Tony Brewer

I’m all for getting the best deal that you can get on a service or a product, and I really like using the Internet to help me with that endeavor.  However, I want to make sure that I’m not throwing my money at a foreign company if I can get a good deal locally.  After all, my livelihood depends on the local economy! 

So when I need to buy something, or obtain a service, I like to do a local search to see if I can a good deal here in my local neighborhood.  Oftentimes if I bring the local merchant proof that I can purchase the product or service somewhere else for a lower price they will offer to meet the deal.  I’m really glad that there are websites that have search engines that act like local yellowpages and help me find the local businesses.  I’ve found that sometimes they have listings that the paper version doesn’t have at all!  And it’s a lot easier to find local restaurants on the Internet than it used to be!  And what’s good about finding them on the Internet is that often you can read a review of the restaurant that you would not be able to get from the paper version!

When I got on the Internet this morning I was surprised to see in the news headlines that the parents of “the balloon boy” are being brought up on legal charges in relation to the drama that occurred when the entire country got wrapped up in the search and rescue mission of their son who was supposedly in a runaway balloon, when in fact he was safe at home hiding in their garage’s attic.

I had heard that this family was trying to get their own reality show on television. Well, it looks like now they’ve got one – just not a paid one! I wonder, though, if a few years down the road they end up with a paid one anyway! I hope not – this grandstanding effort should not be rewarded with good fortune!