… to give everyone a Shocker 101 education. Fun for the whole family (or your partner, at least).

And there’s more, including a mug and a spaghetti strap tank top for that cute girlfriend of yours. The dark color shirts (black, maroon, green, blue) are selling like hotcakes.

Supplies are unlimited! Make sure you get yours today before they don’t run out!

(if you want, you can make your own stuff, too)

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Though the bubble has burst, our homes are still almost always going to be our single greatest asset. And when we sell those assets, our eyes get as big as saucers when looking at all the apprecation our lovely four walls have accumulated. However, there are some things that can significantly reduce the amount you will realize from that appreciation. Taxes aside, real estate agent fees are the biggest chunk. With a little extra work and/or creativity on your part, the agent fees can largely be avoided.

A typical home sale incurs agency fees of 6-7%, with half going to the selling agent and half to the buying agent. Selling and buying a home involves a lot a paperwork and is a total pain in the ass… but 7% is a steep tax to pay (on a $500,000 home sale, you’ll be paying $30,000 in agent fees). How can you avoid paying it?

To avoid the buyer agent fees, you could sell only to unrepresented buyers. That will limit your pool of available buyers, but it can save you some money. Essentially, though, I think paying the buyer agent fees is nigh unavoidable, which leaves the selling agent.

Traditionally, there’s the for sale by owner route. There are a number of websites that will let you list your house FSBO for a flat fee (as little as $399).

I think a great middle ground (and fast-rising option) is Redfin. They have a flat $2,000 fee like the FSBO sites, but also have experienced sales agents who will show your home and take care of all that onerous paperwork. That $30,000 in agent fees for your $500,000 home just became $17,000 ($15,000 for buyer agent + $2,000 for Redfin). You could potentially save yourself $28,000 if you find a buyer not using an agent. Granted, Redfin is currently only available in Seattle and the Bay Area, but since that’s where I’m at, it is an ideal solution for me.

And that, as my mom would say, is better than a kick in the pants.

I have no association or relationship with Redfin… but I’ll be using them when I put my house up for sale in the near future.

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Ghostfinger’s doing this project about violence and computer games, which got me thinking… man, I love games! And when I buy games, I go to GoGamer (all the way back to the day when it used to be called CompuExpert).

Being forced to use a laptop as my primary machine has really killed off a lot of my favorite games. Well, that and having all my free time sucked up elsewhere, that is. In any event, I recommend GoGamer highly if you’re in the market for some games.

… if I was shopping for myself, I’d get Neverwinter Nights 2

Neverwinter Nights 2 DVD

(since they’re apparently never going to freaking release Jade Empire). If you’ve got to play on a console, you can’t go wrong with a Madden Football (consoles are the only time football is acceptable)

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Newegg is currently carrying a smoking hot deal for a Samsung 941BW, a 19″ widescreen LCD (4ms refresh rate) for $190.

If I was using anything besides my laptop, I’d jump all over that deal - great size, good brand, great response time and specs. You could even get two and dual screen them. That would be awesome.

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Hey, did you know that Terry Pratchett as a new book out? Because he does. It’s called Wintersmith. And the Nac Mac Feegle are in it too!

FSM, I love the Nac Mac Feegle (what are they good for? Drinkin’! Drinkin’ and what? Drinkin’ and fightin’! Drinkin and fightin and what? Drinkin’ and fightin’ and stealin’!). Don’t know who Terry Pratchett is? Why, he’s only the wittiest, funniest, satirical writer in like… ever. His most famous and successful construct is a fictional universe called Discworld. It’s a flat planet that sits on top of four giant elephants who stand on the shell of the great space turtle A’Tuin. The series is inspired storytelling and genius disguised as satire. I’m such a fanboi, I’ve even reviewed and provided capsule summaries of all 30-something Discworld books, feel free to peruse at your leisure. But comment so I can feel some lurve.

Anyway, books are always cool gifts and Pratchett is good fun for the whole family. So he’s going on my wishlist as well as the Deals n’ Gifts list. Pratchett and Susanna Clarke’s The Ladies of Gracie Adieu are the books I’m most looking forward to these days. Well, that and the next 3 from Steven Erikson.

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Here’s a new idea (for me) for gift giving this year - wine! Now, I’m no oenophile or even a connoisseur, but in the under-$20 reds category, I’ve got some decent experience. Interestingly enough, wine.com has a category just for that (though they include whites too. Apparently, some people like it sweet), which makes my choices a lot easier.

We’re generally a shiraz/syrah house, but I’ve heard good things about the Folie à Deux Ménage à Trois Red ($9) and the Cantena Malbec ($18, 90 rating). Of shiraz’ I know and like, they have the Fat Bastard Shiraz for $11, though I can’t seem to find my favorite cheap deal find of the year, the Lindeman Padthaway shiraz 2003 (they don’t appear to carry Lindeman at all. Oh well) and that screwtop Pinot Noir $11 thing that was awesome but who’s name escapes me at the moment. Sigh.

Wine.com also offers glassware, of course, and they have their own most popular gift suggestion ideas as well.

Coming from what is essentially a teetotaler family, the idea of gifting alcohol on the holidays is new ground to me, yet appealing. This year, at least. And remember - a glass of red a day keeps the heart healthy!

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I price checked the Toshiba 32HLC56 at my normal haunting grounds and it’s going for $850-900 plus shipping. Today, however, TigerDirect is running a special of $750 with free shipping.

I’ve had good luck with Toshiba hardware in the past and the price on this LCD display is hard to beat. Add in free shipping and you’ve got yourself a sweet deal right here.

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