What the auto bailout really means

Thanksgiving Midnight Madness/Black Friday, 2008

I've never been shopping on Thanksgiving weekend. Usually we're in Cornwall, and in Canada the sales are on Boxing day so the opportunity never arose. Now I'm not into shopping, but I was intrigued by the whole concept of Black Friday - and I wanted to see human greed and American consumerism meet at their finest hour!

So we reached Leesburg Premium outlets at 11.30pm, and already had a hard time finding parking.





Look at the rush of people inside Banana Republic. The checkout line was so long, snaking all around the store, it took 40 minutes to reach checkout.











The Mob.



There was a line outside Coach that went COMPLETELY around the block at midnight - the store would not open till 5am!





I had never heard of a brand called Pacific Sunwear, but it had a Coach rivalling line of kids and were using a 1-out-1-in rule to regular shoppers - interesting that Banana didn't bother with maximum occupancy rules - "we want your money, and don't car if you are crushed to death in the process".



Another around the store checkout line - this time at Puma.





Who cares if you don't have a car? Rent one just to go shopping!



Who cares if there's no parking? Just park on the grassy embankment!



All worn out - walked home at 6am, passed out by 6.05am.



The aftermath - both cars chock full!

Aftermath of online holiday shopping

We got a bunch of holiday shopping in the mail today. As you can see, we're trying our best to help the economy by maxing out our credit cards!

Moosh recently discovered Guitar Hero so we got this as her Christmas prezzie. We chose PS3 so that I could play GT5 next year when it comes out.



Memory cards and polarizers for the Antarctica trip.



New going out shoes (left) and driving shoes (right) for me.



Henckels bling for our upgraded kitchen!

Kitchen Reno - Mid-way Evaluation

Well, we're halfway there and the kitchen is functional again after nearly 3 weeks. We now have to pick a color, hardware for the cabinets, electrical outlet covers, and a lighting fixture for the Subzero enclosure before we can embark on the final leg of this reno. Maria spent the better part of the day cleaning the kitchen and its looking pretty sweet!



Wolf bling - making a quick cup of tea is a cinch with the heat these bad boys put out.



Cleaned up Subzeros and Miele stack.







Can't use the dishwasher yet as the Miele salt to soften the water doesn't come in till tomorrow. Man, are these German toys high maintenance.



Our man Trevor did a great job with the backsplash.

Fired up, Ready to go (Day 8 of the Kitchen Reno)

At Barack Obama's last rally before the election in Virginia, he led the rallying cry of "Fired up, Ready to go" for 90,000 people. Well today, the plumber (no not Joe-the-plumber), the electrician and the tiler finally hooked up most of the kitchen.

Wolf down draft up and running.



Miele powered up with Sunil goofing off with it.



Sunil playing peek-a-boo with the Subzeros.



The backsplash is more than 75% with just the grout remaining. It'll take 2 days for the epoxy to cure.

More than just countertops (Day 7 of the Kitchen Reno - Update)

Some more pictures from the end of Day 7 of the reno. The island is massive. Seats 9 people easily - maybe even 12 if you tried.



With the Laser Film off, the Subzeros show their true size.



My red knobs!



New sink with built in chopping board.

Countertop day (Day 7 of the Kitchen Reno)

The countertops went in this morning. Its hard to be at home when they're going in - the smell of the epoxy is pretty overpowering.

Install in progress.











Countertop installer-in-chief Jason.



A whole new meaning to straight edge.



Checking the install.







Close ups with different aperture settings.





And finish off, som pictures of Donny goofing off.