This whole buying a place thing is crazy

I guess this means I won't be retiring to Thailand after all.

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Productive morning. Took some stuff to Goodwill, hit OSH for new burner shields to replace the front two burners on the stove, which were more carbon than aluminum,  and also got some small sponges to replace the ones whose original color is no longer identifiable. OSH didn't have rubber bands, so Office Despot for those and I needed to go there anyway to buy an envelope large enough to mail "The Toast" picture to my middle sister. It's from my Bar Mitzvah album:
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Home, watched the Raiders game as it was recording on Tivo, that way I could skip the commercials and halftime crapola. And the lowest FF speed is slow enough to see the action and it mutes the annoying announcers, who seem to get more inane every year. Every game.

A little before 2 pm I poured Kaan into the carrier and took him to Petco for two shots which the vet had not reminded me about. One is optional for indoor cats but since he'll be going back to the shelter where he'll be with unknown cats, I figured it was worth it. The onlookers, who mostly had dogs smaller than Kaan, were amazed when he came out (or actually was pulled out - it looked like childbirth) at his size. And how he jumped back into the carrier as soon as they were done with him. On my way there I had a mini-attack of anxiety as the whole surrendering the cat made  a memory chain to buying the house and the concept of putting down 3 years' rent so that in 5 years I'll own something on someone else's land which I may not be able to afford when I'm on Social Security.

Home again, watched the 49ers have an off day. Carolina was also having an off day, so SF only lost by a little bit. Somewhere in there I also saw the end and OT of the Ravens game, which they would have won in regulation if one of their members had not decided to do the tip drill to a Carolina player in the end zone. They still won, but by 3.

4 pm, and all the football was dine till the night game. Time for more packing. The first thing on my list was to take the box of my letters from Thailand (the folks had saved them all) and a theater poster and put them in the tubs in the storage room in which they belonged. That involved pulling out the smaller cat carrier, both baritones and one storage tub. And then putting them back, chasing both cats out of the room.

Real packing continued with boxing the computer CD albums, post cards & birthday cards, Peace Corps era Thailand maps and a couple of things which should have gone into the storage tub but wouldn't fit.

Watched some of the NOLA/Dallas game, but took time out to fill two medium-sized boxes with linens and my space-themed comforter. Those were on a rack consisting of a series of detachable units, which are now stacked with the two boxes on top of them. T-shirts will be some other day.

I had planned to go to the movers' this morning to get some supplies, but on their web site the prices are outrageous. And they don't have most of the kitchen packing things I need. So I'll hit up U-haul during the day some time this week.

Somewhere in there I made dinner, the rest of the Costco brisket, a cup of corn and some egg noodles. While slicing limes for my drink, I sliced a bit of the tip of my left ring finger. Very deep cut, lots of blood wanted to come out but I was near ice and tissues and managed to get to the bathroom where the band aids and medical tape are. The bleeding is stopped, but I know it will start up again if I take off the bandage too soon, so I think it will stay on another day.

Plans for tomorrow:
Work
BASFA maybe. Football maybe but frankly I'm kind of footballed out after this weekend.
eBay sale should finish, may have to get the item ready to ship.

Shopping on Thanksgiving

I posted this graphic on FB,
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and got tomes written against it by some of my friends.

One rant was from a friend who is extremely close to his family both emotionally and physically. He says it is un-American to work on this holiday, which one should spend with family. Others claim that it is slavery to force workers to work on this holiday.

But here I am with no family nearby, an atheist who objects to the religious roots of this holiday, who has in the past been forced to take the day off without pay (contractors don't generally get paid if they don't work) when there is work to be done. Silicon Valley is also packed with people from other countries who are fine with working on a day which means nothing to them, and who want to shop.

The irony of stores being closed on this day is this is the day when the most people need to do some last-minute shopping for food and related things because the tradition demands big dinners with lots of guests.

No one is a slave in this country. No one is forced to work for a company which requires them to work on Thanksgiving, or Christmas, or Divali or Yom Kippur. When I moved to Seattle in 1965 it was illegal for stores to be open Sunday. There were plenty of people who wanted to work on Sunday, some so they could earn extra $$ and some so they could take a weekday off, but most who did not fear the Christian god's wrath. Somehow, the economy didn't collapse when that law was overturned, nobody was struck by lightning inside an open business.

And yes, rich people get richer when their business is open on a holiday. But so do their employees.