Inside the Head of a TV Junkie

Today my company had a reefer (refrigerated trailer) sale. Basically, a trailer was refused full of produce and the beneficiaries of this refusal are the employees. I normally don’t go to a reefer sale because the product is normally in huge bulk quantities. As a guy living alone, I don’t really have much need for four whole chickens or a family size package of hamburger patties.

Anyway, today the rumor was that it was all produce in normal sized packaging. I had to take a look and it’s a good thing I did. For the low price of $4, I was able to get 10 avocados, a large bunch of bananas, a bag of oranges, and a bag of plums. Not too bad. The bananas are still green as are the avocados. I think they’ll last for at least a week or two. These are the small perks that make my job worth it… sometimes. ;)

So, as you may or may not know, I detest grocery shopping. The stores are always crowded, people are rude and shopping for food is boring (especially if it’s alone). In comes Fresh&Easy. I love this grocery store. It’s minimalist by design. This in itself is appealing but there are other added features that make me happy when I shop there. A small list follows:

1. Not Crowded – You aren’t going to find the moms with 8 children buying 10 carts of food in this store.

2. Food is Fresh - The produce is some of the best I’ve seen in a long time and their pre-made “From our Kitchen” selections are also quite nice. No preservatives or the smallest amount possible are used in all they sell.

3. All Self Check Out – No more waiting in line as someone chats up the cashier about their lives. This store is all self check out and I love it.

4. Limited Selection – You want yogurt? Only 2 brands to choose from. Want bread? You might have 3 brands to choose from. This just makes it that much faster to choose items that may not be on your list or that you don’t care about brand.

So, if you have a Fresh&Easy near you, try it out. I’m pretty sure you won’t be disappointed.

P.S. Fresh&Easy won’t replace the regular grocery store completely as they are lacking in unique produce and other items that can be easily found at other grocers. That’s ok though as these unique items are only needed once in a while.

Kenneth Cole has come out with a new ad campaign that acknowledges the different paths people take in their lives by just being themselves. The link will take you directly to the bio of Log Cabin President Patrick Sammon but you can also find links for the others that are highlighted by this new ad campaign.

“We All Walk in Different Shoes” - http://www.kennethcole.com/thinkers/bio10.asp

Wow, so today was expensive! I knew it was going to be but I had no idea that I would return home with 4 new pairs of shoes. DSW is dangerous and should not be visited by two people who have problems saying NO to new shoes of any sort. I bought 2 Pumas, 1 Diesel, and 1 pair of Converse (which I heart). I may have to post some pics of the Converse. We’ll see…

Tomorrow is another week of work, should be quite interesting. My boss’ last week with us and I’m just praying he’s not crazy. We have a going away deal for him on Thursday so that will be interesting. Family will be around on Friday, so who knows what may go down that evening. I’m just hoping that everyone at work is on vacation and I can have short days. That’s my real Christmas wish! :)

See, I am doing better on the posting… we’ll see if it continues.

I was thinking about some things recently and so now I’m posting random stuff tonight.

I have been going over some places that I frequently visit here in the Valley and I decided to plot them out on a MyMaps by Google Maps. Here’s a screen shot below, click for full size. I sure do get around this place! The markers show places like work, shopping, friends and things of that nature.

Other news, I went to Target on Black Friday. I’m insane, I know. I went specifically to buy a Christmas gift that was at a price I couldn’t pass up. Unfortunately, getting to Target at 4.55am was not early enough. Oh well, now the real bargain hunt begins! Oh, have I mentioned how much I dislike gift shopping?

Recently, I have started making a list of unique places to eat here in the GPA (Greater Phoenix Area). I am going to try and shy away from the chains for a bit. I’m sure there are some really great places here that I just haven’t found. This should be an interesting project and I will post updates as I visit new and different places.

Another project I’m currently working on is ripping all my DVDs to my computer for on demand streaming to my XBox 360. On average, it takes about 3 hours to rip a DVD to disk in the format that will play on the XBox 360. Not the fastest thing ever, but I’ll get there eventually… 8 down, unknown number to go.

Check the song I was listening to as I began this post… it’s totally fitting at the moment.

OH MY GOD PEOPLE! Jesus. The malls were so crowded. The parking lots full. People’s stress levels way beyond the boiling point. And I decided to go out… why? Well, I had a plan to get some items for people for christmas… good luck. Everywhere I went they didn’t have what I wanted… and I wasn’t even looking for stuff that was supposed to be on sale! So, 4 hours later, I made it back home… with nothing for anyone… except for myself. I bought myself a new sirius radio for christmas… yay!

That being said. I did purchase stuff for other people today. In fact, I’m now 89% complete with my christmas purchases thanks to Buy.com and the internet. No more malls for me until after the new year!

BTW, only 12 days left before I move into my house. I will then be making a purchase of a new TV from Buy.com.

Until later people, I’m beat and I have TV to catch up on!

Wow, time to go and shop! Woo Woo! I don’t think there is much out there this year though. I didn’t see anything interesting in the advertisements today.

Thanksgiving was great. Ate too much food… too much dessert… it’s all good!

I’d just like to say that there is less than 2 weeks left before I move into my house! I can’t wait! (I can wait on the moving part though… not going to be fun!)

Also, I’m currently addicted to Mario Kart DS since you can play against people across the world over the internet. It’s not good… it’s actually put me behind on my TV watching! Go figure!

Ok, time for bed! I’ve got a long day of shopping ahead of me (or, at least a long day of driving around).

This may be really strange but I have enough Yahoo! points to get a $250 certificate to any store at GiftCertificates.com and I have no idea what to buy!! Any suggestions would be appreciated. The best thing is that I can get this certificate for Amazon.com, which means I have hundreds of things to choose from, but I just don’t know what to get! My points will start expiring beginning next month… that is why I’m going to cash them in. What is a person to do!?

Wow, this kinda shows how “busy” I am at work. lol. Anyway, I need help spending money!