So we have a rare instance of an Iron Bowl really meaning something this year. Not just in the SEC, or even just the SEC west... but for the National Title! If you don't care about football, then you won't care about this blog. These are my pre-game ramblings (as I know I'll be too emotional, one way or another after the game). But I've gotta do it.
Auburn surprised even its own fans this year with an amazing run, to date. When they lost to LSU, I, and many others, figured that was the beginning of our down slope. Until then, we hadn't really played any big teams, and definitely no ranked teams. We had a long road ahead of us that included Texas A&M, Georgia, and, of course, Alabama. Who would've thought that LSU would be out only loss by the time we made it to the Iron Bowl?
But here we are, going into one of the biggest Iron Bowls in history, and generally one of the biggest talked about games in recent college football history. No one could've possibly predicted this at the beginning of the season. And as if these two teams don't already hold one of the biggest grudge matches every year, this year, no matter what conference you typically watch, all eyes will be on Jordan-Hare Stadium at 3:30pm (EST). If you're not watching, you just must not care about college football. But even if you don't, I'm sure you've at least heard about this game.
I'm not one to make predictions. I feel like that jinxes things. Yes... I get superstitious about my team. I love my Auburn Tigers, and after last year's disappointing season, this season has me more hyped than ever. I'm just hoping that, outside of us fans (on either side), things aren't getting OVER-hyped. That tends to happen with these games... the media over-hypes things, and the game, itself, is a let down compared to the hype.
Regardless, I'll be watching with my Auburn Club. We'll be making a ruckus in the restaurant, but we don't care. That'll just be our Auburn Pride coming out. I so wish I could actually be in Auburn for the game... this'll be a hell of of a game to watch in Jordan-Hare.
War Damn Eagle!! Beat 'Bama!!!
Is it just me, or has Black Friday lost it's true fun?
Hear me out.
For starters, I don't now too many people who actually go out to shop first thing, anymore. And that's the thing... "first thing" no longer means 6am, like it did when I was young... it means Thanksgiving night, or midnight, or something so NOT Black Friday (in some cases, quite literally NOT Friday). Not only that, but the scouring of the ads while the turkey is in the oven has gone away, too... not only do the ads get delivered separately on WEDNESDAY (at least up here they do), but you can find them online days, or even weeks, before Black Friday actually occurs.
And, yes, online shopping has become a HUGE factor! Sure... you still have special deals, but you don't have to literally fight for them. You just have to be the first 500 (or whatever the number is) to click 'buy' and check out with your virtual shopping cart. I remember quite a few Thanksgivings back where I didn't go home and spent the entire day getting ALL my shopping done online!
True, some retailers have wised up and have something things available only at stores, or only online. But the bottom line is, the 'deals' you find on Black Friday aren't as big of a deal as they used to be. Quite often, it's the same big 10 gifts that are popular, and all retailers, in some form or another, have a deal on it... so it comes down to which is the deal for you. Straight discount? Gift card to that store that is essentially a straight discount because you shop there all of the time? A buy one, get one, scenario?
*sigh*
I remember my sister and I getting up early to go to one of the outlet malls a few hours away to get some deals. We actually had fun doing that. Sure... half the stuff you buy ends up being for you... but it was still fun to do.
This year, Eric and I stayed up a little past midnight to catch some online deals, then we had a normal Friday morning. I eventually got online and bought a bunch of the Black Friday deals that were at a few of the stores... but I was buying things that I knew I wanted to get for people, and wasn't really tempted by any of the gimmicky stuff or that shiny thing on the end cap. In the afternoon, we went and picked up one of those deals in the store (they had it waiting for us at the counter), and proceed to wander to one of the malls. We didn't buy a thing while we were there. Which I'm still baffled by - very unlike me, because I love just abut every store in this particular mall. But we did scope something out and, literally, went home and bought it online with a better discount. And then I proceeded to do some more online shopping.
So is Black Friday even Black Friday anymore? A bunch of stores opened up at 6pm on Thanksgiving with Black Friday Doorbusters, even though it wasn't even Black Friday yet. A lot of retailer even claim in advertisements earlier in November that, "These Deals are better than Our Black Friday Deals." Traditions of family members going shopping together on Black Friday on going away, just because there's other options now. So how long before the term "Black Friday" actually goes away? Do retailers really have to wait until then before their annual sales hit the black anymore? Or do they really hit it now on Cyber Monday?
Oh, well. I guess that's for the masses to decide. I kind of like Small Business Saturday more now, anyway. Of course, when you have some of the cool local retailers like we have here, it helps. Funny thing is, that has been made popular by a corporate giant (American Express). But at least you can respect them for this move.
Another Thanksgiving has come and gone. And even though this year was the latest Thanksgiving could be, it seemed to come way too fast! And more so, be gone even faster!
Since we celebrated a little early this year, we had a relatively small Thanksgiving with just Eric and I and his parents. And we actually had Thanksgiving DINNER... you know, at dinner time, not mid-day. 
Which I must say, made it quite nice, as there was no rush to get things done, and we could even sleep in and not worry about having a slow turkey.
Yes... we did still have a full turkey, with a 24+ hour brine and all. It's the only way to have a turkey. Shoot... probably something every meat would taste better by doing. But the Thanksgiving Turkey, especially, is way better when brined. We still had mashed potatoes and green beans, and stuffing and cranberry sauce (fresh!). So still a very traditional Thanksgiving dinner.
Complete with apple pie for dessert, which I made for the first time in a few years. I've been having fun trying other desserts. But that doesn't mean I completely stayed on the tried and true route. I made a few tweaks. And no regrets there - turned out awesome! Dare I say, perfect?
It was also the first Thanksgiving for all four of us with no kids around in quite awhile. That, too, was a uniqueness to this years Thanksgiving. The kid to adult ratio seems to have grown every year Eric and I have been together, so to have just adults to sit around and chat with was quite different! But at the same time, the kids were all missed.
All in all, another nice Thanksgiving. Still crazy to think that Christmas is even closer than normal, now... lest than 4 weeks!
Hope everyone else had a wonderful Thanksgiving!
I'm sure you've heard by now that Blockbuster, as a company, is going away, 100%. A company that much of my generation grew up with and, despite the change in formats, seemed like it would survive, as all other similar companies failed. I remember when I got MY first Blockbuster card... it was a big deal, for some reason... not sure why.
So where did they really go wrong? Their downfall obviously started awhile ago, since they filed for bankruptcy back in 2010. And I can tell you, it has been horrible customer service since then, on the DVD by mail front. You could tell Dish Network really didn't care about that part of the business. But I think anyone who watched the whole bankruptcy filing and buyout happen saw that coming.
So what then? Did they try to hang on to the DVD/Blue-Ray format too long? Were they too slow to change? Did they not have enough options? They claimed to have movies a full 4 weeks sooner than any other the other services (ie Netflix, Redbox). But if they can't actually get the movie out to you within those 4 weeks, what's the point? So was it bad customer service? Did they just focus on the wrong outlet for too long (DVD's/Blue-Rays vs. digital download)?
I think it was a combination of all the above, actually. I think they underestimated the popularity of people who wanted to just stream movies as TV/Gaming Systems and other devices became capable of doing that. And they were slow to jump on board, where as Netflix was all over it. Instead, they tried to compete with Redbox by putting kiosks as gas stations. And when they finally got on board with the streaming, a majority of devices were already right restricted by Netflix. In the meantime, they continued the hard format route by trying to allow people to interchange the store and mail experience, to 'make it easier with no fees'... but by getting rid of fees, they got rid of a revenue source. And hence, the downward spiral quickly escalated.
Pretty sad, actually. At one time, Blockbuster was on top of it all, squashing any other video store and making movie theatres nearly obsolete in the process, as more and more people would just wait for it to come out on video. And now, by the end of 2013, they will be no more. Just a memory for my generation to yammer on about to our grandkids.
Bye-Bye, Blockbuster.
So leading up to this afternoon, all the meteorologists were warning of potential severe weather. I am of the opinion that for it to be 'severe weather;, I have to be too scared to go near a window. That's never happened here, yet. Shoot... I played in the tropical storm winds that came through Auburn, remnants of a hurricane that blew up through the gulf when I was in college. So it takes a lot for me to believe 'severe' weather is coming. I know it exists... but I also firmly believe that the meteorologist over dramatize stuff.
But today was interesting. Downtown wasn't too 'severe', so to speak. Nut it's not one I would've wanted to be stuck out in, a any way. At least for about 15 minutes of it. There were actually two bands that came through. The first was just a lot of rain. Then the sun came out. Then the next band came through, ad this one they were saying 'could get bad' with severe wind gusts and heavy rain. Well... that part was true. There was a couple of minuted where it was white out conditions because the rain was coming down so hard AND the wind was gusting (they said areas were getting up to 7-mph gusts). I know this because I was glues to the front window watching it. Then there was a blue flash, and pop, another bright flash, and a crash. There was so much going on, I wasn't sure what it was at first, and the wind was so loud, you weren't quite sure where the noise was even coming from.
Then I saw it. The tall tree that Eric and I have been saying needed to come down had, indeed, came down. And I have no idea how, for as big of a tree this was (at least 30'), it hit nothing. No cars, no buildings (directly, anyway)... it fell right down into the tree lawn. It took some shingles off of the condo building next to us and damage the gutters a bit, and bent up a outside stair railing... but that was it. As soon as the big gusts were done, all the neighbors were out looking at it in amazement. Wow. That's all we could say. Wasn't just a limb, but it cracked near the base of the trunk and just fell.
One the storm fully subsided, Eric and I decided to drive around to see anything else that might have damage, specifically any building his CDC owns. He was lucky... none of Riley's properties were damaged. Not even an awning out of place, which were ripped off of a lot of other buildings. But then we heard of some buildings that were damaged. The first was one his CDC was looking at helping to restore... the brand new roof was ripped off of it. It blew up and off, all over the street it fronts. While there, we heard of another historic building down the street that completely collapsed in the storm. 
So we drove down a bit more and sure enough, completely crumbled. We went by another building that we knew of that was being renovated... it's roof had collapsed in on itself. And yet another down the road, where they were trying to save the historic facade... well, it fell over like a domino. These were brick building, mind you... not little wood sheds. That's how crazy the wind gusts were.
That was just the damage in the downtown area, and I'm sure we only saw a fraction. There were reports of tornadoes coming in from other parts of the state. A Starbucks just to the northwest had a car blown into it. Roofs were lifted off of buildings up in Kokomo. And who knows what other damage will become apparent tomorrow, when people head back to their places of business.
That was a hell of storm. I might even say the meteorologist were in the right to warn us so adamantly about these storms coming through. This time.
I don't talk much about living downtown, and some of the advantages of it. Of course, for just about every advantage, I can find a disadvantage. But that 's just me, probably. It's not to say that I don't like living downtown (I do), it's more the fact that I can see the positives of both downtown living and suburb living.
Case in point... Eric and I can decide to go to a game or event at the last minute, and it really doesn't make a big deal, as far as planning goes. Last night, for example, we decided to meet some friends out at the Pacers game and then go for some drinks afterwards. Not a big deal. Ordered some tickets, picked them up at will call on my way home from work, and then we just walked over to the game. We didn't have to worry about what time we were going to leave to have time to park and/or eat dinner. No worries about how much we could drink before going home (not that we drink a lot, anyway). Just throw on a coat, grab a house key, and go. It's really nice to not have to drive.
Similarly, we went to the Colts game last week after we were given some tickets to us last minute. Hardly a blip from out normal plans. We just walked down to the game, watched Indy completely implode, and left a little early because it was just sad.
But it's not just sporting events (though they are the primary last minute decisions)... we can decide to go out to eat, and not think about where we can park close to the restaurant. Decide we want to visit a museum. Whatever. And, if we choose, we can pretty much walk to where ever downtown from out house. The only sticking point, usually, is the weather. But even then, at least for big events, we'll still choose to walk because parking is such a pain.
So I will say that is definitely an advantage to living downtown. We wouldn't go to half of the events we do if we lived in the suburbs - just too much of a hassle. Now if only I could make the trains go around the City instead of through it.
Not really sure if I ever mentioned this before, but Kelly's husband, Kimber, is an Army Sergeant. He was assigned to a nearby base when they met, and that's how they are not living in Kentucky - he was reassigned to Ft. Knox.
He coming up on 20 years in the Army, but he obviously not out yet. That fact became clear when he found out he was going to do another tour overseas. Thankfully, this tour is focused on getting the troops out of Afghanistan. He will actually be stationed in Kuwait, with just day trips into Afghanistan. Still a realm of danger, but could be worse. Anyway... the actual deployment date was up in the air for awhile, but then he finally got his orders... and, unfortunately, he was shipping out before Thanksgiving.
Which brings us to this weekend. Since he will not be here for the holidays, it was decided that there would be a big family gathering to celebrate early and send him off with warm fuzzies of family memories. Kimber's parents were there, as were his brothers and their family, and then Eric and I headed down with his parents. We had the full holiday meal, turkey, ham, and all the fixin's. Lots of talking and just family hang time. It was just like a holiday should be.
Near the end of the day, he donned his dress uniform to take some pictures with the family. It was interesting listening to him explain all his medals and ribbons to the kids. I think that was the first time I saw him in any uniform of any kind - I just know him as Kimber, the brother-in-law. This is as close as I've been to someone in the military in a long time, when them being in the service could actually impact me and my family. Kind of humbling.
As we all started to head out, hugs were given, with lots of words of encouragement and support. He leaves the week after next, and it's only for nine months. Of course, I say that, but can only imagine how long that nine months will be for Kelly and the kids. All we can do is be there for her and the kids if she needs us. That is what family does, after all.
Will Power. Some people have it. Some people don't.
Eric does not. I love him to death, but if there's junk food in the house, he'll find it. And he doesn't know how to stop once he starts. If I don't buy junk food, he'll go out and buy some and eat it. I kid you not, I feel like I need to hide stuff from him and give it to him as a reward for good behavior. Well, maybe not that bad... but I do need to only allow so much in his sight at one time. But that might just be his vice. We all have them
I think I have good will power when it comes to junk food. I can buy a bag of candy and it'll last a month or more. I'll see it in the pantry, but just don't care. My vice is more likely the computer. But even then, it's more of 'once I get on, I can't get off the internet' type of things. If I never get online, I don't feel the need to. Or maybe it's my lack of ability to not procrastinate...
A true test begins today and I start a bit of a cleanse. Eric said he'd do it with me, much to my surprise. But it's only 15 days, and only the first five days are really restricting. All you're really doing is jamming a lot of fruits and veggies into your body in the form of smoothies you make from fresh fruit/veggies, greek yogurt, protein powder, etc. I wouldn't do it if it didn't seem doable like some of the all liquid things out this. This one, you're just taking solid food and 'smoothifying' it. Yes... I just made that word up. I'm looking forward to it.
So we'll see how good my will power really is. And maybe I underestimate Eric's.
