BLACK Friday
Black FRIDAY
Traditionally the day retailers are finally able to show black in their annual ledger. If they're lucky and have a good turnout.
Many years ago, when the kids were little bitty, Bill and I saw it as a game and adventure to get up around 3 am and go stand in line together outside the store doors with other crazy, adventure seeking shoppers and wait for the doors to open at 6 am. Back then, that was considered extreme behavior. We'd cuddle and laugh and sip hot cocoa while cheerfully chatting with the strangers around us. At around 5:30 to 5:45 am, we'd start to see latecomers try to sneak in line in front of us, but mostly they were repelled by the die-hards around us who had built a strong bond of early hour camaraderie. Once the doors opened up, we dashed inside like giddy children and had a frenzied blast buying up Christmas toys for our kids. Many shouts of "Merry Christmas!" were heard, and I would see shoppers help each other lift items into carts. We'd be out of there by 6:30 am, heading to breakfast at the local IHOP, and home again before the kids even awoke.
Those early years were fun times and I have fond memories of them. It didn't stay like that, however. Over the years, I started seeing disturbing behaviors amongst my fellow shoppers. Once, I saw two grown women fighting over one toy. That was a scene that repeated itself several more times. Another time, I saw a man cussing out a store employee for not having any more of the item he stood in line so long to purchase.
One year, I saw the doors break as the crowd surged in. That was the first time I felt scared. The crowd was massive that year. I can understand how dangerous a mob can be, because I was trapped in one that morning! My only concern that time was to simply stay upright and go with the flow that was literally pushing me along. I feared what might happen if I fell.
We stopped shopping Black Friday as a fun adventure after that.
Not as many years ago (5 years ago, in fact), I was standing in a Black Friday line; this time with my son, Will. We desperately needed a family computer and couldn't afford to spend much money, so Black Friday sales were more of a necessity than anything else. In my desperation to make sure I got the coveted "Doorbuster" price, we arrived at midnight, hoping for good line position. Nope. We were around the block standing on a bridge over the wetlands that surrounded the strip mall. It was a terrible night, too. It drizzled freezing rain on us for hours as we waited for the store to open. It was miserable. Will was only 11 at the time, and I could tell he was wishing he hadn't asked to come. I ended up sending him back to the car to get out of the bad weather, but I stayed in line. Yes, I did get a computer... but I got pneumonia, too.
Nowadays, it is not so much a "Black Friday" shopping experience as it is a "Thanksgiving Weekend Shopping Insanity" nightmare. People camped out in front of stores for days at a time, sacrificing holiday family time in pursuit of the coveted "Doorbuster" that would be sold to them on Thanksgiving day itself... forcing others to give up their holiday in order to sell it to them. The true insanity comes from the fact that these days there is NO NEED to stand in those crazy lines to get the best price!
You can get the same prices ONLINE.
So, why in the world would you stand in line at some unreasonable hour now?
We are once again in the market for a new family computer; that 5 year old laptop has grown quite geriatric. So, after Thanksgiving was over and all dishes were done... Everyone winding down or heading to bed... I spent a couple of hours researching the best online "Black Friday But Really All Weekend Long" deals while lounging in PJs and eating a turkey sandwich. I bought a good computer at a decent sale price and it is being shipped to me, free of charge. No fuss, no muss... and no scary mob/pneumonia inducing craziness!
It's sad to see how something that used to be fun and adventurous has turned so greedy and monstrous. We really have no one to blame but ourselves. Retailers are out to make money. If crowds of idiots are willing to throw away tradition and flock to the stores to buy, buy, buy...
But not me.
Not ever again.
Nineteen
Thanksgiving day was extra special this year, because it was also my daughter, Helena's, birthday. She is now nineteen. It is hard to believe that so much time has passed! I have so many memories of those years... and most of them good. It makes me happy to know that Helena still wants to spend time hanging out with me, going places or even just spending time together at home. I know that I am almost out of time for that. She is on the verge of "leaving the nest" and I won't get to share her life with her on a day-to-day basis much longer. Thinking of that makes me sad and I wish she could stay my little girl forever. But I am also excited for her to go out into the world and have her own adventures, too. So here is my Birthday Wish for my daughter;
May love and laughter light your days,
and warm your heart and home.
May good and faithful friends be yours,
wherever you may roam.
May peace and plenty bless your world
with joy that long endures.
May all life's passing seasons
bring the best to you (and yours)!
-An Old Irish Blessing
Happy Birthday, sweet girl! I love you!
My Awesome Car is Back!
I drove the weenie-mobile for nearly a month. I got my Explorer back the other day, just in time for a snow storm! Hurray!
During the weenie-mobile month, I came up with three reasons why I love my own car. They are Size, Technology, and Arm Rests.
Size does matter. In cars, anyways. I was always sort of embarrassed when walking up to that weenie car. One day this past week, when I arrived at school, I pulled into a parking stall between two SUVs. One of my students saw me get out of my rental car as he rode his bike to school and he said; "Hey, you're right, Mrs. Watson! That car is tiny!" Yup. Even a 10 year old thinks it's weenie.
But, before you think I am totally vain, it's not all about looks! That weenie car vibrated and thrummed to the very texture of the road surface. It was noisy and obnoxious! My Explorer is such a smooth and quiet ride in comparison! And, as I mentioned, I got my car back just in time for a snow storm. I much prefer having my heavy all wheel drive instead of that lightweight little thing.
Technology. You don't realize how much you rely on it until you feel its absence. I have come to rely on the buttons on my steering wheel to control the radio and my phone. I love that my phone is synced to my car! If my phone rings while I am driving, I can answer it with the push of a button on the steering wheel and the call is routed through the car's speakers. Bill and I came up with a code phrase to let him know he was on the car speaker system while I had passengers to make sure he didn't share something not meant for other's ears. I just answer the phone by saying, "Hi, Bill, you're live." The phone sync also means I can push a button and tell the car to call someone specific. The car will connect to my phone and dial for me. Complete hands free phone access!
With the phone sync I can also choose to play my own music rather than listen to the radio. I can tell the car to play a specific song, artist, genre, or playlist. Handy on long road trips for those of us who aren't willing to pay for satellite radio.
I also missed the sunroof. One whole month of perfect sunroof weather completely wasted! Phooey.
Arm Rests. You don't think much about them until you don't have them anymore! The weenie-mobile didn't have any and I was constantly at a loss over what to do with my elbows. I wanted something to rest them on. Bill doesn't like the armrests in the Explorer, because they are at the wrong height for him and he is constantly banging his elbows on them. But, they are just the right height for my elbows!
All in all, I am very happy to have my car back!
During the weenie-mobile month, I came up with three reasons why I love my own car. They are Size, Technology, and Arm Rests.
Size does matter. In cars, anyways. I was always sort of embarrassed when walking up to that weenie car. One day this past week, when I arrived at school, I pulled into a parking stall between two SUVs. One of my students saw me get out of my rental car as he rode his bike to school and he said; "Hey, you're right, Mrs. Watson! That car is tiny!" Yup. Even a 10 year old thinks it's weenie.
But, before you think I am totally vain, it's not all about looks! That weenie car vibrated and thrummed to the very texture of the road surface. It was noisy and obnoxious! My Explorer is such a smooth and quiet ride in comparison! And, as I mentioned, I got my car back just in time for a snow storm. I much prefer having my heavy all wheel drive instead of that lightweight little thing.
Technology. You don't realize how much you rely on it until you feel its absence. I have come to rely on the buttons on my steering wheel to control the radio and my phone. I love that my phone is synced to my car! If my phone rings while I am driving, I can answer it with the push of a button on the steering wheel and the call is routed through the car's speakers. Bill and I came up with a code phrase to let him know he was on the car speaker system while I had passengers to make sure he didn't share something not meant for other's ears. I just answer the phone by saying, "Hi, Bill, you're live." The phone sync also means I can push a button and tell the car to call someone specific. The car will connect to my phone and dial for me. Complete hands free phone access!
With the phone sync I can also choose to play my own music rather than listen to the radio. I can tell the car to play a specific song, artist, genre, or playlist. Handy on long road trips for those of us who aren't willing to pay for satellite radio.
I also missed the sunroof. One whole month of perfect sunroof weather completely wasted! Phooey.
Arm Rests. You don't think much about them until you don't have them anymore! The weenie-mobile didn't have any and I was constantly at a loss over what to do with my elbows. I wanted something to rest them on. Bill doesn't like the armrests in the Explorer, because they are at the wrong height for him and he is constantly banging his elbows on them. But, they are just the right height for my elbows!
All in all, I am very happy to have my car back!
Politics
I am really no good at politics. They are too hot headed for me. No matter how much you might think you know about any given politically charged topic, someone you know will try to 'set you straight' by hurling their own set of facts at you, usually damaging a friendship in the process.
You see, it is easy to get any manner of facts to support your particular spin on the lodestone topics involved. So, no matter what your personal take, you can find some article, some link, some incendiary set of facts to try to cram down other people's throats in the hope that they either see the error of their ways or choke on it.
So I try to steer well clear of it.
However, I cannot just pretend that politics don't exist. Oh, I wish that were so. But, try as I might to avoid them, I can't ignore the fact that we just had one of the most divisive elections in history. And the truth is, I do have opinions on things!
The one part of President Obama's administration that has had an immediate impact on my life is the health care act he sponsored. I have had the same health insurance for 13 years, now. For 12 years, it was rock solid, dependable, and all around awesome. Suddenly, with Obamacare, my insurance went from awesome to terrible. Our out of pocket expenses went up. Our coverage went down. I now have high deductibles for both medical and pharmaceuticals, forcing me to shell out nearly $1,000 in additional medical costs in the past 2 months alone on top of my really high premiums. The premiums are so high that the only monthly bill that is higher is our mortgage! It may be selfish of me, but I am not happy to know that I am now poorer so that other people can have some form of coverage. I worked hard to earn a degree. I worked hard to get a job with decent benefits. We weren't well off to begin with, either. Now we are struggling.
I was disturbed by the events of September 11th, 2012. In a nutshell, on the anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, a small group of terrorists attacked the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya, killing 4 Americans, including the US Ambassador, Chris Stevens. The terrorists claimed to be acting out of anger and retribution over some anti Muslim video created by an American. Rather than stand up for our citizens in the consulate, sending in troops, and demanding justice be done upon the terrorists responsible, President Obama apologized to the world for our First Amendment right to freedom of speech.
I haven't seen the video in question and it is probably ignorant and offensive. But the freedom to speak is not just the freedom to speak wisely and for the good of mankind. The First Amendment also protects the right to speak ignorantly. Imagine this as a playground disagreement. Bubba Ray says something ignorant and dumb to Sa'if. Sa'if turns to Sam and pushes him down and stomps on his head. Do we apologize to little Sa'if for Bobby being so ignorant? Or is there a more critical problem on this playground? Now, let's imagine that for some reason, we saw the whole thing coming. We knew Sa'if was about to push Sam down and stomp on his head, but we stood by and did nothing? In essence, that is what happened. There was advanced intelligence that something was brewing in Benghazi. Prior to the attack, the Marines had asked for reinforcements, and were denied.
I know there are lots of issues and hot topics out there that sway people politically. For me, these were the two that weighed most heavily for me.
I voted for Mitt Romney.
No, not because we share a religion. I don't really care what denomination our Commander-in-Chief adheres to. It does matter to me that he (or she) believes in God and prays for divine inspiration. However, I'm leery of President Obama because I am just not sure if he even believes there is a God. That is not why I voted for the other guy, though.
I voted for Mitt Romney because I believe that what our country needs is a successful businessman as a leader. Our country needs to work hard to get out of debt. Our country needs a strong economic leader. I saw what Mr. Romney did to save the 2002 Olympic Games. The games (held right in my back yard, as it were) were mired in scandal, debt, and corruption. It was a massive embarrassment for America on the world stage. Mitt Romney was called in to fix the problem. He did. I remember people screamed about it at first, but everyone was overjoyed when, within a year, he had turned it around and made the Olympics successful, profitable, and an American success story. This is one fact I know because I watched it unfold right in front of me.
It has been amazing to me all the bitter attacks against Mr. Romney over his wealth and his taxes. People seemed truly incensed that he had so much money and paid "so little" in taxes.
I can't help but wonder if all those angry people, at tax time, sit down and say, "Gee, I could use the tax code to legally reduce my tax burden but I'm not going to. I think I will pay more than I am legally bound to, because it is just the right thing to do!"
So, really, in this case, their anger is misplaced. They shouldn't be angry at Mr. Romney for using the current tax code to his advantage (something that we ALL do as much as we are able), but rather, they should be upset WITH THE TAX CODE ITSELF. Which, of course, Mr. Romney did not write. Personally, I think the entire tax code should be abolished and a flat tax imposed. Say, 5% for personal income tax. Rich or poor. Just pay 5%. No loopholes. No deductions. No tax credits. You made $1,000 this year? Pay $50 in taxes. $100,000? Pay $5,000. Businesses and corporations could pay a flat tax of 8-15% based on how much they keep their company off the grid. Use less non-renewable natural resources? Move down the % scale on tax burden.
I'm sure this outlook is overly simplistic and I probably know someone that would shoot it down and go into great detail about why it would never work. Which is why I usually just keep my mouth shut about anything with even a whiff of political stink.
Or how about this one? "Gosh, I sure do seem to have too much money. I think I will just give it all away no one can blame me for being wealthy."
Since when did it become a crime to be rich? I may be wrong, but I grew up playing Life, where we were all striving to make it to Millionaire Estates. Did I miss the memo? Are we not all trying to reach financial independence and wealth anymore? That's what I still daydream about. Mr. Romney has managed to get to "Millionaire Estates" in the real game of Life; he didn't inherit his money, and he earned it legally. I guess we just have a bunch of sore losers in this country who figure he doesn't deserve his wealth because we haven't made it to Millionaire Estates ourselves.
But, really, none of this matters, because he was not elected. President Obama was re-elected. Yet our country is still very divided. Half the country wished it was the other guy.
I won't talk or write about politics any more (until the next election cycle, that is). There is lots more I could express my opinion on, but this has been quite long winded enough as it is. So I will let it rest.
Still, I hope and pray for better tomorrows. And I will pray for our President. But I am worried, even if I don't talk about it.
You see, it is easy to get any manner of facts to support your particular spin on the lodestone topics involved. So, no matter what your personal take, you can find some article, some link, some incendiary set of facts to try to cram down other people's throats in the hope that they either see the error of their ways or choke on it.
So I try to steer well clear of it.
However, I cannot just pretend that politics don't exist. Oh, I wish that were so. But, try as I might to avoid them, I can't ignore the fact that we just had one of the most divisive elections in history. And the truth is, I do have opinions on things!
The one part of President Obama's administration that has had an immediate impact on my life is the health care act he sponsored. I have had the same health insurance for 13 years, now. For 12 years, it was rock solid, dependable, and all around awesome. Suddenly, with Obamacare, my insurance went from awesome to terrible. Our out of pocket expenses went up. Our coverage went down. I now have high deductibles for both medical and pharmaceuticals, forcing me to shell out nearly $1,000 in additional medical costs in the past 2 months alone on top of my really high premiums. The premiums are so high that the only monthly bill that is higher is our mortgage! It may be selfish of me, but I am not happy to know that I am now poorer so that other people can have some form of coverage. I worked hard to earn a degree. I worked hard to get a job with decent benefits. We weren't well off to begin with, either. Now we are struggling.
I was disturbed by the events of September 11th, 2012. In a nutshell, on the anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, a small group of terrorists attacked the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya, killing 4 Americans, including the US Ambassador, Chris Stevens. The terrorists claimed to be acting out of anger and retribution over some anti Muslim video created by an American. Rather than stand up for our citizens in the consulate, sending in troops, and demanding justice be done upon the terrorists responsible, President Obama apologized to the world for our First Amendment right to freedom of speech.
I haven't seen the video in question and it is probably ignorant and offensive. But the freedom to speak is not just the freedom to speak wisely and for the good of mankind. The First Amendment also protects the right to speak ignorantly. Imagine this as a playground disagreement. Bubba Ray says something ignorant and dumb to Sa'if. Sa'if turns to Sam and pushes him down and stomps on his head. Do we apologize to little Sa'if for Bobby being so ignorant? Or is there a more critical problem on this playground? Now, let's imagine that for some reason, we saw the whole thing coming. We knew Sa'if was about to push Sam down and stomp on his head, but we stood by and did nothing? In essence, that is what happened. There was advanced intelligence that something was brewing in Benghazi. Prior to the attack, the Marines had asked for reinforcements, and were denied.
I know there are lots of issues and hot topics out there that sway people politically. For me, these were the two that weighed most heavily for me.
I voted for Mitt Romney.
No, not because we share a religion. I don't really care what denomination our Commander-in-Chief adheres to. It does matter to me that he (or she) believes in God and prays for divine inspiration. However, I'm leery of President Obama because I am just not sure if he even believes there is a God. That is not why I voted for the other guy, though.
I voted for Mitt Romney because I believe that what our country needs is a successful businessman as a leader. Our country needs to work hard to get out of debt. Our country needs a strong economic leader. I saw what Mr. Romney did to save the 2002 Olympic Games. The games (held right in my back yard, as it were) were mired in scandal, debt, and corruption. It was a massive embarrassment for America on the world stage. Mitt Romney was called in to fix the problem. He did. I remember people screamed about it at first, but everyone was overjoyed when, within a year, he had turned it around and made the Olympics successful, profitable, and an American success story. This is one fact I know because I watched it unfold right in front of me.
It has been amazing to me all the bitter attacks against Mr. Romney over his wealth and his taxes. People seemed truly incensed that he had so much money and paid "so little" in taxes.
I can't help but wonder if all those angry people, at tax time, sit down and say, "Gee, I could use the tax code to legally reduce my tax burden but I'm not going to. I think I will pay more than I am legally bound to, because it is just the right thing to do!"
So, really, in this case, their anger is misplaced. They shouldn't be angry at Mr. Romney for using the current tax code to his advantage (something that we ALL do as much as we are able), but rather, they should be upset WITH THE TAX CODE ITSELF. Which, of course, Mr. Romney did not write. Personally, I think the entire tax code should be abolished and a flat tax imposed. Say, 5% for personal income tax. Rich or poor. Just pay 5%. No loopholes. No deductions. No tax credits. You made $1,000 this year? Pay $50 in taxes. $100,000? Pay $5,000. Businesses and corporations could pay a flat tax of 8-15% based on how much they keep their company off the grid. Use less non-renewable natural resources? Move down the % scale on tax burden.
I'm sure this outlook is overly simplistic and I probably know someone that would shoot it down and go into great detail about why it would never work. Which is why I usually just keep my mouth shut about anything with even a whiff of political stink.
Or how about this one? "Gosh, I sure do seem to have too much money. I think I will just give it all away no one can blame me for being wealthy."
Since when did it become a crime to be rich? I may be wrong, but I grew up playing Life, where we were all striving to make it to Millionaire Estates. Did I miss the memo? Are we not all trying to reach financial independence and wealth anymore? That's what I still daydream about. Mr. Romney has managed to get to "Millionaire Estates" in the real game of Life; he didn't inherit his money, and he earned it legally. I guess we just have a bunch of sore losers in this country who figure he doesn't deserve his wealth because we haven't made it to Millionaire Estates ourselves.
But, really, none of this matters, because he was not elected. President Obama was re-elected. Yet our country is still very divided. Half the country wished it was the other guy.
I won't talk or write about politics any more (until the next election cycle, that is). There is lots more I could express my opinion on, but this has been quite long winded enough as it is. So I will let it rest.
Still, I hope and pray for better tomorrows. And I will pray for our President. But I am worried, even if I don't talk about it.
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