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Black Friday Sales

November 19th, 2010

With Thanksgiving coming around the corner, “Day After Thanksgiving Sales” are coming soon too. If you are not a regular Black Friday shopper you may feel lost and confused. This is the only day a year that traffic is the worst at 3:00 in the morning. If you drive through the town at midnight you will see tons of people lined up around the store.

Many people will camp out at night to get the best sales. But are all the stores worth it to leave your house in the middle of the night? The most popular stores in Tyler on Black Friday are, Best Buy, Wal-Mart, Target, and Kohl’s. The Broadway square mall will have people lining up at different stores but in my past experiences I have not found that great of deals at the mall in Tyler.

One of the biggest lines in Tyler is the line for Best Buy. Best Buy has every kind of electronics for a great price. If you are in the front of the line for Best Buy it can get pretty scary when the doors open at 5:00 Friday morning. They will have huge sales on iPads, and iPods.

They are selling all size HDTVs for lowest prices yet. Any Samsung laptop computer will be on sale for $150 off. Best Buy will be selling Blu-rays that were released this year for $12.99 and DVDs for less than four dollars. There will be huge sales on Play Station, Xbox, and Wii games.

Target’s parking lot is always over crowded pretty much all day on Black Friday. Target will have a pre-black Friday sale on Sunday, November 21st until Wednesday the 24th. Many sales that they will have are going to be pretty close to the sales that will be on Friday. There will be a huge selection f fun and popular toys for 50%.

The popular Tag books are on a lot of kids (and mom’s) Christmas lists, during these sales you can get one Tag book and get one free. Nintendo DS are on sale of $119. The new Donkey Kong Wii game will include a $10 Target gift card. You can shop for two people with one gift. The Acer netbook is normally $240 but will be on sale for $179.99, and includes a free Tuari Neoprene Sleeve, which is normally $12.99.

You can save up to $90 on Vizio Televisions. Paula Deen cookware set is usually $140, but you can save fifty dollars and buy it for the low price of $99.99. You can save on Christmas ornaments, candles, snacks and food for your Christmas dinner, not to mention all the dishes that it take to cook and serve the perfect meal.

The lines are the worst at Target. The store gets so unorganized. Black Friday seems to be the day that people get the maddest about people cutting in line and people cut in line the most. A hint to all the quick shoppers out there; have someone stand in line the moment you get there and do your shopping fast, that way you don’t have to sit there for a few hours with your hands full of stuff.

We are lucky that Tyler has three Wal-Mart stores and Lindale has one. How the Black Friday sales work at Wal-Mart is not like the other stores. They have separate lines within the store for the popular items and open the items early in the morning.

So at Wal-Mart you don’t have to stand out in the cold for hours at a time. Wal-Mart has movies for the lowest prices around even less than two dollars for movies such as “27 Dresses”, “17 again”, “Bourne Identity”, “Bourne Supremacy”, and “Bourne Ultimatum”. Wal-Mart sells Blu-Rays for only $10 and even some for $5. The Apple iPod Touch will be a big hit.

The selling price will be $225 but it will come with a $50 gift card. The portable DVD players will be on sale for less than $50. Televisions of all size will be on sale anywhere in between $98-$998. What little girl does not like to open her presents from under the tree to find a new Barbie doll? What mom does not love to find great sales on Barbie products? You can find the popular dolls for $5.00 and many Barbie products for a price as low as $4.00. Winter clothes such as fleece hoodies and sleepers are n sale for only $4.00.

The popular Toy Story 12 inch action figures are on sale for as low as $12. Your family can have fun game nights for as low a price as $4.00. Wal-Mart will have video games for as low as $7. The popular Kinect for Xbox 360 is on sale for a low price of $149.00. Wal-Mart can be your one stop shop where you can get gifts for everyone in your family.

Kohl’s doors will open at 3:00am on Friday. Kohl’s has all different things for your home, and clothes for the whole family. Women can get their favorite Bras for a low price and up to 50% off. You can find all different misses clothing for 40-60% off. The popular junior brand MUDD can be found here for low prices. MUDD jeans are on sale for as low as fourteen dollars and shirts for 55% off. The cute junior dresses are on sale for up to 60% off. All women’s outwear are on sale for up to 70% off. You can get all the clothing you need for the men in your life for a low price.

All sports wear is on sale for 40-50% off. Apt.9 wool coats are on sale for a low $20. Apt. 9 men’s nice wool jackets are on sale for a low $119. Men’s Axist Casual Pants are selling for 50%-60% off. Kohl’s has some the best sales for little kids clothing from anywhere from 40% to 70% off. You will love the fun kid’s jumpers, jeans, t-shirts, and dresses.

Kohl’s has brand name digital cameras for as low as $49.99. Get all you need for decorating you house for Christmas for up to 75% off; including candles, lights, picture frame, and tree ornaments. Holiday cards are on sale for 60% off. 22 inch nonstick griddles are on sale for $29.99.

You can get 50% off Faberware Bakeware, Food Network Dinnerware, Food Network Hydration Bottles, and Food network thermal Mugs. Get 60% off of all Holiday Dinnerware. Get all kitchen rugs for up to 60% off. Kohl’s has all the things you need for your home and for cooking the perfect meals at a low price. Kohl’s’ entire stock of video game accessories are on sale for 30-50% off.

I hope these sales will help you shop at the right store for your family’s Christmas wish lists. Tyler gets pretty crazy on Black Friday, all these stores get crowded fast so it may be the one day you willingly set your alarm for 2:00 in the morning.

Suddenlink Internet Service in Tyler Texas

May 4th, 2010



Not long ago I wrote an article about my transition from Direct TV to Suddenlink Cable and Internet. It was a difficult and emotional decision, but one that required a practical solution rather than a comfortable one. At the time my article first appeared I was satisfied with the customer service I had received. While my television picture was not what I was used to, I was prepared to live with the difference for the time being… that is until receiving a call from the Suddenlink promotions department about a week into my new subscription. The magical disembodied voice on the other end of the cellular call offered me all of my hearts digital desires, five plus movie channels, digital HD boxes, a digital recorder, ten meg internet and an overall more fulfilling life, all for about the same price or only slightly higher than what I was currently paying. After an extensive interview, I settled, not on the full movie channel option, (my lifestyle does not allow for my becoming a professional shut-in), but instead on the advance tier option, (supposedly around two hundred channels if I understood the voice correctly), a new digital cable box and the ten meg internet. I was pleased beyond words. I had essentially added a service to my home while paying less money for it! My monthly rate had just gone from ninety one dollars, to eighty four dollars. The installer was scheduled to arrive on Tuesday morning with my digital box and all my missing channels. Little did I realize that in a few short days the corporate machine would put the skids on my new found enthusiasm.

Saturday morning while participating in an annual school fund raiser, I was interrupted by a call from my new television and internet provider, advising me that the wealth of services the voice had promised me a mere four days previous could not be provided, for reasons that were murky at best. “What? I don’t understand!” I protested. “Your office called me!” A long and painful series of negotiations and holding periods followed. At the end of the call most of my promised goodies were restored but only at a significant rate increase. My eighty four dollar a month rate had just gone up to ninety seven dollars! I determined then and there to carry my fight to the cable giant’s corporate office!

On my way home that afternoon, I called back. I informed the customer service rep that he would not be able to solve my problem and that he should immediately transfer my call to his supervisor. He evidently did not believe me because he first attempted to explain the charges on my account… unsuccessfully I should add. I finally broke in “Would you just transfer me please?!” When “Sarah” in the Minneapolis office finally picked up, I did my level best to suppress my frustration, and explained the situation for at least the fourth time. After looking at my account Sarah assured me that the local office had made a mistake and that I did indeed qualify for the eighty four dollar rate, with one proviso. I would have to scale back my internet from ten megs to eight. After consulting with my tech-y friends, (including Donny Eisenbach), I agreed to the small concession. When I arrived home from school I called the number Sarah had given me.

I have now had Tyler TX Suddenlink’s services for nearly three weeks. I have spent four hours on the phone with the company’s reps, have been through a series of rate changes and have yet make a single payment. When I called the customer service number one last time to request the change in my internet service, I was informed that the company was no longer offering the eight meg service. Furthermore, the representative informed me that I was due to receive my digital box Tuesday morning, and that my monthly bill would be ninety one dollars a month. I have come full circle. Like a character in some great epic I have fought my way through. Now I find myself asking, “What was it all for?” The fact is, no one knows, not the company’s local office, not the mysterious voice that promised me the world, not Sarah in Minneapolis and certainly not the Suddenlink corporate center. All I know is Tuesday afternoon I’m back to digital TV at the original rate of ninety one dollars a month.

For more information on Suddenlink, see their websites at www.suddenlink.com.

Cicis Pizza in Tyler

February 8th, 2010

Cici’s Pizza

211 Texas 323 Loop, Tyler TX
Phone: (903) 526-9494

1938 E Southeast Loop 323, Tyler TX
Phone: (903) 533-9494

CiCi’s in Tyler is one of those places that may seem like a good idea at the time but never actually fulfills any decent expectations you may have had of it. CiCi’s combines pizza, buffet style dining, and screaming children into a one of a kind restaurant experience. CiCi’s may offer a pizza buffet at a decent price but they know that any sane person will be driven away within half an hour by the accumulated sounds of arcade games, whining kids, and several televisions all projecting angry sports announcers. The over stimulating environment is, I suspect, nothing more than a clever ploy developed by the buffet style restaurant industry to stop you from claiming the seven pizzas your four dollars gives you the right to under the eternal Law of Buffet.

They bombard you with flashing lights, constant loud ringing noises. A petting zoo themed restaurant would have a better family environment. CiCi’s doesn’t have bad pizza either, they show no shame in baking a funnel cake in a pizza oven and then pretending pizza was always covered in chocolate syrup. And I can respect the kind of courage it takes to offer decent quality dessert at a buffet, I imagine strawberry chocolate cheesecake has brought many a great franchise to its knees. CiCi’s could definitely improve its atmosphere. But If you can handle the overwhelming surroundings they have some good pizza.