Rant #2,014: Day By Day

How was your Halloween?

Our holiday was as quiet as I predicted it would be.

In fact, we have so much candy left that my wife is taking the leftovers to work so that her co-workers can fill their sweet tooths.

It is November. We have two months left to this year.

The World Series will once again be the "November Classic," as the Dodgers beat the Astros last night to extend the Series into the new month.

This is a particularly important month for me, personally.

Both my wife and father were born in this month, on November 10 and 30, respectively.

I will let you guess about my wife, but my father will turn 86 years of age on that date.

Good for him, and many more.

And good for my wife too, and many more for her.

Dick Clark was born in November, and so was Miley Cyrus, among other supposedly notable births during the month.

This is also the month of Thanksgiving, probably the greatest American holiday of them all, in my opinion.

It is the holiday that we celebrate family, and it is a holiday where the only gift you bring with you when you visit relatives for your turkey dinner is yourself.

What could be better?

We also celebrate some other things during this month. November is Native American Heritage Month, National Adoption Month, National Alzheimer's Disease Awareness Month, and National Diabetes Month, among other celebrations.

And on November 11 is Veterans Day.

November has been celebrated in a few songs, most notably Guns 'N Roses' "November Rain," which hit No. 3 in 1992.

I can't think of any other ones, although I know there have been several other tunes with November in the title.

And where did the name "November" come from, anyway?

I think it is derived from the number nine, perhaps in Latin, because at one time, on one of the calendars, there were only 10 months, and November was number nine. January and February were added later, and November was pushed to No. 11.

So there you have it ... everything you wanted to know about November but were afraid to ask.

And now that Halloween is history for the year, get out your pocketbooks and wallets, because the great holiday buying season begins this month.

Throughout the month, we are going to be bombarded with advertising reminding us to buy, buy and buy some more.

This year, Thanksgiving is on November 23, so Black Friday is on November 24.

Gather your pennies--the holiday buying season is here!