When we have something to say to the world, we write a post, when Bill Balsamico has something to say, he writes it on his sign outside his restaurant in North Versailles, PA.
(Hat tip: Grouchy Old Cripple)
Yesterday was the day after Thanksgiving, better known as Black Friday, where shoppers waiting for advertised bargains line up as early as 1 AM outside stores that open at 5 AM.
Many line up the night before and sleep in the store pasrking lots. Shopping has a frenzy to it as many people want these bargains.
So, what did Buzzurro and I do? We avoided it all and took a road trip instead.
I remember when I was younger how many stores had special prices on Black Friday and many people used to flock to the stores for sales, but the stores did not open at such strange hours like 5 AM, or offer such deep discounts on a limited quality of stock, which they do now. I don’t remember the frenzied crowds either.
In the 1980’s I went to NYC for Black Friday. There were so many people that you couldn’t even walk on the sidewalk. The city was crowded with shoppers. The sales were good, and the people, although there were many, seemed calmer.
6 years ago while living in California I decided to shop on Black Friday. The advertised specials got to me.. The stores opened at 5 AM. I arrived at the store at 4:45 AM, and there was already a line. to get in! I don’t know what time people started to arrive to start it, but I there were several people in front of me.
The store quickly filled up with what I thought at the time was every resident and tourist in Southern California. It was packed. The store was a sea of people, and not calm people before, but angry bargain hunters.
To get into the store was a line, but once inside, pandemonium took over. Kids were running to the toy section with their parents following, or visa versa. Ladies were trying on jackets in the main part of the store and then flinging them on the ground when they didn’t fit properly only to quickly try on another jacket. Men were in the shoe section trying to find a path to try on the shoes in the hundreds of pairs that were just abandoned on the floor because obviously they were the wrong size. The lines at the check out areas were huge. They wrapped around and around and interfered with shoppers trying to shop.. It was stressful just to watch,let alone to be in one of those check out lines.. I quickly as soon as possible left. vowing never to shop on Black Friday again.
So far I’ve kept my word.
Our trip was very relaxing. I can’t say that for all the shoppers who shopped though.
Why ? They don’t bark.
Buzzurro and I haved in this apartment for 4 months yet everytime we open our window and the neighbor’s dog smells our scent, whether we are doing anything in the kitchen or with food, he barks. Constantly. If we leave the window open for 2 hours he will bark for 2 hours.
We live in the guesthouse of the house of our landlord. They have 2 dogs. Sometimes the dogs run in the yard. If they happen to be in the yard when the other dog is in his yard, they will bark at each other all night, regardless of the status of our window. Even with the windows closed though the barking sounds get through.
If one of the dogs happens to glance in the window and see us, he will bark. It should be obvious at this point even to the dumbest of dogs that we are not intruders. He has been seeing us/smelling us for months, but no, he bark and barks.
Sometimes the dog sleeps downstairs in a room that is near the hallway to where Buzzurro and I live. If we happen to leave our door open, or venture out into the hallway he will bark his head off and not stop for several minutes after we leave.
Sometimes the dog justs barks his head off and there is no reason.
Last night was was of those nights. I was dead tired and wanted to sleep, but I couldn’t due to that stupid dog barking. I was in my bed and all the doors and windows were closed.
I think I want to get a cat.
Today I read an article on the internet that says that Iran complained to the UN that Israel has threated to bomb it.
The threats, according to the Iranians, were “matters of extreme gravity” and the U.N. Security Council should condemn them and demand that Israel “cease and desist immediately from the threat of the use of force against members of the United Nations,” Iranian U.N. Ambassador Javad Zarif said.
(but of course they can continue to threaten Israel)
Is this the same Iran who has threatened to “wipe Israel off the map” ?
Isn’t Israel also a member of the United Nations?
Is this the same Iran who doesn’t follow any UN resolutions anyway ?
Why is Iran crying to the UN about Israel wanting to defend itself from their own comments ? Surely if someone says they want to ‘wipe you off the map’ you have a right to defend yourself ?
It used to be that when people asked for the definition of Chutzpah, other people would respond that it is like a person who murders his mother and father in cold blood and then begs the judge to have mercy on him because he is an orphan, all alone in the world, and without parents. Now I think the definition will have to be updated to this one.
Wal-Mart opts for ‘Christmas’ marketing It won’t be ‘happy holidays’ this year; it will be ‘Merry Christmas’ ,the announcer announced on TV with a smile.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s Christmas cheer seems to be a hot trend this season as several other retailers including Kohl’s Corp. and Macy’s, a division of Federated Department Stores Inc., are also stepping up their Christmas marketing. The moves respond to mounting criticism from religious groups that staged boycotts against Wal-Mart and other merchants after they eliminated or de-emphasized “Christmas” in their advertising.
“We learned a lesson from that. Merry Christmas is now part of the vocabulary here at Wal-Mart,” said Linda Blakley, a Wal-Mart spokeswoman.
‘Big Deal’ I sarcastically thought. On the one hand as a consumer who doesn’t celebrate Christmas it doesn’t really concern me, but on the other hand it does, and within a few seconds I changed my thoughts to ‘That’s good news.”
Why does it concern me you ask ?
Last year many stores and public places made a big show of removing the word ‘Christmas’ from everything from store sales to trees, as if Christmas was some type of vulgar curse word.
It’s not. It’s the name of a sacred holiday in the Christian faith. Even though I do not celebrate it, I was highly offended by these actions last year. Christmas is a religious holiday for Christians. It is not n interdenominational holiday for all Americans such as Thanksgiving and should not be stripped of its religious signicance and be treated as such.
Personally I celebrate Hannukah. I would be highly offended if some marketing expert decided to call it a generic holiday for everyone instead of a special holy day for Jewish people so why should things be any different for Christians?
They were offended too by what happened last year and rightly so. I was behind them 100 percent.
I’m glad that due to their pressure things are going to be different this year.
One thing I adore about pizza in Italy is the variety of toppings.
In the United States any pizza without tomato sauce and mozzarella wouldn’t even be considered a pizza.
There are also the usual vegetable and ham toppings.
In Italy many pizzas don’t have the usual tomato sauce, have another type of cheese or no cheese at all on them or have any numerous toppings, ranging from seafood, to ricotta to asparagus.
My favorite pizza in Italy is topped with tuna (soaked in olive oil) and red bermuda onions.
It was a nice experience to be able to order it and eat it without getting strange stares or comments.
I ate one or 2 of those during my vacation.
I also ate pizza with arugola, radicchio, stracchino (a cheese not sold here) and ricotta and spinach.
I enjoyed them all.
The pizza crust is much thinner in Italy, and usually not crisp, like many thin crusted pizzas Stateside are.
It is cooked in a oven that uses wood, instead of the electrical ovens seen in the United States.
To be honest, I cannot say whether the Italian pizza is better than the US version, but the toppings sure are !
Yesterday Buzzurro and I were driving on the highway I-25.
The speed limit on this road is 75 m.p.h.
We wanted to drive 75 m.p.h., so after entering this highway we quickly entered the left lane and sped up to the correct speed. The cars in front of us were traveling at this speed. The slower traffic was in the right lane. Situation Normal.
Within a few minutes we came upon a car directly in front of us that chose to drive at 70 m.p.h.
We slowed down and both thought that eventually, as soon as possible, the car in front of us that was going slow would switch into the slow lane.
In the past few months driving on this road I have noticed that when a slower car is being followed by a faster car, it will move to a slower moving lane.
In fact this is how it works on every road in every country that I’ve been on. Nobody wants a faster driving tailgater following them.
After more than a few minutes of drving slow, we started to think “Could that car in front of us not even be aware that we are behind him and would like to drive faster?”
Buzzurro flashed his headlights, but nothing happened.
In a few minutes he did it again. Still nothing happened. I noticed at that point that the right lane was empty so I told Buzzurro to pass the slower moving car in the right lane.
Then we can get back in the left lane. We signalled and switched into the right lane.
Then we accelerated to pass the slower moving car in front of us, what happened ?
He accelerated too, using the exact same speed as we were using so we couldn’t pass him.
How childish is that?
It is obvious that there are no intelligence tests attached to the driving one because if so, this man would have failed.
If you don’t want to speed up or switch into other lanes so that faster moving traffic may drive freely, then don’t speed up when they try to pass you.
To continue on with this story, since we couldn’t pass this car since he wouldn’t allow it we just slowed down and stayed in the right lane.
He slowed down too. We were going 70 m.p.h., and so was he.
Soon we noticed a long line of cars behind him. He was in the fast lane after all, and he wasn’t going fast.
I bet all those drivers were just as mad as we were.
Finally we reached our exit and left that mess behind. I will end this post saying that only responsible adult drivers shoud drive.
If you want to have childlike temper, do everyone a favor and ride a bus.
With all these posts about the wonderful food I ate during my trip, this blog is starting to resemble the food channel !
Well, just so you, dear reader, don’t think that all I did in Italy was eat, I also drank, and here is a short post dedicated to my favorite beverage in Italy….Caffe Latte.
The caffe lattes I like in Italy are those made with espresso and steamed whole milk.
I have never drank a flavored coffee while in Italy, and am not even sure if they exist or not, but I do know that after a sip of one of these unflavored caffee lattes there is no need for an added flavor of vanilla or caramel or whatever. They are very good just as they are.
