Entry for August 3, 1997

Sunday, August 3, 1997 -- Decisions, Decisions

Magnetic Poetry is Cool When I woke up this morning, I knew what my decision would be about St.Louis. I'm going to be flying out there, not moving. And if I can convince the people where I work to not fly me out there much, that would be a good thing, too.
Azura and I headed out to Paper Skyscraper again today. This time it was open when we got there. It was an interesting books store, just not what I expected. They had some obviously gay things, mixed in with things that weren't gay. They had adult cards in an alcove with some other cards. They had the kind of tea I like. They had weird looking metal things that were supposed to be something, and I wasn't always sure what. The oddest one was a coil of wire that looked like you could put a toothbrush in it.
The two coolest things they had were both in the magnets section. They had the largest collection of Magnetic Poetry that I'd ever seen. They had the "romance" and "erotica" expansion kits. They had some words put out by another company with their words added, notably.."Southern" and "body parts". And of course the two Shakespearean word kits (Romance and Insults). I didn't buy any, but planned to soon.
The other cool thing was a magnetic version of paper dolls. Did you ever see those? they have a cutout person (usually wearing undies, at least in the ones i had when i was a kid.) and then clothing with little tabs on them, they you cold fold behind the doll, to dress them. This version had Michelangelo David, and the statue of Venus with various magnetic clothes to drop on them. My personal favorite was Diva David, the crossdresser.
Azura and I drove down to one of the malls here in Charlotte, and got mom's train. My mom has one of those cool Lionel trains that her dad had bought back in the 50's for Christmas. It had thrown a pin, and we'd sent it in to get it fixed, and cleaned. It's a great train, and when I was a kid, we had these little pills that we'd put in the smokestack, and it would, well, smoke. I always thought I'd get it, but as I grew up, I realized how much Mom loved that train. Maybe I'll start a model train one day.
When we got to the train store, the guy at the counter just handed me the train. The following conversation ensued:
ME:Don't we owe you 4.50?
Train Guy: Well, I can't give you any money, I don't know how the mail in things work, you'll have to get the manager to do that, and he stepped out.
ME: So we could just take the train?
TG: Sure, if you don't want your money back.
Then it hit me what he said..
ME: Wait, a second we owe you money.
TG: Um, ok, I really don't understand those things.
ME: (realizing he still doesn't get it) How about if we just leave this train and wait for the manager.
TG: OK (I think he visibly relaxed.)
Azura and I headed over to the t-shirt store across the hall, and looked at the shirts. I saw several I liked, Tazmanian Devil, a Betty Boop one with "Boopsession" written across it, and a Marvin the Martian one. All of them in size Large or smaller. Wait, I found one eXtra-Large(XL). I asked the guys behind the counter did they get in any extra-extra Larges(XXL), or anything bigger? This was my cue line for "well we can order it" or whatever. They pointed me to Another section of shirts (non-cartoon ones). I said, I don't like those, do you get these (cartoon ones) in those sizes? "Nope, but here's our card call us, and check in."
No thanks. I mean, look, I can understand no XXL sizes, but the dearth of XL sizes is surprising. Even when I was thin I work XL because they were big I can put on an XL now, but it grabs at me, and I'd much rather have an XXL. Ok, so I'm a big guy. Why does that mean I have to buy ugly clothes? (This has happened before...)
Ok, disgusted now, I head back to the Train store, where the manager has already figured it out. It's really easy, see, there's a piece of paper, with the total amount (like 29.50) also on this paper is the deposit amount (25.00). The only thing not on the paper is the difference. Wow, so hard to figure out. I paid, and left.
Since we were close to a Barne's and Nobles, Azura and I headed over there. They didn't carry Anything that Moves , but told me that their Arboretum store probably did. Wow! they have a store there, too? That makes 4 Barne's and Nobles in Charlotte! Cool Book Heaven! Guess I'll have to check that out soon...
Tonight I got a return call from some new gamer people, it looks like we have four couples who want to play AD&D. We're all about the same age, interests, etc. Sounds like fun if we can ever get our busy schedules around it. [Yeah, i know, it's like bridge night, only, different *snicker*]
Generic Joe's A Typical Male

Sunday, August 3, 1997 -- Decisions, Decisions
Magnetic Poetry is Cool		When I woke up this morning, I knew what my decision would be about St.Louis. I'm going to be flying out there, not moving. And if I can convince the people where I work to not fly me out there much, that would be a good thing, too. Azura and I headed out to Paper Skyscraper again today. This time it was open when we got there. It was an interesting books store, just not what I expected. They had some obviously gay things, mixed in with things that weren't gay. They had adult cards in an alcove with some other cards. They had the kind of tea I like. They had weird looking metal things that were supposed to be something, and I wasn't always sure what. The oddest one was a coil of wire that looked like you could put a toothbrush in it. The two coolest things they had were both in the magnets section. They had the largest collection of Magnetic Poetry that I'd ever seen. They had the "romance" and "erotica" expansion kits. They had some words put out by another company with their words added, notably.."Southern" and "body parts". And of course the two Shakespearean word kits (Romance and Insults). I didn't buy any, but planned to soon. The other cool thing was a magnetic version of paper dolls. Did you ever see those? they have a cutout person (usually wearing undies, at least in the ones i had when i was a kid.) and then clothing with little tabs on them, they you cold fold behind the doll, to dress them. This version had Michelangelo David, and the statue of Venus with various magnetic clothes to drop on them. My personal favorite was Diva David, the crossdresser. Azura and I drove down to one of the malls here in Charlotte, and got mom's train. My mom has one of those cool Lionel trains that her dad had bought back in the 50's for Christmas. It had thrown a pin, and we'd sent it in to get it fixed, and cleaned. It's a great train, and when I was a kid, we had these little pills that we'd put in the smokestack, and it would, well, smoke. I always thought I'd get it, but as I grew up, I realized how much Mom loved that train. Maybe I'll start a model train one day. When we got to the train store, the guy at the counter just handed me the train. The following conversation ensued: ME:Don't we owe you 4.50? Train Guy: Well, I can't give you any money, I don't know how the mail in things work, you'll have to get the manager to do that, and he stepped out. ME: So we could just take the train? TG: Sure, if you don't want your money back. Then it hit me what he said.. ME: Wait, a second we owe you money. TG: Um, ok, I really don't understand those things. ME: (realizing he still* doesn't get it)* How about if we just leave this train and wait for the manager. TG: OK (I think he visibly relaxed.) Azura and I headed over to the t-shirt store across the hall, and looked at the shirts. I saw several I liked, Tazmanian Devil, a Betty Boop one with "Boopsession" written across it, and a Marvin the Martian one. All of them in size Large or smaller. Wait, I found one eXtra-Large(XL). I asked the guys behind the counter did they get in any extra-extra Larges(XXL), or anything bigger? This was my cue line for "well we can order it" or whatever. They pointed me to Another section of shirts (non-cartoon ones). I said, I don't like those, do you get these (cartoon ones) in those sizes? "Nope, but here's our card call us, and check in." No thanks. I mean, look, I can understand no XXL sizes, but the dearth of XL sizes is surprising. Even when I was thin I work XL because they were big I can put on an XL now, but it grabs at me, and I'd much rather have an XXL. Ok, so I'm a big guy. Why does that mean I have to buy ugly clothes? (This has happened before...) Ok, disgusted now, I head back to the Train store, where the manager has already figured it out. It's really easy, see, there's a piece of paper, with the total amount (like 29.50) also on this paper is the deposit amount (25.00). The only thing not on the paper is the difference. Wow, so hard to figure out. I paid, and left. Since we were close to a Barne's and Nobles, Azura and I headed over there. They didn't carry Anything that Moves , but told me that their Arboretum store probably did. Wow! they have a store there, too? That makes 4 Barne's and Nobles in Charlotte! Cool Book Heaven! Guess I'll have to check that out soon... Tonight I got a return call from some new gamer people, it looks like we have four couples who want to play AD&D. We're all about the same age, interests, etc. Sounds like fun if we can ever get our busy schedules around it. [Yeah, i know, it's like bridge night, only, different snicker] Generic Joe's A Typical Male

Sunday, August 3, 1997 -- Decisions, Decisions