For the first time in about five weeks, I went to church. No, it's not because I'm at odds with St. Georges, I just haven't been at home to attend. KS started a search of finding a church that was accepting of her, and she has found Grace Lutheran Church in Las Cruces. I was invited to go along, and since I had never been to a Lutheran service, I decided to check it out.
The nice thing about the Episcopal Church and the Lutheran church is that their services do follow a similar structure, so it is not like I was lost at where we were at during the service. I definitely noticed some subtle differences in worship style, but that could also be the way Grace Lutheran does things, and not necessarily the entire Lutheran Church. The sermon was definitely something worth listening to for a lot of people, a discussion about forgiveness. In summary, forgiving can mean trying to engage someone about the issue at hand, but forgiving does not mean forgetting. If there is someone who continually wrongs you, you can forgive them and learn not to engage with them again in a situation that will cause a wrong. It also means learning to let go of the residual anger behind the fact that you were wronged. If you can't do that, you haven't really forgiven the person.
After the service, I met with the priest and some of the other congregation members. Everyone seems very nice and made me feel welcome, sounds kind of familiar. I wonder if they're also the kind of people who will take care of one of their own when that person is down with illness or surgery ;-) Seriously, my dad reminded me earlier this week that his mother remarked that she was glad the people of St. Georges took care of me when I had my appendix out because that would not have happened at her church.
A few of us headed over to Break an Egg for Sunday brunch. The restaurant itself is different in that it is very movie themed. The inside lobby looks a bit like a theater box office area, and there are posters of various movies all over the place. There are TV screens playing a movie in the background (Thoroughly Modern Millie that morning), and some of the menu items are named after known movie jobs, such as The Director, The Producer, etc. The food itself was very good, though for some reason service was slow.
After brunch, KS and I headed over to the local mall to look at shoes to go with her dress for a wedding the following weekend. I had already seen the dress that morning, so I was serving as the "second opinion" for finding something comfortable for her to wear, and that could be used with other outfits in the future. We hit the payless and after looking at several pairs of shoes and sandals, we found some sandals that would look perfect for her dress and would totally rock with her tight jeans at the club.
We looked at a few cameras at Radio Shack and did some inquiries about finding some earrings to replace one that she had lost somewhere. I also met KS's cousin since we dropped in to chat at her workplace while it wasn't completely busy. I got to be filled in on some of the family drama that was going on, which believe me, if I didn't know any better, I could claim that KS and her family was Italian ;-)
We went home and watched a few episodes of stand up comedy while I napped for a bit. In the meantime I also got a call from my friend HT and made arrangements to do dinner at La Posta de Mesilla. Around 6 we headed over and met up at La Posta. If you're in Las Cruces, you should make a stop there. It's a famous place and you will see why once you've had the food. It was very good to see HT because I haven't seen her since I left for DC four years ago. Her family is doing well, and it was great to be able to catch up. KS enjoyed their company very much as well and they seemed to enjoy her. I would definitely like to get back over HT's way to see Silver City and how much it has changed because it is one thing to hear someone tell you what has changed, but it's another to actually see it.
After dinner KS brought me to the store and I went in and raided the green chile bin. Nine pounds of chiles later and I had restocked one of the main things I came for. Seriously, green chile is the one thing that I will not break my addiction to. Besides, how harmful can eating hot peppers be, they claim it's good for you in so many ways. We got back to the house and CO came over for a visit as well. We showed him Nurse Jackie, which KS got me hooked on over the weekend thanks to on-demand. I have so got to see if I can find the show somewhere online to watch. Besides that, Thor reminds me of someone I know, I just need to pull the clip and show it to them.
After watching some TV and getting laundry done, it was time for bed, since I had to be up early tomorrow to get myself to the airport and return home.
Showing posts with label shopping. Show all posts
Showing posts with label shopping. Show all posts
August 10, 2009
June 13, 2008
Camping Anyone?
Last summer I rediscovered my love of camping...the problem was that I didn't have much equipment, my sleeping bag ended up ruined and had to be thrown away (damn cat!), and I had outgrown my tent.
Well this year I'm much better prepared. I bought a Coleman stove when it went on sale, thanks to the generosity of Brian I obtained a new sleeping bag, and in two weeks, I'll have a tent again!
When I bought my Camelbak last year at REI, I signed up to get E-mail offers. I happened to be looking through my "shopping" E-mail address this week, and their offer was to take 20% off any one item if you ordered before June 12. So I decided to take a peek at the site and see if they had any tents available that were reasonably priced anyway, and get some extra cash off.
I lucked out and found this beauty right here, 35% off already and being able to save another 20% meant that I would be really stupid not to get my hands on it now.
I can't wait to try it out, anyone else interested in a trip this summer?
Well this year I'm much better prepared. I bought a Coleman stove when it went on sale, thanks to the generosity of Brian I obtained a new sleeping bag, and in two weeks, I'll have a tent again!
When I bought my Camelbak last year at REI, I signed up to get E-mail offers. I happened to be looking through my "shopping" E-mail address this week, and their offer was to take 20% off any one item if you ordered before June 12. So I decided to take a peek at the site and see if they had any tents available that were reasonably priced anyway, and get some extra cash off.
I lucked out and found this beauty right here, 35% off already and being able to save another 20% meant that I would be really stupid not to get my hands on it now.
I can't wait to try it out, anyone else interested in a trip this summer?
May 09, 2008
Why Costco Deserves My Business
If you're a regular reader, you probably think I'm some kind of Costco fanboy since I'm always talking about good experiences with them. The thing is that they consistently prove that they deserve my dollar. I was a Sam's Club member for a few years, but they never really did anything that could draw me in. Essentially I showed them how much I thought of their business by voting with my wallet. I had no regrets when I purchased a Costco membership and sliced up my old Sam's Club card.
So what did Costco do this time? Well I basically got my membership paid for in savings on a new pair of glasses. I had a mishap at Six Flags New England because my glasses had a lens that liked to pop out at random times. I had them in a pocket of my shorts while I was riding the coasters, and when I went to pull my glasses out, the "David Copperfield" lens was gone and could not be found anywhere.
So the following Monday I headed to the local Costco because I had heard from others that they had the best prices on glasses. I ended up picking out a frame that was similar to my current ones. The guy at the counter helped me out tremendously as we discussed my options for lenses. I asked about Transitions lenses, but he actually steered me towards a less expensive option because the problem with Transitions is that they require UV rays to darken properly. I need my glasses to help see when driving, and since most windshields are tinted to reflect UV rays, the glasses would be unlikely to darken enough to be effective sunglasses as well. I ultimately went with polycarbonate lenses since they would offer UV protection and were lighter.
Now let's get down to price: The frames were $40, the lenses were $80 after adding the anti-glare tinting as well. So overall a new pair of glasses ran $120 from Costco, and this was without coupons or promotional pricing.
I dug up the receipt for my old pair of glasses, which had the same style of frame, and the exact same type of lenses and lens treatment. I paid about about $135 for those glasses, but that was after using a coupon. The real price of the glasses was $175, so overall I saved $55 by going to Costco rather than going through the process of finding which glasses store has the best coupons this month.
So once again Costco shows me why they deserve my business, especially when I can save a good chunk of change and not have to wait for a sale to be able to do it.
So what did Costco do this time? Well I basically got my membership paid for in savings on a new pair of glasses. I had a mishap at Six Flags New England because my glasses had a lens that liked to pop out at random times. I had them in a pocket of my shorts while I was riding the coasters, and when I went to pull my glasses out, the "David Copperfield" lens was gone and could not be found anywhere.
So the following Monday I headed to the local Costco because I had heard from others that they had the best prices on glasses. I ended up picking out a frame that was similar to my current ones. The guy at the counter helped me out tremendously as we discussed my options for lenses. I asked about Transitions lenses, but he actually steered me towards a less expensive option because the problem with Transitions is that they require UV rays to darken properly. I need my glasses to help see when driving, and since most windshields are tinted to reflect UV rays, the glasses would be unlikely to darken enough to be effective sunglasses as well. I ultimately went with polycarbonate lenses since they would offer UV protection and were lighter.
Now let's get down to price: The frames were $40, the lenses were $80 after adding the anti-glare tinting as well. So overall a new pair of glasses ran $120 from Costco, and this was without coupons or promotional pricing.
I dug up the receipt for my old pair of glasses, which had the same style of frame, and the exact same type of lenses and lens treatment. I paid about about $135 for those glasses, but that was after using a coupon. The real price of the glasses was $175, so overall I saved $55 by going to Costco rather than going through the process of finding which glasses store has the best coupons this month.
So once again Costco shows me why they deserve my business, especially when I can save a good chunk of change and not have to wait for a sale to be able to do it.
January 22, 2008
Issues and Bargains
This day did not start out in the best of ways. I get to work, plug in my radio, and am listening to some music when suddenly the music freezes in one spot. This has happened on the rare occasion with my radio and a reboot fixes it. Not this time however as I am greeted with "Error, please plug into a PC via USB to recover."
Great, so my radio is basically dead until I can get home and fix it. I go home, plug it in, and run the recovery program. I get to the screen to start the recovery and bang "Your radio cannot be recovered, please call Sirius at XXX-XXX-XXXX for further assistance.
I call up the tech support, we try a few things, but it turns out that my radio is now a paperweight. I can't even get it replaced under the warranty because guess what, it expired a month ago. So the guy looks and offers me a refurbished Stiletto 100 for $150. Since my only other options are to downgrade to a new Stiletto 10 for $150, buy a brand new Stiletto 100 for $200, or go insane and spend $320 on the next-generation Stiletto (AKA Stiletto 2) I decide to just get the refurbished.
However, something didn't sit right with me after I had placed the order, based on some earlier research I had been doing. I went over to Sirius' website and looked under their "reconditioned radios" and lo and behold, a refurbished Stiletto 1oo for $120. That's $30 less than what I had just been charged over the phone.
I got back on the phone immediately with Sirius' general customer service, the first person said he couldn't do anything to cancel it because the warranty department had placed the order. I then got my E-mail receipt for the radio, and there was a phone number, so I called that one. I explained to the woman on the phone that I had just had it ordered on the phone because my other Stiletto was now a brick, but I saw it was cheaper on the website. She said that if it had shipped already she couldn't cancel it, but she would go on ahead and take a look at my original order. Before she did the cancellation, she asked about the price I was looking at, to make sure I hadn't forgotten about tax on my order. I told her that I was looking at the Sirius website and it showed a refurbished Stiletto 100 for $120. She said "Oh I would be on the phone canceling this order and going through the website too!" She was able to cancel it since the order had been placed so recently (15 minutes ago).
I went through the website and started to place the order, then I saw the field for "promo code." One Google search later and I found a working 15% off code, so after tax, I am replacing my Stiletto for $110.
It sucks that I have to go through with this, including the fact that I lost all of the music I recorded off of the radio, but at least I'll have a working unit, I don't have to go through the hassle of changing out my car kit again, I have a 1 year warranty on this unit in case it blows up, and I may have an extended warranty via my credit card.
If by some miracle I get my bricked unit to work, I'll have to work to recover the music.
Great, so my radio is basically dead until I can get home and fix it. I go home, plug it in, and run the recovery program. I get to the screen to start the recovery and bang "Your radio cannot be recovered, please call Sirius at XXX-XXX-XXXX for further assistance.
I call up the tech support, we try a few things, but it turns out that my radio is now a paperweight. I can't even get it replaced under the warranty because guess what, it expired a month ago. So the guy looks and offers me a refurbished Stiletto 100 for $150. Since my only other options are to downgrade to a new Stiletto 10 for $150, buy a brand new Stiletto 100 for $200, or go insane and spend $320 on the next-generation Stiletto (AKA Stiletto 2) I decide to just get the refurbished.
However, something didn't sit right with me after I had placed the order, based on some earlier research I had been doing. I went over to Sirius' website and looked under their "reconditioned radios" and lo and behold, a refurbished Stiletto 1oo for $120. That's $30 less than what I had just been charged over the phone.
I got back on the phone immediately with Sirius' general customer service, the first person said he couldn't do anything to cancel it because the warranty department had placed the order. I then got my E-mail receipt for the radio, and there was a phone number, so I called that one. I explained to the woman on the phone that I had just had it ordered on the phone because my other Stiletto was now a brick, but I saw it was cheaper on the website. She said that if it had shipped already she couldn't cancel it, but she would go on ahead and take a look at my original order. Before she did the cancellation, she asked about the price I was looking at, to make sure I hadn't forgotten about tax on my order. I told her that I was looking at the Sirius website and it showed a refurbished Stiletto 100 for $120. She said "Oh I would be on the phone canceling this order and going through the website too!" She was able to cancel it since the order had been placed so recently (15 minutes ago).
I went through the website and started to place the order, then I saw the field for "promo code." One Google search later and I found a working 15% off code, so after tax, I am replacing my Stiletto for $110.
It sucks that I have to go through with this, including the fact that I lost all of the music I recorded off of the radio, but at least I'll have a working unit, I don't have to go through the hassle of changing out my car kit again, I have a 1 year warranty on this unit in case it blows up, and I may have an extended warranty via my credit card.
If by some miracle I get my bricked unit to work, I'll have to work to recover the music.
January 02, 2008
10% Off Your Next Purchaase
Since I know many of you out there use personal lube for whatever reason, here's an offer I just got that I am passing along. The best part is that CheapLubes.com already sells lube for less than the list price, so you're getting even more savings by using this coupon. They also ship out fast and their site is easy to navigate, so I would recommend them.
CheapLubes.com 10% New Year Sale
Get 10% Off your next order
Offer Good for the next 5 days only!
Enter discount code: Snow to receive discount
(Offer expires at 11:59 PM on Monday, January 7th, 2008)
3 lube sample pack with all product orders over $30.00 (a $3 value!)
Just add over $30.00 of product to your shopping cart and enter the discount code to receive this sample pack!
Over 1300 products in stock and ready to ship!
CheapLubes.com 10% New Year Sale
Get 10% Off your next order
Offer Good for the next 5 days only!
Enter discount code: Snow to receive discount
(Offer expires at 11:59 PM on Monday, January 7th, 2008)
3 lube sample pack with all product orders over $30.00 (a $3 value!)
Just add over $30.00 of product to your shopping cart and enter the discount code to receive this sample pack!
Over 1300 products in stock and ready to ship!
December 22, 2007
Merry Christmas to Me
Today has been a day of errands, I picked up packages at the UPS store and went shopping for JH. I tried Modells because I heard they were having a sale, but they didn't have the items I wanted. So I was heading for the parkway to go into Baltimore when I decided to try the Sports Authority to find what I was looking for. I found what I was looking for, and I know he will like it, I'm not saying what it is here since he reads this blog ;-)
If you're a Baltimore Ravens fan, the Sports Authority in Laurel (and probably other ones as well) have a 30% off sale on all Ravens merchandise, including jerseys, from what I saw, you're looking at being able to buy an authentic for $70 and a replica for $52.50. The sale runs through Jan 1, so if you need a last minute gift, or you just want something for yourself, consider buying in the next week. I may see if I can score a coupon from them for after Xmas for even further savings.
Anyway, so I then dropped by the Bottom Dollar because I knew they had a sale on frozen veggies, 1lb bags for 50 cents so I stocked up since I should be eating more veggies anyway. I grabbed a few other staples and headed out the door.
I decided to make a stop at REI to check out prices on a Coleman stove. First of all, I need a gas burner so I can use my wok; second, I love camping, and I grew up with my parents always using their Coleman propane stove, in fact, they still have it 25+ years later because those things are meant to last. My only criteria was that it has to be Propane, I will not use one of those "dual fuel" stoves. Target had a Coleman propane stove for $43, and it was pretty nice, in fact, REI had the same one for $46. However, they also had a different model stove on sale for $39, guess which one I picked up? The best part? The Coleman website is selling this particular stove for $64.49. So I scored a deal and as soon as I get my hands on a new tent and sleeping bag, I'll be all set to camp again.
Now that the dishes are done and the steak is ready to be turned into a burrito, it's time to finish here. Tonight I'll be seeing JH for dinner and then going to a holiday party. Tomorrow I'll be visiting my cousin and some of her kids and grandkids.
If you're a Baltimore Ravens fan, the Sports Authority in Laurel (and probably other ones as well) have a 30% off sale on all Ravens merchandise, including jerseys, from what I saw, you're looking at being able to buy an authentic for $70 and a replica for $52.50. The sale runs through Jan 1, so if you need a last minute gift, or you just want something for yourself, consider buying in the next week. I may see if I can score a coupon from them for after Xmas for even further savings.
Anyway, so I then dropped by the Bottom Dollar because I knew they had a sale on frozen veggies, 1lb bags for 50 cents so I stocked up since I should be eating more veggies anyway. I grabbed a few other staples and headed out the door.
I decided to make a stop at REI to check out prices on a Coleman stove. First of all, I need a gas burner so I can use my wok; second, I love camping, and I grew up with my parents always using their Coleman propane stove, in fact, they still have it 25+ years later because those things are meant to last. My only criteria was that it has to be Propane, I will not use one of those "dual fuel" stoves. Target had a Coleman propane stove for $43, and it was pretty nice, in fact, REI had the same one for $46. However, they also had a different model stove on sale for $39, guess which one I picked up? The best part? The Coleman website is selling this particular stove for $64.49. So I scored a deal and as soon as I get my hands on a new tent and sleeping bag, I'll be all set to camp again.
Now that the dishes are done and the steak is ready to be turned into a burrito, it's time to finish here. Tonight I'll be seeing JH for dinner and then going to a holiday party. Tomorrow I'll be visiting my cousin and some of her kids and grandkids.
December 06, 2007
First Snowfall
DC finally got some snow today, and it's about time. Too bad there could not have been more though.
I had a very productive yesterday and today. Yesterday I released the final test of one of the pieces of my survey project that will go into production in 2008. The next few weeks will be exciting as three parts of the project will be released to the field for production. I'll probably be on pins and needles, especially during the month of February since that is the first month that will use these new instruments for data collection. I'm sure the tech support office will have my team on speed dial in case of any problems reported in the field. After that, May will be another time I'm likely to be walking on eggshells, as the most complex part of the project will go into production as well.
After work I met J at The Old Siam nearby Eastern Market. I love Thai food in general and I had never been to this place, so I jumped at the chance when he had made the suggestion. I had the Duck Basil, which is a rare treat for me because it is not often I have duck. Anyway, so the food was good and so was the conversation. If there was anything I wanted to have different, I would want it to be a bit warmer outside since temperatures last night were not great for walking. I failed to mention this previously, but the Sunday before last, J and I went walking around the monuments at night. It brought a whole new perspective to the monuments, especially the Korean War monument as just having the spotlights on the statues made it very haunting. I like walking around anyway, but as I said before, it was just not happening last night.
Today was my day off, and I used it to finish Christmas (and Hanukkah) shopping. Got a copy of Fiddler on the Roof for Joshua, and a soft toy in the shape of a dreidel for Aiko. I'm also on the hunt for a Wii for one of my friends, so I went through a few stores today. I know it's a long shot to find one this time of year, but I'm willing to try, ya know?
I had lunch as well with Dan and Chandra. I swear, I need to work in their office, if only so I can witness some of these stories that I hear. The conversation got even funnier when we talked about some of the things we did to siblings in childhood, and how they would get us back. For those who know Dan, ask him about when his little bro declared war on his Smurfs. I thought I was going to pass out from laughing so hard.
In the afternoon I wrapped gifts before shipping them out. I also called Sirius about a problem I was having with my headphones for my Stiletto. I qualify for an exchange on the Stiletto, but one problem is that I can't find the slim battery for the thing anywhere (I only use the extended one), and of course they will want every single piece back. So I'll have to hunt it down, worst case scenario I try to locate a pair of the headphones on Ebay.
This evening I stayed inside because as I drove back from the UPS store around 5 PM, the snow was starting to stick to the roads and they were turning to crap. Besides, there is leftover cheesburger pie to be eaten, which is perfect for a night like this. Hopefully my commute isn't crappy tomorrow, but as long as I can get to work, I'll be okay.
I had a very productive yesterday and today. Yesterday I released the final test of one of the pieces of my survey project that will go into production in 2008. The next few weeks will be exciting as three parts of the project will be released to the field for production. I'll probably be on pins and needles, especially during the month of February since that is the first month that will use these new instruments for data collection. I'm sure the tech support office will have my team on speed dial in case of any problems reported in the field. After that, May will be another time I'm likely to be walking on eggshells, as the most complex part of the project will go into production as well.
After work I met J at The Old Siam nearby Eastern Market. I love Thai food in general and I had never been to this place, so I jumped at the chance when he had made the suggestion. I had the Duck Basil, which is a rare treat for me because it is not often I have duck. Anyway, so the food was good and so was the conversation. If there was anything I wanted to have different, I would want it to be a bit warmer outside since temperatures last night were not great for walking. I failed to mention this previously, but the Sunday before last, J and I went walking around the monuments at night. It brought a whole new perspective to the monuments, especially the Korean War monument as just having the spotlights on the statues made it very haunting. I like walking around anyway, but as I said before, it was just not happening last night.
Today was my day off, and I used it to finish Christmas (and Hanukkah) shopping. Got a copy of Fiddler on the Roof for Joshua, and a soft toy in the shape of a dreidel for Aiko. I'm also on the hunt for a Wii for one of my friends, so I went through a few stores today. I know it's a long shot to find one this time of year, but I'm willing to try, ya know?
I had lunch as well with Dan and Chandra. I swear, I need to work in their office, if only so I can witness some of these stories that I hear. The conversation got even funnier when we talked about some of the things we did to siblings in childhood, and how they would get us back. For those who know Dan, ask him about when his little bro declared war on his Smurfs. I thought I was going to pass out from laughing so hard.
In the afternoon I wrapped gifts before shipping them out. I also called Sirius about a problem I was having with my headphones for my Stiletto. I qualify for an exchange on the Stiletto, but one problem is that I can't find the slim battery for the thing anywhere (I only use the extended one), and of course they will want every single piece back. So I'll have to hunt it down, worst case scenario I try to locate a pair of the headphones on Ebay.
This evening I stayed inside because as I drove back from the UPS store around 5 PM, the snow was starting to stick to the roads and they were turning to crap. Besides, there is leftover cheesburger pie to be eaten, which is perfect for a night like this. Hopefully my commute isn't crappy tomorrow, but as long as I can get to work, I'll be okay.
November 30, 2007
Costco for the Win Again.
A few months ago I posted that I was cutting up my Sams Club card and going with Costco. I can say that I made a great investment by doing so.
Costco has my car battery, it has more CCA's and costs less than the ones sold at a nearby auto parts store.
I have lately been having a bagel with peanut butter for breakfast. Costco sells 1 dozen bagels for $4, and they're baked daily.
Last weekend I went in to take advantage of a coupon for a 160gb portable external hard drive for $80. I ended up walking out with a 320gb hard drive for $20 more, and at $100 it is much less than what it is being sold for online.
They have these pita chips which are freaking awesome. The Simply Naked ones are perfect when paired with the hummus that Costco sells.
Three words...Kosher Hot Dogs.
Lots of freshly pre-made food.
So I've listed all the advantages for me. I really truly do love going through the store because there's always something different, and it's rare that I don't leave with something for the house. The only thing I would want them to do now is stock organic chunky peanut butter (they only have smooth) but that's just me :-)
I'm probably a bit of an odd demographic for them because I don't have a family or a business so I'm less likely to purchase in bulk. However, they have enough of the fresh foods in decent sizes that I don't have to worry about not having enough room for it. I suggest that if you know someone with a membership, take a visit with them and you'll see what I mean. I've been told that the Arundel Mills location is even better than the Beltsville location, so I might have to check it out, though I love that I'm basically 5-10 minutes from the Beltsville one.
Costco has my car battery, it has more CCA's and costs less than the ones sold at a nearby auto parts store.
I have lately been having a bagel with peanut butter for breakfast. Costco sells 1 dozen bagels for $4, and they're baked daily.
Last weekend I went in to take advantage of a coupon for a 160gb portable external hard drive for $80. I ended up walking out with a 320gb hard drive for $20 more, and at $100 it is much less than what it is being sold for online.
They have these pita chips which are freaking awesome. The Simply Naked ones are perfect when paired with the hummus that Costco sells.
Three words...Kosher Hot Dogs.
Lots of freshly pre-made food.
So I've listed all the advantages for me. I really truly do love going through the store because there's always something different, and it's rare that I don't leave with something for the house. The only thing I would want them to do now is stock organic chunky peanut butter (they only have smooth) but that's just me :-)
I'm probably a bit of an odd demographic for them because I don't have a family or a business so I'm less likely to purchase in bulk. However, they have enough of the fresh foods in decent sizes that I don't have to worry about not having enough room for it. I suggest that if you know someone with a membership, take a visit with them and you'll see what I mean. I've been told that the Arundel Mills location is even better than the Beltsville location, so I might have to check it out, though I love that I'm basically 5-10 minutes from the Beltsville one.
November 24, 2007
Thanksgiving and Black Friday
Thanksgiving was different this year for me, but it was a good one. Instead of being with any family this year, I spent the day with one of my best friends. I went down to Joshua's house where he was cooking dinner, and I brought some pumpkin pie to share. The afternoon was spent watching The Exorcism of Emily Rose, and How It's Made. Dinner consisted of a roasted stuffed chicken, green bean casserole, and mac and cheese. It was excellent, and there was enough left over to take for lunch at work the next day.
After dinner Joshua went to nap, and I headed home to grab some things since we had made plans to hit the Black Friday sales. I got back and watched some TV for a while before Joshua woke up. We had dessert, and then started watching The Return. We got so bored with it after 40 mins. that we ended up turning it off. Around 10 I crashed out since I planned to be up by 2 AM to get in line for Black Friday.
I was woken up at 2 AM, and by 2:30, we were standing at a Best Buy in Alexandria. We estimate that there were about 150 people in front of us. This year I wasn't trying to score one of those overly insane deals on some hot item that people get into fights over. The item I wanted was the new Nintendo DS Lite Gold Bundle. If you know me, you know that I am a Zelda geek, hands down. There were a few stores offering it for Black Friday, and it was not only at that price for a few hours, but it was that way through the weekend. Best Buy sweetened the deal by offering a DS Lite Starter Kit for free if you bought this particular DS.
So we're out there, and it's a bit chilly, people are getting in line and then getting one of their friends to go over to the local IHOP and get coffee or whatever. 3 AM rolls around and they're handing out tickets for various items. The only tickets that made it back our way were for the GPS system and the 40 inch LCD TV. Neither of those were items I wanted (or could have afforded) so it was rather easy to take a pass. I get the feeling the GPS was something the manufacturer really just wanted to unload and get rid of because this Best Buy store had 150 of them.
4 AM rolls around and they've got the cops out there to monitor things and they start tightening up the line to prevent folks from cutting in front. As I would learn, there were folks who were lined up since noon on Thanksgiving. Man, I didn't realize a laptop or TV could be that important to some, but whatever. I'm sure someone reading this will give me shit because I was out at 2 AM, but realistically I knew that the store would be a real clusterfuck if I was farther back in line. I was willing to take the risk.
Finally it's 5 AM and we're in the store by 5:10 or so. I get to video games, the DS's are gone already. So we head out of the store and over to the Target, thinking it had just opened. Nope, Target was opening at 6. Joshua really wasn't looking for anything this Black Friday, he just liked to people watch. However, yesterday he had mentioned he was looking for a Christmas tree and I saw a 7.5 ft pre-lit Christmas tree for $48, which is basically a steal. So we stand in line, there's maybe 40 people in front of us. The Target associates hand us bags with some foodstuffs inside as well as a sort of "survival kit".
The store opens and I get my ass in there and over to Electronics. I ask an associate where to find the DS's, and he tells me to stick by him as they're on their way out right now. So the associate with the cart full of the video game systems comes out and I'm instructed to follow him, he goes to the counter, and then the guy tells me to get in line. It pissed me off a bit because I was told to follow this guy, not get into a line elsewhere, but I just make a remark about getting some bad instructions and head into the line. I get to at least the back part of the counter, and perhaps it was because I had been nice, or the guy realized how I had been misinformed, but he hands the DS to one of the cashiers and calls me up to the front. So in the end, I got my hot little hands on the Nintendo DS that I wanted, plus a $10 gift card to Target since that was part of the promotion. It will be put towards buying screen protectors.
Joshua and I headed to the Christmas section and found the tree in the ad, along with a few odds and ends he needed for himself, and then we got out of Target. Our next stop was over to Michael's since Joshua wanted to pick up a frame for his certificate for completing the number of course hours needed to become an Electrician. Michael's had a coupon for 25% off of your entire purchase if you came in between 6 and 9 AM on Friday, so he found what he was looking for, along with a gingerbread house kit. I dropped him off at home and it was time for me to head to work.
Along the way I saw Macy's so of course I stopped in to see if there was anything to take advantage of. I picked up some 180's headphones that were on sale for $15 and a nice polo shirt that was regularly $55, but on sale for $10. I also tried some Calvin Klein Euphoria cologne that I had sampled in my latest Maxim, but I didn't get it. Actually it's not a bad scent after a few minutes, but when it was first sprayed on, the alcohol smell was a bit overwhelming. I may go and try it again at another store just to see if maybe it was a bad tester bottle.
Got to work and got a lot of work done. I know I was dragging a bit because I was tired, but I still got everything done, plus I got what I wanted. So Thanksgiving and Black Friday were both good days.
After dinner Joshua went to nap, and I headed home to grab some things since we had made plans to hit the Black Friday sales. I got back and watched some TV for a while before Joshua woke up. We had dessert, and then started watching The Return. We got so bored with it after 40 mins. that we ended up turning it off. Around 10 I crashed out since I planned to be up by 2 AM to get in line for Black Friday.
I was woken up at 2 AM, and by 2:30, we were standing at a Best Buy in Alexandria. We estimate that there were about 150 people in front of us. This year I wasn't trying to score one of those overly insane deals on some hot item that people get into fights over. The item I wanted was the new Nintendo DS Lite Gold Bundle. If you know me, you know that I am a Zelda geek, hands down. There were a few stores offering it for Black Friday, and it was not only at that price for a few hours, but it was that way through the weekend. Best Buy sweetened the deal by offering a DS Lite Starter Kit for free if you bought this particular DS.
So we're out there, and it's a bit chilly, people are getting in line and then getting one of their friends to go over to the local IHOP and get coffee or whatever. 3 AM rolls around and they're handing out tickets for various items. The only tickets that made it back our way were for the GPS system and the 40 inch LCD TV. Neither of those were items I wanted (or could have afforded) so it was rather easy to take a pass. I get the feeling the GPS was something the manufacturer really just wanted to unload and get rid of because this Best Buy store had 150 of them.
4 AM rolls around and they've got the cops out there to monitor things and they start tightening up the line to prevent folks from cutting in front. As I would learn, there were folks who were lined up since noon on Thanksgiving. Man, I didn't realize a laptop or TV could be that important to some, but whatever. I'm sure someone reading this will give me shit because I was out at 2 AM, but realistically I knew that the store would be a real clusterfuck if I was farther back in line. I was willing to take the risk.
Finally it's 5 AM and we're in the store by 5:10 or so. I get to video games, the DS's are gone already. So we head out of the store and over to the Target, thinking it had just opened. Nope, Target was opening at 6. Joshua really wasn't looking for anything this Black Friday, he just liked to people watch. However, yesterday he had mentioned he was looking for a Christmas tree and I saw a 7.5 ft pre-lit Christmas tree for $48, which is basically a steal. So we stand in line, there's maybe 40 people in front of us. The Target associates hand us bags with some foodstuffs inside as well as a sort of "survival kit".
The store opens and I get my ass in there and over to Electronics. I ask an associate where to find the DS's, and he tells me to stick by him as they're on their way out right now. So the associate with the cart full of the video game systems comes out and I'm instructed to follow him, he goes to the counter, and then the guy tells me to get in line. It pissed me off a bit because I was told to follow this guy, not get into a line elsewhere, but I just make a remark about getting some bad instructions and head into the line. I get to at least the back part of the counter, and perhaps it was because I had been nice, or the guy realized how I had been misinformed, but he hands the DS to one of the cashiers and calls me up to the front. So in the end, I got my hot little hands on the Nintendo DS that I wanted, plus a $10 gift card to Target since that was part of the promotion. It will be put towards buying screen protectors.
Joshua and I headed to the Christmas section and found the tree in the ad, along with a few odds and ends he needed for himself, and then we got out of Target. Our next stop was over to Michael's since Joshua wanted to pick up a frame for his certificate for completing the number of course hours needed to become an Electrician. Michael's had a coupon for 25% off of your entire purchase if you came in between 6 and 9 AM on Friday, so he found what he was looking for, along with a gingerbread house kit. I dropped him off at home and it was time for me to head to work.
Along the way I saw Macy's so of course I stopped in to see if there was anything to take advantage of. I picked up some 180's headphones that were on sale for $15 and a nice polo shirt that was regularly $55, but on sale for $10. I also tried some Calvin Klein Euphoria cologne that I had sampled in my latest Maxim, but I didn't get it. Actually it's not a bad scent after a few minutes, but when it was first sprayed on, the alcohol smell was a bit overwhelming. I may go and try it again at another store just to see if maybe it was a bad tester bottle.
Got to work and got a lot of work done. I know I was dragging a bit because I was tired, but I still got everything done, plus I got what I wanted. So Thanksgiving and Black Friday were both good days.
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