Grinch UPS Delivery Man Steals iPad Off Front Porch Days Before Christmas

Well, so much for that yuletide spirit.

At the Los Angeles Times, "UPS guy steals homeowner's FedEx package -- on video":

Getting holiday packages swiped from outside your door is an unfortunate risk of online shopping. Unless you’re Al Alverson, a Texas homeowner with a security camera.

When he returned home one recent day to discover that the FedEx package he was expecting was missing, he turned to his footage and discovered the culprit.

And it wasn’t the milkman.

“I said, 'Oh my God, it’s the UPS guy,'” Alverson told KHOU 11 News.

In a video that’s now posted on YouTube and circulating around Reddit, the Grinch in a brown uniform drops off a parcel at Alverson’s door and then soon returns to nab the FedEx package.

The box contained an iPad mini for Alverson’s daughter.

At first, Alverston told the news station, UPS was less than helpful when he called to complain. But once he posted the damning footage, the shipping company promised to send him a replacement tablet, he said.

The delivery man was a temporary holiday worker for UPS, not a driver, spokeswoman Natalie Godwin said. He was fired and arrested, though he has since been released from custody, she said.

Continue reading.

If You're Doing Any Last Minute Shopping

There's still some holiday specials all day today, at Amazon.

Christmas Shopping

I was out with my wife this afternoon, Christmas shopping, but not for a new Cadillac ATS.

The company's been doing major promotions at the Irvine Spectrum, and pictured are a silver and red 2013 ATS. Folks might remember how Cadillac was running a major ad campaign during the Olympics, seen here. And the Los Angeles Times had a very favorable review back in October, which I've been meaning to post, "Car review: Cadillac makes a right turn with 2013 ATS":

This single, lonely aspect of the ATS is all that matters to trunkfuls of self-proclaimed automotive cognoscenti gathering in car clubs and Internet chat rooms across the country. Their amusement will overflow at the latest challenger to BMW's decades-long hold on the sports-sedan scepter.

Not so fast. Despite its flaws, the thrill of the ATS' drive is an impressive feat, and the car itself is a massive step in the right direction. Which is good, because frankly, it has to be.

This is Cadillac's first post-bankruptcy baby, a look at what General Motors' luxury division can do when it starts with a clean sheet of paper to design a car with global ambitions. It may come with an American accent, but it needs to speak to buyers in China and Europe as well. Much of Cadillac's image and future hinges on how well the ATS, which starts at $34,885, resonates at home and abroad.

So it's a good thing that this car's two strongest suits, its handling and its design, translate into every language.

More at the link.

And for the record, my wife and I had lunch at the Cheesecake Factory, shopped at the Apple Store, and bought some See's candy.

I'll have more Christmas blogging later. My grading's all done, although I have a few more presents to buy. Then I can enjoy the holiday and chill well into January.

Shopping Daiso

My son needed to pick up a case for his pencils last week, at Daiso Irvine. It's a Japanese "dollar store" except everything's priced at $1.50 or less.

The O.C. Weekly reports, "Daiso Is Dollar Shopping, Japan-Style."

One Million Moms Mad at Ellen DeGeneres

It's not the first time the group's gone after J.C. Penney for hiring the lesbian comedienne.

At the Los Angeles Times, "Ellen DeGeneres commercial for J. C. Penney angers Christian group."

Brisk Sales Point to Breakout Holiday Shopping Season

At LAT, "Shopping season off to strong start":

Opening their doors earlier than ever for Black Friday paid off for retailers as shoppers mobbed malls thick with sales across the Southland, snapping up electronics, toys and other deals.

Hundreds of bargain hunters surged toward the Glendale Galleria before midnight, some banging on one entrance and shouting to be let in. At the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica, shoppers rushing into Urban Outfitters shattered a glass door. Mall traffic was a nightmare throughout Southern California.

Despite the chaos, early signs point to a blockbuster shopping day for merchants — with stores raking in even more than the record $11.4 billion for Black Friday they reported last year. More comprehensive numbers are expected Sunday.

"Overall it was a smash hit," said Britt Beemer, a retail expert at America's Research Group who has been tracking holiday sales nationally for more than three decades. "In all the years I have been out, I have never seen such crowds in my life."

Target, Sears and the Disney Store reported a surge in customers. Wal-Mart said it was the retail behemoth's best Black Friday sale ever. Mall operators saw long lines, and shoppers scooped up even some full-price items as well as bargains in stores and online.

The shopping frenzy cheered merchants and Wall Street, which enjoyed a big boost Friday.

There was no violence reported in Southern California, where last year at least 10 people were injured when a shopper used pepper spray to ward off rivals at a Porter Ranch Wal-Mart.

But protests erupted over working conditions at dozens of Wal-Marts nationwide, including one that led to the arrest of nine people blocking a street in Paramount. And two people were shot in what police said was a scuffle over a parking spot at a Wal-Mart in Tallahassee, Fla.

LAist has more on that, "Local Walmart Workers Stage Black Friday Walkout [VIDEO]."

Bethany's Black Friday Shopping

Well, this is much more relaxed than Walmart in Georgia:

Walmart Black Friday Shopping

At JWF, "Bloody Friday: Deranged Shoppers Battle Over Cell Phones at WalMart."

(Also on YouTube, "Walmart Black Friday Fighting Over Phones During 2012.")