Children in Bee Costumes

Tomorrow is Halloween, a holiday which is totally fun when you're a kid, loses its fun as you get older, then becomes fun again when you actually have children around you and can legitimately grovel for candy with them. I remember when my oldest nephew had his first Halloween, my sister and I walked him around their neighborhood in his giraffe costume. He was outrageously cute. But he was about 8 months old, so it felt a little strange to be collecting candy on his behalf when we all knew that my sister and I were going to eat it. It felt less awkward when my nephews started walking and had teeth. But then it was tricky to sneak the candy you wanted to eat out of their plastic pumpkins without tipping them off and causing problems. This took some finesse, which my sister has in great amounts. It seems to involve keeping the candy in the pantry on a high shelf, to be doled out to the child after dinner contingent on behavior, but to yourself, liberally during naptimes and slack jawed cartoon watching. It's great.

I guess my mother must have done the same thing but I don't remember it so she, too, must have had great finesse in this area. When I was older and graduated to a pillowcase instead of the plastic pumpkin, I kept that under my bed. I don't recall being a very good share-er of my loot but then one year the schnauzer Tappy ate all my candy from said pillow case and that was that.

Anyway, this weekend there was a little parade near my house where costumed kids went in and out of shops with their folks. There were tons of babies dressed as bees, which just killed me, it was so cute. Costumes now are much better than they were in the 70s. I recall plasticky things with suffocating face masks that were more scary than anything else. Did babies wear costumes in the 70s? I have no idea. Then again, consumer markets have expanded in all kinds of crazy directions since then. I am not sure if people have more disposable income now than they did then but it seems like there are more things to "need." Hmm, this is starting to verge on a old codger rant, but I really don't feel that way, at least about the costume options available to babies and toddlers. Who cares if they have no idea what it going on! Bring on the babies in anything fleecy with ears and a tail!

See How I Suffer for These Feet?

Well, I finally found a pair of shoes on ebay. I wasn't sure how they would be since the picture was so little. It's a fine line between cool and hideous, and these looked like they could go either way. I took a risk (39.99 not such a huge risk, but still) and am pleased to report they are not bad! Sort of a mix between bowling shoes and sneakers, with some snazzy white piping. But the best part is that they are wides which means the Fred Flintstones are happy and there will be no horrible breaking in period where my feet are forced to forge new paths in the leather. They are Clarks, a brand that seems to be comfy and kind of stylish, sort of a step below Joseph Siebels and Stone Flys, I think.

I really don't even mind so much anymore that UPS left me only one notice, which they deemed their "last attempt," forcing me to drive out to the "Customer Service Center" by the Oakland Airport to pick them up. In theory this woudn't be so bad, but oh my GOD! Despite numerous brown-aproned clerks milling around wielding tape guns with no boxes in sight, there was a long line of people clutching their postcards and IDs out the door and down the wheelchair ramp. But that's all over now.

Google Ad Sense just alerted me to a website they want me to look at called Massey's, an online shoe store for ladies with big fat feet. I happily obliged--for once this ad thing could actually help--but yikes. Take a look and tell me what you think. There were a lot of shoes decorated with rivets. This is something I really don't understand. Maybe someone out there knows about the rivets, let us know.

A Beautiful, Alternate Universe

I have just had two lovely experiences commuting to work and picking up Miss Kitty's prescriptions at Costco. Yeah, that's right, I said it--commuting and Costco just made me want to weep with pleasure. I am going to have to savor the experience as long as I can for I know it won't last.

Today is Columbus Day and I was one of eleven people in the Bay Area that didn't have the day off. Initially I had some bitterness when I kissed Honey's sleeping head goodbye this morning. Honey works in Berkeley, which does NOT celebrate Eurocentric/Murderer/Raper of the Land (that's Columbus to the rest of us) Day but Indigenous People's Day instead. But when I got on the freeway and realized that everyone else was also still at home sleeping and I would be able to drive 70 the whole way and get to work in half the time I quickly got over it.

Work sort of sucked today but who cares? I got there fast and as a result could leave early. Proceeded to Costco to pick up the expensive old man medicine keeping my cat alive and ... no one was waiting at the pharmacy. The clerk waved at me while I was still walking up to the yellow-do-not-cross-me-line and had the meds ready before I even had my wallet out. I was downright cheerful about forking over $75--I simply had no time to simmer and seethe as I usually do about having to wait 20 minutes for the pleasure of being ripped off by greedy pharmaceutical companies etc.

Buoyed by my good luck, I picked up some fast and delicious salmon burgers and a box of cherry tomatoes and as I was scanning the check out for the shortest line, a clerk waved her arms at me and yelled "No waiting here!" Here I entered a bit of a confused/dreamy state. Am I not in the steaming core of hell otherwise known as Costco at dinnertime, where you risk being mowed down by mobs of hungry people clutching rotisserie chickens to their chests?

I almost couldn't bear the bounty of that experience. It nearly made me want to stay and shop for all kinds of things Costco has no shortage of like fleece throw blankets, buckets of Metamucil and plasma televisions but I jolted myself back to reality and sped home.