--I TAKE BACK EVERYTHING I EVER SAID

….I think Costco is kind of evil.

I went there yesterday to buy a new phone and ended up spending $600 that I hadn’t planned on.  There’s too much stuff piled high in all those rows that makes you want to check it out, even if a lot of it is tacky reindeer sweaters and hideous wool socks.  (Also, they had stack of men’s pants on pallets that were pleated, which should be illegal, because most men don’t follow fashion and they’ll just assume that pleats are in style.)  By the way, my new phone is a Samsung Galaxy and it’s pretty cool, better, I think, than the iPhone.

…Friday night I’m reading with three other writers at the Grand Opening of Tony’s Bar in Seattle.  I only know one of the writers, but it should be fun.

…I made some Cyber Monday purchases for the first time (“Homeland” for my brothers, “Breaking Bad” for my brother in-law.)  I really did save a lot of money.

…Speaking of money, The Powerball lottery (in which 42 states participate) could go as high as $1 billion.  Odds of winning are 1 in 175 million. 

You’re 33 times more likely to get attacked by killer bees than to win.  55 times more likely to get struck by lightning.

…Americans spent $59.1 billion on Black Friday weekend, up from $52.4 billion last year.  The average amount spent was $423 and 89 million shoppers braved the crowds.

…Speaking of money again, baseball player Evan Longoria signed a six year contract extension with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays for an added $100 million. 

…That’s enough money talk.  I like these things:

“Everything can be taken from a man, but one thing: the least of the human freedoms, to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” Viktor Frankl

"The life that conquers is the life that moves with a steady resolution and persistence toward a predetermined goal. Those who succeed are those who have thoroughly learned the immense importance of plan in life, and the tragic brevity of time." W.J. Davison

“It takes so little to make people happy.  Just a touch, if know how to give it, just a word fitly spoken, a slight readjustment of some bolt or pin or bearing in the delicate machinery of a soul.” Frank Crane

“To be able to enjoy one’s past life is to live twice.” James Montgomery

“There is no season when such pleasant and sunny spots may be lighted on, and produce so pleasant an effect on the feelings, as now in October.” Nathaniel Hawthorne

“The greatest thing in this world is not so much where we are, but in what direction we are moving.” O.W. Holmes