Monday, February 27, 2023

Alas Poor Olaf


The above is all that was left of Olaf (named after the snowman in Frozen) when I woke up yesterday.

Saturday’s snow was replaced by the return of rain later that afternoon, washed away all our lovely snow, and what was once my little snowman Olaf was just ribbon and a sliver of ice on Sunday.

I don’t know what happened to his little carrot nose. Maybe the rain washed it away.

There was a break in the rain early yesterday, so I was able to make it to the mall, pick up my orders.

Because our mail carriers can’t be trusted to put the key to the package lockbox in the correct mail slot, when items ordered offer the option to "mail to or pick up" and it's possible to get to the location, I've been opting for pick up.

With orders I can't possibly get to the location, I pay extra for a delivery service to leave at my door, bypass the postal service completely, and sometimes that goes awry as well.

Pick up can be kind of a pain, but mail delivery has gotten so bad, since our regular mail lady went missing on us (new route or quit ???), that some residents have not only complained to the main post office — to no avail, but complained directly to the mail carriers, also to no avail.

Some have requested the post office "hold" packages for them to pick up at the main post office, so the carrier can’t get his/her hands on the packages, screw delivery up.

So, anyway, I took advantage of the brief respite from the rain, drove to the mall.

Those store designers are some smart cookies. The pickup counter was positioned way in the back of the store.

I had to walk pass clothes, shoes, jewelry.

My daily uniform is tees and leggings, Birkenstocks and Asics athletic shoes, so the store designers' manipulation didn't get me.

That is until I spotted jewelry — 50% off.

I ended up with two new pair of earrings before reaching the pickup counter where ... what did I see right next to the line but this display.


Genius placement, but how did they know I have a new great grandbaby?

Which one do you think I bought?

I’ll have to find a reason to travel to Long Beach, give the baby his shirt before he’s walking, talking, heading to college — grown too big for the tee.

Heading out of the mall, seeing the See’s Candy store sign, of course I popped in.

Walking out of See's, bag of candy in hand, I looked up and saw a shop that looked interesting.


"May I help you", asks the lady in the shop when she sees me looking at medieval pocketknives.

"No thanks. I'm just browsing".

"Are you interested in knives?"

"Not really, but the knives did make me think about the dogs that just attacked and killed a man out walking".

"You might be interested in this if you're thinking about protecting yourself from bad dogs" and she showed me a stylish looking walking stick.

Priced at $55, I wasn't interested. Not even when she said she could do $30 on it, but then she pulled off the tip and exposed a sharp tool for protection from bad boys and bad dogs.

Tip On

Tip Off

This stick won't get me up the Devil's Canyon Road incline. For that I will need the trekking poles. However, this stick will make me feel safer so that I can go back to the walks I used to take around the neighborhood until knife guy scared me off that route.

I don't think I'll be facing any bad boys or bad dogs on Devil's Canyon Road, but I've got pepper spray and a taser just in case.

So many weapons ... in the unit, in the car, in my fanny pack, in my jacket pocket, even in my hand while walking to the mailbox or car but, if you're paying attention, listening to or reading the news, bad things are happening everywhere to those who are going about their daily business unprepared, seemingly unaware that the world is no longer a safe place.

The elderly and mothers getting in/out of their cars, distracted with small children in tow, seem to be the current targets.

We were just in the news two weeks ago for a stabbing unaliving at the gas station on the corner, followed by a carjacking by the perp and a hot two-day pursuit.

I stayed inside, so no photos for you, but Trainer said the gas station had been corded off with that tape they use and, from inside my unit, it sounded like every cop car in the world was racing up/down the street.

So, one has to be on his/her toes, take nothing and no one for granted. Be aware of surroundings, walk cautiously and, in my case, carry a big stick, pepper spray and a taser.

This has been a public service announcement.

On the way out of the mall, I paused too long in front of Bath & Body Works, got lured in and walked out with a Strawberry Daiquiri scented candle.

The cashier said it’s the kind of scent that I could relax with a glass of wine, the lights down low and before she could finish, I added "With my Magic Mike DVD playing".

She cracked up.

So now, after a weekend of rain, snow, rain, shopping, though it's dry outside for the moment, on we go to another week of expected rain and the end to Black History month.

I didn't have a special shirt for Black History Month, as I do for Pride and St. Patrick's Day, but I’ve picked out the shirt I want for next year.

I’d buy it now, but they’ve sold out in my size. So, I’ll just have to keep an eye out for next year.


16 comments:

  1. Farewell, Olaf, we hardly knew ye.

    That was quite a shopping trip! And I love the tee you'll be ordering for next year's Black History Month!

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    1. Second shirt in a row that came to my attention too late to get in my size. First was Shangela's tee and doesn't look like going to be restocked. Hoping for better luck with this one next year.

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  2. Ah, Olaf finally made it to that tropical island. I love, love, love that last T-shirt, and you new and very elegant concealed weapon.

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    1. Hope I never have to use that weapon, but it's good to have ... just in case. As for the tee, finally someone is realizing there is a market for such items.

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  3. Did you get the "future black history maker" shirt?

    Something else you might want to get for defense is straight from the Capital insurrection. Bear spray. It's pepper spray on steroids. The can is kind of big so you'll need a holder. They make a bunch of different kinds.

    I'm glad you didn't get the last shirt. You have time to call them and get it corrected. It doesn't "flow" at the end. It needs to say "blackity black black black".

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    1. LOL "blackity black black black". There's only so much they can print on a tee shirt unless it's a really big shirt. You guessed right on the baby's shirt. After the insurrection, I did think bear spray would be a better choice than pepper spray, but found it was illegal in this area. Go figure!

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  4. Bet a bird or squirrel got Olaf's nose and eyes. Sounds like you had a wonderful roaming shopping trip. Might want to check and super glue that tip to the walking stick. Love your shopping choices. Cool tee-shirt. Linda in Kansas

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    1. I didn't even notice the eyes were also missing. Poor Olaf.

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  5. RIP Olaf. Here in the UK it is illegal to carry pepper spray, a taser, a gun and most knives (pocket knives with blades under 3in that are non locking are usually ok). Hope you never have cause to use any of yours. Love the shirt. Viv

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    1. With so much illegal to carry for protection in the UK, I'd have to learn judo and karate before I visited the country so I could protect myself while out walking. Is there no crime there? No need for such protections?

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    2. Yes, we have crime, usually more petty but there have been stabbings (usually involving teenagers) and mainly large city based. On the whole it's a pretty safe country, I've never felt unsafe here. Albeit there are certain parts of London (Tower Hamlets) I'd be weary about.

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    3. I remember back when I felt safe and was out and about all hours of the day and night with no incidents. Don't know now if I was really safe back then or just lucky, had a guardian angel on my shoulder. Now, however, it's so unsafe outside that we're always being warned to "be aware of your surroundings".

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  6. I like the stick. I carry my tazer all the time. It's easy to carry in my pocket.

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    1. I like to have a backup and a backup of the backup just in case one of my tools malfunctions or gets knocked out of my hand. I've never had to use the taser but the pepper spray twice when, on two different occasions, dogs decided to come after me.

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  7. I'm impressed with your self-defense stash and hope you never need to use any of it. Love the t-shirt.

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    1. Me too hoping I won't need any of it. I once was told that criminals can sense who to victimize who to stay clear of. Hopefully this is true and they sense I'm prepared to fight back, hurt them, and they'll move on.

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