I left my eye mask behind in Belgium (I think; of course, Sod’s Law dictates that I will find it the minute I post this, or the minute I buy a replacement), so I needed to buy a substitute for my trusty sleep aid. ‘Easy,’ methoughts, ‘I’ll look on Amazon.’ But Amazon is populated with infinite pseudobrands that may provide adequate products, but may on the other hand be only a reshipper with an ‘office’ in a cafe in Ruislip or someplace, and I prefer to buy an item with an identifiable chain of responsibility. ‘OK then,’ says I to myself, ‘I’ll Google it.’ But the Google products algorithm draws in pseudoproducts as well as genuine branded products, and although the Boots moddel seems fit for purpose, I’d like to be able to compare with some more reliable merchandise. It’s a headache, though, trying to isolate and compare in a cluttered browser window.
At a certain point, it’s just simpler to walk to Boots and buy what’s on offer there, even if I haven’t done a minimal comparison browse; the kudzu online has overwhelmed the other plant life, and I’m not patient enough to hack it away (only to do it again the next time I’m inclined to make a general-purpose purchase).