This Past Weekend-- Part 1: Round Lake Beach

NOVEMBER 15TH, FRIDAY: Drove over to Round Lake Beach, Illinois, for dental appointments, then drove around the town, where we lived for 17 years while teaching. The lakefront park at Round Lake Beach is as beautiful as ever. After Liz's hair appointment in Round Lake by Magee Middle School (where I taught for 31 years), we had the Chinese buffet at Chiang Jiang in Mallard Creek Shopping Center by Il-83 and Rollins Road.

The poor place is hanging in there in the nearly vacant shopping center now that only about four stores remain. Things are even worse as Rollins Road between Hainesville Road and 83 is undergoing a major renovation because of the railroad crossing there.

Then, we went to the Super-K on Rollins Road a little west of Mallard Creek. Sadly, it is being closed because of a lack of business. We don't have any K-Marts anywhere near us anymore as the K-Mart in McHenry also closed.

Later, had a few drinks at the Dirty Rooster on Grasslake (they moved to a new place on Il-173 at the end of this month). Enjoyed that great view of Grasslake on one of the few decent days we have left now. Ran into someone who knew me from my deejay days. He said he liked me because I interacted with the crowd, something deejays rarely do these days.

Can't Complain About the Weather. --RoadDog

Black Friday

An article in the Nov. 21st Chicago Tribune "Black Friday turning pale" by Sandra M. Jones

Black Friday is typically the busiest shopping day of the year. This year, foot traffic is expected to be 2.5% less than last year. Plus, retail sales for the past two months are disappointing.

Economic pressures like surging gas prices, higher prices in the grocery stores, the fall of home equity will be keeping a lot of people out of the stores.

Stores themselves are not doing themselves a favor as far as Black Friday is concerned. Many have been offering Black Friday promotions for weeks. You can also go online, order, and pick up your purchases. Two stores around here, northeast Illinois, K-Mart and Meijer's were open yesterday. Plus, Value City opened at midnight. Kohl's and JC Penney's had 4 AM openings this morning.

The first time I heard the term Black Friday, I thought it was a term connoting something bad, you know, the stock market fall, or something like that. I didn't know that it marks the day when retailers go from losing money to making a profit.

Let's Hope It's a Good Day for Retailers. --RoadDog

Perhaps the retailers are overdoing it a bit.