Friday, July 30, 2004
Shopping should be FUN
Wow (again – I know, I’m saying that a lot this trip…) – this laptop is a lot easier to use when it’s actually ON your lap. I had been using it on a chair, pointed out the window of The Mac’s upper floor, the better to pirate his neighbor’s wi-fi signal. It sounds a lot more illicit than it actually is, because the neighbor knows very well that The Mac is using his signal, and grants his blessing. I guess he figured it would be better than having The Mac come over every day to use the connection on their machine…
We’ve endured a lot during the first few days of vacation, but today made it pretty worthwhile. We went to the mall. The mall is great, and I know all the Americans who live here totally take it for granted, but it has good savings. I come from Canada, where everything seems expensive compared to stuff down here. Sure, our dollar sucks compared to the Yankee dollar (even though lately, it has done better than it had been historically), and yeah, there are probably some things that are a better deal in Canada (like maybe electronics for some strange reason, and only at certain times…), but the U.S. has neat stores we don’t have, and stuff in the stores that we might have chains of in Canada is just a little different.
I went to the Meijer (a fantastic large grocery-everything store) the other day, and found two nightgowns – cotton, long t-shirt style, short-sleeves – in bright orange and bright green, for only $3.20 each. THREE DOLLARS EACH!!! Hee!! Now that was a good score. I also got a pillow (since I have managed to forget mine at home and realize that although The Mac is equipped for visitors to an extent, he doesn’t have a lot of extra pillows) for only $3.50. THREE FIFTY!! Again, hee. Seriously – pillows in Canada run between $20 - $50 (if you want a really fancy one). Never, ever for three fifty.
As I was saying, we went to the mall, which has a lot of stores. We went to the Marshall Fields, which seemed to have some fairly nice stuff, but of course, since we all went, I never had enough time to properly scour the place for deals. We wandered partway down the mall, and ran into the Eddie Bauer store – one of my favourites. There were clearance racks with my favourite things, and it was hard not to buy everything. However, we are going to the Outlet Mall about 35 miles away soon, and I wanted to save up for the even better deals. It’s hard to believe there are better deals, but I know they’re out there.
We also went to the Lowes. I know that Gene Hackman does the ads for the Lowes, and was kind of looking forward to a great shopping experience. I was a little disappointed. We’re replacing The Mac’s back door with a security door, due to his recent break-in, during which many of his belongings and his thesis were stolen (now that’s a story he should tell you about). While we are here, I would also like to see linoleum or some sort of proper flooring installed in The Mac’s kitchen and bathroom. Currently, they are both carpeted. This seems… well, just wrong to me. Kind of gross, too, since stuff gets spilled in both rooms that you really wouldn’t want hanging around in carpet, growing, collecting more stuff, building small civilizations and trying to conquer the rest of the house. That stuff is hard to clean, too – requires vacuuming. Linoleum is a way better idea in both rooms. So we looked at the Lowes for lino, too. Hopefully, before we leave, we’ll have lino installed in the bathroom at least. We’re shopping with my father, remember, and according to his credo, many trips to the hardware store will equal better results. You can’t just go the first time and BUY stuff – you have to go, look around, stand around, look at stuff, walk the entire store, and then leave without buying anything at all. We have to go back to the Lowes again on a separate trip just to get the flooring, and then we’ll have to go back to get the tools, and then probably a separate trip for the glue, and maybe another trip for more stuff… it’s going to be a long week, people.
On the way out of the Lowes, The Mac and I were probably giddy from the hardware store, and all that standing around. While we were in there, a woman in a scooter (possibly even a disabled woman) drove up to where we were standing, and forced us to move out of her way, which we did as a politeness. She then stopped, right where we had been standing, and just stayed there. She didn’t want to go by at all, as we had originally thought. However, on the way out of the Lowes’ parking lot, the same woman was driving a PT Cruiser, heading right, where we were heading left. The Mac pulled out far enough to block her view, and vengeance was had. Again, our father was properly mortified at our callous disregard for the handicapped woman’s right to self-determination and an unobstructed view of the oncoming traffic, but we felt justified, and besides, it was pretty hilarious. It took about seven minutes to get out of that turn because she wouldn’t turn.
I have made a rule for the remainder of the trip – no more than TWO people on a shopping expedition at a time. With four of us milling and not sharing many interests, invariably someone gets lost at each store or wanders away from the group. I can’t say how many times I’ve shouted “It’s their fault! They wandered away from the group – I say we just leave!” in the middle of a store, only to be out-voted by the remaining group members. So we then have to search for the missing member, and how do we do that? We split up, probably the stupidest idea ever invented. “One of us is missing – I know, we’ll split up so we’re all alone, and then go look for them…” and then no matter how many of you find one another, there is still always someone missing. It took us 10 minutes just to get out of the Lowes.
Now we didn’t come to the States JUST to shop, we came to see the cars at Meadowbrook Hall, which is not that far from The Mac’s place. We’ll be heading to Detroit on Saturday, and will be leaving my mother here at The Mac’s to tend to the animals. I am trying to get her to go to the spa for a little spa treatment while we’re gone, since she has been nonstop cleaning and gardening since we got here, but she’s funny that way and may or may not go. That means it will be The Mac, The Grumpaw and me in the car. On an overnight trip. It’s kind of scary.
If I survive, I’ll let you know about it.
We’ve endured a lot during the first few days of vacation, but today made it pretty worthwhile. We went to the mall. The mall is great, and I know all the Americans who live here totally take it for granted, but it has good savings. I come from Canada, where everything seems expensive compared to stuff down here. Sure, our dollar sucks compared to the Yankee dollar (even though lately, it has done better than it had been historically), and yeah, there are probably some things that are a better deal in Canada (like maybe electronics for some strange reason, and only at certain times…), but the U.S. has neat stores we don’t have, and stuff in the stores that we might have chains of in Canada is just a little different.
I went to the Meijer (a fantastic large grocery-everything store) the other day, and found two nightgowns – cotton, long t-shirt style, short-sleeves – in bright orange and bright green, for only $3.20 each. THREE DOLLARS EACH!!! Hee!! Now that was a good score. I also got a pillow (since I have managed to forget mine at home and realize that although The Mac is equipped for visitors to an extent, he doesn’t have a lot of extra pillows) for only $3.50. THREE FIFTY!! Again, hee. Seriously – pillows in Canada run between $20 - $50 (if you want a really fancy one). Never, ever for three fifty.
As I was saying, we went to the mall, which has a lot of stores. We went to the Marshall Fields, which seemed to have some fairly nice stuff, but of course, since we all went, I never had enough time to properly scour the place for deals. We wandered partway down the mall, and ran into the Eddie Bauer store – one of my favourites. There were clearance racks with my favourite things, and it was hard not to buy everything. However, we are going to the Outlet Mall about 35 miles away soon, and I wanted to save up for the even better deals. It’s hard to believe there are better deals, but I know they’re out there.
We also went to the Lowes. I know that Gene Hackman does the ads for the Lowes, and was kind of looking forward to a great shopping experience. I was a little disappointed. We’re replacing The Mac’s back door with a security door, due to his recent break-in, during which many of his belongings and his thesis were stolen (now that’s a story he should tell you about). While we are here, I would also like to see linoleum or some sort of proper flooring installed in The Mac’s kitchen and bathroom. Currently, they are both carpeted. This seems… well, just wrong to me. Kind of gross, too, since stuff gets spilled in both rooms that you really wouldn’t want hanging around in carpet, growing, collecting more stuff, building small civilizations and trying to conquer the rest of the house. That stuff is hard to clean, too – requires vacuuming. Linoleum is a way better idea in both rooms. So we looked at the Lowes for lino, too. Hopefully, before we leave, we’ll have lino installed in the bathroom at least. We’re shopping with my father, remember, and according to his credo, many trips to the hardware store will equal better results. You can’t just go the first time and BUY stuff – you have to go, look around, stand around, look at stuff, walk the entire store, and then leave without buying anything at all. We have to go back to the Lowes again on a separate trip just to get the flooring, and then we’ll have to go back to get the tools, and then probably a separate trip for the glue, and maybe another trip for more stuff… it’s going to be a long week, people.
On the way out of the Lowes, The Mac and I were probably giddy from the hardware store, and all that standing around. While we were in there, a woman in a scooter (possibly even a disabled woman) drove up to where we were standing, and forced us to move out of her way, which we did as a politeness. She then stopped, right where we had been standing, and just stayed there. She didn’t want to go by at all, as we had originally thought. However, on the way out of the Lowes’ parking lot, the same woman was driving a PT Cruiser, heading right, where we were heading left. The Mac pulled out far enough to block her view, and vengeance was had. Again, our father was properly mortified at our callous disregard for the handicapped woman’s right to self-determination and an unobstructed view of the oncoming traffic, but we felt justified, and besides, it was pretty hilarious. It took about seven minutes to get out of that turn because she wouldn’t turn.
I have made a rule for the remainder of the trip – no more than TWO people on a shopping expedition at a time. With four of us milling and not sharing many interests, invariably someone gets lost at each store or wanders away from the group. I can’t say how many times I’ve shouted “It’s their fault! They wandered away from the group – I say we just leave!” in the middle of a store, only to be out-voted by the remaining group members. So we then have to search for the missing member, and how do we do that? We split up, probably the stupidest idea ever invented. “One of us is missing – I know, we’ll split up so we’re all alone, and then go look for them…” and then no matter how many of you find one another, there is still always someone missing. It took us 10 minutes just to get out of the Lowes.
Now we didn’t come to the States JUST to shop, we came to see the cars at Meadowbrook Hall, which is not that far from The Mac’s place. We’ll be heading to Detroit on Saturday, and will be leaving my mother here at The Mac’s to tend to the animals. I am trying to get her to go to the spa for a little spa treatment while we’re gone, since she has been nonstop cleaning and gardening since we got here, but she’s funny that way and may or may not go. That means it will be The Mac, The Grumpaw and me in the car. On an overnight trip. It’s kind of scary.
If I survive, I’ll let you know about it.
