Where in the World Isn't Bob Saget?

[Nemo14]

I gave you a like for the pictures and the background story. I was, however, scared for you for being so close to him!!! You have guts to get within 20 feet of that critter!!

That was using zoom on my camera. I was standing well over 50+ ft from him at the closest. To get any closer to a gator named Crazy would be, well....crazy.

I seem to recall a photo from you taken as you lay on a boardwalk in the Everglades....

 

[Tick Tock]

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[Nemo14]

You're hallucinating.

Besides, those gators were named "Sensible" and "Of A Sound Mind", so no worries there.

 

[JenniferS]

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Sometimes one ewe is not enough.

 

[Nemo14]

 

[JenniferS]

Sears Canada is done.

In June, they announced that 59 stores were being closed and they were seeking court protection and time to restructure. Last week, it was announced that 11 more stores were closing. And today, Sears asked for court permission to close all the remaining 130 stores.

Liquidation sales are expected to start as early as 10/19 ... as in 9 days from now.

This is the end of an era for me. I have bought more things from Sears over the years, both in store and from the catalogue, than from all other stores combined. To this day, all of my nighties and bras are purchased at Sears. Mike’s first suit came from Sears. Heck, everybody’s first suit came from Sears.

2900 people lost their jobs in June. Another 12,000 will join them shortly. No severance pay. No extension of benefits.

The retail world has changed. Not necessarily for the better.

 

[Songbird76]

I don't know what's Christmas-y about those. Here are some real Christmas pancakes - fruitcake flavored!

Spoiler

If you are what you eat, does that make you a fruitcake if you actually eat them?

 

[MinnieM123]

Sears Canada is done.

In June, they announced that 59 stores were being closed and they were seeking court protection and time to restructure. Last week, it was announced that 11 more stores were closing. And today, Sears asked for court permission to close all the remaining 130 stores.

Liquidation sales are expected to start as early as 10/19 ... as in 9 days from now.

This is the end of an era for me. I have bought more things from Sears over the years, both in store and from the catalogue, than from all other stores combined. To this day, all of my nighties and bras are purchased at Sears. Mike’s first suit came from Sears. Heck, everybody’s first suit came from Sears.

2900 people lost their jobs in June. Another 12,000 will join them shortly. No severance pay. No extension of benefits.

The retail world has changed. Not necessarily for the better.

Wow. That's quite a blow to all those workers, and to the Canadian customers who liked Sears. Yes, the retail world has certainly changed. I sure hope that there will always be some brick and mortar stores around--sometimes, you just want to stroll through a store, and not have to stare at mini-photos of merchandise on a computer screen. Plus, I like to try on clothing, check out small kitchen electrics, etc., and know right away if I like something or not. One of the downsides of online ordering is that I often return things for one reason or another.

As for Sears down here--I never particularly cared for their stores, but what I used to love (years ago) were their huge catalogs that they'd send out to homes. Those I definitely miss.

 

[NYwdwfan]

As for Sears down here--I never particularly cared for their stores, but what I used to love (years ago) were their huge catalogs that they'd send out to homes. Those I definitely miss.

The Sears Wishbook. My sister and I used to fight over who got to bend over the corners of pages first.

 

[MOXOMUMD]

 

[JenniferS]

The Sears Wishbook. My sister and I used to fight over who got to bend over the corners of pages first.

This quote from the old Saget thread would indicate that the last Wish Book we got was in 2014.
https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/where-in-the-world-is-bob-saget.862692/page-3128#post-6282412

I didn’t appreciate the last few Wish Books as much as I did when the boys were little, but I was really looking forward to carrying on the traditional with my future grandchildren.

“Come sit on Nana’s lap and let’s look at this 5” screen” probably isn’t going to elicit the same whoops of joy.

 

[Andrew C]

Sears is done

FTFY...because I am betting on this being true soon.

 

[JenniferS]

FTFY...because I am betting on this being true soon.

Sadly, this is probably true. The difference is, you guys have a dozen other department store chains - JC Penney, Macy’s, Lord & Taylor, Kohl’s, Tar-jay, Nordstrom ....

While ones and twos of those stores are slowly drifting into Toronto, most regular city malls will now be totally without a large anchor department store.

 

[Andrew C]

Sadly, this is probably true. The difference is, you guys have a dozen other department store chains - JC Penney, Macy’s, Lord & Taylor, Kohl’s, Tar-jay, Nordstrom ....

While ones and twos of those stores are slowly drifting into Toronto, most regular city malls will now be totally without a large anchor department store.

Does The Bay still exist up there?

Also, our options in department stores here compared to what ya'll have reminds me of the options in grocery stores. For example, what I have always noticed is that while your grocery stores may have 5 options for a certain product, ours would have 20 plus. Not sure if this has changed in recent years.

 

[Mike S]

Sadly, this is probably true. The difference is, you guys have a dozen other department store chains - JC Penney, Macy’s, Lord & Taylor, Kohl’s, Tar-jay, Nordstrom ....

While ones and twos of those stores are slowly drifting into Toronto, most regular city malls will now be totally without a large anchor department store.

Pretty much everyone that doesn't also sell food is getting hit by this.

 

[JenniferS]

Does The Bay still exist up there?

Also, our options in department stores here compared to what ya'll have reminds me of the options in grocery stores. For example, what I have always noticed is that while your grocery stores may have 5 options for a certain product, ours would have 20 plus. Not sure if this has changed in recent years.

There are 90 Bays left (none near me), now owned by the company that owns Sak’s Fifth Avenue and Lord & Taylor, since 2008.

There are a couple of reasons for lack of variety on the shelves up here - mandatory bilingual packaging discourages small US manufacturers, a mere 37 million consumers spread across the second largest land mass, and the fluctuating value of the CAD vs the USD affecting US imports.

Processed foods, ie - centre aisle merchandise, is occupying less and less square footage currently, so in some cases, there just isn’t the room on the shelves anymore. I’ve complained about this exact situation before - I used to be able to choose between almost a dozen types of relish (type, forget brand name), now I four choices ... sweet green, corn, tangy dill, and zucchini. Completely gone are “hot dog” relish (yellow and mustardy), “hamburger” relish (red and ketchupy), zesty onion ....

Also, much like the banking situation, the grocery store landscape is dominated by just a few chains, and they are eager to dedicate as much shelf space to their in-house brand as possible.

 

[Tick Tock]

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[JenniferS]

Quick wrap-up of the Okefenokee part of the TR. (By the way, if these swamp pics are boring, let me know & I'll skip straight to the WDW part, with no hard feelings toward anyone except @PUSH ).

So I took a boat ride into the swamp. This was a slow-moving motor boat, not one of those airboat tours with loud motors which usually scare off most of the wildlife you came to see in the first place. Since this was a slow Monday, I was the only person riding, so it was like a private tour. My driver's name was Shane, and he was great! He has lived in the Okefenokee Swamp area for most of his life, and knows all the in's & out's. Learned a lot of neat info from him while riding. If ever any of you go to the Okefenokee and take a swamp boat tour, ask for Shane.
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Interesting fact: Swamp water from the Okefenokee is safe to drink!
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Neat little reflecting sign showing how clear the water is:
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Large alligator nest:
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I see you, Mama...
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I love the gator pics. I find them fascinating.

 

[JenniferS]

Anyone else finding the site slow today? I’d blame the new iOS update, but all of my other sites are flying.

 

[Tick Tock]

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