Black Friday RUSH (the good kind)

WOW did I have fun on "Black Friday". I don't usually spend much and am NOT a "big ticket" person but I do thoroughly enjoy watching the crowds and chatting with people lined up outside big stores at 5:30 a.m. (Mental aberration? Maybe.) Menards was the hands-down pick for my shopping that morning. I was in line by 5:25 and deep in conversation with the two people behind me five minutes later. One was a guy whose wife just got out of the hospital the day before therefore making him the 'designated shopper'. The other was a very "rural" single mom coming into the city to stretch out her holiday shopping dollars. Both were in good spirits and ready for the fray.

I was more organized than most. I came with a thermos of hot cocoa and a good paperback since most people are too tired to chat in the checkout lines and a half hour wait time is normal. I also had a list of items, in priority order including prices and some item numbers, so that I didn't have to rely on whipping the pages back and forth on a tattered newspaper flyer with circles around a dozen or more items.
With a longer list than usual prioritizing desired objects was a must and I knew I had to move quickly to gain the prize, a 13' multi-position ladder with a 300lb load capacity priced lower than I had ever seen it (and I've seen a lot!). Being far enough up in the entry line to get a cart, I headed to the back of the store and was first to arrive at the ladder display; there were only six. I had mine in the cart when a group of eight or nine guys came hurrying over and was caught between gloating and sympathy when half of them walked away disappointed.

The trip was a total success. I found every item on my list although I chose not to purchase some items. Some were gifts , some just stuff that we needed around the house. I got my 1/2 hour reading time in the checkout line and was home by 7:30 a.m.
Kudos to the sales staff at Menards. They were really well organized and very courteous and numerous! No one had to look very far to get help. These folks even went to fetch things for people who had forgotten or missed items and were already in the checkout line. Now THAT'S service!

To think or not to think....

I've been avoiding doing a blog posting lately because my capacity for lucid thought is at an all-time low. I'm sure a lot of factors figure in to my state of mind but I can't seem to get psyched up to do any really serious productive thinking. Daydreaming, stewing, aimless mental wanderings; those are do-able. Rather, I'll just tell everyone about our exciting night life here in the 'hood.
Two nights ago we were awakened about 2 a.m. by multiple sirens. Looking out the bedroom window and across the back yard to the next street Scott got to watch a scene that could have been filmed for "Cops", complete with police with guns out yelling "get on the ground!". Tonight, Alaric and I were treated to a midnight performance of three police cars around a man in hand cuffs who appeared (or at least sounded) injured. He was yelling a lot about pain and blood but no one was calling for an EMT or looking worried. I did get to meet a new neighbor who was also out to see what the ruckus was about. She was actually more concerned about the police cars blocking the road and causing problems for her out of town relatives who were supposed to be here by now and hadn't shown up yet. She wanted to know if this sort of thing was normal in the neighborhood. I told her that things in our cul du sac were usually quieter because most of the drug dealers lived one street over. I'm not sure she was too relieved. Oh yeah, then Alaric reached down to brush something off of his foot and got a nasty cut on his finger when the object stuck to his foot turned out to be a piece of glass. Ah, the excitement never ends.

Why I love my dog

We all long for true, unreserved, unquestioning love. Well, that about sums up my dog. No complaints, no whining, no grousing, no "moods", just love. Big, brown adoring eyes. A happy wagging tail from only a word or two. Constancy and consistency with cuteness thrown in. God sure came up with a great idea when he made dogs.