TV Commercials and their Predictable Pattern for 2020

It’s the middle of November and we’ve already been saturated with TV commercials featuring retail companies’ favorite holiday — ummm, the holiday.  You know, the one that features a decorated tree and that old, fat guy in a red suit and his flying reindeer.

Oh, you mean Christmas?  The biggest holiday of the year that so many merchants love yet so many people will never say out loud for fear of offending people?  Yeah, *that* holiday.

We’re not here today to talk about the double-sided face that we see almost everywhere in modern marketing.  Instead, we’re just talking about the sheer amount of TV commercials that we observe throughout the year, and how predictable it is these days.  And get ready because this next calendar year is going to be especially painful with TV marketing.

November 1st – December 23rd or 24th – CHRISTMAS

As I previously stated, we’re already in the Christmas marketing season.  For many companies that started on November 1st, but a few commercials were already spotted back in the middle of October.  Just when you think that you’ve had enough of the advertising by this point, it’s going to get worse at the end of next week.  Once Thanksgiving arrives, it’s a jailbreak blitz, a full-court press to hit the advertising as hard as possible until Christmas Eve.

That’s one of the reasons why I enjoy Christmas Eve so much these days.  Not only is it a day spent with family and friends, and there’s the maximum “holiday spirit” floating through the air, but it’s also like the advertisers finally sit back and take a break.  The rush is over.  There’s no more shopping for Christmas.  The popular items are long gone, lots of inventory is low, and most stores close early so the workers can go home to their families.

I mean, it’s only like what, 53 days or so of heavy advertising getting you to let loose and spend more of your money than you originally planned, possibly going into some amount of debt in the process.  That wasn’t so bad, was it?  No, of course not!

Take a nice and relaxing nap on Christmas as 2020 is going to be one of the worst years in the history of annoying TV commercials.

Read more…

The NFL’s (Fake) Salute to America and the Military

This past Monday was Veterans Day, and the NFL jumped on the pro-military and pro-America bandwagon.  On Sunday the NFL even conducted one of its live shows from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York.

NFL, I ask you one question:  Do you think that we are stupid?

It was only a few years ago that professional football players were spotted on the sidelines taking a knee during the playing of our country’s national anthem.  They claimed that they were protesting “social injustice” against black people, but what they were really doing was greatly disrespecting this country, those who fought and died for its values, and everybody who proudly stands for the freedoms and opportunities that we have here America.

They chose to make a stance and take a knee during the anthem.  They chose their side.  Since the league allowed those jackasses to protest America, millions of fans turned their backs on the spineless NFL.  I have not worn a single NFL-related hat or shirt since that time, and I doubt I ever will in the future.

NFL’s “Salute to Service”

So why are we supposed to believe that the NFL is being sincere with their “Salute to Service” campaign?

Last time I checked, the NFL is still NOT airing the playing of the national anthem on TV before the football games.  The tradition of having the players on the sidelines during the playing of the anthem is gone.  It’s DEAD.  Because of those asinine protests back in 2016 and 2017 (and its ringleader Colin Kaepernick (may he never play in the league again)), the tradition of honoring America before the games is no longer.

It’s simple.  As a whole, there is no patriotism associated with the NFL.  Sure, you can find individuals within the NFL who still support the country and those who proudly serve it, but as a whole the league caved and sided with the social justice warriors.

Many of us still remember what those players did on the sidelines.  That was *not* their stage for protesting.  Every single protester should have been immediately fired for their incredibly disrespectful actions.  But no action was taken, the league caved, and we saw their true colors.

And we won’t forget.

Changing Halloween Because of Weak Parents

Recently in two Florida counties parents are petitioning for the schools to cancel classes the day after Halloween.

Their reasoning?

It’s because kids are tired from being out late at night.  They’re also hyper on sugar the next day, making it more difficult for the teachers to control them.

This just happened to be the topic of the day for my local FOX5 news station.

A day off after Halloween?

The answer is simple.  No.

Absolutely not.

No way, Jose.

Are you, the incredibly weak and stupid parents that you are, really going to need me to explain to you why your ideas these days are not only disturbingly lame, but are actually *hurting* your kids instead of helping them?

Fine.  Sit down.  Let’s go over why you’re not only ruining the great holiday of Halloween and its tradition of trick-or-treating, but that you’re also hurting your kids in the process.

For starters, Halloween is celebrated on October 31st every year.  This isn’t one of those floating holidays that always occurs on a certain day of the week, like Memorial Day or Thanksgiving.  It’s a fixed date like the Fourth of July (don’t get me started on you people living in Detroit, Michigan, and Windsor, Canada) and Christmas.  You know exactly when it’s going to occur every single year.  Deal with it. Read more…

The Rise of Transgenderism in Today’s Society

Over the past fifteen to twenty years we’ve been seeing a steady increase in not only the number of people who claim to be gay, but the people who support them as well.

Until the early 1970s, gay people were classified as having a mental illness according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.  It was through pressuring of the gay rights activists that homosexuality was no longer classified as a mental illness by the end of 1973.  While still somewhat shunned by society in the 1970s and early 1980s, we began seeing more prominent gays and their supporters emerging into the public through those years and in the 1990s.

By the year 2000 gay characters and TV personalities were making their way onto the network channels.  Now at the end of the 2010s it seems that most major network shows have either a well known gay actor, a gay character, or a gay commentator / judge.  And with each passing year, it seemed like yet another famous face came out of the closet and announced their sexuality to the world.

For the past ten or so years, right on the heels of the rise of homosexuals, we’ve been seeing an increasing presence of people who claim to be transgender.  While the gays and transgenders may seem to be common, there’s quite a bit of difference between these groups of people.  And when you get down to the gory details, it can be utter madness.

HOMOSEXUALS VS TRANSGENDERS VS OTHERS

Gays and trannies tend to unite under the same flag of being an oppressed minority.  So do bisexuals, pansexuals, and whatever the hell term the SJWs will create next.  All of it can be classified under one simple description —- people who do not participate in the traditional sexual intercourse between solely a man and a woman, for whatever reason. Read more…

Halloween and Sex Offenders

With Halloween just over a week away, it’s time to talk about not jack-o-lanterns, costumes, or setting up spooky decorations, but rather sex offenders.

And just why are we doing this and killing the fun Halloween mood?

Because some police jurisdictions (and the news media) say so.

This morning on the local news there was a story about how Sheriff Gary Long in Butts County, Georgia, wants to put special “no trick-or-treat” signs outside the homes of convicted sex offenders, in a move to prevent children from having contact with those people.  These aren’t just outside the homes of child molesters or pedophiles, but ALL of the registered sex offenders in the county.

And it’s ridiculous.

Before I go any further, I’m not excusing the sex crimes that any of those people committed, especially the violent ones.  Toss ’em in jail and throw away the key.  But when they are eventually released, and they do follow the laws and restrictions, then they have the right to be treated as human beings.  Why should they go through further humiliation and shaming after they’ve “paid their debt to society,” as so many people love to say when their favorite celebrities (i.e. Michael Vick) go to prison? Read more…

Good Taste Gwinnett – 2019

Last week on October 17th, my wife and I attended Good Taste Gwinnett, an opportunity to sample and try out some restaurants in the local area.  We had such a great time last year that we came back a second time.

Good Taste Gwinnett 2019 – welcome sign

Good Taste Gwinnett is like a mini convention.  You have to pay a small fee to attend (an even smaller fee when purchasing ahead of time and when using promotions), but with that you receive a goodie bag with a bunch of coupons and other little gimmicks, as well as three “tasting tickets.”  Each tasting ticket allows you a sample from any of the restaurants in the venue.  If you want more tickets, they’re sold at Good Taste Gwinnett for $1 each.

Good Taste Gwinnett 2019 – participating restaurants

If you pay for the V.I.P. experience, then you receive six tasting tickets and an even better goodie bag (a small insulated bag) with really good coupons as well as free tickets to the Fernbank science museum, and a free hockey ticket for the Atlanta Gladiators.

Good Taste Gwinnett 2019 – participating restaurants

Enough of that already.  Onward to the venue! Read more…

Trangendered Students, the Bathroom, and Pickens County Schools

A couple of weeks ago Pickens County, Georgia, adopted a new bathroom policy for transgendered students, based on a recent court ruling by the Eleventh Circuit.

The court sided with a transgendered student who claimed that his rights were being violated by the 14th Amendment, and he was receiving unequal treatment based on the sex of his choosing.  The court basically said that he could use whichever school bathroom that went with his sexual identity.  In this case it was a student who was born female, had transitioned into a male, and wanted to use the men’s restroom with the rest of the students.  A complaint was filed and the school forced this student to use a gender-neutral bathroom.  Hence the unequal treatment and the lawsuit.

Fast forward a few months.

Earlier this school year, parents of a girl transitioning into a boy went to some Pickens County officials and requested that their child be allowed to use the boys’ bathroom instead of a separate unisex bathroom in the teachers’ lounge.  Until recently that was the county’s policy.  Should any student feel uncomfortable using either the girls’ or boys’ bathroom, then they were allowed to use the bathroom stall in the teachers’ lounge.  However, since the Eleventh Circuit made the ruling that transgender students may use whichever bathroom fits their sexual identity, Pickens County decided to change its bathroom policy.

On October 10th the county said that it was going to build a series of gender-neutral bathrooms composed of several private stalls in each one.  In the meantime, students were allowed to use whichever bathroom they identified with.  That’s the critical part of the story here.

Naturally, this caused many parents to be outraged, especially since there was no advance notice of the policy change.  There was so much outcry that the county held an emergency town hall meeting on Monday, October 14th, so that concerned parents could have a chance to speak to the officials and let them know about their concerns.

The school officials listened to the concerned parents as well as the supporters of the transgender students.  Still, the policy remained in effect at that point in time. Read more…

False Report of Attempted Kidnapping at Deerwood Academy

Oh wow!

Would you believe that?

Sure enough, the story about an eight-year-old girl’s attack and attempted kidnapping turned out to be false.  Untrue.  A complete lie.  Or as said by the Atlanta police department, “unfounded.”

It didn’t take long for the results of the investigation to emerge.  As anybody could have easily figured out, it turns out that the girl was lying for whatever reason about her alleged attack.  There was no attack.  There was no threat to the school that day.  Everything was fine.

It turned out that yes, the students *were* closely supervised while they were on the playground at recess.  It also turned out that no, the girl was certainly *not* attacked by a stranger at any point in time.  One of the school’s security cameras does monitor the playground, and all of that was easily verified.  I’m sure that’s why the school waited so long before they were forced to act on the girl’s ridiculous claims.  They knew that she was lying, but because of all of the rules and restrictions, they still had to ultimately act upon it.

Why did the girl’s mother believe the story despite the obvious plot holes?  I know that parents want to believe their children when bad things happen, but I’ve got news for you.  Are you ready?  Children lie.  This is actually somewhat frequent in today’s society.  Just ask any teacher and you’ll probably hear several examples of students lying and parents believing the lies.

Shame on the girl’s mother for believing such an obvious lie by her daughter.  Shame on her for allowing her and her daughter to be interviewed by the news media.

So how about the local news stations?  Why did all of those news stations cover the story when it was obvious that the kid was lying?  Didn’t any of the producers take a moment and use some common sense before approving the story before it was aired?

That’s what I want to know.

I hope the police and school system go after the daughter.  I don’t care that she’s only eight-years old.  She knew exactly what she was doing when she told her lie about being choked by a stranger, and having him put a gun in her face.  While kids do make mistakes (that’s part of being a kid), when you screw up on a level that high, the school and law enforcement need to step in and do something about it.  These false reports are getting ridiculous.

Attempted Elementary School Student Kidnapping — Did It Really Happen?

Last night and early this morning a rather peculiar news story was making its rounds across the usual local news channels.

According to the stories, an 8-year-old, third grade student was almost abducted while she was playing on her school’s playground during recess.  The incident allegedly took place this past Monday afternoon.  Naturally, the girl’s mother is in an uproar that not only could such a crime take place at a school, but that it also took the Atlanta police department more than four hours to respond to the situation.

But when you take a closer look at the situation, parts of the story seem rather odd.

Let’s take a look at our four major news stations (WSBTV, FOX5, 11alive and CBS46) and see how each one reported this story.  Up first is WSBTV.

In the WSBTV article we get a general idea about what allegedly took place at Deerwood Academy on Monday afternoon.  The 8-year-old girl was on the playground, she was attacked by a stranger, and he ran away when her teacher blew a whistle, signifying that recess was finished.  The girl’s mom is upset that not only was her daughter attacked at school, but that the playground doesn’t even have a fence around it.  Plus there was a long time before the Atlanta police department was notified of the incident.

There’s a video about the incident on WSBTV’s website, and it has a little more information.  In the video we hear claims that the man walked over to the girl, grabbed her and told her, “Don’t move.  Don’t move.  Just stay here.  Don’t talk.  Don’t say nothin’.”  He allegedly grabbed and choked and even pointed a gun in the girl’s face.  Later, after they were inside the building, the teacher took her back to the classroom, but didn’t notify the principal until about 40 minutes later.

Strangely enough, the video made it seem like the mother was more upset about the lack of a safety fence around the playground rather than an armed man violently attacking her daughter. Read more…

Lying About A “Racist” School Attack In Virginia

Last Friday a major news story circulated about how a twelve-year-old girl was viciously bullied and attacked at her school.  And it was all because of her race.

Remember that one?

https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/virginia-girl-says-classmates-pinned-her-down-cut-her-dreadlocks-on-playground

According to the news article and accompanying video, Amari Allen was assaulted by three white students while outside on the school’s playground.  One of the boys held her down, another covered her mouth so she couldn’t scream or cry for help, and the third one used scissors to cut off parts of Amari’s dreadlocks.  While doing so, the three white students allegedly called her names and told her things like she was ugly or that she shouldn’t even be there.  Amari even cried on camera during the interview with the news reporter.

Allegedly Amari was so ashamed that she couldn’t tell her grandmother (her legal guardian) about the attack.  It wasn’t until several days later that her grandmother noticed Amari’s hair, and that’s when she learned what happened.  The school and police were notified, and an investigation took place.  Naturally, news of the attack sparked outrage as it seemed so senseless and cruel.

In the video on the website, Amari’s mother, Lakeisha Allen, even says that those boys “. . . need to be locked up in juvenile.”  She also said that, “[t]heir parents need to be in trouble for this as well.”  After all, Lakeisha went on to say that, “. . . it’s a racism thing,” and that’s a “learned behavior.”

I’m sure you know exactly where we’re going with this one.  The article’s title *might* have given it away.

So today, Monday, September 30th, it was announced that . . . THE GIRL LIED ABOUT THE HATE CRIME ATTACK. Read more…

Angels, Devils, and the Outrage Against a Substitute Teacher

Yesterday afternoon I heard about a news story concerning a substitute teacher at Awtrey Middle School in Kennesaw, Georgia.

According to the news, a substitute teacher had made a listing of her students, and she went as far as classifying them as “angels,” “devils,” or “mixed.”  The students were outraged, at least one of them took a picture of the list, and then it reached the parents and the news stations.  The substitute teacher was fired.  Meanwhile, some of the parents were concerned about this being a racist incident as the “devils” were black students.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/teacher-who-allegedly-wrote-note-calling-black-students-devils-is-fired/

That’s how it was being initially reported.  CBS News basically called it flat-out racism.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7481823/Substitute-teacher-fired-note-calling-black-children-devils-white-children-angels.html

Overseas in England, the Daily Mail website also heavily implied that this was a racist issue.

Of course, that’s not what really happened with the listing.  It turns out that the “angels” and “devils” both had white and black students.  Once that was admitted, the news stations had to change the narrative and make it about a “cruel” substitute teacher who was “mean” for labeling her students based on their behavior.

Fast forward to today.

The story about the substitute teacher was featured on many of the local news stations this morning.  Parents are mad, students are sad, and the school was quick to distance itself from this particular person.  The “victims” are trying to recover and move on after actually being labeled as naughty, not that it affected their grade in any way.

Let’s take a closer look and see what really happened in that middle school classroom.

For starters, this was done by a substitute teacher, and not a full-time teacher.  The class’s full-time teacher is out on maternity leave and is scheduled to return in a few weeks.  That means that this particular sub was a long-term sub. Read more…

Why is New Zealand “Hiding” the Mosque Shooting Video?

On Friday there was a mass shooting in New Zealand allegedly carried out by a single person, Brenton Tarrant.

In today’s age of technology, the entire attack was livestreamed on Facebook for the world to witness.  Naturally, the video was downloaded and has been spreading like wildfire across the Internet, including social media sites like Facebook and Twitter.

But then something rather strange happened.

Unlike the 9/11 videos of terrorists crashing airliners into the World Trade Center, or the numerous (and extremely graphic) propaganda videos of ISIS carrying out brutal and bloody executions (not being limited to beheadings, shootings, setting people on fire, drowning them, and other various ways of killing a human being), or those similar cartel execution videos, the government of New Zealand was quick to clamp down and classify the mosque shooting video as “objectional content,” thus making it illegal to download and even more illegal to share the video with other people.

A friendly reminder that it’s illegal to download and/or share the mosque shooting video.

And how serious is the government of New Zealand about stopping people from downloading and sharing the shooting video?  Just as this unspecified eighteen-year-old young man who was arrested and actually denied bail for doing just that.  He’s facing at least ten years in jail for sharing the video of the shooter, plus more for his online postings.  How crazy is that?

Telstra (an Australian ISP) censoring the Internet.

Following the government’s rather extreme response to the shooting, it’s been reported that various Internet Service Provider (ISP) companies in New Zealand and Australia have quickly been blacklisting and blocking people from accessing websites that have been reported to have allegedly shared the video at one point in time.  We’re not talking about blocking the page on the site that was reported, but the entire site as a whole.

It’s, you know, to help keep your fragile mind safe and all.  It’s for your own good.  Trust us.  We’d never lie to you.  And don’t you dare try to read Brenton Tarrant’s manifesto.  He’s evil.  Trust us.  We’ll just tell you what you need to know about him.  Trust us.

The big question is, Why is New Zealand being so hardcore about censoring the mosque shooting video and basically stopping people from talking about the incident? Read more…

Bribing and Cheating Your Way Through the System

Yesterday a major news story broke in which we learned that many wealthy parents, including some Hollywood celebrities, have been caught using bribes and other tactics in order to give their children significant advantages to be accepted into colleges and universities.

Oh, wow.  Imagine that.  Parents with lots of money used their resources to give their kids an unfair advantage.  That’s new, right?

In other words, a story like this is nothing surprising as all.  As long as people hold some sort of advantage, whether it’s money or favors or information or whatever, then at least some of them will use it to gain an edge over the competition.  It’s low, it’s dirty, it’s shameful, but it can be extremely effective.  That’s just a part of life no matter where you live.

Bribes aren’t always in cash.

We’ve seen this a countless number of times throughout history.  Chances are likely that you know somebody who gained an unfair advantage simply because they had that type of parents.  And you know what?  In the end, it doesn’t even matter.

Back in middle school, I was on two football teams.  For each team the head coach’s son got to be the starting quarterback, not because of talent, but simply because he was the coach’s son.  We all knew they weren’t that good of players, but what could we really do about it?  Nothing.  Just focus on your position and help out your fellow players.  Neither of those starting quarterbacks played football at higher levels, but for those couple of years they got to be the star of the team simply because of their fathers being the head coaches. Read more…

Fall Back, Spring Forward, Is It Worth It Changing Our Clocks For Daylight Savings?

It’s that time of year again as we approach the dreaded start of daylight savings and having to “spring forward” and lose an hour of sleep.  Noooooooooooooooo!

People whine, gripe and complain about how it’s so much harder to wake up on Sunday and Monday morning following the annual switch from standard to daylight time, and coping with that sudden loss of an hour.  It can be somewhat of a big deal when you’ve got a standard routine and consistent times for falling asleep as well as waking up in the morning.

On the other hand, people generally love it in the fall when we go from daylight time back to standard time, and we “fall back” and gain an extra hour of sleep.  Generally speaking, it’s easier on the body when you’re got that extra hour of rest.  It’s not so difficult waking up for school and work on the following Monday.

In both cases, it only takes a couple of days for your body to adjust to the time change and get settled into its slightly adjusted routine.

When you consider the fact that as of 2007, standard time only lasts for four months, and that our society has greatly changed since the late 1910s when the shift to daylight time was first used in the U.S., is it still worth it changing our clocks twice a year?

What’s the point with dealing with this twice-yearly switching if it only lasts for four months? Read more…

Facebook, Project LifeLog, Mass Government Spying, and You

Last week we took a look at everybody’s favorite social media website and the fact that absolutely nothing that you do on there is ever truly “private.”

And just now, believe it or not, other articles have come forward informing us that the massive surveillance conducted by Facebook isn’t just contained within Facebook.  It turns out that other apps on your phone and tablet have been transmitting data to Facebook, whether you like it or not.

Now let’s take a look at some of Q’s recent postings and see just how deep that rabbit hole goes concerning the world of Facebook.

Q posting – Facebook & DARPA

Last night Q made a posting comparing DARPA’s Project LifeLog and Facebook.  Like I mentioned in my previous article, the Department of Defense created LifeLog as a way of tracking people’s thoughts, movements and actions, from where they go every day to what books they read, which TV shows they enjoy, etc.  Its purpose was to catalog and monitor EVERYTHING possible relating to average, everyday people.

LifeLog officially ended on February 4, 2004.

Facebook was founded on February 4, 2004.

So why was Project LifeLog cancelled?

Perhaps the question we have to ask ourselves is, was LifeLog really cancelled? Read more…

How To Survive the Momo Challenge

*disclaimer* I am merely stating my opinion.  Go do your own research.  Seek professional help if you believe that you or your child may be experiencing anxiety, depression and/or suicidal thoughts or actions.

It’s incredibly easy surviving the dreaded Momo Challenge that’s been sweeping the nation’s news stations over the past month.

Fox 5 Atlanta – The Momo Challenge

Are you ready?

Ignore it.  Just say no.

DO teach your kids about the dangers of fads, crazes, challenges, as well as depression and acts of violence, but as far as this particular “challenge” goes, it looks like it doesn’t have any substance to it.

While there has been a bunch of publicity warning parents about the dangers of the Momo Challenge and how it may lead kids down the dark path of depression and suicide, the truth behind the this latest craze is even more strange.  After doing some brief research, it appears that the Momo Challenge doesn’t even exist.  It seems to be nothing more than an Internet hoax.

So why the fear?

Its reputation is associated with violence, suicide and death, and that alone has many parents concerned for their kids.  Add in the claims of this challenge allegedly being spotted in some YouTube videos for kids, as well as popping up in WhatsApp, and there you go.  But that’s really as far as the reports go. Read more…

Facebook and Privacy and Ways It’s Used Against You

Between the words Facebook, privacy, and yourself, which one does not belong with the other two?

That depends on how you look at the situation.

If you value your privacy, then Facebook is excluded.  But if you value a public lifestyle on Facebook, then remove your privacy.

It seems that once every few months we learn of yet another way that Facebook is either involved with shady business practices (such as tricking minors to rack up ridiculous charges in games), to a more recent story about how some with the company.  It’s also been known about how the company also likes to track your constant location whether or not you actually use the “check in” feature.  But don’t worry, now there’s an easier way to tell the company as obviously as before.

Yeah.  Sure.  Okay.  Whatever you say, Facebook.  Yep.  100% complete faith in your system.

I’m supposed to believe you this time, just like how I’ve checked the “do not notify me of new friends” option yet you still keep notifying my phone of new friend suggestions at least once a day, almost all of those people that I’ve never met.

The end result though is still the same.

Facebook wants to know EVERYTHING about you to the smallest detail, from your location to your health to your spending habits.  And once you’re snagged by one of its tentacles, your fate is sealed.

But why? Read more…

Do You Remember . . . The Alliance of American Football (AAF) League?

A few weeks ago our local news station did a brief story about a new football league that was about to premier called the Alliance of American Football (AAF).

The concept of the AAF basically being a lower-level developmental league of professional football with all of the hard hitting action of the pros seemed promising.  It’s similar to how baseball and hockey have lower professional levels to help train new players and rehabilitate upper-level players coming off an injury or surgery.  In this case, it’s one more chance for undrafted and former NFL players (and coaches) to prove their abilities without resorting to the Canadian Football League, the Arena Football League, or playing football in Europe.

Unlike the developmental leagues for baseball and hockey, the AAF plays in an entirely different season than the NFL.  Here we are in late February and the AAF is already in its third week of the inaugural season.  Normally this time of year is dominated by coverage of NBA and college basketball, and if you live up north, ice hockey as well.

And apparently it’s still that way.

Here in Atlanta we have an Alliance football team (the Atlanta Legends and their 0-3 record), and despite their losing record, there’s virtually no news coverage of the team.  This is a major city that cherishes its football, from high school to college to the NFL.  It didn’t matter if the Falcons had a bad season.  Each week there was still plenty of news coverage of the team, whether you liked it or not.  Friday nights in the fall had highlights of high school football teams, and Saturdays were dominated by college football. Read more…

Gatlinburg, Tennessee – trip report part 9 – Diamond Resorts Sales Pitch

On Sunday morning we started the day very early.  After waking up at sunrise, showering and dressing, we had one final breakfast at our hotel.  Then we quickly loaded the car and checked out.  It was time to head home, but first we had to make a mandatory stop for our timeshare sales pitch with Diamond Resorts.

As it was explained earlier, the sales pitch was the entire reason for our almost spontaneous trip to eastern Tennessee and the Great Smoky Mountains.  Without it we would not have gone at that point in time.  But Diamond’s “free” trip offer was interesting, so we gave it a fair shot.

Diamond Resorts – Gatlinburg, Tennessee

Traffic was extremely light and the sun was still rising as we easily drove south through Pigeon Forge and quickly made our way into Gatlinburg.  Although our timeshare sales pitch meeting place was classified as being in Gatlinburg, the actual location was over ten miles away from the heart of the town.  It was a bit of a drive getting there, but we made it just before our scheduled appointment.

A strange part was that when we made our appointment for this trip, we chose the Pigeon Forge vacation option.  Our hotel was in Pigeon Forge, and that part was great.  No problems there.  But our sales pitch was not only in Gatlinburg, but it was at a place way outside of town.  Later during the meeting, the salesman did mention that Diamond did have a newer location in Pigeon Forge.  Why we weren’t scheduled to meet there, we’ll never know. Read more…

Gatlinburg, Tennessee – trip report part 8 – More Ripley’s Attractions

Returning to the October 2018 trip to Tennessee and the Great Smoky Mountains, after finishing Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Odditorium, we continued with our tour through Gatlinburg.

The weather was fantastic, the streets were getting busy, and our stomachs were getting hungry for some lunch.  We made our way down the street and dined at a national fast food establishment.  It wasn’t anything special, but it did its job of being inexpensive as well as satisfying our appetite.  Once we were finished, we kept walking down the street until reaching the Ober Gatlinburg tram station.  This was our turnaround point, so after checking out the building we crossed the street and began our long walk back towards the north side of town.

We still had two more attractions to visit as part of our Ripley’s multi-attraction ticket.  Up ahead we spotted the building for Ripley’s Haunted Adventure, so we decided to try it out.  My wife and I love haunted houses, and each year we always visit Netherworld here in metro Atlanta.  I remember seeing the website for Ripley’s Haunted Adventure before we left for the trip, and it sounded promising.

RIPLEY’S HAUNTED ADVENTURE

We approached the ticket window and scanned our attraction tickets to enter the attraction.  Then we walked down a short path that ultimately led to a waiting area for an inclined tram.  The theming in this area was decent and it helped build the suspense for a spooky trip through the ghost house. Read more…