Happy Thanksgiving to my American Friends!!

[RoadToad]

Hey Folks, are you all back from your turkey day festivities? Are we kicking back with the top button of your pants undone.lol I hope you enjoyed some pumpkin pie and whipped cream. Yummy, its my favourite. Tell me how your day went? Where's the leftovers?

Now are most of you off work tomorrow? I hear tomorrow is called black Friday as it is a shopping day? I may be wrong on the name. Great sales I hear for Christmas. I should point out I hate Christmas shopping, people go nuts during sales.

I'm off tomorrow, which is good since I just got home from working today Oh well, at least they fed us.

It's called Black Friday because retailers count on the sales that day to put them "in the black" for the year. And much as I love a great deal, I'll be staying home. To me, it's not worth the aggravation of fighting those huge crowds.

[bassin_bug]

Pants? What pants those came off hours ago...LOL! Just ate the rest of the pie..

I am working tomorrow but will take time to shop on line. The store are a test for your blood pressure this time of year! I do my best to stay out of them.

Thank God for sweat pants! They stretch. I will not ask my husband to risk his life by asking him, "Does this make my butt look big?"

I won't be going out shopping the Black Friday sales; they start at the malls here tomorrow morning at 4:00 am. We are supposed to have snow tonight and flurries tomorrow. People start lining up from just past midnight until the stores open at 4:00. The second wave of swine flu is sweeping through this area and it's worse than the first. I went out yesterday and wore a mask the whole time; lots of sick people were shopping and were dragging sick children around with them. Got to the cash register and the girl doing the bagging was sick with the flu and had such a high fever her face was red. I stayed as far away from her as I could. You will not believe how fast my debit card and PIN went through the register. LOL

[Big Gills]

Yes sweat pants are my best friend too for big meals. Wow, you are getting snow before us. That has got to be a first. Its weird here. I just got back in and its warm out there, around 45degree and I am only wearing a spring coat. I cant complain though, no sliding around. I havent noticed the swine flu here as yet. I am getting my flu shot next week but that is the regular flu shot. Then I will need to get the H1N1 shot too. I dont hear about an outbreak in my area yet but have heard of a healthy boy who died from getting it around the Toronto area. His parents said he was healthy. Very scary indeed. Best to be safe and wear gloves and a mask.

[HURRICANEBOB]

Wishing you all a happy and wonderful Thanksgiving as you hunker down and chow down to some tasty turkey and all the fixings. I wish you a day filled with thanks for all your blessings as you spend it with family and good friends. I know you will all be passed out on your couches afterwards as turkey makes you fall asleep but if there is anyone still awake I would love it if you could throw me down a nice turkey sandwich with the leftovers. I love turkey! gobble gobble Margie (aka Big Gills)

I thought you folks ate geese up there? .......ehhh? When it gets there, email me and I'll send you a return shipping label.

[HURRICANEBOB]

I think American merchants have Black Friday all wrong, here's the logic (or lack there of:

a. On Black Friday, merchants cut their prices in some case 50 to 75%.
b. The reduced prices creates a stampede to the store and folks buy some bargains and some other stuff too. As a result of the stampede, they run out of stuff, and so loose some potential sales.
c. They do this to ramp volume, and so ramp profits that they didn't make all year when the prices were higher, and the demand was lower.
d. Demand will always be high after Thanksgiving because Christmas is coming. Its the highest demand period of the year.
e. ERGO, and conversely, if the low Black Friday prices make merchants profitable after being in the red all year, then their high prices all year are indicated as a reason a part of their demand was not there.
f. In most markets, increased demand equals increased prices, reduced demand drives price down.

ERGO again (on my second beer now): To be profitable, therefore stay in business, therefore hire the most Americans who will now have jobs and money to buy stuff:

a. Keep the prices down all year.
b. Watch people buy more with less money available to them, and see profits increase do to higher volume, not higher price. (Walmart model)
c. As the demand is ready to peak on Black Friday, jack the prices up till Christmas. High deman, high price. Shoppers who shop late have no choice but to pay the higher prices.
d. More shoppers will shop during the year, buy early for Christmas evening out the workload at the stores and making staffing more consistent. Its expensive to hire, and sometimes more expensive to fire.
e. Its easier, you have more time to acquire stocks and so cheaper for delivery costs to stock inventory to a store that has consistent non-peaking demand. Its more profitable to order excessive amounts of stock with short lead times for high traffic high demand times, when you know you will make more money to help offset the higher cost of transportation and shipping during rush ordering, and during the winter months when delivery costs tend to be higher due to road conditions.

I don't think the fed ought bailout the banks and car makers. I think the fed ought bailout small business and the chain store retailers, allowing them to lower prices now subsidized by the fed, so we all can buy more, and stimulate the economy from the bottom up.

Time for the 3rd beer....so will end here......can't read the letters on the key board any more I ALSO SUPPORT LOWER BOOSE PRICES, ESPECIALLY IMPORTS OF CORONA, TEQUILLA, MOLSON, GUINESS, MOOSEHEAD, AND LABATTS. International trade support is important. If demand for Mexican beer increases, Mexican breweries will hire more people and more Mexicans will stay home and avoid the moat and alligators. American Beer makers ought follow the govt subsidized plan for retailers outlined above.

I will be running for a govt office next year, and the next year, and the next year, and as long as my wife has my car keys, a rolling pin, and the police station is within walking distance.

[Big Gills]

I thought you folks ate geese up there? .......ehhh? When it gets there, email me and I'll send you a return shipping label.

Naw, we love our Canadian geese up here. Thats why we send them down to Florida and other hot southern states for the winter along with the Snowbirds(senior citizens).haha I hear some of those geese stop in Kentucky on the way down and hold up traffic and poop on your windshields. Arent they cute? Ok now, Bob put away your gun!

[Big Gills]

Hey Bob instead of running for office you should get your own business. Sounds good to me but I know nothing about business. I agree with you on not bailing out the big boys. They got themselves into that jam so they can get themselves out of it. I see you like Canadian beer? You have good taste! We sure know how to make beer dont we? That and hockey made us famous.

[DJD]

Naw, we love our Canadian geese up here. Thats why we send them down to Florida and other hot southern states for the winter along with the Snowbirds(senior citizens).haha I hear some of those geese stop in Kentucky on the way down and hold up traffic and poop on your windshields. Arent they cute? Ok now, Bob put away your gun!

Those things are nasty! They leave "goose putty" all over the place. While at the lake you constantly step in it so your floor boards in the truck get it, the dog wants to eat it and the boat floor has stains. Cool to see and hear when flying but I wish they would keep on going.

[DJD]

Wow! Alot of what you said is how I wish the gubment would run...keep the (you said prices I say taxes) low and people will spend more from the bottom up. I'm not a believer in bailouts...let em fail they did something wrong so they don't need to be given money to do it again. Proof is already showing itself...Unemployment rate is 10.2% the bailout was going to stop that...I thought thats what Barry said?

When smart tax paying folks get comfortable with what they have they spend money. It's always been that way but now all of a sudden we are not smart enough so the gubment wants to take our money and redistribute it to others? Ironically, their dumb spending habits got us here to begin with.

Don't need the gumment taking more of my money to make other people have a higher standard of living. Use what you already take. Redistribute what you already have and let foreign aid feel the pinch not us who pay the taxes. When we as a country have more we will give more but to be borrowing money and then giving it out to other countries is crazy!!!
Sorry got off topic a little .....have a nice day!