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Catsu's Corner Archives
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Friday, April 27, 2007 -- Photo Hunters
Steps and stairs. Ups and downs. Thursday, April 26, 2007 -- Going Up? We step into the elevator. "Are you going to 3," I ask the woman entering behind us, while pushing the button for our floor. "No," she says. So I also push 2. "No! Don't push that!" she cries. "Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you said you weren't going to three." "I'm not." Not going to 3. Not going to 2. We're on 1. There aren't any other floors. I look at her questioningly. "I just wanted to take a ride," she says. Wednesday, April 25, 2007 -- What A Find Just a couple days after mentioning my Nancy Ann Doll collection, the craziest thing happened. I was at the thrift shop, actually on my way out the door, when I spotted a cute plush penguin across the room in the baby/children section. I never go in that section, but Raymond likes penguins so I went to take a look. And there, next to the penguin, mixed in amongst a jumbled pile of toys and dolls, I see a Nancy Ann Storybook Doll - for $1.00. Wow! What a find. Saturday, April 21, 2007 -- Rain Ohhh, rain. What a surprise. Even though the rainy season is over, we had one last winter storm yesterday in a year when we've had virtually no winter storms at all. It's not unusual for us to get a few spring showers, but this was more like a winter rain - cold, blustery, and bringing snow to the mountains. It was a "gift from Mother Nature," the weather reporters said. And we may get another tomorrow. How nice. Friday, April 20, 2007 -- Photo Hunters 
I have been collecting Nancy Ann Storybook Dolls for many years. Friday, April 13, 2007 -- Photo Hunters 
This is Allie, who meticulously cleans only the places that are easy to reach. Thursday, April 12, 2007 -- Vonnegut I think Kimberly has tickets to hear him lecture next month. You can almost believe that he would show up for it. Monday, April 9, 2007 -- Easter We had a very nice Easter yesterday at Gina's. There were about twenty of us there so we did pot luck. It was an untraditional Easter feast but there was lots of food and everything was very good. Patty, who says she is starting to cook again, brought stuffed peppers and spaghetti with homemade sauce. They were very good. I've been thinking I should start cooking again, too. The convenience foods just really aren't as good. Maybe I'll get some peppers this week. Sunday, April 8, 2007 -- 300 Yesterday we celebrated Lloyd's birthday by going out to dinner and to a movie. We saw the movie 300, which is loosely based on the 480 B.C. Battle of Thermopylae between a small group of Greek Spartans and the enormously huge Persian army. I wasn't actually planning to see this movie as I don't generally like war movies. The movie, however, was not at all what I was expecting. It was a very strange mix of real and unreal. The photography, lighting, and staging was very artsy and surreal with scenery and backgrounds that appeared to have been painted on, (which I guess they were as I read that the movie was shot mostly in bluescreen.) The costumes were more Las Vegas than history with the Spartans looking more prepared to be marching in a pageant than off to war (give those men some body armor). And the Persian king, for reasons I've yet to figure out, was dressed like a punk rocker. Some of the characters were so bizarre and grotesque they looked like they may have stepped over from the Star Wars set. The battles, though extremely violent, were so artfully choreographed and surrounded by a feel of sci-fi fantasy that the whole tragic event just seemed to lose its emotional impact. The movie was based on the "graphic novel" by Frank Miller. (Graphic novel? What does that even mean? A picture book?) And the book, itself, was inspired by the 1962 movie, The 300 Spartans. So now I feel compelled to see the 1962 movie -- and darn it, I already said I don't like war movies. Friday, April 6, 2007 -- Photo Hunters 
Wouldn't it be nice to have some real spring showers? Monday, April 2, 2007 -- Customer Service We were looking at bicycles at Walmart, or at least trying to look at them, as they were all suspended from the high ceiling in the garden shop. We had already requested customer assistance to bring one down, but no one had arrived yet to help us. While we were waiting, a woman in a wheelchair holding a potted plant came up the aisle attempting to look at the decorative pots, "They don't make this easy," she said. "No," I agreed, straining my neck to read the price of a bike eight feet above my head. The aisle was so crowded with planters and plant stands, it was impossible for the woman to get through, or close enough to the shelves. Kimberly and I started moving the plant stands and pulling out pots for her to see. We finally found the one she wanted and the right tray to fit under it. Still no one had come to help us with a bicycle. "Oh, you're the bicycle people," she asked. "I heard the announcement. Do you want me to ask them again to send somebody? Sometimes you get better service when you're in a chair." I declined her offer and we waited some more. No one ever came. We later discovered that there were also some bikes in the toy section. These were lower and easier to see, but still not easily removed from the display racks. With some work, I was able to get one of the bikes out of the lower rack for Kimberly to see, but I couldn't reach the ones on the upper rack. We saw several employees (partners, associates, cast members, or whatever they're being called these days) pass by, talking or pricing things, but none of them offered to help. "I'm not too impressed with the customer service here," Kimberly said. Neither was I. It appeared that the only person in the store receiving good service that day was the lady in the garden shop who was being assisted by . . . US. Sunday, April 1, 2007 -- Happy April Fool's Day Enjoy the Top 100 April Fool's Day Hoaxes Of All Time from the Museum of Hoaxes. |
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