NorthgateAmericans are fascinated by their own love of shopping. This does not make them unique. Sunday, October 8, 2000 I let Jack sleep this morning, while I read in bed and kept one eye on the Voyeur page (for fear our site should go down again). When he woke up, we had a simple breakfast -- toast! We sat reading together in the living room. Jack read his new Cerebus collection, and I read Madeline Hunter's medieval romance, By Possession. I liked that book a lot! A good mixture of history, daily middle-ages life, and passion. My only quibble: the author's use of the term "phallus" in every sex scene was slightly jarring. I'll be looking for her other books!
After lollygagging around, we headed up to Northgate in separate cars, so Jack could buy new tires and wheels for the Blazer. After some thought, he's decided to invest some money in the car since he's going to keep it for a while. We were disappointed, though -- the Discount Tire store was closed on Sundays, which seemed very strange. Don't they want to make money? We found a pay phone so Jack could try again to speak to his ex-wife. He was appalled to hear that older daughter A---- had never arrived at her mom's place, but had called supposedly from downtown Olympia, late last night. His ex-wife seemed remarkably unconcerned about this, but apparently she wasn't that eager for A---- to visit, and A---- wasn't eager to get there. While Jack was on the phone, I wandered over to inspect the display windows at the fabric store. Marcia G---- snuck up behind me: "That's a familiar t-shirt!" I was wearing the tshirt from Potlatch 9. We said hi, and she went into the fabric store.
We'd had a light breakfast and no lunch, so we were hungry. Rather than move our cars, we walked across the street to Azteca. I had an excellent marinated lamb shank. Jack headed off north, while I walked a few blocks to a new, two-story Target that has just opened up. Traffic was congested enough right there that I made better time than he did, for a few blocks. I think I walked through every aisle of the new Target. I bought more storage boxes (smaller ones than the ones I bought yesterday), some candy for the office, and various odds and ends. I don't think I was tempted into buying anything not needed. They have a good eye for design at Tar-zhey! Most of the lamps, picture frames, and home decor stuff was very appealing. I ran into some Vanguard friends, Marilyn Holt and Cliff Wind. They claimed to have just dropped in to check out the new store, after going to the main Northgate Mall across the street. I don't think there's a need to make excuses for going to Target, though.
At home this evening, I sat down and cut coupons from the Safeway coupon book. I know they'd rather I just get a safeway club card, but phooey on that. It's difficult typing with a bandaid on my finger! I got a nice letter from a reader in New York, who popped out of the woodwork and says he's been reading for years. (I forgot to ask him how he found me!) I love getting email from readers! So don't be shy, y'all.
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