Thursday & Friday Roundup

[gonzai]

 

So, Thanksgiving…started off the Christmas shopping early with a trip to Kmart to get some things for Mom, and a tank of gas. Less than $20!!! I can’t remember the last time I filled the tank for less than $20. Small favors, right? Then the National Dog Show, which in the end I didn’t manage to attend in person. It was edited down to teensy bits, but the announcers were hilarious, the commercials were remarkably funny, and a couple of the dogs decided they’d had enough for the day – while walking the ring for the judges. So very enjoyable.

 

Dinner was at – follow the bouncing ball here, there’ll be a quiz – my sister-in-law’s cousin’s house, with all of his family (including children by 3 different women), all of her family, and then Mom, myself and the wife of one of his college buddies to round it out. Whew. Andy and his current wife, Anne, had a baby last year, and 14 month old Cooper was the primary entertainment. She’s toddling around like a pro. I mostly played with their Brittany Spaniel, Stella, who looks forward to me and my first-rate butt scratches and tummy rubs. I filled up on appetizers (marinated artichokes and crab dip crackers) and didn’t do much with dinner. Missing from action were my sister-in-law and younger nephew, Jeff. Jeff was sick and with 5 other kids running around, nobody wanted Jeff’s germs. All in all a good evening, and we got back early enough to go to bed early – for Black Friday.

 

I still can’t believe I got up at 4am to go shopping. However, it really couldn’t have gone any smoother than it did. I started with a 5am open at Best Buy. I had to drive past the store on I-95 and come back, which meant I saw the over 500 people in line around the store and well into the back. Gulp. I arrived at exactly 5am and got into the back of the line, which was still towards the back of the building. Got in and went straight for my big prize, a 1 TB hard drive, and got one. Next was Season 3 of Supernatural – couldn’t find it on the displays, but a clerk found it on the shelf for me. The only other thing I was after was a Wii game for the boys, but it was a doorbuster and I was way too late for a ticket. Darn if I didn’t find one anyway – someone who did get it set it down on a shelf and apparently forgot it, so I snagged it. Off to pay, with only 20 people ahead of me with 13 registers running. Total time in store: 13 minutes. Really.

 

After dropping off my loot at the car, I walked to Target and arrived at 5:20 for a 6am open. There were already 150 people lined up and I wound up halfway towards to back of the building. It was chilly, and naturally I was stuck in line behind chain smokers, blecch, but it wasn’t a long wait. Store employees came out with maps of the store, and the manager strolled by to field questions. By 6am there were about 500 people in line and we were ready to go. Unfortunately, the store wasn’t. They had no cops, real or rental, and no means of line control. (Best Buy had ropes and plenty of security, and everything ran smoothly.) So nearly 100 people rushed the doors and pushed their way ahead of the people who’d waited in line, some for hours. Several people, including a group behind me, started fights with the line jumpers. I was lucky enough to duck into the store unnoticed by the warring factions in front, but it was close. Once in I asked an employee where to find the computer items, he told me, I went and found my goal with no problem – a 750GB hard drive for my friend Dan, who is moving to Europe and wants to take his music collection. I then bolted for the registers and was the first person in line, paid, and snuck out a side door. Total time: 10 minutes, if that. And there were still things going on outside the front door, which I was more than happy to avoid. (Especially after going home and finding out about Long Island. After what I saw at Target, I have no trouble believing such a thing could happen. It’s sick and senseless, but it’s also what happens when there’s no security and no authority. Mob mentality.)

 

I also hit Michaels, where almost no one was in the store but unfortunately none of the ornaments I make to sell were either. Did get many stocking stuffers for the little guys. I was on the road by 6:45. At 7 I arrived at Circuit City, where I decided to take the chance that the Mad Men set I wanted would still be there. It wasn’t. I did snag the last of the cheap recordable DVDs and a few movies, and then to ACMoore for supplies and more stocking stuffers. I was home before 8am, with all but Mad Men acquired. All in all, not a bad run. Then Mom wanted to go shopping, so we went to Wegman’s for the first time. Wow. More wow. Talk about a cheese shop…and the sushi…and the bakery…yummy yummy. Mom did most of the buying, mostly presents for her friends, but then when we got to the cash register – she hadn’t brought her Wegman’s gift card…or her credit card…or cash. All she’d brought was an expired gift card to another store entirely. After slamming my head on the cash register, I had to pay for the whole thing with my already damaged credit card. I foresee long years ahead trying to keep my mother out of trouble.

 

Anyway, I need some stocking stuffers for Janine and my mother, and that’s it. Shopping finished. Can’t knock that.