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Saturday, November 28, 2015

grey thursday and a very black friday

Which brings us to Saturday.  It's still very cold and snowy here.  But because of the cold, it's not as slippery outside as it was on Thanksgiving.  I went running outside this morning where I got to test out my "mid-zero" tights (whatever that means) that I bought on sale last spring.  OH, they were warm and comfy!

Yesterday was a very bad day here.  A man went shoot-em-up at the local Planned Parenthood.  There was a  nearly 5-hour standoff before he eventually surrendered.  In the meantime, he killed 3 people, including a policeman from the university.   Several others are injured, but are thankfully in good condition and expected to recover fully.

We still don't  know the shooter's motives.  Because it was at Planned Parenthood, the speculation is that he's an anti-abortion zealot, but who knows.  Of course this remains the top of the local news.  I've got the local police, the university, and some local news stations on my facebook feed, so it's sadly repetitive.  The officer who was killed looks very familiar and I know I've seen him on campus, but didn't know him personally.  The campus police office is where we register bicycles, and they are a friendly and active presence at bike jam.  He leaves a wife and two young kids.

We were mostly just homebodies yesterday as the snow has been continually falling since Thursday and temperatures were in the teens.  It looks the same outside right now, only there's more snow on the ground.  I'm pretty sure Meego would've had three snowdays in a  row if school was in session.  We don't  make it a point to go shopping on black Friday.

We did, however, continue our "tradition" from last year by hitting the Best Buy on Thanksgiving.  But I stand by word that we are not much into shopping in general.  There's a Best Buy about a mile from our house, and we'd been holed up inside all day, so a walk was needed.  Might as well stretch our legs and end up at Best Buy to look at people.  I didn't even bring my wallet.

It was actually a couple of hours after they'd opened their doors, so it wasn't crazy.  The snow and ice outside showed many tracks in the "corral" and around the port-o-potties, so there was the suggestion of people actually camped out.  I did rather enjoy the people-watching.  No one was rude or annoying.

Chaco found a few accessory bargains for his computer.  Okay, maybe he was in it for the shopping...

We did do the more wholesome things too - played some board games and cards.  Yay, I didn't lose at everything!  Okay, I lost at the board game but managed to hold my own at cards.

So yesterday's events really put a downer on the holiday week.  We just had a guy, about a month ago, walk a downtown street and kill three random people before he himself was killed by the police.  I don't understand and have no words, but we've always got blessings to count too.

Wolfgang's texted me that he's back in town from his Hawaiian Thanksgiving.  I hope he's got warm clothing on and that he didn't bring me any avocados.

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10 comments:

Tee said...

I just don't think I'll ever understand how someone can believe they might bring some good by performing such horrific acts of violence, or that by taking lives, they might somehow save lives. So sad. It does seem the world is becoming angrier by the day, doesn't it?

Good idea to take a walk to Best Buy. I might have done the same to our local Target store. I just wasn't motivated to do even so much as people-watch. I'm thinking a lot of my Christmas shopping this year will happen online rather than in stores.

We played some cards here too. I lost some and then won some. It was a nice change from the usual hectic pace around here.

LL Cool Joe said...

What horrible news, I'm not surprised you are feeling a bit down. I was reading today that most people seemed to shop online on Black friday rather than going nuts inside a store. Now that's the way I like to shop!

Abby said...

The walk to Best Buy was Chaco's idea, and I was glad he suggested it. It got me off the futon. Since I don't care about door bustin', it's strangely enjoyable.

Abby said...

I think a lot of the nut-goers just do it as a hobby, it's fun for them. I'm like you, I prefer to shop online and am happy with that trend. Black Friday store tramplings are another headline I don't want to see!

Linda Hensley said...

I think the news of the shooting was the last straw for me in bad news this week. I can only imagine it's so much worse for you since it's your neighborhood. I guess thinking about Thanksgiving might be the best thing because there's still so much in the world to be grateful for. We can't let the bad guys steal our joys. Wishing the best for everyone affected.

ShadowRun300 said...

That story made the news up here. So very sad, especially this time of year. I'll never understand it.
I don't picture you as the non-avocado-loving type, but I'll try not to judge. Hope Wolfgang had a great time, and glad to hear that those of you left behind enjoyed your traditional Thanksgiving Day celebration and Best Buy run. :)

Abby said...

It was a tense day, certainly. Sadly, I'm pretty sure it's not the last of this sort of news. But there are always things to for which to be grateful.

Abby said...

The guy is clearly sick, I feel so badly for people just being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
I've tried to like avocados, truly tried. But failed! Try, try again?? I never thought I'd be a door buster, but here we are, 2 years in a row.

Riot Kitty said...

Yuck. It has been all over the news here too. Hugs.

Abby said...

Yes. Yuck.