Nov
24
Black Friday
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My day started at 5am with the alarm waking me up. It was Black Friday. I didn’t really know what I needed or wanted, al I knew is I was going shopping.
I drove into Best Buy at about 5:30am and it was packed. I mean the entire parking lot all the way up to El Presidente was full. It took a good 15 minutes just to find a spot. By the time I got in, the store was already wrecked. They did have some good deals, I suppose, but the line to pay was similar to a roller coaster line. It wrapped down the length of the store, through the appliance section, then back through were the vacuum cleaners and car stereos are. I got into the line at 6am and was out the door at 6:45.
Next stop, the mall. Macy’s was open. I really wasn’t impressed with the sales they had there. We waited for Victoria Secret to open because they had a free bag give away with a $50 purchase. The line in Victoria Secret was about 30 minutes. Not really worth it when you see the bag. I mean it was cute I guess, but where would you use it? It was silver with a big SUPERMODEL on the side. I couldn’t really see myself carrying that around town.
My favorite sales were Aeropostle-50% everything in the store (even though theirs lasted the entire weekend) and the Gap which had 30% off everything in the store before 12pm with a $50 purchase. A $50 purchase is easy at the Gap.
The shops were packed, so Merry Christmas!
Nov
21
Time Warner Cable Growing Pains
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Time Warner Cable TV Sign Up Online
Apparently, I’m not the only one feeling the frustration with my cable company. You may ask…why not switch to Dish or something else right? I guess it’s the fear of the unknown. I do consider myself a bit savvy when it comes to technical stuff, but I have also heard of many complaints from Dish users. I mean, I guess I just don’t think it will ever be perfect.
For example, my HD DVR sticks at times. Yes annoying, but manageable. It also occasionally won’t play any sound when it is recording. This is by far the most annoying issue. I have had a service tech come out when it was Comcast. He did fix the problem, but told me it was a programming problem with Motorolla. So basically, they can’t really do anything to permanently fix the problem. So I just don’t feel it’s worth my time to sit on hold, then wait for the 4 hour window for someone to come out and provide a band aid.
I guess I’m just picking my battles and cable isn’t it right now.
My problems are minimal compared to some, I’m sure as this Signal article highlights.
Nov
8
Santa Clarita Shopping…Or Not!
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Leaving Santa Clarita to go shopping is kind of common around here. I mean let’s face it; we have a pretty crappy mall. I know we just got Macy’s, but it still has the Rob May feel. Typically when you walk into a Macy’s you feel ready to shop and spend money on high quality items. There is something about walking into a Macy’s or Nordstrom that is somewhat exhilarating. Our Macy’s just doesn’t have that. The store still seems a bit cluttered to me and dark. There are still departments where you are looking around to try and find help.
There was an article in the Signal this morning about residents leaving the valley to shop. The article didn’t even address the mall issues. The focus of the article was building shopping in downtown Newhall. I really don’t think that is a resolution at all. In my opinion, residents that can take the time and have the resources to leave the valley to shop would do just that rather than shop in downtown Newhall. I just don’t think that adding a few specialty shops to that area is the answer.
It’s all about the mall. Build it out, and then build it up. Add Nordstroms. Buy the land across the street, add a bridge and grow to the other side of McBean. Add another movie theatre. I mean there are all sorts of resolutions I would have expected to read in this article, but to focus on downtown Newhall is not one of them.