Bike with Lock and Helmet

It may sound weird to place such a big-ticket item on a gift list for college students.  But trust me on this…it will be worth having.  Marietta is a small town.  Marietta College is a small college.  It only makes sense.  Take your bike on a ride downtown instead of driving.  heck, if you’re one of the unfortunate students without a car on campus, it makes even more sense.  The only place I wouldn’t suggest riding to is Wal-Mart, since there are several busy intersections with no crosswalks.  But other than that, you can go anywhere.

Another place you could ride to is the city’s bike and hike trail.  it extends all the way from the confluence of the Ohio and Muskingum Rivers to Indian Acres park.  The trail is currently being extended, so eventually it will go from Indian Acres to behind Wal-Mart.

For Marietta, I would suggest a mountain bike.  The streets and sidewalks are not all smooth, plus the fact that terrain varies greatly.  Having several gears to select from could help with those steeper hills.  Also, having front and rear brakes will help on bricks, which are notoriously slick.

BMX bikes are not a terrible idea, as there is a new skatepark that welcomes them to be used there.  However, they may not provide the best ride on long-distance trips.

The lock will come in handy, since you don’t want to lose your bike.  The important things to look for on bike locks are that it has a combination, and some sort of protective covering on the cable itself.  There are many options to choose from, so choose based on what you feel meets your needs the best.

Lastly, a helmet is a legal must.  If you don’t want a ticket, wear a helmet.  Besides, if you fall, you don’t want to risk serious injury, right?

The Hangover

I don’t think I have to say too much about this one.  It was one of the best comedies of the year.  If you own a Blu-Ray player, go ahead and pick it up for that.  If not, the widescreen DVD will be what you want.

Fast Food Gift Cards

College students love late-night snack runs.  And while the Gathering Place now offers snacks, better options are off-campus.  However, those late-night treks can add up quickly.  This is why college students should ask for gift cards to their favorite off-campus hangouts.

In Marietta and its surrounding areas, you have Tim Hortons, McDonalds, Wendy’s, Taco Bell, Subway, Burger King, Sonic, and Del Mar’s Mexican Baja.  $25 to $50 can last someone a whole semester if they use it right (and don’t allow their friends to mooch).

Movie Tickets

There are two Regal Cinema’s near Marietta College.  And while MC students can get vouchers that allow for matinee rates at any time, pre-paid movie tickets are a nice gift that allows students to see more movies than they normally would.  They’re not good for movies that have just come out, but after a few weeks, you can see that blockbuster for free.

External Hard Drive

Students could have a computer problem at any moment.  That’s why external hard drives are great.  You can use them to back up data, ferry data from one computer to another, or use it as plain storage space.  While drives come in many shapes, speeds, and sizes, I would suggest Western Digital products.  I’ve used two of their external drives for several years and never had a problem with either of them.

If you know you’ll be moving a lot of large files, look for a drive with Firewire 400 or 800.  Try to find a drive that has no external power supply, as these drives are much more mobile than their corded compatriots.  The larger the drive, the less likely you are to have to buy another hard drive later down the line.

The man placed the calls, which threatened Marietta Memorial Hospital, Selby General Hospital, the Marietta Wal-Mart, the Marietta Comfort Inn, and Marieta College, on what is being called an, “untraceable cell phone.”

The man, with an apparent speech impediment, called the Washington County Sheriff’s Office each time, simply stating that there is a bomb at the site, and then repeating himself and hanging up.  The calls can be heard by going to the Marietta Times website

All locations were swept by bomb-sniffing dogs and local police, but nothing was found.  The calls have been deemed hoaxes, so there is no immediate threat to the college or any other site.

The first that I’ll highlight is Katy Black, who is currently in Scotland.  She had an interesting adventure trying to find toothpicks at several of the many specialized stores that populate the country.  There are chain stores, but nothing like Wal-Mart.  She eventually found bamboo sticks that she could use as toothpicks.  You can read about her search here.

A male employee at a Wal-Mart was trampled to death by the mob of shoppers waiting to try to scavenge a deal.  Evidently, he was the unfortunate one to open the doors, which were pushed open and over top of him by the crowd.  He was transported to a local hospital, where he died.

Now obviously, the importance of this story pales in comparison to the recent attacks on Mumbai.  However, what does this say about America?  That saving $70 on a Blu-Ray player or $100 off a TV is a reason to not stop and help him up?  Absolutely rediculous.  Now, I realize that some people may have been pushed along as well and couldn’t even fathom stopping to help, but still…they are material things.   And sadly, this man died because you needed to  save that extra bit.

Meh.

I will be spending the day recovering from my Turkey Coma (or what I can eat of it considering my braces were just tightened…meh).

I just wanted to alert those going shopping that many deals are actually being offered online before Black Friday.  While there will still be many many options that are in-store only deals, many (if not most) of the good deals can be had ahead of time on a merchant’s website.

My personal favorite Black Friday site, Black Friday Ads, has a list up of all the merchants that currently offer Pre-Black Friday savings.

Here’s my personal notes to this year’s Black Friday:

• If you’re looking for a Wii, they are out there.  Just not as many as were hoped.  Big retailers to check are Amazon.com (which has been rumored to have the biggest stockpile available), Wal-Mart, and Best Buy.
• There are some good deals on XBOX 360′s this year.  However, the Arcade edition just isn’t worth getting.  If you’re getting an XBOX, it needs to have a hard drive in it, especially after the New XBOX Experience came out.  The Arcade 360 is $200 and comes with a controller and two games.
• Wal-Mart does have an awesome deal if you’re looking to get a 360.  The 360 Pro (with hard drive) also comes with Guitar Hero 3: World Tour (the version that comes with a guitar) for $300.
• Playstation 3′s are coming down in price, but are still not quite wear they need to be to compete against the 360.  Only buy one if you plan on watching a lot of Blu-Ray movies, as that is its strongest feature in this round of the console wars.  I’ve seen nothing below $400.
• Speaking of Blu-Ray, you can get a Magnavox Blu-Ray player fr $200 at Wal-Mart
• Best Buy has a 50″ Plasma TV for $900.  If you have the cash for it as a college student, its a great buy, as it’s a Panasonic, which is normally a good brand.

If you are looking for a comparison of all digital cameras (or TV’s, or laptops, etc, etc) then check out Black Friday Ads comparison chart.  Buy smart…you don’t want to drop $500 on a paperweight Dynex brand.  Ech.

Best of luck to those of you that are going out and about.  You’ll likely need it .