Friday, November 24, 2006

Lost Can Get Lost

My daughter, Missy, got me interested in the TV show "Lost." I ignored the show during its first season but Missy convinced me to give the show a try. So, I rented the first season and got interested. And I've been watching and enjoying it except until this fall season.

Granted, "Lost," doesn't follow a normal story line but this year's episodes were just a little too random and crazy. And I'm beginning to wonder if the show's main writer is an alcoholic on skid row working for a bottle of whiskey per script.

And, now "Lost" is on hiatus until January. What's up with that? Now, I don't have a show to watch that doesn't make sense and gives me a headache each week. I'm deprived.

Some people might say that once it starts up again in January, I will be watching it again. I'm not so sure. There are plenty of other shows that make sense and DON'T give me a headache every week.

Chas Gets Straight AAAAAAAs

One of my nephews, Chas, recently got straight As on his report card. We're all proud of him. And like me, he and his brother, William, like to play video games. So, yes video games can be good for you and your brain.

Black Friday Adventures

According to about.com, this is the origin of the term "Black Friday":

"...The origin of Black Friday comes from the shift to profitability during the holiday season. Black Friday was when retailers went from being unprofitable, or "in the red," to being profitable, or "in the black", at a time when accounting records were kept by hand and red indicated loss and black profit"

I started my black Friday, yesterday, on Thursday. CompUSA was having a sale last night from 9pm to midnight. I got the $200 computer I wanted for a relative and other techy, geeky stuff, including a laser printer.

Now before you start thinking that I'm rich, I got the laser printer for $69. Laser printers have come way down in price.

Why a laser printer? I got upset and irritable recently because we've had so much trouble keeping ink in my ink jet printer. Ink jet cartridges are very expensive in my opinion. There's no gold in those cartridges. We've tried having the cartridges refilled at a nearby store but the cartridges have been real hit and miss once we got them home. Laser toner cartridges commonly cost between $60 and $75 and can last up to 5,000 pages depending on the brand.

I've just got to the point where I want to print when I want to print. I don't want to stock up on cartridges, run to the store for a cartridge, or anything else. And I don't print that much, really.

I also got a couple of laptop coolers for $10 each. These metal devices sit under your laptop and keep them cool. If you've used a laptop for a long time, you know they get pretty warm.

CompUSA did a great job of having enough cashiers and being organized. They also handed vouchers out at their front door which calmed people down. And CompUSA had plenty of stuff for everyone. We got everything we wanted.

Now, Wal-Mart was another story. They were very disorganized. Also, on their web site they had a computer for sale. I found out after waiting and fighting the crowds at Wal-Mart that that computer was not sold in Wisconsin. WELL, why not tell us that on your web site before we spend all of sorts of time at your store???

Also, my wife, Wendy, had a bad experience at American TV where she waited for 2 hours.

Black Friday is supposed to encourage customers to buy at your store. A little planning goes a long way.

Friday, November 17, 2006

Christmas Dinner 12-2-06

Christmas Dinner will be held:
12-2-06, Saturday
1:00pm
at Bernice's in Janesville.