The Hunt Takes a Twist

Thanksgiving came and went. I went to bed around 10:30pm so I could grab 6 hours of sleep before beginning my yearly quest. To my surprise, Sharkey was not in bed when my eyes opened at 4:30am. She came walking into the bedroom and asked me when I was leaving. This is monumental as I have always gone on the hunt on my own. Sharkey usually stays behind in our warm bed. We went to Target around 4:45am to stand in line for the 6am store opening. After combing through the ads, the only thing I really wanted to score was Guitar Hero World Tour for the Nintendo Wii. Sharkey and I play Guitar Hero III quite often and we were looking forward to getting a new set of songs to rock out. So there we were in line. It was about 37 degrees and there was a slight breeze. The first 30 min were OK, but the last 30 minutes were a bit uncomfortable. And mind you we had our parkas on w/ gloves and ear muffs.



The doors opened at 6:00am and we went fast walking in with the masses. By the time the doors opened, there were about 600 people in line. We shop at Target quite often for the essentials so we know the layout of the store. We went back to the video games to find an empty shelf of Guitar Hero games. They had plenty of XBox 360, but none for Wii. I pulled a red shirt guy aside and asked him if he had anymore, because Sharkey and I were like 50th in line and lots of the people in front of us were there for the cheap LCD TV, so I thought maybe they didn't put the games in the right place. The red shirt scanned the barcode and said he had more in the back and he'd come back to the aisle with them. GREAT, way to stock door busting items Target!!! By this time, Target had about 4 people per square foot in the store. I waited by the aisle as told and answered other people's questions about the Wii game and that the red shirt was bringing more out. The red shirt came back and got within 5 feet of where I was and he was mobbed. People were rushing up to him, taking the games right out of the trolley cart he had. He was yelling at people to stop, but the mob ruled. One of the guys who I answered a question for earlier saw I did not get one and he did, so he gave me his to be fair, which was totally cool of him. The hunt was complete! A lady next to me then said she had wanted one for a child and that's when Sharkey came walking up. Sharkey asked her if it was a gift for her child and she said yes. So Sharkey looked at me, and I looked at her and nodded. I gave the woman the Guitar Hero game. The season after all is about God's love, redemption, and reconciliation, so if we could show just a bit of that love to someone else it was worth it. So we left empty handed, but we felt we did the right thing. Besides, like I said before, the thrill of the hunt is always better than the end. JP out...

Closing Time, The Hunt, Doors

Closing Time...

Sharkey and I managed to close down two places tonight. Our church has a tradition where after the Thanksgiving Eve service we all go have pie in the fellowship hall. We're Lutherans, so you know there is always food a plenty around the services and especially around the holidays. =) We ended up talking with our Pastor and his wife until we were the last ones in the hall. Shortly after that, we went to Max & Erma's for a quick bite to eat and before we knew it we were the last two in the restaurant. We managed to close two places in one night.

The Hunt....

As you all know or maybe do not know, I am a hunter of hard to get items and bargains, cause let's face it, retail is for suckers! I try to get things for the family for Christmas, and well, eer, umm, I manage to sneak a little something in there for me too... Also, if you are like me you also know the thrill of the hunt is more fun than once you have said item in hand. But I digress... At this time of year, we come to one of the most prime hunting seasons and additionally the greatest of all days for "The Hunt," Black Friday. So today I received all the advertisements of who has what for sale at what time on Friday. So I am plotting my strategy to get the things everyone else is trying to score. So I may lose a little sleep, wait in a line for a couple hours with other crazed shoppers like myself, but if I can acquire the target(s), it's totally worth it. Oh, and I don't fall for the stores' strategy of getting you to buy other stuff by luring you in for the door buster items. I am all about getting "the item" and getting out. Yeah, I admit I can be a bit crazy, but I think it is somewhat fun. Besides, I'm helping the local economy! Watch out people, man on a mission. Adrenaline rising.

Doors...

My door issues continue. To recap I have issues with doors. I don't know whether or not to push or pull. I am not sure what side hinges are on, so I end up pushing on the wrong side of the door. You think automatic doors are no issue? Well that would only be the case if you happened to choose the right side to be on when the door slides open. Remember this?



So my newest difficulty is the automatic, revolving door. At work, the door I use to go in and out of the building is an automatic, revolving door. You scan your badge to get in and it automatically revolves you into the building. You hit the button next to the door once you are inside and it revolves around to let you out. My issue is the out. I hit the button and the door revolves 2x, every single time. For everyone else it revolves 1x. I have been able to get out, but so far the door has smacked me in the butt, clipped my heels and everyone in back of me is afraid to follow me out the door. So far I think I am the only one this happens to. Doors are out to get me. I think it may be a portal conspiracy. I just need more evidence. Oh, and I am not exaggerating. These things really do happen to me. And if I didn't think it were so funny, which I totally do, I think I could perhaps be mental about my struggles with doors. JP out...

Holiday Special Presentation

For those of you who can relate, remember this???



Thanks to YouTube I found this snippet. So to get back into character remember the era. Here's your inspiration. It's the 70's. You are in the living room with your parents. They are on the scratchy green twill couch and you are lying on the shag rug on your stomach with your head on your hands watching the console television set. Mom reminds you not to sit too close to the TV because of the radiation it gives off. The TV Guide listed that "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving" was going to be on tonight, so you made sure you setup the time with the parents to watch it, because there are hardly any cartoons on TV and Charlie Brown with Snoopy is only on for the holidays and it's one of your absolute favorites. And if you miss it, you'll have to wait until next Thanksgiving for your chance to see it again. So 1 minute before 8:00pm CBS flashes the special logo, your heart races a little, and you think how great your life is at that moment. It is all you need to be happy.

That's the Way the Cookie Crumbles

Sharkey made me some chocolate chip cookies. She has been promising me these cookies for about a month. Yesterday I came home from work and when I opened the door I was greeted by the smell of fresh baked cookies.

Maggie turned 4 today. That's 28 in human years. Tonight she performed the canine Jedi Mind trick on me to get a bite of cookie:



Yeah, it worked! My little girl is growing up. Hard to believe she started at our home like this:



And who can forget dog skateboarding, the new Olympic sport:



And now she's crashed out on my lap. It's tough being Maggie you know. =)

Volume Control...Need It? Got it? Can It Be Taught?

There is a skill most of us are taught by our parents. It is called volume control. You know what I mean right? Small kids totally do not have it, but parents try their hardest to teach them to whisper or speak in their soft, quiet voice. Recently at work I was moved to another team and that meant I had to relocate my cube to another aisle. The aisle for the most part is not too bad. I am very easy going and I get along with pretty much everyone so no problem there. However.... I have this woman in my aisle who talks really loud. I mean I can hear every conversation from 3 cubes away. And to make matters worse I catch snippets of what she says and I find myself saying, "Are you kidding me? That totally is not true...." Like this:



It's like listening to Cliffy on Cheers explain the expansion of the universe or the mating habits of the New Zealand humpback whales. Needless to say I have a hard time blocking her out. I have to admit, some of the things she says amuses me at times and I think she's in her own little world, but I just wish I had a remote control to turn her down. Until that device becomes available, I guess I'll just have to rely on the good old iPhone and my headphones...