Thanksgiving

First in line at the Dedham Best Buy.

Chris and Mihala, a young couple from Newton, got to the Best Buy in Dedham at 1 a.m. today to await its opening at 1 a.m. on Friday. It was partly so they could pick up a 42-inch TV marked down several hundred dollars and a computer, but also just so they could say they did something like wait outside a store for 24 hours - they'd never done something like that, they'd never even waited in line for concert tickets.

Food? There was takeout. Bathroom breaks? Port-a-Potties around the corner.

Greg Cameron and his wife, from Roslindale, were next to show up - at 8 a.m., followed by Kristina Milonas and her mother, from Norwood. They're more experienced line waiters - they do it every year, deciding which store to wait outside based on the sales. One year it was Target, another year, Wal-Mart, and this year, Best Buy, because of that marked-down TV.

Around 11:40 a.m., Jim Lokay posted a photo of the backed up traffic on the turnpike westbound between Framingham and 495.

Around the same time, Dave reported a major jam on 128 north by Rte. 20 in Waltham caused by a multi-vehicle crash that closed three lanes. Sarah Nelson reported a similar situation involving another multi-car crash on 495 south between exits 26 and 27.

At 9:30, Bari Walsh tweeted:

Traffic just stopped on 9 west in Newton as 10 or so wild turkeys crossed the road. I swear.

I have a new "game" I'm playing at work. Each day when I go out to buy lunch at the local Trader Joe's or Whole Foods, I'm buying one extra item.

My office building, like many others, is participating in a food drive for Thanksgiving in support of the East End House effort to hand out turkeys with all of the fixings this holiday season to people in need.

If I made my own lunch, I could probably rustle up something each day extra to put in my bag. But since I don't bring lunch, then those days when I get something at the store (instead of a take-out joint), I'm picking up a box of stuffing, or some instant potatoes, or maybe some powdered milk. It's only a few bucks each lunch that I'm less likely to notice and goes to a good cause.

Like the lottery says, "you have to play to win". Of course, the odds in my game are better. Every player's a winner.