So when the sabres schedule came out this year I saw that the penguins played Buffalo before and after my birthday so wasn't sure if it would be better to go before or after so I decided to go to both games. The Sabres lost in a shoot out, but that is ok since the penguins are my secondary team. Here are some random Pictures from that event.









































































Do to Lack of time that is about it. Now if I had a laptop with internet there might be about 100 pictures up here or more. If this isn't enough you can check out my webshots page and best way to view that is as a slide show. During the game they tell you about deals, like there was this cool popcorn tin thing. But the one I jumped on after the game was 25% of Jerseys and some other Items. Yes this is my first Sabres one. Is it cheap no, but a lot less then it was before.

So Super behind so not sure when the post of some Penguins Vs. Sabres photos will go up, soon I hope it was part of my Birthday gift to my self. But for now here are some snow and Christmasy Pictures.





















































That reminds me I haven't put up any of My Train Tags Photo project either. I could at least put up a start to it in some form. I wish I had time to trek around and get all kinds of lights pictures there really are a lot of people who do a great job with them.

So These pictures are aimed at a few (e:peeps) but not only them I hope everyone enjoys these pictures from the mall and other places as well.

















So Later that Night My Niece, sis and friend went to famous dave's BBQ. It was a good time and very intersting. The Staff was great with dealling with a 1 year old who was all over the place, lets just say a thing of peper flew through the air wish I would have videoed that might have been interesting. Well here are some Pictures of the place. Oh yeah the food was good to.



















































Yes there are more pictures I want to post that are christmasy I'm hoping to make it to the live Navity and maybe get some pictures there on friday we shall see if that happens. I also want to write a post about how Wal-Mart is good. Yes they get a lot of bad press but there is some good things about them to. This last picture is of a picture I wish I thought to take. When checking out at Wal-mart this was pointed out to me, I should have got one of each 3 flavors. They Where Mountain Dew, Pepsi, and Dr. Pepper Flavored lip balm, I wish I took a picture of all 3.





If I was thinking I would have bought extras so I could try them or maybe even send them out to people. That reminds me if anyone is going to a mall don't be shy and if you see a nice charity like Toys For Tots give something. I'm not saying you have to buy $100 toy or anything and I'm not saying you have extra money. But if you have some money that will be more usefull to someone else spend it on helping someone else if you can. Oh yeah and to all of those that give up your time and Volunter thank you.

So Looks like I'll be picking up my pictures at Walgreens on wens-day not going back out in that cold, great. I'm pictured out currently so this will not be the sabres post it is about why wal-mart is good.

1st. Full disclosure where I work we sell product to Wal-Mart, Target, CVS,Walgreen's, Rite Aid, and a bunch of other places and I have no how the money end of things work, I just pick the orders

2. I love target you can get any thing there really, well mostly.

3. I have gone to wal-mart near where I work and they aren't bad.


Yes Often times Wal-Mart get a lot of bad press and some of it they deserve. But there is often another side to that debate that people don't talk about. I'm talking about wages and how they are good that people are paid low rates.

So if you believe that Wal-mart is cheaper then say K-mart or someplace like that the first question is why. Since they are a big box store I'm sure we can assume that they pay the same price for a TV from Sony as anyone else does. Maybe they do have some ways to get it cheaper then target. But I suspect that they pay the same but that their mark up is less then Target. Yes there are some items that aren't name brand that they get for cheaper then SaY Target. But if this is the case that is because they buy things that cost less then target does. Yes in some cases maybe the workers who make it, make really low wages but for the country they work in that is the standard set there. In some places those are still good jobs, by comparison but that isn't what I'm really talking about.

Any store there goal is to make money. Yes it should be provide goods and Services people need, but it isn't. Since it is for profit that means that there is a certain profit margin on everything they sell. If a store spends x amount of dollars to run and that amount goes up, then their amount of profit drops. So that leads to an increase in price to make up for the less profit. Again though this is a tough balance if you raise prices to much people will stop buying stuff or shopping someplace else and you will lose even more money.

What keeps Wal-mart, Aldi, Price Rite and other places cheap is keeping there costs low. By doing this they can keep around the same amount of profit as other places. I have heard people say they won't go to wegman's because it costs to much. Well back about 10 years ago you could work at Wilson Farms for 3 years and walk into wegmans and on your first day as a Cashier you would be paid a higher wage. Yes they are a great company to work for, but those great things cost money so food costs more. The reverse is true also.

In other words what keeps prices low at wal-mart is that they don't pay very much. Most people think of that as bad. But what about people who want to buy stuff and don't have the money to go to
target. Some might say those are extras who cares. Well think about all the people who go to Price Rite or Save A Lot because Wegmans is to much. That is thought of as good but a retailer does it and they are evil, that is a double standard.

Generally speaking the Higher Paying Job, the tougher it is to get, and the more knowledge you need. Not to pick on anyone but I think there are a lot of people at Wal-Mart who that is the only Job they can get. If there was no Wal-Mart where would they work. What could they buy. Now working there they can at least buy stuff there.

Yes Wal-Mart is very powerful and when they abuse that power and push around workers and not pay them for overtime, that is bad. But that doesn't mean everything they do is bad. I also think protesting Wal-Mart is silly. Lets just say that it worked and no one went there. They would close and all those people would lose their Jobs. A job is hard to find where are those people going to go. What about the people who only can buy things at Wal-Mart how are they going to buy stuff. What about the places that Wal-Mart buys stuff from in other countries or even here, they could lose there jobs now that wal-mart isn't buying.

I think the entire wal-mart thing is another example of something that is very complex that people like to try and make simple and turn into a Political issue. You could make the point that it is a social issue but that is a different thing all together.

Oh one last point. I know that Wal-marts some times move into small towns and then all the local places close, or at least that is what I have heard. Then the guy who ran the local Hardware store has to get a Job there. That isn't wal-mart's fault. That is the town peoples lack of Loyality. They will go buy something at Wal-mart that is a little bit cheaper instead of buying from the person they know and trust, or atleast know. How about a little bit of loyality.

First of all thanks to (e:pmt) for hosting. Second of all it was a great time. Third of all the toast to Tony's Birthday was nice as well. I heard I missed great conversation about she males, that would have been interesting. Everyone that I know of lived. Yes (e:tinypliny) was a blast as she all ways is with that huge knife and talking about things she has tasted that was so funny it really was, it was a great time. Well in no real order here are the pictures from that night hope you enjoy them. They are all candids so some faces might have odd expressions as people make a face or are talking or what ever.

























































































































































































































































Just wanted to add the food was all pretty good even the veggies, often I don't like them. Hopefully I won't work anther close to 12 hour day and on Wendsday I can post my pictures from the Christmas lights some mall stuff and Famous Dave's. I have started work on my train tag photo project and want to post those this week also. Hoping to get some more photos on wends but we shall see what happens with work.