Year: 2006

Great Expectations

When we first moved to Aiken in 1989 to shop in an enclosed mall you had to drive to Augusta, but they were building one here that did open a couple years later. It took more than ten years past that to get the mainstay of mall-dom, GAP, to open up a store in it.

When they did open the store did a huge business, but it trailed of rather quickly. Last year after maybe 3 years of doing business they shut the doors. Don’t worry they told us, we are going to remodel and open up as a GAP Outlet. The “outlet” has been open for a few months and they really most have expected a huge swing in shoppers. There is one central cashier station at the back of the store and they have the nylon strap equivalent of velvet ropes in front of it that is two 15′ sections folded on each other, probably hold a dozen shoppers.

Admititly it was a Tuesday, but Donna and I plus another couple were the only shoppers in the store. We were outnumbered 3 to 1 by sales associates who mostly stood around behind the cashier’s station loudly trying to one up each other with retail job interview stories. Maybe the Saturday before Christmas they might get a dozen shoppers in the whole store, never mind checking out at the same time.

Great Company

Donna and I went to the local mall and did some shopping, a couple of shirts and a denim skirt for her, no action figures for me. After we were done in the mall she had one more thing she wanted to buy some place else, an ice cream cone. As we left J.C. Penny’s we noticed a ’95 M Edition Miata, that pretty Merlot color with the BBS mesh wheels, right near the entrance with its top down. Inside was a woman talking on her cell phone. I guess she wanted to finish her conversation while her driver was inside shopping. We walked all the the way out to the far end of the lot and got in our car, as we pulled out of the lot I could see that she was still on the phone.

A mile or so down the road we stopped to get that treat. The girl made a cone for Donna and filled a cup for me, then we went back outside, wandered over to a picnic table and sat down. A couple minutes later, what should pull into the ice cream shop’s parking area, but that same Miata. The woman was still talking on her cell phone. They parked and the man driving slowly walked around the back of the car giving the woman a few seconds to get out. When she didn’t, he opened the door then reached in and undid her seat belt all the while she is talking. At first I thought because of the way he was helping her she might be handicapped, but no, she finally stood on her own power and sauntered over towards the shop yakking away while he closed the door behind her. He managed to get half her attention with a question to which she nodded back at him. He headed into the store while she tried out a couple chairs looking for just the right one all the while with her cell phone glued to her ear.

A couple minutes later the man returned with what looked like two small sundaes. He placed hers down on the the arm of the chair she was in, sat down and started to enjoy his ice cream. At one point I think she braced the phone between shoulder and cheek to sneak a spoonful, but maybe not. By now Donna and I were finished, so we walked back to our car which took us right by the couple. As we passed I could see her sundae was untouched and his was half gone. When we got by, I asked Donna should I give him an MMC newsletter. She just shook her head no.

I started our Miata and he looked over, recognizing the sound perhaps, and gave us a thumbs up sign. I responded with a friendly wave and backed out of the spot. As we turned right out of the lot onto the main road, he was still looking and she was still talking on the cell phone. Maybe I should have given him the newsletter, because it seems like he could use some company that might actually involve him in the conversation.

Started up, went down, back up, back down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/06: 158

FOD

Donna’s stomach is feeling a lot better now. Took about 10 days this time as opposed to just 3 after chemo #1. She is still only going to do 5 hours days at work, because she tires easier than the last chemo too. But because she is feeling better she wanted to go back to her usual chores, one of which is mowing the lawn. I told her no, but she could help by doing the FOD walkdown prior to my mowing, picking up all the broken branches and stray pieces of paper that have ended up on the lawn.

FOD stands for Foreign Object Damage and is a left over from our Naval Aviation days. On shore duty every morning after after mustering in the whole squadron would go out on the ramp behind the hanger and walk in a wide row down the flight line picking up any detritus laying around. On the ship before flight ops the air boss would call for a FOD walkdown and everyone on the flightdeck would gather in a line on the bow and slowly walk all the way to the fantail cleaning every square inch of the deck. You would be surprised just how much damage a 1/4 long #10-32 screw can cause when ingested by a jet engine.

We were supposed to have tacos at home for supper tonight, but we ended up at Chili’s for ribs because of some FOD. Because it is only the two of us we only do half the meat of the usual dinner kit. I split a pound of hamburger in half, one part went into the freezer in a plastic bag and the other went into the pan. We had a half a pack of the powdered seasoning mix left from last time, so I used that instead of the new one. After I got everything mixed up in the pan and it was simmering nicely I noticed what looked like a big piece of red pepper. And a few pieces of green pepper or plant matter. WTF? Was it something in the meat? Something left in the 1/2 pack of seasoning mix? Nothing had gotten near the pan, so thinking better safe than sorry, we tossed it all in the trash and went out to eat.

Started up, went down, went up, back down, back up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/06: 155

What A Great Stroke Of Programing Luck

NBC’s news magazine show, Dateline, just happened to be doing a show on possible damage if a major earthquake hit several US cities, when after that show ends the network would be airing 10.5: APOCALYPSE the story of major earthquakes hitting the country.

My Sunday Was More Boring Than Yours

The only thing besides the weekly grocery shopping trip to interrupt hanging out on the couch all day was an early morning tandem ride. We went another 8 or so miles, but this time included a stop for breakfast. Because we were too early for a muffin at the New Moon Cafe and the only true bagel place in town folded their tent we ended up at the ABC. We both had a bagel and judged their quality to be just about half way between a store bought one and one from the defunct Best Bagels.

There was an older gentleman a couple people ahead of us that got one too, but we didn’t ask him how he liked his. We sat outside in the patio area and watched as that same gentleman got back in his car to leave. He reopened hid drivers door and poured the contents of a nearly full old Atlanta Bread Company coffee cup onto the ground in the parking lot. We marveled as to why he wouldn’t have just gone back inside the shop and thrown it out. After the cup was empty he got back out of the car and did head back inside. Now we really wondered why he didn’t just throw it away in the store. Then with a flash of realization it dawned on us what he was doing, when he ordered his bagel he didnt get a drink, now he was refilling and old ABC cup with fresh coffee.

Because we did get out on the roads early we encountered very little automobile traffic. On the way home from breakfast there were a few more cars out, probably on their way to early services at church. I am always amazed at these good Christians on their way to worship the deity of their choice are the least courteous drivers on the road. This morning we were on a section of very lightly traveled 4-lane road when a nicely dressed person in a pickup squeezed by us as close as he could. I’m guessing he was a catholic, because after he accidentally ran us over and killed us all he had to do was to go to confession and be absolved from his sins. That way his conscience would have been clear as he sat down to watch the Braves on TV later that afternoon.

Started down, went up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/06: 151

We Won

We WonToday the MMC held it’s 3rd annual TSD road Rally and Dona and I came in first. The first year we came in 3rd and last year we finished out of the money, but this year we knocked ’em dead.

There were 14 teams that started and we were #13 out of the gate. When Donna and I arrived at the finish we were the 4th car in. We knew that there a few cars that probably got lost, we had seen a few going the other way as we did the run, but 6 cars had fallen off the course. Turns out it was worse than that because the 3 that were at the finish ahead of us had only made it there by opening their emergency envelopes…

I guess this must have been harder than it looked to us because only one other team besides us finished with an intact envelope before the cutoff time. Four other teams didn’t open the envelope, but came in after the time allowed. Everyone who made it in cleanly got to pick something from the prize table, the top two teams also got a little cash prize to go along with their T-shirt or hat. We got a crisp piece of paper with a portrait of Andrew Jackson and the second place team snagged an Alexander Hamilton.

Started down, went up, went down, back up, back down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/06: 150

Davy Jone’s Sock Locker

Davy Jone?s Sock LockerWe went out this evening to buy a few things, I needed some new tan work socks and some quarter high sneaker socks. Donna wanted a couple of bits of garden art to replace her rapidly deteriorating 3 wooden flower flairs and some bird seed to fill up the feeders in the backyard. We figured our best bet to get all the items we needed was Target. First we went to the guys section for my socks and then headed across the back of the store to the garden section. We just happened to pass right by the toy section…

We did manage to get some bird seed, but we will have to wait until tomorrow or Sunday for the garden art. Target’s selection was slim to the point of being threadbare, so a trip to Lowes and Home Depot is called for.

How are we going to pay for all this shopping we are doing you ask, here is how, I’ll sell my domain name. According to LeapFish, mr-miata.net is worth a base value of $291, but its estimated actual value is $14,114. Try it and see how big an internet magnate you might be: LeapFish.com.

Started down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/06: 146