Friday, November 25, 2011

Black Friday, as Andy might see it!

Today is the day after Thanksgiving, which retailers have come to affectionately call "Black Friday."  Supposedly the most money a store makes in a year's time, comes right after Thanksgiving, and the sooner they can get into your pocketbook, the better. 

They used to just advertise sales and open their doors at the regular store hours.  Then they decided to push it back a bit, such as 6 a..m.  Then it became earlier, and earlier, and THIS year, some stores opened at 10:00 p.m, Thanksgiving evening.

I suppose next year the stores may be serving Thanksgiving dinner, so you can be there when the store opens.  Then you won't have to worry about shooing your guests out of the house, so you can get ready to shop! 

Of course with all this buying frenzy there has to be a downside as some people want what they want, and no one or anything is going to get in their way.  There was even one incidence where a woman used pepper spray to subdue other shoppers while she grabbed the item she wanted from an electronics display.  And a Merry Christmas to you!  I'm sure she made the maced shoppers less than merry!  I hope they catch her.

I, as I'm sure Andy would have agreed in his own life, do not really need anything that would make me leave home on Thanksgiving after a wonderful meal.    And although I love my family, I would not even go out for their gifts.  If I cannot get them what I want, and can afford, then I shall work out some other conpromise. 

This Christmas, as every other Christmas in the past, I'm not going to max out my credit cards.  I'm not going to take out a loan.  I'm going to stay safe.

And I'm not leaving the dinner table to shop, on Day 196!





Monday, November 14, 2011

Yeah!!! No basketball this fall!!!

Am I excited?  You betcha! 

I used to like basketball, not love, as with football, just like.  I used to go to quite a few games in college, and...I went at the same time, and watched Walt Frazier play, as he went to the same college.  That was the year we won the N.I.T. tournament.  I could have gone to New York and watched, but I went to New Orleans instead, as it was over Spring break!

This all came to a crashing halt when I started taking note of the bad behavior, and exhorbitant salaries of the players.  And the game is just too damn boring to watch!  One team dribbles down the court, and makes a basket; the other team takes over, dribbles down court, makes a basket, and they do it over again.  I guess there is some skill I'm not zeroing in on that includes stealing the ball back before the opposing team can make that basket, but all in all,  it's just back and forth.  Has about the same appeal as tennis, except with basketball the ball is in play more.

With tennis there seems to be a serve, and a hit or miss, and then another serve, and a hit or miss, but never some serious volleys back and forth.  Too many stops and starts for me.

Okay, there's bad behavior in other sports, to be sure, but they're much more fun to watch!  

 Even golf is more interesting, and to many folks, that's a real "yawner" of a sport.  But the skill is obvious although I do not know what they really see when they're lining up a putt, as far as little nuances in the grass cutting. 

Not having to worry that my favorite shows are being preempted by a basketball game, on Day 195!



Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Justice served? Depends on who you talk to!

Michael Jackson's doctor was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the singer's death. 

Since I was not at the trial, and have not read all the transcripts, I'll just comment on my views from what I read in the paper or on the internet.  I think that's all anyone can do.  The few comments from media lawyers (think Nancy Grace) sounded to me like they were lawyers on the case, for the offense, and not casual observers.

If you liked Michael, you forgave his shortcomings, of which there were a few.  If you didn't like Michael, then the doctor was not at fault.  I think there were many parties at fault here.  The doctor, for sure, the family members who were supported by Michael, and other people who lived or worked around him on a daily basis.   They were lured by the smell of money, that he may or may not have had.  He certainly lived way more lavishly than he really needed to.  But he was, supposedly,  trying to get together a "come-back" tour to pay his bills?  

Was the doctor negligent?  Most certainly!  Was Michael negligent?  Most certainly!  Was his family negligent?  Most certainly!  Was it medical malpractice?  Most certainly!  Was it involuntary manslaughter?  Possibly not, but the doctor's actions immediately following finding Michael unresponsive, were indeed questionable, and careless.  Would Michael have lived?  Who knows.  But if he did, what would we think of him then?  Or would we all pass it off as just another chapter in his life, and ignore the negatives?

Sex, drugs and rock n' roll, once again come together, with an unfortunately ending, on Day 194!

R.I.P. Andy

In a previous blog I wrote that I was sad because Andy was ailing.  I wanted to add that it would seem all too often that some people seem to pass away right after they retire, and it seems a shame they waited so long TO retire, as they never got to enjoy it.  I didn't want to put that burden on Andy, so I omitted it from the post. 

But as luck or fate would have it, Andy was through, formally and physically.  But he definitely lived a good life, and he was often quoted as having no regrets.  He lived as he wanted, lacked for very little, and worked at what he loved best.  We should all be so lucky, but a lot of it is attitude, and he surely had that!

Wondering if he's in the clouds, pecking away on his  trusty Royal, on Day193!  

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Patience IS a virtue...remember???

I went to McDonald's this afternoon for a "cheap" lunch.  I only had $2.00, and believe it or not you can eat fairly well for $2.  Or at least I thought, until I looked at the calorie count.  But that's yet another blog.

It wasn't the lunch hour, closer to 2:00, but the drive-thru was full, and there were people standing at the counter.  There was one person at the counter, plus the manager, manning the cash registers and taking orders.  Of course there were the contingent of cooks, and drive-thru personnel. 

It was NOT running smoothly, for whatever reason, but I wasn't in a hurry.  Then the manager left the counter, and had the other person also leave the counter.  They both had small jobs to attend to, concerning the patrons' orders at the counter.  As I was waiting, a woman came up behind me and said "Isn't there any one taking orders??!!!"  I said that they would be back shortly, and perhaps they were a bit short handed. 

They indeed came back, finished the other orders ahead of me, and took my order.  This whole scenario took all of 5 minutes, more or less.  BUT, since this is a "fast food" restaurant, 5 minutes is obviously TOO slow for a lot of people.  And of course there was audible griping. 

Now I gotta say people...LIGHTEN UP!!!  How long do you have to wait in a sit-down restaurant?  Are you in that much of a hurry to wolf down your food?  Are you growing faint with hunger?  Maybe McDonald's is NOT the place for you!  Have patience for those folks who are doing their level best to feed you!

Trying to patient with the impatient, on Day 192!





Seriously, Sirius radio is for me!

I am hooked!  And I'm willing to pay!

This all happened when we rented a van for our vacation and it was equipped with Sirius radio.   Now I don't pay for cable TV, and I don't pay to tweet or text, but I believe I will pay for the glorious benefit of having jazz and not one but three channels, plus so many more channels of "my kind of listening" available to me while I'm on the road.    And, I don't have to search for a signal when we pass from one town to another, or state to state.

As for cable TV, we saw enough while staying in hotels, to know we don't want to waste the money to watch channels that seem to have nothing more than "Reality TV" available. 

As for texting, we saw enough people swerving all over the road, and sometimes in our path, while looking in their laps, so we can only assume they were "texting" even though it's illegal in most states.

As for twitter?  Who cares? I'll catch up watching the news on TV (and not CNN either!)

I know I'm gonna be listening to jazz...now and forever after Day 191!

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Andy's ailing...

...and I'm sad. 

 I hope he overcomes whatever's wrong with him.  Guess he went in to the hospital for some relatively simple surgery, and had some other complications.   This could give him some good material on hospital food, hospital gowns, hospital hospitality!

Or how many plants he's got, or flower arrangements, or visitors that won't leave! 

Just hoping for his speedy recovery, and quite a few more laughs after...Day 190!


Are we becoming the most "shallow" nation on earth?

I jsut heard, on good old NPR, that the Kardashian wedding fiasco netted the families involves, over 18 million dollars!!!  That $18,000,000 for those who'd rather see the numbers version!   And for what???!!

Well, they sold the rights to the wedding, the shower, the engagement party, the rehersal dinner, even the honeymoon, to various magazines and other media outlets.   I read all I wanted to know about them, by standing in line at the grocery store perusing People Magazine, and seeing a few headlines on the internet.  Did I PAY for anything that had their names or pictures within?  HELL NO!!!  What a waste of money that would be.  But since all those media outlets DID pay for that "wedding", they must think some people are interested enough to buy the magazine, or subscribe to the cable (?) show to see the "real truth" of what the Kardashian lifestyle is like.

So then, to top it off, I read again, on the internet, that the sisters, and even the mom, may have hinted around that they didn't think the wedding would last.  If they felt so strongly, why did they let their darling daughter/sister get hitched?  Perhaps because they knew they could cash in on a very big payday!  Remember that $18,000,000???  That means SOOOO much more than any "happy ending" 

Still trying to figure out who the Kardashians are anyway, on Day 189!