8 Week underwear experiment

Week 4 - Things took a turn for the worse today, and I'm only halfway through wearing the same boxers. Never mind the unbearable itchiness at times, but certain areas have begun to heavily crust up. The moisture in the evening, combined with humid temperatures have created the perfect storm for bacteria. To make matters worse, I've run out of Febreze. Sitting down has become uncomfortable, and it's starting to sound like I'm walking on snow every time I move around. My apologies to the immigrant family at the iHop. I never heard of someone being allergic to the smell of cheese. In my desperation to make it to week 8, I'm now seeking professional advice, and am corresponding with a friend in Paris.

Wall Street confused

I just wanted to share an article that I thought was well written and insightful about one of the roots of this financial crisis.

END by Michael Lewis

Part of me thinks we're in limbo right now. A bit of a reprieve before the real bloodletting starts. Another part of me believes things will just get better again, and the illusion will continue for a bit longer until we find something better. I think Wall Street is on that same fence, and because no one knows which side we'll fall on yet, we're all a bit paralyzed.

Post black friday

So I went out like many on Friday morning to visit some shops to see if there were any deals around. I wasn't really looking for anything in particular, but just wanted to see what was out there. I made my way to an outlet mall that was packed, and traffic had to be directed by mall security guards on Segways.



After I stopped laughing, I was able to find a parking spot. The place certainly was packed. There were plenty of deals to be found, which was in contrast to what I thought was being offered at the big box stores. I was at a BestBuy and Target earlier, and wasn't really impressed. In fact, I was comparing prices in the stores to those online, and Amazon seemed consistently cheaper. The only deals to be had were the big ticket items like TVs. There was one woman in this Sony store pushing two 47" Bravias in front of her.



The outlet mall, like most malls, cater to women... and they were out in droves. I felt like a sardine in the Coach store where everything was on sale. The line for the register wrapped around the walls of the store.



In the end I really only got three toys. I went home around noon and just ended up doing my shopping online. No lines, no pressure to shop, I can take my time and they'll drop everything at your door in time for the holidays. Much easier, and you don't run the risk of killing a poor Walmart employee.

Thanksgiving

Ok, so I was a bit sick of turkey. Enough with the turkey. So this year we settled on a hot pot dinner. I haven't had one in a while, and I just couldn't have one without Peking Duck. The only problem is you have to travel to Chinatown to get it. I hate going downtown, but it seemed like there was no avoiding it. So, I started my drive down to the city through Broad street and good old North Philadelphia. As you can see below, it's like a crack addicts paradise.



I get nervous every time I'm at a red light. Always good to see the police around. We need more police.



So I make it downtown and head to the one place where I know I can get my duckies. I ask them to pull two from the window and chop them up into little bits for portability. If you've never had Peking Duck before, you're not missing anything. Stay away from it. More for me :)



So I have to make three trips back to my car from the various shops I'm raiding. I've accumulated cakes, snacks, pastries, and assorted hot pot ingredients.



I get distracted by this neony bright store front. At this point, I'm done with shopping and just wandering around. I have to admit, I do miss the city at times. I have this urge to spend a few hours here eating and drinking.



So the inside of this store looks like something out of Blade Runner. I'm expecting Harrison Ford to shoot a Replicant any moment.



The second floor is mostly a bookstore, and apparently, a repository of the largest pirated DVD operation in Philly. They're mostly Asian flicks, but there's some domestic movies as well. Someones not getting their royalties.



So after I pay my $13 for parking, I slowly make my way out of the city. I've hit rush hour. Exactly what I was hoping to avoid. Damn you shinny store front!



In the end it was worth it. We had roasted Duck for dinner that evening, and then today (Thanksgiving) we had that and more. Was pretty filling to the point where I couldn't even eat any pastries. Will have to wait for tomorrow.



By the way, these Tofu Puffs... not very good. Like eating popcorn packing. They're off my list for hot pot.



A hellish trip into the city, but in the end all was well. Good luck to everyone tomorrow on Black Friday. I've got my list ready, and will be hitting the stores early. Happy Thanksgiving!

Black friday sales

I thought I would just pass this on. This site lists all the Black Friday deals before they sometimes get released.

Black-Friday.net

There are some pretty enticing sales. For instance, say you need a new monitor, how about an Acer 22" LCD monitor for only $129 at Office Depot! And if you need a new laptop, now is the time to pick some decent ones up for about $300-$400.

I for one will be hunting for those USB wireless adaptors for only $19! They're usually in the $45+ range. And it seems most places are having a fire sale on DVDs.

Oh, and just a hint... one of these from Nissan sure would make a nice Christmas present.

Grandmother's birthday

Well, spent the day mostly at the KoP mall. It was my Grandmother's birthday, so we had lunch at the Cheese Cake Factory. For fear of having a bad meal, I ordered the Beef Stroganoff. It's hard to screw that one up. Fish n' Chips were on the menu, but I've come to terms with the fact that, unless you have British blood in you, there's no way you can pull off a decent Fish n' Chips. But I was pleased with the food there. The portions were nice and everything at the table looked good!



I was expecting the mall to be a lot more packed than it was. Even for a Sunday it was pretty thin, especially when you count the weeks left for shopping until Christmas. No crowds, no deafening noise, just a small traffic of shoppers with very few bags in tow. Went into the Disney store only to be accosted by a cheery girl telling me everything this week is 25% off. I'm expecting everything to be 50% off come next week. Maybe, dare I dream, 75% off after no one shows up for Black Friday?

Was waiting for Santa, but he never showed up. Many Polar Bears were shot and stuffed to ornate the tree.

At least gas is cheaper

93 octane is $2.499/gallon at my WAWA. This is a bit confusing when Goldman Sachs was predicting $200+/barrel prices by the end of the year. Instead we're floating around the $50/barrel price range. Airlines that hedged their fuel prices earlier in the year must be pissed.

So why is gas so cheap now? I'm not complaining, but it does make me feel like I was taken for a ride for the better part of the year. But I'm not so naive to believe that we're going to hang around this price point for any length of time. I'm going to assume that prices will shoot up again. Maybe the loss of 2 million barrels of crude from a pirated Saudi tanker will drive prices up again. See Saudi Arabia, terrorists are everyones problem... but good luck with your shipping in the region.

I'm certainly not dumb enough to think that one can buy gas guzzlers again. If anything, this year has shown us how freakishly volatile our transportation costs can be under fossil fuels. This should drive us to alternative sources, unless we're willing to accept this kind of volatility in our lives. Hurry up Tesla and make electric cars for the rest of us! I'd rather give them $25billion, then throw it into the money pit known as Ford/GM/Chrysler.