Black Friday 2006 A Success [ACCU BLOG]

NOTE: This blog was previously published under the [AccuWeather.com Community] blog at http://community.accuweather.com/ ( now http://weathermatrix.accuweather.com/ ) but has been absorbed into Jesse's main blog for archival purposes.

My Black Friday [WikiPedia] experience this year was pretty good, when compared to past experiences. I decided after my horror story in 2003 that I wouldn't go extremely early again. Back then, I had less money, needed more computers and monitors than I do now and you could really get some killer deals. These days, the deals aren't a lot better than you can get from Dell and I have amassed enough computing electronics to feel comfortable in my home office. I've also decided that selling some of my old stuff on Ebay is the better way to get more money for buying inexpensive new stuff that isn't sold on Black Friday.

NOT THIS YEAR, BABY!

The line to get into the Best Buy store in Warwick, R.I., wraps around the building as holiday shoppers turned out early for Black Friday deals, Friday, Nov. 24, 2006. (AP Photo/Stew Milne)

Anyway, this year went very smoothly, as I had alluded to before, thanks to BestBuy.com. I have always found myself gravitating to Best Buy for some reason. They have always seemed to have the best deals and gimmicks on electronics and I've shopped there fairly frequently for major items since they opened here in State College in the early 2000's. Our family's TV, arguably the most important appliance in the house, was purchased there in 2002. This year (and to a certain extent last year) Best Buy decided to do what no other local stores were doing -- making their Black Friday items available for purchase on BestBuy.com, and they even started at midnight on Thursday. Now, they held a handful of items back for store-only, fearing e-commerce might reduce their local hype. But no biggee -- I wasn't shopping for any of those things and 2003's experience taught me that waiting in lines in the physical store wasn't worth it. So Thanksgiving morning I got up and purchased, at great discount, just what I needed this year on BestBuy.com (these are still for sale by the way on Saturday, but some have sold out):

- Westinghouse 19" LCD HDTV Television / Monitor (Reg. $399, Sale $199)
- Curtis 7" Widescreen 7" LCD TV (Reg. $149, Sale $89)
- Seinfeld Seasons 5-6 (Reg. $99, Sale $29)
- SanDisk 2GB Secure Digital Memory Card (Reg. $99, Sale $29)
- SanDisk Cruzer Micro 2GB USB Flash Drive (Reg. $99, Sale $29)

The first was the key purchase for me. My home office lacks a television, for all intents and purposes. Although my main computer has Windows Media Center to display a TV signal, though I don't use it all that often due to the complication of fitting it on the screen, or because I have WM already recording two channels at the same time. I refuse to turn on any of the tube TVs that I have due to heat generation -- I swore I'd go all flat-screen to reduce heat in My New House. So since I have moved in, I've felt a bit lost -- what could be going on in the outside world that I might be missing?

After reviewing capabilities of several flat-screen TVs, I decided I had to have PIP (Picture-in-Picture) capability so that I could monitor more than one channel, or display both a PC screen and TV screen (like I do with the much-more-expensive Dell TV I have at work). I also wanted an HD-ready TV for the day when HD really takes over (which I have been promised since 1995) and because the digital TVs now have pretty nasty looking displays. So, in summary, this unit has everything I need: VGA inputs, PIP, and HD capabilities.

I also ventured out around 8 AM Friday (as noted, on ice) with my stepdaughter to find some DVD deals. At that time of morning, the initial rush was over (most stores here opened at 5 AM this year, vs. 6 last year). Target (where I purchased Simpsons Season 8 DVD at 60% off but missed Family Guy Season 3) was crowded but had a quick checkout. Wal-Mart was actually kind of dead, except for Electronics. A quick checkout there too, to grab a few discount movie DVDs. Circuit City was the big offender. Just like last year, they had some great deals on DVDs but each checkout line contained at least 50 people when we walked in. Since, unlike Best Buy, they don't put their deals online, we walked right back out, as I'm sure did many of their potential customers. We did visit later at 2 PM when the lines were better and purchased some notable DVD deals (Northern Exposure Seasons 1-2 for me, for $13 vs. regular price of $99, Charmed Season 3 for my wife ($18 vs. $39) and Super Mario Soccer Gamecube for my stepdaughter for 50% off).

Thanksgiving, Black Friday Musings [ACCU BLOG]

NOTE: This blog was previously published under the [AccuWeather.com Community] blog at http://community.accuweather.com/ ( now http://weathermatrix.accuweather.com/ ) but has been absorbed into Jesse's main blog for archival purposes.

We're about to head to my mother-in-laws for Thanksgiving Dinner (Lunch), a yearly tradition (she lives only 25 miles away). But before I start thinking about how satisfying that turkey, gravy and potatoes will be, a couple of observations:

This morning, I bought everything I wanted from Best Buy's Black Friday sale online (hats off to them). So they'll be no getting up at 3 AM to stand in line this year.

- Several years ago, I stood in line for 7 hours on Black Friday at Best Buy. I didn't write a blog then but I emailed the story to several folks, I'll see if I can find it and post it here.

- I am out of the office until Tuesday but I will continue to blog. More details on all of these points later.

- Enjoy your Thanksgiving, eat some good food with friends and family.

O.T.: All Out of Candy [ACCU BLOG]

NOTE: This blog was previously published under the [AccuWeather.com Community] blog at http://community.accuweather.com/ ( now http://weathermatrix.accuweather.com/ ) but has been absorbed into Jesse's main blog for archival purposes.

So just quickly this morning, a few observations about last night's Halloween trick-or-treating, from me as a candy-giver and via stories from my wife and stepdaughter as candy receivers.

In the "when I was a kid" department... do you remember when...

- People never gave out fruit because the "PC" [WikiPedia] revolution hadn't started yet...
- People gave out fruit because they were trying to be PC
- People put razors in apples,* thus stopping the fruit frenzy
- People gave out unwrapped or home-made treats (now a no-no)

*Snopes.com says these rumors were untrue, even though the pre-internet media spread them and for a while you could have your candy x-rayed in hospitals.

Kids these days expect candy, period, especially chocolate, and lots of it. And I don't blame them. It hasn't been that long ago since I wanted the same thing (and I still do). I like to give out handfuls of candy, though I had to trim that idea last night when, after 60 or so kids, most of my supply had dwindled. And it was funny, you could tell who had run out of candy on my stepdaughter's route -- anybody giving any of this stuff has ditched the empty cauldron and headed for the cupboards (I kid you not, she really got this stuff):

- Pretzels
- Pencils
- Cans of Soda

Well, I was about to break into the 100-Calorie-Packs and Granola Bars myself.


A Ghostly Face Was Captured By
NASA's Aqua Satellite 10/29/06

As predicted, the rain held off here in Central Pennsylvania until the end of the evening, and even then was very light. The wind was the worse villain, causing me to re-light my pumpkins about 50 times.

So I went to Wal-Mart this morning to get the cheap candy, an annual tradition here at work. You can can see "Jesse's Cauldron Of Candy" to my left on the J-CAM this morning. Actually that's one of two cauldrons; the other has been donated to the other side of the New Media department here at AccuWeather.

Interesting tidbit -- back in 2001, I stopped by Giant Foods on Atherton Street here in town, to buy some cheap candy. Several months later, the FBI called -- they had subpoenaed credit card records from Giant because Cindy Song had disappeared in that area. They asked me if I had seen anything; I had not. (This year, I used cash).



READ MORE "O.T." BLOG ENTRIES

O.T.: Halloween Plans [ACCU BLOG]

NOTE: This blog was previously published under the [AccuWeather.com Community] blog at http://community.accuweather.com/ ( now http://weathermatrix.accuweather.com/ ) but has been absorbed into Jesse's main blog for archival purposes.

I'll be spending All Hallow's Eve like I usually do -- though since My New House is in a modern neighborhood with a lot of young kids, I expect to be giving away quite a bit of candy at my door, while my wife and stepdaughter are off trick-or-treating on the other side of town (where my stepdaughters friends are). In fact I just got back from various department stores where I attempted -- to no avail -- to replace the light-up ghost that My New Dog chewed through last night. Yes, that Siberian Husky is one Ghostbuster.

A-Maize-ing Fun [ACCU BLOG]

NOTE: This blog was previously published under the [AccuWeather.com Community] blog at http://community.accuweather.com/ ( now http://weathermatrix.accuweather.com/ ) but has been absorbed into Jesse's main blog for archival purposes.

On 9 a.m. Saturday morning, my wife, daughter, her friend and embarked on an adventure to Ronks, Pennslyvania, home of the biggest and most famous corn maze that I could find, Cherry Crest Farms, home of the Amazing Maize Maze (tm). The trip took over 2 hours one way but it was well worth it.



NO AMATEUR STUFF HERE...

When we arrived to a field teeming with hundreds of cars, we knew we had come to the right place. This was no amateur farmer-cut maze on a small farm. It was like the County Fair.

The maze was 5 acres and contained 2 miles of trails. It was all quite high tech, complete with bridges, loudspeakers, music, and a movie-like introduction on a flat screen upon entering the maze. The maze is produced by American Maze, Inc., home of the Original Cornfield Maze.



WEATHER: COLDEST EVER FOR FAMILY OUTING

A Nor'easter was off the northeast coast, causing high winds in the area (gusts to 25 mph were observed at LNS, Lancaster Airport nearby). Coupled with the temperatures which barely topped 50, wind chills were near 40. I think this was the coldest family outing I have ever been on. We usually go on trips in the summer, and even local carnival or fair outings are generally warmer than this. We had our winter gear but my wife and I neglected to bring hats.


FARM ENTRANCE

THEME: "WITNESS"

The theme at this year's maze was the movie Witness. The plot is that an Amish boy witnesses a murder and a policeman goes into hiding, posing as an Amish man, to protect the boy. Even though Pennsylvania is the heart of Amish country, I had never seen the movie. We tried to rent it when we got home but found out it wasn't carried at Blockbuster, so the search continues.


THE CAR FROM WITNESS

The theme is drawn into the maze design, if you look closely you can see the windmill in the upper left, a barn next to that, then the sun in the upper right. An Amish man, complete with hat, is in the bottom art of the maze. The theme was also present throughout the maze; all dead-ends had facts about the Amish and their way of life and the maze was divided into subsections with "clues" that you had to find. The clues, it turns out, go together to form a map of the maze, which you don't have going in (which kind of surprised me).


TIME TO CHECK THAT MAP

Because this was the last weekend it was open, and the weather has not been corn-friendly this fall, much of the corn had fallen down or been stripped of its leaves, and you could really see through the rows, which was to our advantage. Next year, we will endeavor to go earlier in the year, when it would be more opaque. That will probably make it more difficult, but it will have more of that Witness / Children of the Corn / Signs feel.

HOW LONG DID IT TAKE US?

The time one might take to traverse the maze was predicted to be between 15 minutes and 2 hours. While we were in the maze, announcements were made as groups left the maze... as little as just over 1 hour, and as much as 2 and a half hours.

We were lost in that darn thing for 3 hours 37 minutes.

It was getting a little frustrating near the end but we persevered. You could call to have one of the staff retrieve you from the maze, but that would just be embarrassing, so we stuck it out. Eventually we put our heads together with the 13 (out of 15) map pieces that we had, and kept charging down paths until we found our way out. In retrospect, looking at the complete map, we found our misstep -- we were intrigued by a "barn raising" educational activity and never looked back at the "road not taken" which turned out to be the way out. Next year, we will likely challenge the maze again (it is a different design & theme each year), but we will likely bring: 1.) A pen (to mark where we have been on the map) and 2. A better understanding of the whole maze, map and theme relationships, which were really new to us.

MORE THAN JUST A MAZE...

This was near the Strasburg Historical Railroad, which ran a train by several times during the maze.



They also had a petting zoo, which we visited, even though it was close to dark and they were closing it for the season. I've never seen a pig more proud to have his photo taken.

The Last Day at the Anchor Inn [VHS ARCHIVES]

NOTE: This video was digitally encoded from a VHS tape. Commentary, if any, was written in 2015.

On March 1, 1997, my parents and I met other relatives at the Anchor Inn, the beach house that had been in my family for at least 40 years, as of then. It was one of the oldest homes on the beach, most homes having been wiped out by Hurricane Hazel in 1954. It was located at 4005 East Beach Drive at Oak Island, NC (known then as Long Beach). My father painted the sign on the front of the house:

The lot was condemned after Hurricane Fran in 1996 when the dune line was re-established behind the front of the house; the government said we can let it succumb to nature and pay to have it removed, or we can let them pay for it to be moved. (The lot is now owned by the government and cannot be built on, empty to this day).

Our job was to remove the furnishings -- my job was to document the house, which was later put on a truck and carted away to "House Heaven," a local junkyard for houses. As of 2015, the house was rumored to be off of Highway 133 outside of Oak Island.

There are some rare glimpses in this video of my uncles Terry & Gehrig and Aunt Margie.

NOTE: This video has been stabilized by YouTube because I am a sloppy cameraman.

Feeding Seagulls at Long Beach [VHS ARCHIVE]

NOTE: This video was digitally encoded from a VHS tape. Commentary, if any, was written in 2014.

Nate, Charlie, Jesse, Sheryl and Pat feed seagulls at the Boardwalk beach house on Long Beach (Oak Island) NC.