Black Friday, Part I

Given the bleak retail landscape in the Recession That Will Never End, retailers are really pulling out the stops to get people to shop this year. And finally, they're catering to night owls.

I know there's not a lot of difference between midnight and five am, but both my wife and I are much more functional at the latter than at the former. We love to stay up late and sleep in when we can, and when we can't, well, we just stay up not so late as we'd like. So to be at Wal-Mart at midnight tonight was a good thing for the both of us, even if that means we still have other places to hit later today.

We struck out on one item: A remote-control truck for Isaac. His brother has one, and while Isaac has a little one, he'd like one that's a bit more robust. We did get him a remote-control Corvette, so we're hoping that'll make up for not getting a truck.

The biggest find for the night, however, was Varlene Murdock. The Murdocks have lived across the street from my mother for years, and they're an awesome family. Many years ago, Dad had a dream that he sneaked over to the Murdock's house late at night, cut a hole through her kitchen window and reached in to sneak a piece of the wedding cake that was sitting on the table. He got his hand slapped because also sitting at the kitchen table was Varlene, watching for any cake-snatching miscreants.

So, thusfar, Black Friday is a success for us, merely because I got to relive that funny memory. We'll see what else the day brings us.