Shopping is not my favorite thing to do. I’m a guy. I buy necessary stuff when I have to – it’s not something that I do for plea
sure. I won’t buy low quality stuff just because it’s cheap – I like value. For that reason, I am mourning the loss of a really cool place to buy good stuff without paying high prices. That’s right, Value City. They’re in bankruptcy and are closing their stores. The really neat thing about Value City is that you never knew what you would find there. They had some really nice stuff at bargain prices – but they might not have your size or a color that you might like. I have bought my sneakers there for years (I like Reebok running shoes). Sometimes, I left empty-handed because they didn’t have my size in a style that I liked, but more often I would leave with two pair because I found two pair that I liked at a great price. Hey, it’s more like hunting than shopping – there’s a bit of a challenge there. I’ve bought a lot of really nice name brand stuff there over the years – often at a third of the price that one might pay at a regular store. Monica and I popped
in there last night and found that the store was closing. They were selling stuff for 35% off of the marked price (already cheap). We went there hoping to buy some warm boots for the Brasiliera, and ended up with a whole bunch of stuff. Three pairs of boots – one pair looks like something an elf might wear – a pre-lit Christmas tree (needed one), decorations, new bedspread, some sweaters, warm slippers for me and other things. We needed two carts. Awesome stuff, really inexpensive – but we can never go back….
As we were checking out, the cashier was remarking about some of the low prices that we were paying for 
stuff. We remarked that we were sorry to see the store closing, and she said “Blame the banks” and then, “Blame Bush”. Not President Bush, or even Mister Bush – just Bush. This lady was certainly about to lose her job when the store closes, and she’s holding the President responsible?? There are SO many other places that one could hang blame for this store chain closing (the management, perhaps?). What a shame. I wonder how many other people have such a twisted view of our president – an honorable man.
The Focus is for sale. Thanks to an incident last year involving our little Fiat, a big hill and a backward roll into a telephone pole, Monica believes that she would feel more comfortable in a car with an automatic transmission. The Focus, although a manual trans car, has the boy-racer Zetec engine and almost all of the options available. I figured that we could get a good price on Ebay, as someone out there might be looking for a little car like this. Selling locally, the 5 speed would be considered a liability, but the whole car is a pretty cool package. I am sure that someone will like it. In any event, the cool thing about Ebay is that the car will be sold in a week – pretty much guaranteed. I don’t ask for reserve prices on my auctions, so it’ll be gone, no matter what.
Oh, speaking of the Brasileira, she has her learner’s permit! Just a matter of time before she gets her license. That’s an essential ID document, and it’s a real bear to get legally. It took about 5 trips to the DMV, but we’ve satified the bureaucrats and she’s only a driving test away from getting her license. We’ll practice for a week or so.
Last thing for today is the weekly gripe. We had our Thanksgiving a little 
early this year. I had my brother Jeff and a really good friend over last weekend. Monica fixed an awesome dinner, appetizers and an incredible lime-and-chocolate pie for dessert. We didn’t have turkey – I don’t particularly like turkey. My wife was a perfect hostess and we had a wonderful afternoon. We did this because I am working 12 hours today, tomorrow and on Thanksgiving as well – even though they are my scheduled days off. Grrrrr. We have a lot of people working extra hours at work. We are doing all sorts of extra work and trying to get it done before things get really cold. Some folks are working 14 days straight without a day off, so I guess that I shouldn’t complain too much about working a few extra days. Except that I don’t get paid – I’m salary. Almost everyone else in the plant Thursday will be getting double-time-and-a-half. I will be working Thanksgiving for free (today and tomorrow as well). I can’t travel the three hours to spend the holiday with family because I have to be here all week. Grrrrrrrr. /end gripe
All for now,
Greg
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