len_mullen

Kohls also had a bad Christmas.... Kohl's Stock Cut to Sell as Sales Seen Pressured by Rising Inflation | Barron's (barrons.com)shares were falling Friday after the retailer’s rating was cut to Sell from Neutral by analysts at UBS who expect rising inflation to pressure sales.The price target on the stock was slashed to a Wall-Street low of $38 from $66. Shares of Kohl’s (ticker: KSS) fell roughly 4% to $47.10 on Friday.No surprise. BB&B coupons go directly to the recycle bin at my house. Kohls, which had captured a LOT of my dollars until last year, only collected about $400 from me in 2021. Both retailers dramatically diminished the value of their discount/coupon programs.

^^^ This is just WRONG! Hold On A Minute Not Ready To Begin It Heart Is Not In It or is it? I hope retail makes a comeback in 2022. Clicking isn't as fun as it was when no one else was doing it.

New Year, New Television. I think that's how it's done. Last year, we all got those $148 55" TCL Roku 4K HDR sets. I have one of these in every bedroom. I didn't plan on buying a television this year. I was keeping an eye on the TCL 8 Series QLED TV -- hoping for a <$1000 deal -- but it never happened. I haven't seen it for less than $1400 to date. Somehow, I got through BF without buying a television. The only thing I bought on Black Friday was heating oil. And it wasn't on sale. On December 18th, looking for a deal on a smaller TV for a friend, I stumbled across a discussion of the 75" Toshiba C350 Series LED 4K UHD Smart Fire TV (75C350KU). Actually, what I saw was... Best Buy 75" TV $499.99 I added it to my cart and started doing some research. The first thing I found was a $25 off deal on PayPal. So, $475 shipped. I decided to buy the television. I set the delivery for 12/24 which gave me a week to find it in a store and cancel the order if it did not meet expectations. I never found this television in a store. Even where it was in stock, it wasn't on the floor. Not a good sign, but other research was fairly positive. For instance, the poor review on rtings.com was not for this television. The review was for a 55" set. Amazon and Best Buy reviews were pretty positive. Then I learned that the set is actually manufactured by Hisense (sort of). I say 'sort of' because it is (most likely) manufactured in a Toshiba factory in Japan. Hisense bought 95% of Toshiba Visual Solutions Corporation in 2017 including two factories in Japan, hundreds of R&D employees, and an IP portfolio of TV technology patents for image quality and acoustics. (My set was manufactured in actually manufactured in Mexico in July.) I like TCL and Hisense sets. So, I crossed my fingers and waited. For a couple days before delivery, snow and freezing rain turned my yard into a winter wonderland. By December 24th, my house was sitting on a glacier. My youngest and I carried the HUGE box around my home so we could take it straight up the stairs to the second floor. It took a tight three point turn into a bathroom to get the TV into my bedroom, but we did it. I was very impressed with the packaging. The box comes in two pieces -- a short base and a tall 'cover' held together with four plastic clips which can be reused if the set is returned. The set was held firmly in the middle of the box by Styrofoam packaging with an air filled 'pillow' and cardboard protection between the screen and the box. Hard plastic strips protected the screen from careless handholds. A plastic sheet that covered the screen was easily removed without leaving any kind of residue. Out of the box, no dead pixels, no physical damage, and nothing missing. Good start. I attached the stand, plugged in power, and powered on the set. Once I logged in to Amazon, I could access my antenna via an Amazon Recast -- wirelessly. Upscaling on this set is outstanding. SD looks great. From the westerns of the 50s and 60s to the dramas of the 80s and 90s to modern HD programming, everything is clear and properly sized/scaled. Then I plugged the TV into my antenna. The picture quality was better than through the Recast. UI was still Fire TV. For television, I can choose a grid style guide that integrates antenna and streaming. Top of the screen is a description of the selected show. I like that. So, I plugged in a TiVo. The TiVo autoscales to 1080p. It looks almost as good as the antenna. Good enough for me to choose the TiVo input over the antenna input...sometimes. Last night, I was hopping among inputs watching a New Year's Celebration and the 1080i programming looked great via the Recast, the TiVo, and straight from the antenna. That said, I am watching the antenna. Audio is very good. There are two 10w speakers. I'm not an audiophile, but they sound fine to me. My desk is on the same wall as the television in my bedroom. From my desk, the viewing angle is probably around 160 degrees. The viewing angle of this television is excellent. The remote resembles a Fire TV remote. It is about half an inch longer. There are four additional buttons for TV control -- channel up/down, guide, recents, and quick settings. There are also four additional buttons for Prime, Netflix, Disney+, and Hulu. The remote contains a mic and the TV is Alexa enabled. There are four HDMI ports, one USB port, one LAN/Ethernet port, one digital audio out port, one RF input (antenna), one headphone out, and one AV input. The USB 2.0 port. Movies, music, and pictures can be played off the USB port. The port powers drives that require up to 500mA. I am using the port to power a Roku that requires 5V – 1A. The TV has a Native refresh rate of 60Hz with a Motion Rate of 120Hz. I did not experience motion blur watching basketball or football. Hockey will be the test. Documentation is less than sparse and completely unnecessary. Complete specs are available here. If this television proves to be durable, I think this Tv is a steal. Happy New Year! Happy New TV!

My new television came with a one month trial of Fubo TV. I would not watch Fubo TV for free. In fact, after less than five hours, I cancelled my trial. Hard to believe anyone would pay for Fubo TV never mind pay $70 per month for Fubo TV. What's Not To Like? For starters, the price. For $70/month, I can get a Comcast plan that includes high speed internet. For $12.99/month, I could get Hulu+. Broadcast tv is free. All better choices than Fubo TV. The registration process is onerous. The TOS pops you out of the registration process. The trial requires a credit card including the Card Security Code (CSC). The first thing that happens after registration is that you are encouraged to sign up for a long term plan. The user interface is a screen of tiles. Click, click, click. Back, back, back. Way too much work to watch television. Fubo TV feels more like a collection of apps than a streaming television service. I settled on the Paramount app. I had seen featured Paramount programming on FREE Pluto TV. Apparently 'featured' means 'the good stuff'. So, back, back, back, click, click, click. The easiest part of using Fubo TV was cancelling the subscription and uninstalling the app. Then There's The Content Best way to describe Fubo TV is cable and broadcast filler channels, minus the anchor channels, plus sports, minus the good sports. For instance, my favorite broadcast channels are: Heroes and Icons, StartTV, FaveTV, LAFF, MeTV, ION, This, and MyTV in that order. Of these, Fubo TV includes: MyTV. Fubo TV is not on anyone's list of top streaming services. I get that.

Click your avatar to get to your profile page. Click 'posts' on your profile page to see your most recent posts including the topic.

And now for something completely different... Free2View TV Select | TV App | Roku Channel Store | Roku If you have a Roku streamer or a Roku TV, consider installing this free channel. Some of my favorite OTA channels are streamed via this channel... Search for Free2View in the Roku Channel Guide. Add this free channel for access to... Movies! TV NetworkHallmark Movies and MoreGritHeroes and IconsLaffStart TVDecadesAce TVMe TVCoziCharge TVComet TVDefy TVDigi TVIONFamily EntertainmentACE TVClassic Arts ShowcasePositiv TVFolk TVMy Time Movie NetworkRetro TVRev'n TVCharge TVStadium TVDove ChannelThe Heartland NetworkCircle TVDustClassic Reruns TVCartoon Fun Time24/7 RetroSpydar TVLove NaturePBSPBS Lids <-- Pretty sure this is PBS KidsThe AsylumElectric NowCinevault 1970sCinevault 1980sAMC ThrillersThe Walking Dead UniverseHunt TVThe Film DetectiveLively PlaceOutside TVThe Design Network Cozi TV: Charlie's Angels, Columbo, Emergency!, Frasier, Highway to Heaven, Little House on the Prairie, Murder, She Wrote, My Favorite Martian, Roseanne, Smell-a-Vision, Starsky & Hutch, The Bionic Woman, The Munsters, The Nanny, The Office, The Six Million Dollar Man, Will & GraceLAFF: According to Jim, Grace Under Fire, Home Improvement, How I Met Your Mother, Night Court, That '70s Show, he Bernie Mac Show, World's Funniest Videos: Top 10 Countdown**Heroes & Icons: STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION, WONDER WOMAN, ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN, BATMAN, BAYWATCH, BLACK SHEEP SQUADRON, COMBAT!, CSI: CYBER, THE DEAD ZONE, THE DISTRICT, THE GREATEST AMERICAN HERO, THE GREEN HORNET, HAVE GUN, WILL TRAVEL, THE HIGH CHAPARRAL, HILL STREET BLUES, HOUSE, JAG, LANCER, MACGYVER, MARTIAL LAW, MAVERICK, MONK, MUTANT X, NASH BRIDGES, NUMB3RS, THE PRETENDER, THE RAT PATROL, RAWHIDE, RENEGADE, STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE, STAR TREK: ENTERPRISE, STAR TREK: THE ORIGINAL SERIES, STAR TREK: VOYAGER, TOUR OF DUTY, 12 O'CLOCK HIGH, THE UNTOUCHABLES, WANTED DEAD OR ALIVEComet: BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, DUST, NIGHT GALLERY, QUANTUM LEAP, SLIDERS, STARGATE SG-1, THE OUTER LIMITS, THE RAY BRADBURY THEATER, THE X-FILESCharge: CSI: MIAMI, KNIGHT RIDER, CHIPS, MAGNUM, P.I., HUNTERCircle: The Dailey & Vincent Show, Opry, Bonanza, Coffee, Country and Cody, Chasing Down Madison Brown, The Patty Duke Show, Hee Haw, Soundstage, Phil Vassar's Songs From the Cellar, The Jeff Foxworthy Show, Only in America with Larry the Cable Guy, Fury, The Lone Ranger, Petticoat Junction, Ditty TV Concert Series, Authentic America, The Southern Weekend, Landmarks: The Stages of Country Music, Circle Country Countdown, Talking in Circles with Clint Black, Better Half, Rusty's Rockfeast, Circle Sessions, Gospel According to Al Green, Outdoor America, THE WRITE STUFF, Austin City Limits, AMERICAN MUSIC SPOTLIGHT, THE BEVERLY HILLBILLIES, CMA SONGWRITERS, F-Troop, On The Road, OPRY DOCS, STAND UP NASHVILLE!, SOUNDSTAGEION: Blue Bloods, Chicago Fire, Chicago P.D., Criminal Minds, Hawaii Five-0, Law & Order, Law & Order: SVU, NCIS: LA, NCIS: New OrleansGrit TV: eath Valley Days, Laramie, The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, and Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre Mystery: Crime Stories, CSI Miami, Forensic Files, Scandal, It Takes a Killer, American Greed, American Greed: The Fugitives, The First 48, The FBI Files, Unsolved Mysteries TrueReal: Wahlburgers, Intervention, I Survived…, Gene Simmons Family Jewelsl, Storage Wars, Married at First Sight, Hoarders, and Little Women: LA. ***Defy: Pawn Stars, Forged in Fire, American Pickers, The Curse of Oak Island, Ice Road Truckers, Alone, Dog The Bounty Hunter, Ax Men, Swamp People and Counting Cars

I wonder how this compares to other years. We always lose some. Still time to lose less.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_HV9w9_0BEgE/TRmqNR8gtlI/AAAAAAAAAd0/sHaxYi5XzFc/s1600/merry_christmas_animated.gif

75" happens to be the right size for my living room. Not ready to put a television there yet, but when opportunity knocks, right? The $499.99 price was the best I've seen. I took a chance because I think the Hisense sets look nice. I can always return it. Of course, the free Dot, Fubi, and ATV+ did not hurt. $25 off from Paypal sealed the deal for me.

My TV arrived today. I won't plug it in until Sunday. The purchase includes three months of Apple TV+ and a month of Fubo TV. I'm looking forward to sampling both. The Fubo code must be redeemed by 12/31, so it'll get the first look. Good review here... https://www.tvguide.com/news/fubo-tv-review/ The Apple TV+ expires 3/31, so I will have some time to relax before sampling Apple's 'amazing' productions. The set came from Best Buy. They bring it to the room of your choice for free. Very nice. I had them leave it outside. My son and I maneuvered it from the doorway to my bedroom. Not heavy and the box has handles, but it was still big and my yard is covered in about four inches of ice. Expect a review of this beast as my first post of 2022. Merry Christmas!

No problems for me. Closest was the liquor store run (grabbed one of two last Even Williams). Amazon is going a better job this year than last or even this summer. Food shortages never materialized. In fact, turkey and rib roast prices are the same as last year.

At last, bare shelves! I went to the liquor store tonight and it was a shambles. No carts in the store, empty shelves, and long lines at the registers. I did not hear one person buy a lottery ticket while I waited in line. Priorities, right?

bought my last gift at 4:00am this morning.

I had a great time. I love retail shopping. Best Buy is a fun store. Associates are not as savvy as I remember, but they do the best they can. The Toshiba was not on display, but I looked at a 75" Hisense. It looked great. I will post my impressions Sunday.

I ventured out today. BB did not have the television on display. I think 1/3 of their display TVs were Sonly, 1/3 Samsung, and just a few of the other brands. So, we demo the TV in my home. I can't think of anything better to do on the day after Christmas than sit around watching television...seriously.

Looking forward to your impressions. Particularly interested in viewing angle.

I scheduled delivery for Christmas Eve so I could cancel if I don't like the TV (we are planning to shop at BB tomorrow weather permitting or I will swing by one on my way home from work Monday). Reviews are very good and I like Hisense TVs. Not a fan of android/google-anything, but I have a lot of 4K Fire TV sticks and a Recast, so this fits. If the picture quality disappoints, that's why I own a pickup truck.

First bonified TV deal of the season? Toshiba 75" Class C350 Series LED 4K UHD Smart Fire TV 75C350KU - Best Buy $500 75" Toshiba C350 Series LED 4K UHD Smart Fire TV $429 Open Box Free Shipping Included Free 3 Items (Total Value: $39.99)... Amazon - Echo Dot (3rd Gen) - $39.99 value! FuboTV - Free for 30 days (new subscribers only, not billed unless activated) Apple - Free Apple TV+ for 3 months (new subscribers only) Toshiba C350 Fire TV 2021 Review (43C350KU, 50C350KU, 55C350KU, 65C350KU, 75C350KU) - RTINGS.com TCL 4 Series 2020 Review (43S435, 50S435, 55S435, 65S435, 75S435, 85S435) - RTINGS.com Apparently, these are made by Hisense... Hisense Buys Toshiba TV Brand – channelnews 5-Year Standard Geek Squad Protection $99.99 (About $1.67/mo.) Paypal has a $25 off offer for Best Buy, so $475 for a 75" TV plus a Dot plus another $5 back from Discover. Happy shopping!

Just opened this roast to insert garlic and salt and pepper. Turns out there were bones hidden below. Win for me.

So, rib roasts, right? It's what's for dinner. Or, at least, it's what's on sale. Last week, all the local ads included rib roasts. My preference is large end, bone cut off but attached to the roast. I look for six pounders. My first strike was a six pound boneless roast at $5.97/# from Shaws. Same ad included $1.47/# asparagus and $1.47/# cauliflower. This is dinner tomorrow along with mashed potatoes, carrots, and broccoli. My second 'win' was a six pound bone in large end rib roast from Aldis for $6.99/#. The bones are cut off and tied to the roast. The roast is vacuum packed and has a decent sell by window. I got a spiral ham for 95c/# as well. It has a sell by date in February. The rib roast is freezer bound. On my way home from work, I stopped at Shaws and picked up a six pound bone in roast for $5.97/#. Same receipt included 99c/# broccoli, 99c pineapples, and $3.99/# bacon. I have my eye on one more deal. Hannaford has a large end rib roast for $6.99/#. The picture in the ad suggests bone in. They have a $3 off $30 coupon as well. Looks like New Hampshire will be enjoying steak dinners at a reasonable price for the foreseeable future. Turkey and ham deals were also in abundance. 69c/#sweet potato, 79c/# baking potatoes, and 99c/# green beans will be on my Christmas dinner menu. Good times!

Coffee prices are at 10-year highs, and analysts say they have much further to go Except for me, I guess... Maxwell House House Blend Medium Roast K-Cup Coffee Pods (84 ct Box)Sold by: Amazon.com Services LLC Order SummaryItem(s) Subtotal:$19.99Shipping & Handling:$0.00Subscribe & Save:-$1.00Your Coupon Savings:-$5.00Total before tax:$13.99Estimated tax to be collected:$0.00Grand Total:$13.99$13.99/84=17c/k-cup add three more subscribe & save items before the end of the month for another 10% off (15c/k-cup) Happy Shopping!

I went to the Paper Place in my garage to get a roll of paper towels and a package of napkins. Despite sharing and being burglarized by my first born, I am not at risk of a dirty bum any time soon. I have avoided buying paper products during the pandemic as prices were high and selection limited. All of a sudden, despite reports of shortages and hyper inflation, I have found some very good deals at Walgreens. Enjoy! Angel Soft Bath Tissue 12 Family Rolls (code: CYBER30)200.0 ea Ordered: 3 Price: $5.00Total: $15.00 Promos & coupons: -$4.50Order total: $10.50$10.50/36=29c/roll Angel Soft Bath Tissue 12 Family Rolls (code: CYBER30)200.0 ea Ordered: 3 Price: $5.00Total: $15.00 Promos & coupons: -$4.50Rewards redeemed: -$1.00Order total: $9.50$9.50/36=26c/roll Big Roll PaperTowel 140 sheets140.0 ea Ordered: 3 Price: $0.99Total: $2.97 Promos & coupons: -$0.90 (code: CYBER30)Order total: $2.07$2.07/3=69c/roll Scott Paper Towels Choose-A-Sheet Regular Rolls68.0 ea Ordered: 2 Price: $3.75Total: $7.50 $7.50/12=63c/roll Scott ComfortPlus Toilet Paper, 12 Big Rolls, Bath Tissue Big Roll187.0 ea Ordered: 2 Price: $3.75Total: $7.50 $7.50/24=31c/roll

I bet your son has not stopped smiling since he found out. Merry Christmas!

I think you meant to say... I love December Time to spend my Kohls Cash and Stalk Secret Santa

Looks like CyberMonday sucked too. from Cyber Monday online sales drop 1.4% from last year to $10.7 billion, falling for the first time ever (cnbc.com) Consumers logged online Monday and spent $10.7 billion, marking a 1.4% decrease from year-ago levels, according to data from Adobe Analytics.This year’s tally marks the first time that Adobe has tracked a slowdown in spending on major shopping days.Still, Adobe expects the entire holiday season will see record-breaking e-commerce activity, as shoppers spread out their dollars over more days. What happens next? My iPhones are sitting at the Verizon store in Plaistow New Hampshire. When I pick them up Christmas eve, Verizon will activate their numbers and my kids will no longer be able to make or receive calls on their AT&T phones. If they figure this out, I will have to let them open one present Christmas Eve -- pajamas. I will play mickey the dunce. I have some filler shopping to do. I have nine $100 bills for people I do not yet know I am buying gifts for...just need to buy nine cards for them. I will load up on gift cards for stuff I like which would be a good gift for others I do not yet know if I am exchanging gifts with. I have already assembled a Christmas dinner (because we did not eat home Thanksgiving). We will eat that in January if I find out I am supposed to be somewhere else on Christmas day. No shopping this weekend as I have to empty and clean the living room then set up the tree. That will be nice. I miss the days when I only had to get the good gift for the kids, assemble everything, and eat the cookies left for Santa. I really do.