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Ahhh. Home.
Shopping was fun. Shopping was very fun, as it always is. The drawback, of course, is that I once again spent money. (Considering we are looking at buying a new TV, VCR, and DVD player, I really don't know why I even worry about today's expenses. Geesh.)
First stop was Saturday Market. Saturday Market cost me under $1. Parking is 95 cents an hour, no partial hours. Does this give you an idea how eager to buy I was at Saturday Market? Ugh. Normally I quite like the place. NORMALLY, I also either go on Sundays, or in the fall or early spring. Now I am reminded of why. It was packed. It was packed so tightly you couldn't move forward unless the person in front of you did. Heaven forbid you wanted to look at something that was on the opposite side of the aisle from you, despite the fact that the aisle was not all that wide.
I wanted fudge, but as this was my FIRST stop of the day, in this heat, I felt fudge might be a bad idea.... The most amusing thing from Saturday Market was actually the lady I met walking toward it. She and her husband were leaving, and she had a little wooden cat carved to have a drawer in the back of its head and a drawer in its butt. The whole thing was only a couple inches high, maybe three, and I don't think the drawers would have held a postage stamp unless it was folded, but she was delighted by the entire concept, and it had been only $15. Her name was Rose; she told me where the woman with the boxes was, and to tell her "Rose from New York sent you." I didn't. I've seen boxes like that before. They're cute, and they're amusing, and I'm very glad that Rose enjoyed hers so much, but I don't want to own one.
Also, people, PLEASE do not walk your SMALL dogs on a leash in the market. You are just begging for them to be stepped on or kicked. (There were people carrying their dogs. I applaud.) There were a lot of dogs today. *shivers* I'm still nervy around dogs, even if I am finally besting that phobia. I'd really appreciate it if you kept your dogs, large and small (especially large, however) on a short leash. It was very nice to see one dog, a yellow lab who was wearing a guide-dog-in-training vest. One of my coworkers raises puppies for the guide dog program. This is such a good cause. The puppies are still puppies, of course; even nearly-grown dogs like this one, are still dogs. But they're expected to behave. You know these people know they're not supposed to permit the dog to misbehave, etc., so it's a lot easier to feel safe around them than around a random strange dog.
Big frowns to the idiot who brought the long-haired black dog. And LET IT OFF THE LEASH. I'd have told you off, but I don't know where you were. Your dog was happily wandering the market, near the fountain, but it was hard to tell who in the crowd (if anyone) was its owner. On the other hand, it didn't follow me once I left its "area" and my heart slowed again at that point. (It was well-groomed and had a collar, so if that was a stray, it was a VERY recent stray.)
I was hungry and thirsty by the time I'd finished walking through, but I wanted to get OUT more than I wanted to brave the food court and yet more crowds. I walked through it on my way out, but the lines were long enough to dissuade me from even getting a drink and going. Besides, my next stop was Powell's. THEY have an in-store cafe.
It wasn't horribly hot, but it was warm, and I was tired, sulky, and didn't feel like having to hunt around for where to catch the bus that would get me to Powell's. So I didn't. I paid the 95 cents and freed my car. (I think I was actually there about 45 minutes). And I headed to Powell's. I've actually learned to navigate my way between major landmarks in Portland. (Don't laugh - or maybe do: I've lived in Oregon almost my whole life, and it wasn't until the past year or at most two that I could find much without lots of turn-around first - I HATE one-way streets, mangled street grids, and my own lack of memory and directional sense....)
However. This is where it becomes clear I should have eaten before leaving Saturday Market, because it is clear that the lack of nourishment caused me to LOSE MY MIND. I drove up to Powell's, turned right, hunted for parking, couldn't find the lot I remembered (I think I went the wrong direction - oops - see above, ref. finding things). I came back, intending to make a left and a right and find the parking lot off 11th. And then I was stuck in the left lane behind someone going into Powell's parking garage.
I followed him.
AUGH. Powell's parking garage is FREE for the first two hours while you shop at Powell's. ($1 per half hour thereafter.) That is its only, ONLY redeeming factor. I will pay $4 to park for an hour somewhere else rather than in that parking garage; if I park in it, it's a sure sign my mind has gone.
The story as I understand it is that it used to be a car dealership and this was where they stored the ones not on display. It fits. It fits very, very, VERY bloody well. The cars, however, do not. I would be reluctant to park in there in a Volkswagen Rabbit or Geo. I was in a FORD TAURUS today. The people who take SUV's in there scare me. And don't even try a full-size pickup. (Please.)
There is a single ramp for up or down. The attendant can monitor it on video (now, I can remember when they didn't have that) and will flip through the views to be sure no one is on their way down (you have to leave your keys with him, so he has some idea anyway, blessedly). You turn your lights on, you honk your horn, and you start in (after he tells you its clear). The entrance and exit are the same spot, except on the way out, you pull left just before the ticket booth - but, as I said, same ramp.
It's STEEP. And the corners are notfriendly. Notnotnot. You go up, you have a car-length or so of flat space to turn right 90 degrees, you go up. Etc. On the third floor (top) you have to be careful how hard you turn right getting off the ramp, or you ROCK to the vertical.
On the first floor (and second), unless you are an especially graceful driver, you back and fill a few times to get off the ramp. Because, you see, you go UP the ramp. You come to the corner of the space. If you manage to turn 90 degrees right, you would be going up the ramp again. But you don't want to go up the ramp any more - you want to get off on the floor. Which is at about a 45 degree angle to your right.
It took me three seesaws to get in, and the guy coming up behind me, on the second one, PULLED ONTO THE LEVEL SPOT and then honked at me. Fortunately he responded well to my frantic arm-wave at the floor I was trying to get onto, and backed his sorry metal creation out of my way so I could do it again.
Then you get to park. There are pillars EVERYWHERE. My car fits between them with a foot or two to spare...on the wider-spaced ones. They're very close to the parking spaces. I really DON'T think you could put a "full-sized" (Cadillac, the old Mavericks, etc.) vehicle in these spaces AT ALL. And MOST of the spaces have a pillar next to them. Blessedly, someone painted the monstrosities bright yellow. This at least makes them easy to keep track of. Oh yes: there's a square space for employees only in the middle of each floor. Gods know what it is but it's a car length and a half on each side and it, of course, makes the floor that much HARDER to navigate.
Ready to leave? Oh boy, have fun. Back and fill to get on the ramp again!!!! *whines* At least when you go to get in/out they have a staircase. The ramp would not POSSIBLY be safe for that. Aie.
I spent money at Powell's. I ... ummm. I seem to have new books. I seem to have lots of new books. Like I wasn't already way behind on my reading list? But I finally got a copy of Michelle West's Hunter's Death!! And Fiona Patton has a new (well, new to me - new this year, anyway) book out - The Golden Sword!!!!!!! Yes, yes, it's in the same world as The Stone Prince, The Painter Knight, and The Granite Shield, and I am so looking forward to reading it! Plus I have Michelle West's Sea of Sorrows as well. *beams* Which is the new book in the Sunsword series.
After I finished freaking myself out (aka exiting the parking garage), I decided I didn't want to deal with the Japanese Gardens. I went on Wednesday, and the idea of going back (on a warm day when they would at least be cooler, and a Saturday at that, when they would be BUSY therefore) did not appeal nearly enough. Instead, I headed to Washington Square.
I was surprisingly good there. I had an ice cream at Baskin Robbins, and I bought a few postcards at Hallmark because they amused me. Then I left, because the mall was also pretty crowded. And on my way back I stopped at Bi-Mart. That was a stop for stuff I needed, but it led to another stop. See, on the way to Bi-Mart, I go past my beading shop. I very rarely stop there, as I'm not beading as much lately as I used to (but I'm sure I'll start again soon).
This time I did not stop. But as I drove past, I saw the sign was gone, and there was a HUGE white sign in the window saying they'd moved to Main Street.
This is bad. This is very, very bad. They did indeed move to Main Street. I stopped and bought things. Only about $10 worth of things, actually, but here's the problem:
MAIN STREET IS CLOSER TO MY HOME. Ahem. They're over by US Bank now, which means they're less than two blocks from where I live. I can now WALK to the beading store.
The fact that only on Saturdays are they open when I can get there should help...a tiny little bit....
Plus it's a larger space, so they have more stuff. They have a NICE selection of delicas now. I foresee a return trip. (Fortunately, I found them at 15 minutes to closing, which prevented me from browsing myself out of too much money. Still....)
And now I'm home, and it's air conditioned, and I have to figure out what to do with the rest of my day.
First stop was Saturday Market. Saturday Market cost me under $1. Parking is 95 cents an hour, no partial hours. Does this give you an idea how eager to buy I was at Saturday Market? Ugh. Normally I quite like the place. NORMALLY, I also either go on Sundays, or in the fall or early spring. Now I am reminded of why. It was packed. It was packed so tightly you couldn't move forward unless the person in front of you did. Heaven forbid you wanted to look at something that was on the opposite side of the aisle from you, despite the fact that the aisle was not all that wide.
I wanted fudge, but as this was my FIRST stop of the day, in this heat, I felt fudge might be a bad idea.... The most amusing thing from Saturday Market was actually the lady I met walking toward it. She and her husband were leaving, and she had a little wooden cat carved to have a drawer in the back of its head and a drawer in its butt. The whole thing was only a couple inches high, maybe three, and I don't think the drawers would have held a postage stamp unless it was folded, but she was delighted by the entire concept, and it had been only $15. Her name was Rose; she told me where the woman with the boxes was, and to tell her "Rose from New York sent you." I didn't. I've seen boxes like that before. They're cute, and they're amusing, and I'm very glad that Rose enjoyed hers so much, but I don't want to own one.
Also, people, PLEASE do not walk your SMALL dogs on a leash in the market. You are just begging for them to be stepped on or kicked. (There were people carrying their dogs. I applaud.) There were a lot of dogs today. *shivers* I'm still nervy around dogs, even if I am finally besting that phobia. I'd really appreciate it if you kept your dogs, large and small (especially large, however) on a short leash. It was very nice to see one dog, a yellow lab who was wearing a guide-dog-in-training vest. One of my coworkers raises puppies for the guide dog program. This is such a good cause. The puppies are still puppies, of course; even nearly-grown dogs like this one, are still dogs. But they're expected to behave. You know these people know they're not supposed to permit the dog to misbehave, etc., so it's a lot easier to feel safe around them than around a random strange dog.
Big frowns to the idiot who brought the long-haired black dog. And LET IT OFF THE LEASH. I'd have told you off, but I don't know where you were. Your dog was happily wandering the market, near the fountain, but it was hard to tell who in the crowd (if anyone) was its owner. On the other hand, it didn't follow me once I left its "area" and my heart slowed again at that point. (It was well-groomed and had a collar, so if that was a stray, it was a VERY recent stray.)
I was hungry and thirsty by the time I'd finished walking through, but I wanted to get OUT more than I wanted to brave the food court and yet more crowds. I walked through it on my way out, but the lines were long enough to dissuade me from even getting a drink and going. Besides, my next stop was Powell's. THEY have an in-store cafe.
It wasn't horribly hot, but it was warm, and I was tired, sulky, and didn't feel like having to hunt around for where to catch the bus that would get me to Powell's. So I didn't. I paid the 95 cents and freed my car. (I think I was actually there about 45 minutes). And I headed to Powell's. I've actually learned to navigate my way between major landmarks in Portland. (Don't laugh - or maybe do: I've lived in Oregon almost my whole life, and it wasn't until the past year or at most two that I could find much without lots of turn-around first - I HATE one-way streets, mangled street grids, and my own lack of memory and directional sense....)
However. This is where it becomes clear I should have eaten before leaving Saturday Market, because it is clear that the lack of nourishment caused me to LOSE MY MIND. I drove up to Powell's, turned right, hunted for parking, couldn't find the lot I remembered (I think I went the wrong direction - oops - see above, ref. finding things). I came back, intending to make a left and a right and find the parking lot off 11th. And then I was stuck in the left lane behind someone going into Powell's parking garage.
I followed him.
AUGH. Powell's parking garage is FREE for the first two hours while you shop at Powell's. ($1 per half hour thereafter.) That is its only, ONLY redeeming factor. I will pay $4 to park for an hour somewhere else rather than in that parking garage; if I park in it, it's a sure sign my mind has gone.
The story as I understand it is that it used to be a car dealership and this was where they stored the ones not on display. It fits. It fits very, very, VERY bloody well. The cars, however, do not. I would be reluctant to park in there in a Volkswagen Rabbit or Geo. I was in a FORD TAURUS today. The people who take SUV's in there scare me. And don't even try a full-size pickup. (Please.)
There is a single ramp for up or down. The attendant can monitor it on video (now, I can remember when they didn't have that) and will flip through the views to be sure no one is on their way down (you have to leave your keys with him, so he has some idea anyway, blessedly). You turn your lights on, you honk your horn, and you start in (after he tells you its clear). The entrance and exit are the same spot, except on the way out, you pull left just before the ticket booth - but, as I said, same ramp.
It's STEEP. And the corners are notfriendly. Notnotnot. You go up, you have a car-length or so of flat space to turn right 90 degrees, you go up. Etc. On the third floor (top) you have to be careful how hard you turn right getting off the ramp, or you ROCK to the vertical.
On the first floor (and second), unless you are an especially graceful driver, you back and fill a few times to get off the ramp. Because, you see, you go UP the ramp. You come to the corner of the space. If you manage to turn 90 degrees right, you would be going up the ramp again. But you don't want to go up the ramp any more - you want to get off on the floor. Which is at about a 45 degree angle to your right.
It took me three seesaws to get in, and the guy coming up behind me, on the second one, PULLED ONTO THE LEVEL SPOT and then honked at me. Fortunately he responded well to my frantic arm-wave at the floor I was trying to get onto, and backed his sorry metal creation out of my way so I could do it again.
Then you get to park. There are pillars EVERYWHERE. My car fits between them with a foot or two to spare...on the wider-spaced ones. They're very close to the parking spaces. I really DON'T think you could put a "full-sized" (Cadillac, the old Mavericks, etc.) vehicle in these spaces AT ALL. And MOST of the spaces have a pillar next to them. Blessedly, someone painted the monstrosities bright yellow. This at least makes them easy to keep track of. Oh yes: there's a square space for employees only in the middle of each floor. Gods know what it is but it's a car length and a half on each side and it, of course, makes the floor that much HARDER to navigate.
Ready to leave? Oh boy, have fun. Back and fill to get on the ramp again!!!! *whines* At least when you go to get in/out they have a staircase. The ramp would not POSSIBLY be safe for that. Aie.
I spent money at Powell's. I ... ummm. I seem to have new books. I seem to have lots of new books. Like I wasn't already way behind on my reading list? But I finally got a copy of Michelle West's Hunter's Death!! And Fiona Patton has a new (well, new to me - new this year, anyway) book out - The Golden Sword!!!!!!! Yes, yes, it's in the same world as The Stone Prince, The Painter Knight, and The Granite Shield, and I am so looking forward to reading it! Plus I have Michelle West's Sea of Sorrows as well. *beams* Which is the new book in the Sunsword series.
After I finished freaking myself out (aka exiting the parking garage), I decided I didn't want to deal with the Japanese Gardens. I went on Wednesday, and the idea of going back (on a warm day when they would at least be cooler, and a Saturday at that, when they would be BUSY therefore) did not appeal nearly enough. Instead, I headed to Washington Square.
I was surprisingly good there. I had an ice cream at Baskin Robbins, and I bought a few postcards at Hallmark because they amused me. Then I left, because the mall was also pretty crowded. And on my way back I stopped at Bi-Mart. That was a stop for stuff I needed, but it led to another stop. See, on the way to Bi-Mart, I go past my beading shop. I very rarely stop there, as I'm not beading as much lately as I used to (but I'm sure I'll start again soon).
This time I did not stop. But as I drove past, I saw the sign was gone, and there was a HUGE white sign in the window saying they'd moved to Main Street.
This is bad. This is very, very bad. They did indeed move to Main Street. I stopped and bought things. Only about $10 worth of things, actually, but here's the problem:
MAIN STREET IS CLOSER TO MY HOME. Ahem. They're over by US Bank now, which means they're less than two blocks from where I live. I can now WALK to the beading store.
The fact that only on Saturdays are they open when I can get there should help...a tiny little bit....
Plus it's a larger space, so they have more stuff. They have a NICE selection of delicas now. I foresee a return trip. (Fortunately, I found them at 15 minutes to closing, which prevented me from browsing myself out of too much money. Still....)
And now I'm home, and it's air conditioned, and I have to figure out what to do with the rest of my day.