past me in full glory and full speed , when I am right there waiting on the sidewalk, waiting for the pedestrian signal to turn green. The Bound comes and goes and alongwith it brings a wave of irritation to me, every single time.
To top all of this, thats not the only bus I manage to miss. I work in Longmont and the Bolt takes me there. In the mornings,the bus operates twice every hour and in the afternoons its once every hour. To reach the bus-stop on the route where the Bolt operates, I have to catch another bus. I managed to get into this bus on time just to see that one lane of Broadway had been closed for some work and only one lane was functional. Pedestrians were walking faster than the bus I was in! I obviously ended up reaching late at the stop where I was supposed to catch the Bolt and I thought of putting the hour where I would have to wait for the next bus to some good use by going to lunch on the Hill which is just 5 minutes away. I ate a very nice Thai meal there and I was thinking to myself " Well, it wasn't that bad that I missed the bus afterall, I got to have Thai !" That was said too soon again. I caught the Hop from the Hill , almost 25 minutes before the Bolt was expected to reach the bus-stop where I was supposed to catch it ( which is almost 15 minutes more than what is needed ), but trust my luck with public transport to mess up things. The Hop was over-crowded to the point that there were people standing on the stairs in the bus and the bus was stopping at all the stops and it was taking ages for people to board and alight the bus! My bus was waiting at a red signal, very close to the stop where I was supposed to get off and while I was looking at my watch for the zillionth time in that half hour, I saw the Bolt going past and there I was, sitting in the Hop!! I was just cursing my luck when the signal turned green and I immediately got off the bus the moment it stopped at the bus-stop and I ran after the Bolt-the other bus, my arms waving wildly, hoping that the driver would feel some pity for me and would stop the bus. But I guess, I was really out of luck that day .The bus didn't stop for me..And that meant waiting for 75 minutes for the next bus! Gosh,I am so,so waiting to get my hands on a car ! (Sigh )
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