Local Unmentionables: Notes on YOUR corner of the world

I'm going to get the 46" tv.

Wow. $11k over the target already. Nice!

Now almost $13k! I wanna work on the Spool UI.

CS, if they have screen cleaning stuff on killer giveaway prices, grab me something, please... .

Squinting through dust and streaks,

ddt

Okay, made it home with my loot.

The new TV is replacing the nearly 6 year old 26" Toshiba 720p TV that I had in the bedroom.

Whoa.

This thing is HUGE and very beautiful compared to the old TV. First test was a National Treasure in 1080p. Very nice.

While I was sitting there, though, I happened to find a coupon on the ground for $8 off any purchase of $80 or more so I actually got it for $290 instead of $298. ALMOST worth waiting around for 7+ hours.

So what model/size did you get?

Awful, awful news, JW. So sorry. I know that's woefully inadequate.

I had my first real Black Friday experience last night, lining up at Castleton Sqaure Mall at 10:45 so I could hit the Lego Store when it opened at 11. By the time I'd picked out the five items I wanted (about 10 minutes total), the checkout line was a half-hour long. I went from there to the Disney Store, where the line was similar. No drama, though--everyone was well behaved. The Lego Store had pull tabs at checkout, offering between 10 and 50 percent off. I got 20 percent, enough to make a real difference in my purchase (my son is Lego-obsessive). Everything at Disney (my daughter's obsession) was 20 percent off as well. I'm basically done with my holiday shopping for them.

On my way home (at around 1:30 a.m.), I stopped by the Best Buy in West Carmel. Thought about getting a couple of small things until I noticed that the checkout line completely circled the store. No, thanks.

Quote
Bruce Robertson
So what model/size did you get?

46" Westinghouse 1080p.

I won't do the waiting-for-hours thing again. Especially for a midnight opening.

My dad and I went to do the traditional Black Friday stuff this morning. First we went to Home Depot. They opened at 5:00 and we pulled in at 4:55. We bought a bunch of poinsettias for 99 cents a piece. Next step was Mendards. They were opening at 6:00 and we got there at 5:40. The line wrapped around the front of the building and since there weren't any items we were particularly desperate to get we decided to just sit in the car and wait until the doors opened. When the doors opened we made our way to the end of the line but when we rounded the corner of the building we saw an unbelievable sight... the line was FOUR BLOCKS LONG. We turned around and went back to the car.

So my total purchases in the last 24 hours were a big screen TV and 4 poinsettias.

Just hit TC http://techcrunch.com/2011/11/25/twine-foreshadows-a-future-where-all-objects-talk-to-the-internet/

John - I'm very sorry to hear about your [aunt].

Johnny - Congratulations! Where are you going to build them?

An appalling story JW. So sorry.

Twine has been Scobelized. Congrats.

And now about >2x the ask. You're going to have to crowdsource the task of counting all the money!

ddt

Wow - getting close to $100K - I think you're on a winner there, JK.

Now all you have to do is produce and support a product!

ddt

That makes me remember a whole arc of comedy known as KimKapSol (fictitious) Korean (?) company owner that spread rumors based upon the plastics he was gearing up to make for Apple.
http://bit.ly/uwvGHV

Not sure why.

Well… I've been away a bit. We got hit very hard by the snowstorm last month. Thousands of dollars of damage (to the trees only… house only got a couple of hundred) and I'm still taking whatever time I have to clean up. What a trip. It was incredible. Very unlike Irene. This was as close to a natural disaster as I ever saw. Lots of trees through roofs (not me, but my neighbor down the hill just had her roof replaced… a limb went through her daughter's bedroom). We lost power for four days. I now have a nifty $2,000 Honda generator to plug into for next time.

I had a trip away to South America during that time period which was both a welcome respite and upsetting to go on (figuring my wife would accomplish almost nothing while I was away… and in fact this was true). I figure that by the end of the spring everything will look as it did, minus the 70 foot tree that we had to take down and a few other smaller trees.

So it goes.

JW and EJ, so sorry about your losses. Johnny K, very interesting project. I'll think about contributing. I could use something to tell me it feels moisture in the basement, that's for sure.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/27/2011 04:18AM by bahamut.

lesson learned - trim your trees?
We have one tree that is wreak-havoc-potential. I was eyeing getting up in that two days ago and seeing if I could cut it down. (I'm an idiot, though).
I know what you mean on being away. We were in Florida when a tornado came through and damaged our house. A bit anxiety-inducing.
Good luck with all that.

Baha, missing LA yet? Only have to worry about droughts, smog, quakes, traffic, mudslides... .

ddt

John, that is a horrible, horrible thing. I hope this heals. Don't dwell on the end, but on the many years before. Last year my great aunt died - less tragically, but not as she was - and we've kept her alive with stories of her biting wit, and her recipes (which she wrote down with that wit). I made her killer cheesecake for Thanksgiving and it was a reminder of when she taught me to make it.

Thanks for the kind words, all. It means a lot to be able to vent here.