Episode 4, Page #1 - "Hardball"
Aoi Notes: 11/23/2005
Ah, the day before Thanksgiving. The day when stores seem to be just ready to close up shop early and head home. It's almost as if they're trying to store up enough energy to survive the infamous "Black Friday," which in non-retail speak commonly known as the "Day After Thanksgiving." It's that special day when millions of mad shoppers all get up before dawn and rush to stores like Wal-Mart so they can throw TVs and DVD Players at each other. And no, I'm not kidding. They really do that.
Why the term "Black Friday?" Well, in the accounting world, it's basically the time of year when retail outlets finally start making a profit. They get out of the red and into the black (non-profitable to profitable). But no one does their accounting by hand anymore, now do they?
Anyway, this is generally the time of year when the streets start to get packed as hell and it takes forever to get anywhere. And forget about even trying to make a quick left turn out of a shopping center exit. You'll never get out!
It also irks me a little to know that I won't be able to just run into a store anymore, grab a DVD and a drink, and be through the check-out in under ten minutes. But there is a bigger pay-off to the season--all the new releases! Yeah, it's weird how companies all like to put all their best stuff out during the Christmas season, huh? I think it's a conspiracy to try and see how much they can bleed me dry. Watcha think?
Holiday shopping aside, Thanksgiving is tomorrow in the U.S. and that really only means one thing for a lot of us--forced family gatherings. See, family gatherings are like school dances, except everyone knows each other and instead of dancing (God, I hope there isn't any dancing...eww!) people just sit around mindless yapping.
The way family gatherings work is that they're based around talking. Lots and lots of...talking. So much talking that you can generally guess where the conversation will lead. In my case, it's always the aunt that asks the first question and it's always to my grandparents. She'll ask what they've been doing and after a few clicks of a hearing aid, they'll say something. This is just a leading and doesn't affect the rest of the conversation. The subject will quickly get changed to something totally unrelated and digress into each family member trying to find something to out-do the other with.
Anyone experience anything similar or am I the only one? Feel free to drop by the forum and tell me about it. I'd like to know other people dread family gatherings as much as I do. ^_^;
And that's it for today. Hope you enjoyed the action shot of Elle. She's got a nice arm, huh? Anyway, I hope to see you back here on Friday! Stay safe!!
-Adam Arnold
