"Only x left!"

Normally I don't go shopping on Black Friday, not because of the crowds as they don't bother me at all, but that I usually have something more interesting to do and there's still a whole month before Christmas. Unfortunately, even though I slept in until almost 9, I still felt like I was fighting off a cold, so laying low was the order of the day. As such, what a great time to shop online!

And shop I did. All told, I bought 9 gifts today. Not too shabby. Twice today though before I had completed my order, a message came up underneath the product I was buying "Only x left". That's just a phony sales thing right? But if it's not, what a great idea....though not ethical by any stretch unless it's true. They do that on those shopping network shows I guess though. They have that little total of how many are sold or countdown how many are left. Builds the drama....I like it! Sadly, it did make me buy earlier than I might have otherwise. One was a larger ticket item that I was pondering whether to get or not, but if they would have sold out, I would have been pissed.



One can imagine the internet queue might have looked something like this scene. Around dinner time, I decided to head out and see if there were any deals to be found in some stores. In a relatively short amount of time, I hit Menards (a regional hardware and sundry store), Home Depot and Micro Center (an electronics store). Target was on the agenda as well, but I ran out of energy. This picture was from the huge line at Micro Center. HD and Menard's had customers, but nothing like this.







As promised, here are some pictures from Thanksgiving:




The table getting set. No paper plates Jodi!! Only the good stuff for us this year. :-) It was quite the spread again.

















Here's Pops and bro-in-law getting the turkey ready. We cooked a 17 pound bird this year I heard. Mmmmmmm....











Here's the whole family along with in-laws and my niece.













Earlier, there was a slight accident as some gravy spilled on the stove and filled the room with smoke. Doh! It's sort of hard to tell from the picture, but the smoke was pretty thick.