Category: Shopping

Halloween invasion.

Ah, the first hint of spring on the wind.

Must mean it’s time for Halloween shopping, yes?

First and foremost, my shirt arrived.

From 2010 Buildup

Let the strange looks commence, as we hit the town and let the people do double takes. Yes, that really is a Halloween shirt in February… A couple of children found it cool enough to comment.

And, while my wife was looking for girly frill fabric for something for my daughter, I set about the store in search of Halloween. I was surprised to see that Halloween has invaded easter, with EASTER SCARECROWS…

From 2010 Buildup

I mean, they’re not my style, but THAT’S a scarecrow. For Easter.

The garden statuary was already on sale. Or, should I say, tombstones waiting to be made.

From 2010 Buildup
From 2010 Buildup

This next photo confused my wife. Why do I care that some fake plants are on sale? Because they scream “Throne room”, of course.

From 2010 Buildup

Finally, I found these luminaries. Perfect for a witch or Gypsy area.

From 2010 Buildup
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Categorized as Fun, Shopping

2009. Or not.

It’s that time of year to look ahead.

All the Christmas Craziness is coming to an end, and a new year is comming upon us swiftly.

As I sit down looking forward, it’s clear 2009 will need to be scaled back. On the one hand, I have a whole new direction for the yard picked out. Something I personally have been needing. Being the Gemini that I am, I have to have something NEW, can’t be doing the same boring old thing every year. And, this tribal setup has been goign towards the boring direction with me lately.

Fortunately, I have the Lab setup for the school to keep me occupied. But, I’ve been meaning to get around to doing an unconventional witch. And, when coupled with too many nightmares from the Alien movies as a child,(Who am I kidding, they still can keep me up)watching Gremlins one too many times this Christmas, comming upon yet another new Witch I had previously not known of, this time from Navajo folklore, and a dissappointment that no one was able to see all my webgun work last year….

I’ve put together, in my head, a whole new outlook on the yard, and we’ll be working towards that end this year.

In fact, there’s actually 2! plans. One that I really want to try, and a fall-back that takes it just a bit to the left in case Jen remains so completely opposed to my first choice.

In fact, I already have acquired a bunch of victims ready for mutilation, even if Indy thinks they’re his bed.

From Halloween buildup 09

However, problem is with the budget this year.

I’m going to be working on my OTHER hobby this year, for a change. At least for the next few months.

As such, if I’m unable to complete things to my liking in time, the yard may end up the same as 2008 on Halloween. That’ll leave revealing the new stuff till 2010. But, I don’t know if that’s neccessary or not. There really isn’t a LOT of things required for the new ideas.

But, more on all that later.

Black Friday Redux

Ah…the shopping season.

Oh, I’m not a shopper by any stretch. But, there’s something special about watching a mob lose all rationality and trample the weak and infirm to reach their silly destination. Especially in this season of “peace on earth and goodwill toward men.”

I’ve had a long and wonderful experience with Black Friday shopping. Laughing as someone tries to push me is always fun. As is watching someone try to take something out of my arms…breifly.

It’s not hard to do the math when you’re in walmart standing around a pallet of super big deal thingamajigs your wife wants, knowing there are 12, and 30 people standing there.

Normally, I can just grab ours, make sure the newbie guys (because I always seem to be next to first timers) get theirs, then be on my way. However, some lady that leap-frogged me when I bent over to grab mine…(yes, real funny lady) took my hat off in the process, and I had to wait for it to re-appear from the carnage.

3 women had their arms around the last one, on the ground kicking and screaming when my hat popped back out.

Lady 1 arrived shortly after I did at Wal-Mart. Her mistake? She left the Cricut pallet at 3:30 to go get some video games into her cart first. (Wal-Mart let’s you shop for anything not in their ad, but then they price-match whoever’s ad it was on sale at during checkout) She did not make it back to the pallet till 4:30. Moments before the madness began.

Lady 2 arrived at the cricut pallet at 3:40…and mocked all of us because “they just have some of those expressions over on the shelf there, I’ve already got mine.”
She re-emerged at the pallet at 4:20, having discovered hers was not the special package that was on sale.

Lady 3 is the one that chose to leap-frog me. Don’t know what time they arrived.

It would have been amusing to see which one ended up with the thing, but we had places to go.

See, I’ve never “missed out” on the primary thing we are after on Black Friday by following one simple tenat:

Be kind and sociable.

At the end of the day, it’s just a bunch of stuff. Talk to the people waiting in line before hand. Chances are pretty high you’ll be waiting in line with them at the checkout as well. Ask what they’re going after, and help them get it if it’s near yours/on the way to yours. Very unlikely you’re after the same stuff. Even when you are, there’s nothing wrong with making sure they get what they’re after. A year ago, I struck a deal with several folks. I went after gameboys, while one group went for DVD players and another grabbed a cart for me. So, instead of the 1 gameboy I needed, I grabbed 8, then traded gameboys for the things I really needed.

Be kind to the employees. It’s a terrible day for them. Smile, be nice, say thank you.

Try to protect the littler ones. Kids, babies, women. Do your best to protect them from the jerks shoving things around.

Karma pays off here, at the end. Upset Karma, and you might end up on the floor with 2 others wrestling over the last of something. And then, were the injuries truly worth it, even if you were the one to “win”?

Odds and ends.

Catching up on some of the excitements that’s been going on here.

Couple new items I don’t fully know what I’m going to do with:

First, are the rose cages from my parents.

From Halloween buildup '08

I can see them eventually becoming stone pillars, totem poles, obelisks, ‘witches’, an arched entrance, a gate, and lord only knows what else I may come up with.

Second is this partition I found at the swap meet.

From Halloween buildup '08

Really have no idea on this one. It was just so pretty and exotic, I couldn’t just leave it there.

Next, some have wondered where I get all these bamboo poles.

Well, last year, I used some gift cards obtained from work to purchase them individually from Home Depot. And, yes, they were pricey, and wouldn’t have happened were it not for the gift cards.

HOWEVER. The Bamboo Fencer is the solution. Their fencing, individual poles, and all other Bamboo accessories prove to be cheaper than anywhere else I can find locally, or on the net. Even factoring in shipping. Where Home Depot had the poles for $1.20 ea, I’m spending less than $0.50 ea on the new ones from Bamboo Fencer.

Finally, I had to remove the Nightmare Before Christmas widget. I noticed this morning it had changed and was doing a strobe-like animation flipping between christmas and halloween decoration. Strobe effects are not used in my haunt, neither will they be on the site.