Word of the Day: nimiety (nih\MY\uh\tee); the state of being too much; excess
Weight: 207 pounds
Goal: lose 100 pounds in one year duration
Pounds to lose: 75 pounds
Waist Size: 45 inches
Rowing Duration: 104 minutes, nine seconds
There are only 44 days until Christmas, yes people, we are coming up to the thirty (30) day mark, so you better get your cheque books ready, have all of your credit cards handy, because the stores are gettin ready for you. I, personally, am looking forward to all of the sales that I'm going to go to with my sister-in-law, Louise, on Black Friday. Yes, indeed, I can't wait to hit the stores on that day, besides the exercise of walking from store to store will do me good from all of the food that I'm probably going to eat on the American Thanksgiving.
I thought I would provide some information on the origins of "Black Friday." The news media frequently refers to "Black Friday" as the busiest retail shopping day of the year, but this is not always accurate. While it has been one of the busiest days in terms of pedestrian traffic at shopping centers in terms of actual sales volume, from 1993 through 2001, "Black Friday" was usually the fifth to tenth busiest day. In 2002 and 2004, however, "Black Friday" ranked second place, and in 2003 and 2005, "Black Friday" actually did reach first place. The busiest retail shopping day of the year in the United States (in terms of both sales and customer traffic) usually has been the Saturday before Christmas.
In many cities throughout the United States, it is not uncommon to see shoppers lined up for hours before stores with big sales open. Once inside the stores, shoppers often rush and grab, as many stores have only a few of the big-draw items. On occasion, injuries and even fatalities are reported.
Electronics and popular toys are often the most sought-after items and may be sharply discounted. Because of the shoulder-to-shoulder crowds, many choose to stay home and avoid the hectic shopping experience. The local media often will cover the event, mentioning how early the shoppers began lining up at various stores and providing video of the shoppers standing in line and later leaving with their purchased items. Traditionally "Black Friday" sales were intended for those shopping for Christmas gifts. For some particularly popular items, some people shop at these sales in order to get deep discounts on items they can then resell, typically online.
In an attempt to draw attention to the negatives associated with a consumerist lifestyle, this day has also been used for activities such as Buy Nothing Day, something I wholly support, I know this seems like a contradiction,but I'm complicated like that.
Many retailers close to Canada frequently attract cross-border traffic, so in 2009 several major Canadian retailers had their own "Black Friday" promotions in order to discourage shoppers from leaving for the United States. Canada's "Boxing Day" has often been compared to "Black Friday" in terms of retailer impact and consumerism.
"Black Friday" as a term has been used in multiple contexts, going back to the nineteenth century, where it was associated with a financial crisis in 1869. The earliest known reference to "Black Friday" in this sense was made by Bonnie Taylor-Blake of the American Dialect Society, in a 1966 publication on the day's significance in Philadelphia: JANUARY 1966, "Black Friday" is the name which the Philadelphia Police Department has given to the Friday following Thanksgiving Day. It is not a term of endearment to them. "Black Friday" officially opens the Christmas shopping season in center city, and it usually brings massive traffic jams and over-crowded sidewalks as the downtown stores are mobbed from opening to closing.
The term "Black Friday" began to get wider exposure around 1975, as shown by two newspaper articles from November 29, 1975, both datelined Philadelphia. The first reference is in an article entitled "Army vs. Navy: A Dimming Splendor," in The New York Times: Philadelphia police and bus drivers call it "Black Friday," that day each year between Thanksgiving Day and the Army–Navy Game. It is the busiest shopping and traffic day of the year in the Bicentennial City as the Christmas list is checked off and the Eastern college football season nears conclusion.
The derivation is also clear in an Associated Press article entitled "Folks on Buying Spree Despite Down Economy," which ran in the Titusville Herald on the same day: Store aisles were jammed. Escalators were nonstop people. It was the first day of the Christmas shopping season and despite the economy, folks here went on a buying spree. "That's why the bus drivers and cab drivers call today 'Black Friday,'" a sales manager at Gimbels (the last time I heard reference of this store was on "I love Lucy,") said as she watched a traffic cop trying to control a crowd of jaywalkers. "They think in terms of headaches it gives them."
If the day is the year's biggest for retailers, why is it called "Black Friday?" Because it is a day retailers make profits, black ink, said Grace McFeeley of Cherry Hill Mall, gee I love that name, I think I would like to go shopping there, I'll have to research it. "I think it came from the media," said William Timmons of Strawbridge & Clothier. "It's the employees, we're the ones who call it "Black Friday," said Belle Stephens of Moorestown Mall. "We work extra hard. It's a long hard day for the employees."
Remember, November is Lung Cancer Awareness month, so if you still smoke, Lily, butt out those cigarttes and start breathing again!
One more announcement, Sarah Palin's reality show will debut on The Learning Channel (TLC) this Sunday, it might be fun to see what the lady has to say!
It will be nice to celebrate the "Thanksgiving" holiday with our American friends, as Zac and I were alone on our Canadian Thanksgiving, it will be great to be with family and friends on the holiday, I think its very important to remember to count our blessings, and I don't think I should get hung up that it is the American "Thanksgiving."
The weather was so warm yesterday that I took Winter for a two-mile walk, I just loved it, if the weather is only that warm when we are down south, I will be happy with it. Regardless of the temperature, I'm going to be so thrilled to see my kids, I can't believe how much I've missed them, and they all have probably grown so much. The weather over the next few days is expected to be warmer than usual so get out there and start walking.
Did you hear the news? Steven Hayes got the death sentence and will be executed. Evidently, Mr. Hayes is very happy about the decision to end his life, I'm so happy for him. I also saw George W. Bush, the former President, (the younger one of the two Presidents,) on Oprah yesterday. Mr. Bush kept grinning that grin that bothers me so much, and he has an excuse for everything that went wrong during his Presidency, I wish he would have just shown some responsibility, alas a leopard can't change its spots!!!!
On the "Today" show this morning, George W. Bush was back promoting his book "Decision Points," Zac's brother is going to be upset with me, but I don't care, I really don't like or trust George W. Bush, there is something so wrong about him, but I did or do like the fomer First Lady, Laura Bush, I think she is a very classy lady. Also, on the "Today" show the children of "The Sound of Music" were on with Julie Andrews. "The Sound of Music" is one of my very favourite movies, and I can still remember seeing it as a little boy of ten years of age at the Eglinton theatre. I had never seen a movie that had an intermission, and when the break came, I thought the movie was over, I cried my eyes out when "Maria" left the Von Trapp family home to return to the Abbey. Gosh, that Baroness was unkind, I can still hear audiences booing her. Remember, if you want to show your children a great movie, "The Sound of Music," is a great example of hope, love, and following your dreams, which is very, very important.
Oh, for the record, I won't be writing of witches and warlocks today, my mind hasn't percolated yet and I needed some words that began with a W., so I hope that that explains the title of today's post, some of you are so literal!!!!!
I am so frustrated people, and I want to issue this warning, do not buy any products from LG Innovations. I bought a dvd copy program that doesn't work, it is called 1click, dvd copy. I received updates on the program which also don't work, so if you want to buy a software wherein you need it to copy movies or other stuff that have blocks on them, don't buy 1 click, do let me know however, if you have a software that would be worth my while to buy. I thank you in advance for that.
Here is your easy grammar lesson for this week, I have made a decision to not lock myself in giving the grammar lesson strictly on Monday, I will aim for Monday,but ultimately, if I give it once a week, I will be happy with that. Today's lesson is the difference between the words: to, two, too, and when to use them.
Let's start with the easiest, obviously when referring to the number, use the word two. Next, when you want to use a descriptive word in front of something to indicate volume, use too, for example, too much, too expensive, too short. Also, too" means that you are in favor, following suit or stating the extremity of something, for example in writing, you say: "too" as following suit: "she smelled the flowers and even brought them home, too." "we danced and kissed too." "too" as in favor: "you like mexican food, too?" "I go to that school too." "too" as in extremity: "You are too heartless." It's too cold in here." "Am I too close?" That's not too hard to digest, is it?
"To" is a broad word, you write it in accordance to your sentence structure, "to" as referring to a direction: "I'm going back to the house." "Ask that to Liza." "Who are you mailing the letter to?" ("to" is placed at the end of an interrogative sentence for better structure, "to" after a verb: "I'm going to do the dishes." "I'm going to dance with him tonight." "I'll make a note to appoint a checkup tomorrow! Come on, it couldn't be easier.
I hope that simplifies things for you, if you know of a better explanation, these rules are not mine and I won't take offense if you have a better example to use, after all, I want the best for my readers.
In my quest to find ways to keep me on track to lose weight, I came across the following story of something that I just might try out for myself: For ten (10) weeks, Mark Haub, a professor of human nutrition at Kansas State University, ate one of these sugary cakelets every three hours, instead of meals. To add variety in his steady stream of Hostess and Little Debbie snacks, Haub munched on Doritos chips, sugary cereals and Oreos, too. His premise: That in weight loss, pure calorie counting is what matters most,m not the nutritional value of the food.
The premise held up: On his "convenience store diet," he shed 27 pounds in two months. For a class project, Haub limited himself to less than 1,800 calories a day. A man of Haub's pre-dieting size usually consumes about 2,600 calories daily. So Mark Haub followed a basic principle of weight loss: Mr. Haub consumed significantly fewer calories than he burned. Mark Haub's body mass index went from 28.8, considered overweight, to 24.9, which is normal. Mark Haub now weighs 174 pounds. But you might expect other indicators of health would have suffered. Not so.
Haub's "bad" cholesterol, or LDL, dropped 20 percent and his "good" cholesterol, or HDL, increased by 20 percent. Mark Haub reduced the level of triglycerides, which are a form of fat, by 39 percent. "That's where the head scratching comes," Haub said. "What does that mean? Does that mean I'm healthier? Or does it mean how we define health from a biology standpoint, that we're missing something?"
Two-thirds of Mark Haub' total intake came from junk food. Mr. Haub also took a multivitamin pill and drank a protein shake daily. And he ate vegetables, typically a can of green beans or three to four celery stalks.
I'm not advocating that people, or I, do what Mr. Haub did, I just thought it was interesting, and am wondering how you feel about this kind of diet, would you ever try it?
When should one give up their license?, should there be a manadatory age?, or do you think each case is unique, it must be rather depressing to give up that freedom of being able to get up and go someplace, it is suggested that it is never too early to start the dialogue of giving up one's license. If you do start this conversation, arm yourself with plenty of information about alternative forms of transportation.
Well I think it is time that I get on with the business of life.
Topics coming soon:
Art
Politics
Florida
No comments:
Post a Comment