Growing up one of my fondest memories of Christmas was getting presents in the mail. They came from relatives who lived across the United States. Aunts and uncles in Arkansas would send boxes of mixed nuts. They had a farm where they grew nuts. Other relatives in Los Angels  would send a box of candy. We could count on grandma to send winter gloves, or a hats to keep us warm.

At the beginning of December dad would come home with boxes of towel sets, and other box gift sets. Then he would pull out all those brown paper bags from the grocery store. He had been saving all year. Each gift set was wrapped in brown paper and tied with course brown string. The labels were carefully hand written before being stuck on the package.

We are getting close to Christmas. If you have not shipped off your Christmas presents, you had better get them wrapped, and down to the shippers office. Regardless as to what UPS, USPS, or FEDEX tells you. This is their busiest time of the year. Mail it to it may not get there.

So in this post I would like us to look at all your shipping options.

Just the other day, I walked into Best Buy. It was there I was faced with making a choice of walking down one of three aisle. Each one going toward the back of the store like spokes on a wheel. I chose the far right one.

I did not get fifteen feet before coming upon a stack of boxes dividing the center aisle. Facing me was a display box of a sound system. 5.1 stereo with sub woofer and Blu-ray player looked inviting. The price tag of $265 looked reasonable. A little further down the aisle was 42″ LCD televisions. Both seemed reasonable Christmas gift for a family to upgrade their home entertainment.

This got me thinking about similar box sound systems I have seen at Wal Mart in the $100 to $200 range. Then I thought about ours. I got ours sound system from a yard sale for $10. The people from whom I bought it moving and just wanted to get rid of it. It sold new for $250.

When walking through Sears, at the end of three of the aisles where three different 3D televisions. At first glance the pictures were blurry enough for my eyes start hurting. Then I realize they were 3D TV’s. Off to one side were 3D glasses for me to put on. Then I say this amazing 3D picture of an arrow shooting through an apple.

It was not to long ago people who wore corrective glasses would have trouble seeing through the 3D glasses. They would see a blurry image with little 3D rendering. Fortunately, the technology for 3D glasses has gotten much better.

There are four ways 3D glass give us the 3D affect. Each is a little different with varying results.

Grouponicus and Gobblepalooza are some of the fancy names we are seeing to describe the after Thanksgiving Black Friday Day sales. For about a week now I have been getting emails from Amazon.com and others announcing Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales. Some stores have jumped the gun and have already started their sales.

At one time Black Friday was the starter pistol firing, to signal the start of the Christmas shopping season. Last year we saw some stores, like Sears, who normally don’t open extra as early on Black Friday, open earlier. This year we are seeing a lot of stores having pre-Black Friday sales. Only a small number of store are not waiting for November 25th to launch their Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales.

I have read that Kmart and Wal Mart will be open of Thanksgiving Day. This is almost enough to make me stop shopping with them. Thanksgiving has always been set aside for family gathering and watching TV. In our fast pace disjointed world, Thanksgiving has become one of the few times families can come together and reconnect. Now those who have to work on Thanksgiving Day will have a harder time to connect with family members.

One thing I have notice over the years is sports fans especially football fans want the best possible picture and sound while watching the game. When it comes to the playoffs and finally the Super Bowl, the color, sound as well as frame rate has to give at the game experience.

A television that produces the image and sound quality of a live championship football game will cost you in the $1,000 range or more. It is recommended that the screen be at least in the 50″ range. The sound should becoming from a surround sound system of 5.1.

Back before LCD and Plasma screen TV’s got below $1,500, I knew this guy who would go to a big box electronics store a couple of days before the Super Bowl and get the biggest and best television they had in stock. Then a couple days after the game he would return it, to get his money back. Each year he would rotate between Costco, Best Buy, Circuit City, CompUSA, and whatever store he thought he could get away with his little scam.

Sneaker Net is where you save information on a flash drive. Then you pull the flash drive out of your computer. Walk in your sneakers over to a second computer, then put the flash drive in the second computer. That my friends is Sneaker Net.

In comparisons to other methods Sneaker Net is a fast and simple way to transfer any data from one computer to the next. Then only real limitation is that you have to have physical access to both computers.

Compared to what we have had in the past to transport information manually from on computer to a second, the flash drives is better than sliced bread. Like sliced bread they do go bad after a while. I have two flash drives setting on my desk that my none of my computer will not read the information on them.

A flash drive is great for our taking a Power Point Presentation with me when I go to speak. I taken any printing I want done to the printer on a flash drive. I have one flash drive with troubleshooting programs for when I am working on a computer.

Last week I received a phone call from a gentleman who is in his mid 60′s. He was calling me for help in finding a cell phone.  He was looking for a cell phone that is just a phone. He did not want any 3G or 4G. He does not text  or want take pictures.

As strange as it may sound, it is harder to find just a cell phone. At the end of 2010, it is much easier to find a handheld computer that is also a cell phone.

Even though it is just a few days before Christmas,I set out to find just a cell phone. My hopes weren’t to high. I just wanted to see if I could find just a cell phone.

This past week I went to Best Buy shortly after they opened their doors at 8am. It was the best time to go shopping at Best Buy or any other store. There’re no crowds. There maybe two other customers in the whole store. I got in and out of the store in just a matter of a few minutes.

Many people just want to get the Christmas shopping over and done with as quickly as possible. In doing so they have found shopping online answers their desires. Nobody likes to fight crowds and long check out lines in any store, no matter what great deal for what great gift there is to get.

As you all know there has been a growing trend to shop at a store’s internet website and have those items delivered. In the last year or two the lines have been blurred more than any previous Christmas shopping season. Over the past few years shopping online has become more and more popular.

Are you ready for tomorrow? Tomorrow is the biggest shopping day of the year. Have you been getting all those fliers in the mail? Have you been getting all those emails letting you know where big saving are going to be happening on Black Friday?

If you haven’t been getting them, you must of have been cut off from any contact with the outside world. Local and national news has been filled with there own versions of where the best deals can be found on Black Friday.

Today is Thanksgiving. It is a time of food, family, and friends. The day after Thanksgiving is Black Friday. It is when store offers blowout deals to start off the Christmas Shopping Season. My sources have all been telling me that this is the most optimistic Black Friday in years.

I love sitting around coffee shops, and lounge area. What I over hear is so amazing. Just the other day this guy asked a friend, “Where was the best place to get a LCD TV?”

The friend answered quick, “Fred Meyer, they have the best prices.”

I was so tempted to lean over and ask what empirical data he was making statement. Instead I bit my tongue. Without any ceremony, I got up and walked to my car. From there I went to Fred Meyer.