Tag: #Shopping

  • BLACK FRIDAY!!!

    When I hear anyone mention “Black Friday” this is what I think of.

    Me, I’m going to be sleeping in on Friday.

  • Nothing Particular

    The domesticity of my life has taken precedence today. Meaning that I had to make a meal plan for the family, and then go grocery shopping. The chores that need to be accomplished for the stay at home parent. I’m not complaining about these tasks, but I was bad at planning them this week. Normally I make the plan and shopping list the night before, so that I can go take care of it as soon as I get done dropping the kid off at school. Thus, freeing up the rest of the day for things I want to do.

    So, I got a late start today, and as such, I am writing later than I was planning. Some days are like that. Some days are just go go go, and I don’t get what I want. It has to be delayed, because I’m a grown up, and that’s what life is sometimes like for a grown up.

    And as I ran my errands, walking through the Upper West Side to get to the Trader Joe’s, the pang of missing my mother hit me. Not crushing, but just that a pang because out of nowhere, I thought about her stuffed peppers that she used to make, and home the smell of those peppers cooking would permeate the entire house, and how I hated that smell as it informed me of a meal that I wouldn’t enjoy, but there was no sense in complaining. The rest of the family loved it, and I was the odd man out that would have to put up with it. And even if my mother magically came back and made stuffed peppers for me, I still would not eat it. That meal sucked.  

  • Random Thoughts of Living in NYC

    Funny thought… I would like to wear a suit again. Or, or, or… a sportscoat and tie. Nothing super formal, but dressed nice.

    I am casual all the time now, that I think a little style for the sake of style sounds fun.

    I grocery shopped today. I went to three different places, and it was enjoyable hopping around the Upper West Side, and then back to Harlem. I needed to get some dashi, and uncooked noodles, as I have it in my head that I will be making my own miso ramen sometime this week. I headed over to H Mart at 110th. Then there was the normal round of shopping at Trader Joe’s at 93rd. Funny thing was that at TJ’s, they had no produce, which was a little shocking. (The last time the store looked like that was the start of the pandemic.) Then back home to Harlem and hitting up the local grocery store for the final items. In all, about two hours to get it all done.

    I know that we are staring down another surge, and we all need to be careful, and I was. But, sometimes I do miss being out and watching the people. I miss seeing the weird, strange stuff that is piled up in front of buildings.

    Speaking of which…

    Most parks in the City have an area where people can leave their old Christmas Trees, so the City will dispose of them, and turn the trees into mulch. This morning, as I was walking by a park that had a huge pile of Christmas Trees, I saw that someone had left two bright orange pumpkins among all the green trees. It made me laugh as I walked by, and then after a couple of more steps, it hit me I should take a picture of this setting. When I turned around, there was a guy, a normal looking middle-aged white guy, who was pulling out the pumpkins from the pile of trees. He held the pumpkins in front of his face, as if gaging their worth, and then he took off with them.

    Why? What for? What could he possible be thinking that he needs with two, quite possible, four-month-old pumpkins? It was confounding with the amount of possibilities that these pumpkins could be used for.

    Yet another reason it is still fun to live in this town.

  • Shopping Doesn’t Solve All Problems

    I know that I am writing this on Cyber-Monday, and full disclosure, I have purchased an item on Amazon for my daughter. Our Christmas shopping is almost done, and the wife and I are taking advantage of the sales. These purchases are just little add on’s, and we are staying within budget. We’re being good and responsible.

    But I bring up this “shopping” observation not to shit on capitalism or commercialism. I am saying “shopping doesn’t solve all problem” because this past Sunday, on the morning political shows, pundits, on both sides, were saying that the way out of our national problems is for “normal people” to just “go shopping.”

    I’m sorry, but that answer, that America should just go shopping to solve all its problems, has be thrown around for at least twenty-one years, and it hasn’t solved anything. After 9/11, Bush said we should all go shopping. The Great Recession, Obama said go shopping. The Pandemic, Trump said go shopping. Now with supply chain issues, again they all say go shopping.

    During the Great Depression, FDR wasn’t telling America to shop their way out it.

    How did we get to the point where people spending money on things, which they don’t need, was the answer to everything?

    Buying a tv doesn’t make rents affordable. A new iPad doesn’t lower health care costs. A new coat won’t make your productivity match your compensation.

    Shopping only keeps things the way they are; basically, treading water. There are systemic issues that have been building in our national economy for the past forty years, and a robust Holiday shopping season won’t solve it.

    So, when I hear a pundit say that we should shop more to get the economy going, then that person is an idiot going for the sound bite, and not a real answer.

  • The Holidays Are Here

    To start with, my Total Crypto Return is $1.89. I invested $34.69, and my return rate is 5.45%. With my extra cash, I can buy a pack of gum, and hope to one day, be able to buy a cup of coffee.

    Speaking of buying stuff…

    I have to admit that it is Christmas Time, and I really don’t like saying that before Thanksgiving. I know this to be true because we started buying the kid’s Christmas gifts, and we hope to have all of the shopping done in the next week. If this is true, and we can pull this off, then this will be the earliest we have ever been ready. Thanks, supply chain issues!

    And I already am beginning to feel the stress of the Holidays. For us, and I think for most parents as well, the “Holidays” start as soon as we hit October. It’s Halloween to New Years, but with the kid’s birthday is in January, it is a four-month marathon of decorations, costumes, candy, sweets, indulgence and a little gluttony, gifts, toasts, alcohol, and ends with the planning of party. It’s a lot.

    I’m not complaining, as we get to make great memories with our daughter, and the Holidays in New York are pretty special and magical. The cliché is true, experiencing Christmas through your kid’s eyes is stupidly fun. You can still have the time of your life, and be exhausted at the end of it.