You Are About To Say "Are You Kidding Me?"

This is what I said and I KNOW that this is what you'll say too.

I was flipping around the google news section with "appliances" in the search header looking for any up-to-date appliance news for our blog like I usually do, and something grabbed my eye.

The header said "White Christmas Earns Some Free Appliances". No, unfortunately the report wasn't about Percy's in Worcester. However, it was about an appliance store in Fort Scott KANSAS!!! (Ok, now you can say "Are You Kidding Me?").

www.wibw.com's website posted the story and it reads:

"...Denny Heidrick started a tradition at his Fort Scott appliance store more than ten years ago. Make a major purchase in the two weeks after Black Friday and, if three inches of snow falls Christmas Eve, it's free!

This is the first time customers are able to cash in...."

I have a lot of things flying around in my head right now and all of them don't make any sense.

1. Why on earth would anyone bet snowfall in Kansas? Kansas averages around 10" ALL YEAR. (Massachusetts averages 64" - 84" all year) It's almost impossible to hit three inches in Kansas in one day let alone in a year.

2. With the snowfall averages in Massachusetts wouldn't you think that that would be Percy's name in that storyline?

It's baffling to me. Oh well, congratulations to all in Fort Scott who are enjoying their free dishwasher right about now. Don't worry New England....2010 is gonna be our year. I can feel it.

Have a safe and happy new year.

Take Care,

-Brian

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A New Year Resolution Worth Doing

Wow. Talk about a New England weather flop! We recorded less than an inch of snow on Christmas Day unfortunately, but the day AFTER Christmas was 51º! How was that possible? I can remember a few years ago there was a Thunderstorm the day after Christmas so it's not too unbelievable. But I hope everyone's holiday was a great one.

The dawn of a New Year is around the corner and I once again haven't come up with any New Year's Resolutions. None. However, I would think that most people would like to become more "Earth Conscious" and to save more energy, but that may not have hit the top ten New Year's Resolution list. Shouldn't it have?

According to Associated Content, these are the top ten New Year's Resolutions for 2010:

10 - Stop Smoking. That is a good one to do obviously. The even more obvious reason should be the fact that it's almost $10 a pack here in Massachusetts so if you're a pack a day...you get my drift.

9 - Be Nicer To Other People. Who wouldn't want to be?

8 - Quit Drinking. Same reason as #10 would be the cost value but also health is always a resolution as a whole and quitting drinking greatly reduces liver damage. No this is not your Mother talking.

7 - Quit Taking Recreational Drugs. I'm not going to get to much into this but again....health. Biggie.

6 - Spend More Time With My Family. With the economy the way that it is, money is becoming a hot commodity and in a lot of cases, more work = more money. If you have a wife/husband with kids at home and you're spending 90 hours a week working just to make more money, you need to think about how it's effecting them too. Some people want to strive to spend more time with the fam and companies have to accommodate for this!

5 - Read More Books. C'mon, they even have books on electronic devices now. If you're a tech junkie?...buy a ebook reader and read more. Your brain will thank you.

4 - Expand My Horizons By Learning Something New or Taking Up A Hobby That Doesn't Involve A Computer. No...Bejeweled isn't a hobby. Learn a new language, build model airplanes, write a short story that maybe only you would read. It doesn't have to be Oprah's best seller, just something from the heart. Maybe it's time to turn the TV off for an hour a night and try something we wouldn't normally do...like paint! That's what I did! Very therapeutic .

3 - (This is probably where "Become More Energy Efficient" should land) Organize My Life So My Time Is Spent More Efficiently. My desk is visible proof of this. There are so many free avenues of ways to keep us more organized. I'll give you one tip. Only one. If you have Gmail, you can click on Calendar and setup an appointment. More importantly, you can have the reminder emailed to you or even to your Blackberry or iPhone. I just recently started using it because my brain is turning to mush, but it helps. I now remember some of the more useless things that I would ALWAYS forget about for some reason. The best quote I've ever read is "Proper Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance". Say that 2 times fast...I dare you!

2 - Go On A Diet/Lose Weight. No explanation needed here! We all could afford to do it. (See #4)

1 - Get Out Of Debt And Handle My Money Better. You, me and the Government all need to aspire to do this this year. EVERYONE!! It's hard but it needs to be done.

So there you have it. Feel free to flip the pencil over and erase the ones you want to put on the top shelf for now labeled "Come Back To This Later". We all do it. Let's all strive to get 1 thing accomplished this year we set out to do. I'll promise as long as you do too.

Take Care,

-Brian

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Need A Christmas Miracle...

It's Christmas Eve. Some of you are driving, flying or taking a train to see your family tonight or tomorrow. If you're going to the Midwest there is a ton of snow falling on one side, and tornado warnings on the other side. The Northeast? Not so much.

I've been monitoring the situation from my desk at Percy's on Gold Star Boulevard in Worcester, and it's not looking good. The average temperature for tomorrow will be between 38º and 41º. Precipitation is only at 10% possibility. The chance of 6" of snow is now lowered to around 1% at this point. So, we are in desperate need of a Christmas miracle! I've set up a little section here that you can check on after Christmas Day has finished. Click the link to see the official measurements from the National Weather Service. FINGERS CROSSED!!!!!

I would like to wish all you and yours a very Happy Holiday this year. Wherever you are, whoever you're with, may your holiday be bright.

And as always...

Take Care,

-Brian

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WWW.WEATHER.COM Dreaming of A White Christmas?

It's cold. I mean, it's freezing. I feel bad for some radio hosts that I'm listening to right now, they're walking and collecting money to feed the hungry. They're doing the annual "Walk and Rock for Change" collecting money for the Worcester County/Greater Boston and New Hampshire Food Banks. Good luck to them, they're doing a good thing for the needy this holiday season. It will probably feel about 2º outside with the windchill, so I hope they keep warm.

They said that this winter wouldn't be AS bad as last year. If you remember last year we got pretty good snow amounts and we had bitter cold days. We also had the Ice Storm of '08 that cut down many people's power and heat for almost 2 weeks. With high hopes of a White Christmas, people came to Percy's during the Black Friday weekend and any purchase they made could have been free if it snowed 6" or more on Christmas Day. If I remember correctly, we got a huge snow heap the day AFTER Christmas. So sadly, nobody won in 2008.

This year the odds are a little higher. I decided to check www.weather.com yesterday to see if there were any updates on when and if snow would fall next week (Christmas Day) and I came across something alarming. It is supposed to snow Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. We have a 60% chance of snow on Christmas Day! So all you customers who came out and shopped on Black Friday in 2009, there is a better chance of snow on this day over last year! Keep those fingers crossed. Remember, the 6" HAS to be reported at the Worcester Airport in order to be a success. Thankfully, the Worcester Airport is up on one of the many Worcester Hills so snowfall is more likely to accumulate. I'll keep you posted.

Take Care,

-Brian

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