Ode to Black Friday

    Pretty true, except I did put up all of the outside Christmas lights.

Christmas Shopping

    True dis.

The Saturday before Xmas Eve

    I knew better than to go out on the streets today - the last Saturday before the Christmas weekend.  But the book and record stores were calling to me like a pair of sirens. and I was looking for certain LP's to give as Xmas gifts.

    I think every automobile in the Phoenix valley was on the road today.  Intersections - all of them - were insanely overloaded.  Ditto for parking lots.

    Fortunately, none of those Xmas shoppers were going to the used-record store.  So that turned out to be a peaceful little haven for an hour or so.  I didn't find the records I was looking for (NIN, Radiohead, Tori Amos), but I frankly wasn't expecting to.  I did find a couple Vangelis albums, plus an old, obscure one by Jorma Kaukonen.  And got three light-classical LP's for free (Mahler, Bach's Greatest Hits, Artur Rubinstein).

    Unfortunately, lots of shoppers were hitting the used-book store.  The store itself was staffed sufficiently to handle the deluge.  The parking lot was not.

    Still, I'm off all next week, and will finish my shopping then.  All I need are stocking-stuffers for both Jason and Liz, and some "surprise" presents for Liz.  If I put my mind to it, I can have everything done by the end of Tuesday.  That way I don't have to venture out next Saturday, which will probably make today's traffic look like a picnic.