Today I took the day off from work with some comp time earned with my last run of on-call. Earl was out of town so I didn’t really go anyplace exotic with my favorite co-pilot installed in the passenger seat. Instead, I indulged in my roadgeek tendencies and drove through around the Capital District of the Empire State.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. People fascinate me. I could sit in a mall or a busy downtown area and just people watch for hours. So many people walking about, oblivious to what’s going on around them, going on with their daily business. Since it’s the end of March with temperatures in the mid 40s, some people are bundled up like they’re headed to the Arctic while others are wearing cargo shorts and a t-shirt. I was a fashion hybrid in this regard today, wearing a black t-shirt and a pair of jeans.
Since I was in a city bigger than a breadbox, I stopped at Crossgates Mall and went to the Apple store. We now have a black 4GB iPod Nano in the household. It’s for Earl to use when he is working out at the gym. I bought a Sportswrap for it so he could attach it to his arm. I also bought myself a Sportswrap for my iPod. I hope I don’t forget where I am and start singing Madonna tunes out loud while I’m on the treadmill or something.
I stopped at a K-mart to make a pit stop and to get a box of tissues for the car, because I was slopping my packed lunch all over the place while I was driving. I grew up with K-mart and have traditionally considered it one of my favorite department stores. But what has happened to these stores over the past decade? I suspect the downfall began when they became “Big K”. There was nothing bigger about the store when they put up those tacky signs. In fact, when the “Big” concept made it’s debut in 1990, little was done to renovate existing stores. And still today, the stores have not had any upgrading aside from a few new signs and a fresh coat of paint. I’m afraid I’m going to have to scratch K-mart off my list and start shopping at Target instead; I’m finding the K-mart stores too depressing.
K-mart aside, I’m happy with my little headstart on the weekend. It’s going to be a good one.
