Thanksgiving

Can you believe that tomorrow is Thanksgiving already? Holy crap. It’s crazy how close we are coming to the end of the year.

I know I don’t need to say this again (since I’ve blogged about this in years' past), but hey, whatever. I love Thanksgiving. There is no better holiday than Thanksgiving…a celebration surrounded by food and football…who could ask for more? Now, I’m not really a fan of all the typical Thanksgiving food…but I do love my stuffing. *drool*

So here’s to a great Thanksgiving. Get your grub on.

Crazy Saturday

With the string of good weekends that I've had lately, I guess some can say that it's about time that I have some scary news to report. So here ya' go.

On Saturday, my dad got a call that my grandma was having some health problems. She was rushed to the emergency room for internal bleeding…and some sort of leakage in the brain. Yeah, so that wasn't great news to get.

That night with my dad and brother out of the house, I decided to make it a low key evening, stay in for a change and watch a movie with my mom. After dinner, we popped in a movie and kicked back to relax.

Halfway through the movie, the doorbell rang. And that was odd...since no one rings our door bell...much less on a Saturday night. So my mom and I paused the movie and went to my parents' bedroom window (overlooking the driveway and front of the house) and peeked out of the drapes. I saw a big van parked in front of our house and a flash of a cell phone…meaning I knew that there was someone in this van. I started to get a little nervous.

As time went by, I was still looking out the window and was steadily getting more agitated by the second because I didn't see anyone walk away from the front door...and then the door bell rang again. At that point, I was getting really scared. I told my mom that there is a van parked in front of our house with someone in the van and someone at the front door.

So as I walked from my parents' room to the kitchen, I heard a noise at the gate by the kitchen window (leading to our backyard)...I flipped on the kitchen lights, grabbed my cell phone, and then made my way to the front door to look out the peep hole. Yeah, I wasn't going to open the door…I'm not that dumb. All I saw was our porch light and the shadow of the van sitting in front of our house. I went back to my parents' window and saw someone get into the van (without any indoor car lights). The van started up, drove up the street, makes a u-turn turning on their headlights, and then speeds off down the street.

I breathed in a huge sigh of relief even though I was still a little shaken up. The next morning as I sat in the kitchen with my parents retelling the story to my brother, I looked out the kitchen window and just noticed (and pointed out) that the gate next to our house, was swinging open (evidence from the previous night). Yeah, someone tried to break into the house on Saturday night. Scary, huh?

Anyway, so that was my weekend in a nutshell...my grandma is in the hospital and my house (parents' house) was almost robbed. Let me tell you, there is no worse thing than feeling that something bad is about to happen…and not really knowing what to do. *sigh* So…I'm on the lookout for some mace or pepper spray…or anything that I can start stashing around the house. A gun perhaps?

Niners Won

Holy crap…did anyone see the Niner game yesterday? Anyone? Anyone? No?

Well you missed out. The Niners broke a 6-game losing streak yesterday…yes, 6-games. Granted the win came against the Rams (one of the few teams worse than the Niners)…but hey, I’ll take it.

The thing I enjoyed the most was that the Niners were willing to pass the ball…and they looked fairly good doing it. Shaun Hill was also looking pretty good yesterday…he didn’t do anything majorly catastrophic (which is a good thing if you’re a Niner). Granted, the bar was set pretty low with Alex Smith and J.T. O’ Sullivan…but again, can’t complain since the Niners won.

Oh and Mike Singletary is looking more and more like a real coach. I saw glimpses of him yelling on the sidelines on Sunday, which shows a great coach if you ask me. A good coach can’t let simple and easy mistakes go unpunished and overlooked. You gotta yell and command attention in order to lead…and I think he’s on his way to setting the path to do that...hopefully. Or maybe it’s just my optimistic outlook. Ha!

Best of luck to the Niners…since they’re facing the Cowboys on Sunday. Yeah, seriously, good luck.

My Hunt

After a nice looong weekend away from work, things are great. I mean, how can I complain when I’ve had five whole days away from the office? Yeah, I really can’t…and trust me, I’m not.

The best thing about my long weekend was that it wasn’t necessarily a long weekend for everyone else. And there’s nothing I enjoy more than having time off when everyone and their mother isn’t out and about. I’m sure there are many of you reading this who didn’t enjoy a weekend as long as mine…and for that I’m sorry. Sort of. Hehe.

So I got a good weekend story for you all to enjoy. With the election finally behind us, it’s nice to be able to watch the news without having to hear about candidates all the time, answering the phone to hear prerecorded messages, and not receiving any more informational voter information. With all that said, I’m really not one to collect random memorabilia just to commemorate an event, but because this election is so historic, I wanted something that I could save for years to come (i.e. something to remember this time by, something to refer to, something to show the next generation, etc.). Anyway, the latest issues of all the news magazines had their “commemorative” issues out on store shelves last Thursday afternoon. How did I know this, you ask. Well, let me tell you. During a break from work on Thursday afternoon, I found myself flipping through random news magazines trying to decide the one, and only, magazine that I would spend precious storage space saving for years to come. I decided that I really liked Time magazine’s commemorative issue of the presidential election (a close second was The Economist…surprisingly enough, I wasn’t a big fan of Newsweek’s issue). Finding myself without my wallet or any means to purchase this “coveted” magazine, I returned to work and decided to hit up my local book store that evening to get a copy of the magazine. Little did I know, that was the beginning of my demise.

That evening, I found myself at a local Barnes & Noble looking for the latest copy of Time magazine. As I was browsing through their magazine selection, I noticed that they still had last week’s issue up on their shelves. I was just about to inquire about Time when a random guy asked me if I was looking for the latest copy of Time magazine…I responded in the affirmative (I must have had a desperate look on my face). He asked a store clerk about the latest issue and she said that their first delivery of Time magazine from earlier that afternoon had been completely sold out, but they were getting another shipment early the next day. She cautioned that we were one of many people who had inquired about it and would probably be back the next morning. She recommended going across the street to Safeway, since they also carry the latest magazines, and people don’t typically go to Safeway to buy magazines. I thought that was an excellent idea and I was off. On my way to Safeway, I made a brief stop at Target to see if they had a copy of Time…sadly no.

I arrived at Safeway and perused their magazine selection with no luck. At this point, I was starting to get a little worried. So…I made a split decision and decided to drive back into the City and visit the book store that I saw the initial Time magazine earlier that day. Half an hour later, a store clerk informed me that their entire delivery of Time magazine had been sold out. I thought he was kidding…since he probably sensed my desperation. He went on to inform me that Time magazines had been flying off the shelves and I was one of many looking for a copy.

I proceeded to get back onto the freeway and was headed back down the peninsula. I debated how much longer I was willing to go to get this Time magazine. I was weighing my options and tried to decide how much I really wanted it. Of course the answer was obvious, I wanted it and I was determined to get it. No regrets and no excuses. So my journey continued…

I got off the freeway in Daly City (more familiar territory for me) and decided to continue my search at another Barnes & Noble…again, no luck. I got back into the car and drove up a ways and tried another local Safeway…again no luck. At that point, it was just a matter of trying to rack my brain for other possibilities where the latest copy of Time magazine could be hiding. I had to find it and I had to buy it. There was no getting around it.

I guess I should have mentioned that I’m not alone on this journey. I had made plans early last week to hang out with a friend. After dinner I had explained that I was making a “quick” stop to Barnes & Noble (the first one) to pick up a magazine. Little did I know that the trip would take on a life of its own. I mean, I was literally left with no choice but to take matters into my own hands and continue my hunt for Time magazine, right? Ha! Don’t answer that. So in the end, I knew I had to return my friend back to our original destination in Millbrae.

After the last two unsuccessful attempts since I arrived back on the peninsula, I got back into the car and headed towards Walgreens and Longs Drug Stores. I visited three Walgreens and two Longs Drug Stores. Yes, that’s right, five more stores with no Time magazine in sight. At that point, my hopes were dwindling, my frustration levels were rising, and my temper was getting out of control…let’s just say, that I wasn’t feeling all that great. Buying The Economist was looking pretty good…not only was the cover and some of the stories probably just as good, but it was easily accessible. Every place I visited had the Economist…but again, that wasn’t the point anymore. It was all about Time magazine.

I was on the verge of giving up, but decided to stop at one last Safeway as I arrived in Millbrae. At that point it was 11:30 pm (I started my journey at roughly 6:30 pm that evening…yeah I know, completely crazy). I entered Safeway and, as in past searches, started my hunt at the magazine section (with no luck as usual) and then headed to check every magazine rack lining the checkout counters. As I approached the last checkout line, I noticed that it was blocked off (there were racks in front of the checkout area to prevent people from getting by). I peeked around the corner and looked at the magazine racks….and almost fell over. There they were…three copies of the latest Time magazine with Barack Obama on the cover of the “commemorative issue.” Oh. My. Goodness. I pushed the rack aside, climbed over the rope, and grabbed all three copies of Time magazine.

I took all three copies of Time magazine and proceeded to the checkout (one for me and two for my co-workers). The clerk told me that Time magazine had been a popular item that day with people coming in just to buy it…I nodded and told her I completely understood. She asked me where I found the copies that I had…I informed her that I swiped the last three copies from the last checkout counter on the far side of the store. She looked at me and said that I was pretty lucky because they shelved their entire supply of Time magazine for the week. I felt like a total badass…because finally, everything was right in the world again.

So my story comes to a close with a happy ending and I can return to work in a pleasant mood. If you’re still reading this…I’m surprised. Ha!

Get Out The Vote

Tomorrow is Election Day.

Yup that’s right. It’s finally time to officially cast your vote and get this election under way. Since I’m a permanent absentee voter, I cast my ballot a few weeks back…but that doesn’t mean that I can’t be involved (and excited) in tomorrow’s activities and outcomes. If anything, I’m probably more excited to get the whole process started since these last few campaign outreach efforts have been a waste on me.

I’m not going to share my political views, how I voted, or try to sway anyone one way or the other…but man, you have to admit that this has been one crazy election. With all the hype around Barack Obama...and Sarah Palin (more than John McCain, from what I could tell), this election will be one for the record books. As a political science major, a past elected official staffer, campaign worker, and an opinionated political junkie…I feel bad saying that this campaign season has gone on longer than necessary. I feel because since I should thrive and live for times like these…and sometimes I do. But to tell you the truth, it’s been a long year with endless campaign materials, calls, and commercials. You couldn’t breathe without hearing about the campaign. So to finally be near the end is somewhat exciting. Oh and speaking of endless campaign, can you imagine how much money went into this presidential election…from the primary election campaigns, informational material, and advertisements? There has been a ridiculous amount of money spent during this presidential campaign. Absolutely staggering.

Please don’t forget to vote!