Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Thursday Thirteen 227: On My Mind

Stuff on my mind this week…

1. First: THE PACKERS ARE 9 AND 0, BABY! They have actually won their last fifteen games, including that really big one last February… you know, THE SUPER BOWL.

2. Thanksgiving is still a week away and I am already tired of the Christmas commercials, especially the ones for TJ Maxx/Marshalls/Home Goods. Can you say “annoying”?

3. Speaking of stores, does anyone else think it ridiculous how some stores are opening late Thanksgiving night for Black Friday sales? I mean, isn’t opening at 4 or 5 am crazy enough??

4. One of our local stations switched to their all-Christmas music format on Monday. I really wish they would wait until the week of Thanksgiving rather than the week before.

5. Of course, that also means it is time for the annual Holiday Fantasy in Lights display. I thought they usually lit up the display the Monday before Thanksgiving, but checking their website just now, I see it has been open since last Friday. Sheesh…talk about getting an early start!

6. We had two water main breaks on my street this past weekend. I had water at 10 o’clock Friday night, then nothing at midnight. It was still off when I woke up around 3am, but back on at 7. The relief was short-lived. Just before 9am there was a second break, this time right outside my building’s main entrance. Two in under ten hours…that has to be a new record for this place. Last year there were breaks on Thanksgiving and Christmas.

7. Ironically, they have been replacing the water mains (and, apparently, fire hydrants) on my street since November 1st. They were originally only going to do the first block this year, but according to the letter left under my door today they are now going to do my block as well. I want to know whose bright idea it was to wait until November to undertake such a project? Our street already looks like a minefield and is only going to get worse as we transition into winter.

8. I really need a humidifier (maybe even two: one for living room, one for bedroom) for my apartment. It is so dry in here, it is killing my sinuses—and it’s only mid-November. I was over to a friend’s this past weekend (she had running water and no backhoe) who just got one, and I noticed a difference within hours. Amazing!

9. I appreciate people who offer contests, but I am really starting to resent those who require people to “friend” or “follow” them in order to enter the drawing. And this isn’t solely about book blogs. I received a newsletter from a local arts venue this week about a contest to win the new CD by a group I like—but only if you friended the venue on Facebook. Thanks, but no thanks.

10. NEWSFLASH: Everyone in the world is NOT on Facebook or Twitter. Those who are not have their reasons for not joining, be it time, privacy or — you know, having a life. (Not to mention all those third-world nations out there that have little to no electricity.)

11. And speaking of blogs, what’s with truncated posts (which do NOT show up in Google Reader or other alert services), and people who participate in blog memes, but do not allow comments? For the latter, isn’t the point to comment on each other’s posts? For the former, I keep up with favorite blogs through Google Reader, and usually prefer to read new posts there as it loads faster without all the other stuff bogging down people’s blogs. If I can’t tell what a post is about, odds are I’m skipping it, not clicking over to read it. I’ve even been known to delete people out of my queue who switched to a permanent truncated format. Sad, but true.

12. I don’t like the direction NCIS:LA is taking Sam’s character. Sam is supposed to be one of the good guys, a Navy SEAL and government agent. He’s supposed to be honest and solid, not unscrupulous and duplicitous.

13. On the other hand, I love the whole family dynamic they have going on NCIS this season, and liked that new peek into Gibbs’ history we got the last two episodes.


So, those are a few of the things on my mind this week. What’s on yours?



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19 comments:

Rekaya Gibson said...

Man, you have lots on your man. Did this exercise help? I think that I might need a purge session myself. Thanks for sharing.

The Food Temptress

Shelley Munro said...

No water? That would suck big time. I'm so thankful for running water! I'm totally with you on the contests and following. It irritates me too.

Christmas songs etc already? We have a few in stores, but I haven't heard any Christmas ads or songs on radio/TV yet. I'm not a fan of Christmas anyway. I'm always glad when it's over.

Xakara said...

I've finally let go of my irritation with "The Christmas Season" starting in damn near October.

I never really cared about the commercialization or any of that, what really bothered me was basically losing out on Fall. It's my favorite season, but it seems like we no sooner finish summer, than stores want to put us in a Winter Holiday mindset.

I was finally able to let that go a few days ago. I had to switch mindsets and see it more as the "holiday spirit" starting earlier. People being more conscious of their actions and of giving can only be a good thing.

Now, all that aside, OMG what did they do to Sam! When did the LA branch of NCIS become part of the CIA? How was that Sam's job? Clearly a CIA operative should have been doing that, and I'm quite resentful they put that off on Sam. What are the writers thinking?

*Deep breath* Okay, all better. :)

I hope all of your water issues are behind you!

Happy T13,

~Xakara
13 Wishes

Mia Celeste said...

Yeah, there are lots of Christmas commercials already. I'm not sure whether to be annoyed or excited, but the Packers, that's an easy one. I'm excited. Thanks for sharing.

CountryDew said...

I agree with you on the Christmas stuff - it started here over the weekend. I changed the radio station.

We use two humidifiers in our house; a large whole-house humidifier and a smaller one in the bedroom. I prefer the warm mist but the cool mist work okay, too. The warm mist ones tend to be picky about their water, and we had to buy distilled water to make ours work properly.

Unknown said...

I managed to post my response twice... and for whatever reason, I deleted it twice. Maybe I need to go back to bed.
My apologies for the screw up.
Happy T13!

i beati said...

9 something to think about

Heather said...

Rekaya: On my man? I wish! lol Seriously, I don't know if it helped or not. The music playing in my head is usually loud enough to drown out everything else. *VBG*

Shelley: Being without water for even a few hours sucks. At least we had it long enough to shower Satuday morning, sucked to be anyone attempting laundry.

And yes, Christmas music and ads already. They started as soon as Halloween was over. :-\

Heather said...

Xakara: Thank you! So glad I am not the only NCIS:LA fan miffed about what they are doing to Sam. I agree--he should not have been attached to that CIA mission, unless they suspected someone in the navy or marines was involved.

Brenda: The Packers have been exciting to watch this year, though I know every win makes other teams more determined to stop their streak. I'm a bit annoyed I won't get to watch Sunday's game. Friends and I are going to a movie. We planned to attend a 10am showing, but no... Friend had to get advance tickets for 1pm. grunblegrumblegrumble

Heather said...

Anita: Nowhere else does Christmas start the day after Halloween. It's ridiculous! And then they wonder why people aren't in the holiday spirit come December.

Thanks for the info on the two different types of humidifiers. If the warm mist require distilled water, I'm probably better off with a cold mist one. I can't afford a gallon of distilled water a day.

Adelle: ROFL... Not enough coffee this morning? *G*

ibeati: Did you mean the Packers record of 9-0 was something to think about, or that my point number 9 (contests) was something to consider?

JO said...

oh no.. hope you got your water restored. so hard to be without water.

~ Jo's Precious Thoughts ~

Jana said...

1.Who are the Packers again? That's hockey, right? hehehehe :-D

2.I LOVE the Pier One commercials. That's about the ONLY Christmas commercial I'm loving, though.

3.Yes. It's super ridiculous. Can we not fully enjoy thanking God for what we already have before we go and punch old ladies in the face to get more??

4.Not sure if our all Christmas station has switched yet. I only listen to it at Christmas so it's hard to keep up. But I have been good (orignally typed "goot" lol) and not dug out all my CD's yet. Helps that I'm obsessed with Kelly Clarkson's new CD right now.

5.We're having our Christmas themed Library Showcase Gala this Sunday. Last time they did it the first week of November. We're making progress. '-)

6.Ack! No water?

7.Dumb people, that's who. They must be related to your governor. hehehe

8.If I had one, I'd send it to ya. I've (thankfully) never had to have one.

9.I have both FB and Twitter but those type contests annoy me, too. It's also pitiful to have to bribe people to "like" you. lol

10.I obviously don't have a life so I enjoy reading about other people who don't have lives either. BUT, that doesn't mean social nets are for everyone. My sister, for one...I hope she NEVER gets a FB or twitter. The world just does not need that.

11.If I've truncated my blog lately, I apologize. I also apologize for much of my blog's content. ;-)

12.Which one is Sam? LL Cool J's character? Because I LOVE LL and would hate for him to play a not nice character.

13.I love it when shows give good backstory. hehehe

My mind's kinda like: Ants! Ooo it itches! Ooo shiney. Ugh, work. Yum, lattes. Ants! Itchy!

Sad, right?

colleen said...

I think black Friday is so much hype, tries to make people feel they are missing out if they don't go. Kind of like Facebook.

I hate looking for how to comment on a blog. Don't like music on them either.

Lady Rose said...

I know what you mean about all the xmas stuff already - if congress can try to pass a law that says "pizza is a vegetable" why don't they ban xmas music and commericals until Dec 1 - now that would be useful

happy thurs 13

Adelle said...

Adelle's post, ressurected:

I'm a big CSI and Criminal Minds junkie. Have you watched the new show 'Flashpoint'? It is really, really good. Check it out.
I try to associate the coming of Christmas with humor. If I didn't, I might just skip it all together.
Happy T13!

My response:
No, I have not watched 'Falshpoint'. I think it's on opposite something else I watch, and I really don't need another program to get hooked on.

Heather said...

Jo: The water was only off most of Saturday. Trust me, if we'd been without for an entire week, people would go ballistic. Would not be surprised, though, if we had another break before this project is completed.

Colleen: We have gotten some good deals on Black Friday, but I did not feel I was missing out any of the years I haven't gone shopping.

There have been a few blogs where I gave up trying to comment because they had no 'comment' button that I could see.

Rose: Ah, but such a law would interfer with our capitalistic society. Remember the days when Christmas started with the Macy's parade on Thanksgiving? What was wrong with that, I ask?

Heather said...

Jana:

1. Smart aleck! (And you know I'm really thinking of a stronger word than that, right?)

2. Have not seen the Pier One ads yet.

3. Thank you, and LOL at "punching old ladies in the face." For shame--be nice to your mama!

4. I have dug out all the Christmas music, but refrained from listening to any until today. The cold weather has me thinking cold-weather music.

5. Much better timing for the Library Gala. Don't forget your camera so you can photograph any cool displays for us!

6. Nope, no water for most of Saturday. And they didn't even warn people before they turned it off.

7.ROFL...never thought of that, and yet it makes so much sense! *G*

8. S'okay. I've made sure people know it's at the top of my wishlist. ;)

9. Bribing people to like you..." That's exactly what it smacks of!

10. No, FB and Twitter are definitely not for everyone. I figure I'm social enough with the blogs and few sites I do frequent.

11. No need to apologize. My frustration there was directed more towards a craft blogger who posts some beautiful projects, but for some reason switched to truncated views this week. Which means I cannot view any of her work.

12. Yes, LL Cool J plays Sam. They better have good reason for going the direction they are!

13. Interesting backstory that helps us better understand a complex character (and is there a more comlex character than Leroy Jethro Gibbs??) is always good.

Ha! I bet you didn't think I would respond to all that. That and your inane ant heroics should teach you better! *WEG*

Alice Audrey said...

Actually, I thought I might do Black Thursday Night when I never bother with Black Friday. *shrug*

Jana said...

LOL You rock, Trixie! :-D