len_mullen

So far, Kohls is the winner of this contest.

When the kids were young, we used to head to Santa's Village for a 'Christmastime' weekend when I got home Friday. We would check in, have a swim, eat dinner then enjoy a couple hours of Santa and friends -- which entitled us to a return visit Saturday via a second, lineless entrance. Saturday, we would spend the morning at the park, leave for lunch and a swim, the end the night at the village. Sunday, breakfast, a swim, and back home. The pool was indoors but surrounded by windows... http://www.cabotinnandsuites.com/images/me3.jpg Love to lounge in the hot tub during a blizzard. I really need some grandchildren.

I have only shopped on BF with another person on two occasions. One year I shopped with my sister. I guess it was fun, but she lacked the preparation and urgency to maximize yield, if you know what I mean. On another occasion, I took my oldest son. He was a teenager and that worked out great as we split the list and met at the register at each store. This year, I purchased two GD shirts for me and my youngest (who is 20). I won a third and will invite #1 to join us. Should be fun. I never shopped BF with my wife. She watched the kids and put up the tree while I was taking care of business. I think this is ideal. I have seen my share of other peoples' children out on BF and I generally do not think it is a good idea. For starters, how do you shop for them with them? You cannot send them away into the throng while you shop for them. Weather is a problem. Cold toes for me is part of the fun. Do not want to see kids uncomfortable. Then there is the up too late behavior. No one needs to be around someone else's kids who should have been tucked in three hours ago. Get a sitter or shop online until your kids are old enough to enjoy the mayhem.

I'll take the voodoo of The Old Farmers Almanac over the WAGs of the 'scientists' any day of the week and the OFA is calling for a snowstorm, then flurries and cold in New Hampshire -- which is perfect BF weather to me. Tough enough weather to abort the trip to my in-laws, but tame enough for me to hit the road in my F150. http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/4d186bf14bd7c8514c0e0000/citi-gorgeous-black-friday-weather-is-great-for-november-retail-sales.jpg

I love the longer holiday season. Have since I was a kid. Now it seems to sneak past while I am shopping.

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check out p24 of the kohls bf add... http://blackfriday.gottadeal.com/BlackFridayScans/Kohls/24

I have been going out less each year. It really depends what you are looking for. Walmart's guaranteed items are worth a ride to town.

All I can do here is collect the great recipes.

Getting ready to take on Amazon (AMZN) and Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) for the upcoming shopping season, Target (NYSE:TGT) will start free shipping in November, while it will price most of its holiday assortment under $15. The retailer is also rolling out a service that allows online customers to send friends and family electronic gift boxes that let them make changes to items or select entirely different gifts before they ship.

Once you are in the return window, the answer is buy now. You can always return an item if a better deal comes along. I once got two price adjustments on a pair of televisions purchased at bestbuy.com.

I start with a gift list -- who I am shopping for and what I plan to spend. I create a list of gift ideas (I'm doing that now) and read reviews to figure out what models are suitable. Then I scour the deal sites for best ever and best recent prices for those items and set up watches for each. When a good price pops up, I buy. I am happy to price match, return/rebuy, or whatever other games the retailers play. Finally, as the holiday approaches (and once it passes), I shop for bargains not on my list. My oldest has a birthday in February, so extra gifts tend to go to him.

For me, it has always been Staples. I have never been interested in camping out. Where I live you could pull up just before opening and walk into Staples without missing out on the door busters. It's a little more competitive these days and the door busters are not as good, but I still have fond memories of waiting in line with the same people year after year.

So, I'm in the middle of the state of Maine in a place called Ebeemee Township with a drummer, an engineer, and two retired teachers. We start talking about computers and I amaze them with tales of a Raspberry PI. Now, I have to buy these for all... https://www.amazon.com/Vilros-Raspberry-Clear-Power-Supply/dp/B01D92SSX6/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1508207394&sr=1-1&keywords=raspberry+pi

Every year, I grab a couple gifts for both kids which are relatively inexpensive but have great potential for fun. Last year, I must have been tired because none were hits. The virtual reality headsets top my list of misses.

We have been dabbling in home automation since the 90s (anyone remember x10 vouchers?) and have found it to be mostly gimmick. I remember using X10 to 'manage' energy usage in areas of my home where lights were left on and I think I toned my arms a bit keeping those motion detectors happy. We also had a programmable thermostat before smartphones. Unfortunately, our family did not have patterns of presence that could be easily detected or anticipated. In the end, I turned the thermostat down before I went to bed and turned it up when I got up in the morning. We also automated a coffee pot which we often forgot to fill with coffee and water. The most success I ever had was to program a remote in my bedroom to control lights and the television. That, in fact, was the reason I initially invested in x10. We had lights in our bedroom which were controlled by a switch at the door but were easily turned off from the bed. Unfortunately, once you turned them off at the bed, the switch at the door did nothing. The remote also dimmed the lights...which was fun...for a while...for me. In the end, a Clapper probably would have solved the problem for less. These days, a couple strategically placed low power LEDs light the once automated paths. I manage to find the lights (and most other things) on my bed in the dark. We do have Alexa devices scattered throughout the house but that is just to help me maintain my shopping list, figure out how many tablespoons of juice in in a lime, or know when dinner is done. I do like the drop in feature (we have three shows). I have not decided whether to install garage door openers and have only used the remote starter on my car once (to see if it works -- it does). I have never used the remote for my air conditioner. I do appreciate being able to program my TiVos remotely. But I will follow here hoping to find motivation in your hopes and aspirations for automation. Good luck!

Be sure to post those manufacturer discounts on this thread!

We DO live in New Hampshire, so it helps.

60x1080p, 50x720p, 43x720p, and 42x720p plasma TVs exercise my electric meter. Worth every penny!

1. You get a TV! You get a TV! Everyone gets a TV! 2. You may kiss the bride. 3. I'll take two.

Same here. When I was young -- before the day after Thanksgiving was called Black Friday -- I worked in a department store for a short time. One of the managers put together a crew to get ready for Friday -- which was even back then an important shopping day. They paid us double time to work on a holiday, bought us breakfast in the wee hours of the morning, and gave us the Friday off. He also turned the lights on and left the doors unlocked. All the upcoming sales were active. And people came in. So, I guess Zayre's Department Store in Seabrook New Hampshire was probably the first store to open on Thanksgiving. I was pretty happy to have the bump in my paycheck. They probably never placed orders for Christmas.

I don't go out on Thanksgiving, though I have stopped by Walmart on my way home from dinner at the in-laws. I also do not wait overnight in lines. BUT, this creates a great opportunity for those who do to wait on two nights -- Thursday for BB or Wallmart then Friday for something special at a second tier store. Hope the weather is nice for these die hards. Also, condolences to those who will be losing money over the closings. It's tough to lose one or two days pay during the holidays.

60" tv in the bedroom and a Deere in the barn. You are LIVING LARGE, my friend!

In for two and PLAN to win a third. Otherwise, you will see me in the shirt in my avatar on BF.

You can real all about it here. Among other things, ATSC 3.0 promises... 4kImmersive audioEnhanced linear TV, plus on-demand supportSubscription and pay-per-view (PPV) supportConditional access and digital rights management (DRM) capabilitiesMobile and fixed device, plus companion device supportHybrid delivery (broadcast and broadband), combined with pushed contentMostly ATSC 3.0 brings pay tv and targeted ads to broadcast television. When I said as important as 3D tv, I meant unimportant. Bottom line is that it's something you do not need to worry about because if it arrives and if you want it, it will probably be streamed from a router (think Tablou TV) to a set top box (Roku).