Pragmatist
Pragmatist

Sunday
Mon Jun 30 2003

Yesterday I was in the mood to spend money. And I found a place to spend it.

The Sunday paper comes with a lot of junk: ads for everthing from apples to zucchini, with cars, laundry soap, and fast food tucked in between. Anyway, I just happened to check the KMart pages (seldom do that), and I found something that said BUY ME! NOW! It was a backyard swimming pool, pretty good sized one at a VERY decent price.

However, since it was to go in my daughter's back yard, I thought maybe I ought to check with her first, because, after all, it's her yard, and she will do most of the labor of setting up the pool. So I shower and get dressed real quick, and take the ad with me to her place of business.

I'm thinking that my granddaughter will have less reason to pine for the swimming pool here at the apartment while she's at home with a pool-less back yard.

Hey, yeah! Go for it. But since I haven't had breakfast, I decide to get a bagel mit schmeer before I go trekking to the store, and we visit for awhile. There are two stores about equidistant from where Megan works, but she thought probably the store in Folsom was closer, so I headed off in that direction. When I got to the location, aaarrrgggh! wouldn't you know. The store had been closed, but for how long I don't know. Probably months.

So I retrace my route, go back to the other store I passed on the way to Megan's workplace, and get the pool along with some purifying tablets to keep the water alga-free. Dang! that box was heavy. I couldn't lift it to the shopping cart. Another customer obligingly hefted it to the cart (thank you, kind lady!). Then when I went through the checkout stand, the cashier asked if I wanted help getting the pool to the car. Yes, that would be very helpful. So the customer service person who helped was another woman. I feel like such a weenie!

Anyway, to continue. Got the package in the trunk of my car, headed back for Megan's workplace to transfer the pool to her car. I make a circuit of the mall three times and CAN'T FIND HER. Finally, I pass by--again--where she parks her car, and there she is. She said she had tried to wave me down three times, and don't I ever check my mirrors. Well, yes, I did. The rearview, and both side mirrors, and trying to keep from smashing into pedestrians walking from stores to the parking lot, and other cars approaching from the opposite direction.

OK, we finally get done arguing, and she transfers the pool from my car to hers. Now this is an amazingly small (but HEAVY) package for a pool that's advertized as being 30 inches deep and ten feet across, circulating pump included. We exchange a few more pleasantries before I decide it's time to head back home.

What with wandering hither and yon with a goal in mind, but no practical procedure devised, I figure I put 75 miles on the odometer, when with a little forethought, I could have put on maybe half that mileage.

See what happens when you think you know what you're doing, but you really don't? Story of my life.

Shalom.

PS: I'm actually writing this Monday afternoon, but DD's time frame apparently goes from 4:00pm to 4:00pm PDT. Confusing, ain't it.

9 Comments
  • From:
    Monstergue (Legacy)
    On:
    Mon Jun 30 2003
    Hi There,
    You did not specify (or I missed it) when your birthday is, but I knew we were close. Happy B-day to us!! *throws confetti*
  • From:
    Ozone (Legacy)
    On:
    Tue Jul 01 2003
    I'm surprised that you can even type today after driving 75 miles in California's Sunday traffic. I hope you have no trouble with the pool. Having been in the pool business, I used to get 100s of people that would come in to see me after buying a pool at K Mart or Sears. I used to feel so sorry for them as you can never get parts if they break. Yours is not that big though so hopefully it will provide some summer fun for your grand daugher.

    As to the time difference....I just know that at 2 PM HST the date changes to the next day so I normally post at, or close to that time. If it hasn't changed yet, I normally change it myself.
    I guess that this all set up on GMT.
  • From:
    Yetzirah (Legacy)
    On:
    Tue Jul 01 2003
    Well, in your defense, driving in this area pretty much bites anyway you look at it.
    I miss driving in the country. Back there you could take the east side road and hardly ever see a soul for about 25 miles. I taught the boys to drive on that road, shoot, I learned to drive on that road!
  • From:
    Sezrah (Legacy)
    On:
    Tue Jul 01 2003
    wow
    when you mentioned buying a pool for their backyard, i was envisioning one of those large sprawling ones and so was rather surprised and impressed that you were even able to *lift* this pool, not to mention fit it into the back of your car!!!!!!!!!!!!

    ;)

    sez
  • From:
    CovertOps (Legacy)
    On:
    Tue Jul 01 2003
    Woweeee! A pool! How wonderful! I get to swim when I visit friends at their apartments. No one around these parts have space in their backyards for a pool. I love it that your daughter's family gets to swim and have a good splash. I hope to move into an apartment with a pool.
    Love,
    E.L.
  • From:
    FishCreekBride (Legacy)
    On:
    Tue Jul 01 2003
    What a great gift! I'm sure your granddaughter must be so excited,nice grandmother.
  • From:
    Ozone (Legacy)
    On:
    Tue Jul 01 2003
    RYC: Didn't you forget to mention something? It was Gray Davis who took that healthy surplus, and squandered it quickly, and that is the reason why he will be recalled in November. I heard yesterday that California's current debt is 30 times worse than the national debt when the appropriate factors are thrown in, and the debts of several liberal European countries. There is entirely too much pandering to special intrest groups by both parties and it has to stop.
  • From:
    Ozone (Legacy)
    On:
    Wed Jul 02 2003
    Yep you did, I missed the "oval office"

    The debt that your great grand daughter will be paying will be one that has come about after 3 or 4 surpluses have been established and depleted. We always hear all these horror stories about debts that our kids will have to pay...then two years later we have a surplus again. Anyway you look at it...is ours, not the government's to do with as they please, and pander to every special intrest group that can get them reelected. Why is it that there is never any huge outcry about the billions that are wasted and/or squandered by pork barrel legislation attached to each and every bill that is passed by Congress? The President, of which ever party, can not be held responsible for that as he is not authorized line-item veto. Because of that, he must sign the bill, or be demonized by the other party for not signing it. Hawaii does have it and Lingle has cut millions out of the State's budget by welding her veto pen.
  • From:
    TraumaMama (Legacy)
    On:
    Sat Jul 05 2003
    What a sweet and thoughtful thing to do!