respublica

Ok, enough information

This must be a slow news time, except for the big stories because we're getting weird tales about things most of us might not want to know.

For instance I've come across this story twice today: "Deer Hunting "huge" for strip club sales."

Black Friday sales fell this year

This is kind of interesting if you like to fool around with numbers....which I don't. Here's the story:

"Brick and mortar sales on Black Friday fell from $11.6 billion in 2014 to $10.4 billion in 2015. Sales on Thanksgiving fell from just over $2 billion to $1.8 billion. Both decreases are attributed to the increase in online sales, the Associated Press reports.

Meanwhile: "Online sales jumped 14 percent on Black Friday from 2014, bringing in $2.72 billion altogether. 

Now the way I do the math, 2.72 billion plus 10.4 billion plus 1.8 billion for the two days is: 14.92 billion which is higher than last year in total sales. Whether in the store or online, money is money being spent as retailers commandeer Christmas for their own yearly bottom line.

What do they want from us anyway?

No Hoverboard for you NYC

One of the most popular outdoor items this year is the Hoverboard. The Hoverboard is sort of like a skate board, but not. A handleless scooter, maybe, It runs on a battery and you step on the board and it goes. Nothing for your arms to hold onto, and the direction and speed is controlled by your feet. A few weeks ago, a young girl from the nearby Clayton neighborhood came through and one of these things and it just enthralled us all, not enough enthralling to give it a try, though. You have to have great balance and foot control to use a Hoverboard. But many people have fallen in love and are using them all over the place, including New York City.

New York officials have made it illegal to ride the Hoverboard on public sidewalks and anyone getting caught is facing a 200 fine. They can still be used in parks, however.

A new Christmas dog

For the past couple of years we've put out two lighted dogs in a corner of the front yard as a nod to Ferdie and his best friend, Booj. But, alas, the Ferdie version would not light up when brought up from the basement and so a replacement had to be found. I learned no one is selling the white Ferdie made of twig like construction but I did find a golden dog. I want to find a way to cover up that Santa wording, but other than that they're pretty darn cute.

Iowa v Nebraska

These teams play today and I came across a really interesting story about these two teams and their histories.

"Before they were Cornhuskers and wore red, before touchdowns were six points and quarterbacks threw forward passes and anybody wore helmets, Nebraska scheduled a rather momentous game with the brawny boys from Iowa City. It was an experiment of sorts. Iowa had never played a game outside its borders. Nebraska had never faced an opponent from outside its state. The teams wore the same color — gold — making it impossible to distinguish them. The field was poorly marked.

Of the 2,500 fans, most came out of sheer curiosity — they’d never seen “foot ball” before. Those who watched from carriages wondered who had the ball and why Iowa kept lining up in a “V.” Those who stood on the sideline paid no attention to barriers, forming “a dense mass around the players” every time the ball was snapped, constantly interfering with the action.

It was chaos. It was poetry. It was just good enough to want to experience it again."

And there's much more at the link and they play each other at 2:30 CST today on ABC

The Syracuse Orange

This is one of the funniest Tweets I've seen in a while. The Syracuse University mascot is The Orange...for whatever reason...and the text was put up today by @Iowahawkblog as a reaction to The Orange wishing Syracuse nation a Happy Thanksgiving.

The tweet and then the picture.

""Lo, and when thy fruit arises to devour thy meat, the apocalypse shall be nigh" - Revelation 42:666

Thanksgiving 2010

This is totally different from how things are now in 2015. There were only 2 grandsons instead of 5 and we didn't have much in the way of a dining room table.

Our guys are the best

The seminary students who have spent their quarter break doing the outdoor Christmas lighting have outdone themselves this year. The east end of campus bordering on Demun and is mostly park land, is ablaze with lights and looks so good. Those trees they lit just light up the darkness. No only that area, but the main campus has lighting and outdoor displays everywhere. I got a text last night from a local neighbor who walks her dog through the campus and she said, "I think this is the best year for lights on campus!!! I love the park area!!! They did so many trees and they all look great!!!

yay, boys!!!

They hung balls outside of Isolation dorm which were made of twig type material and filled with lights.

We even have red and green uplights washing up the wall of Pieper Hall.

There are so many more areas and I haven't really begun to take pictures. That will be next week when I get out the tripod and go to work.

Why?

Why do Dollar stores have big sales on Black Friday? I mean, how much lower can they go?

Twas the day before Thanksgiving

I left the seminary very early this morning, walked into Kruta Bakery in Collinsville at 6:03 and found I was already number 47. Got what we needed, went to the local Schnucks and headed back to campus. Did the normal dog walk and then went over to Straub's to get the best turkey gravy. I make horrible gravy and Straub's just does it well. Was then back home for good at 8:35.

Now it's time to get started on the food that can be made ahead of time for tomorrow, clean up the house, etc. This is the one time of year when I envy people with double ovens.