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                   Notes from Errands run during Halloween

So Spring [1] and I were running around doing some last minute Halloween
shopping, preparing for a gathering of friends later in the evening.

After lunch, we stopped off at Blockbuster [2] to rent the movie for our
Halloween party [3] where we planned to MST3K (Mystery Science Theater 3000)
[4] a carefully choosen film—in this case, Hardware [5] (in the imortal words
of my friend Bill when we saw this in the theater when it came out—“This was
so bad it was well worth the six bucks!”).

But Blockbuster was rather Lackluster in their selection of videos (they
didn't even have a Science Fiction section!) we decided to try another store—
Hollywood Video. [6] A bigger selection, more sections (including a Science
Fiction section) and cheaper prices. Since we weren't members, I started
filling out the membership form while Spring went shopping for videos.

Why a video store needs my Social Security number I don't know (neither did I
give it to them, nor did they seem to make a fuss over my non-compliance) nor
why it requires me to give my zip code twice or phone number twice who knows?
It was a rather silly form. When I added Spring to my account, I allowed her
to rent NR (not rated), R, PG-13 and PG films, but not G. Can't have her
renting G films (“I'm sorry Ms. Dew, but we can't let you rent that copy of
`Marry Poppins.' You're not allowed to!”).

Video in hand, we were off. “Hey, Spring. See that car in front of us?”

“Yes, it's kind of hard to miss.”

I do love her so. “See those Chinese characters on the bumper?”

“Yes.”

“I hope he didn't pay a lot for those—they're upside down!” One of the
benefits of taking Chinese calligraphy in college—I can pick these things
out, even if I can't read the actual characters.

Our next stop was Wal★Mart [7] but to our surprise, the store down the street
from us was no longer there! Abandoned! Gone! We drove around the parking lot
wondering what to do when we asked a few ped-xings what happened.

“Oh, they moved across the street! Next to the Lowe's [8].”

“Thanks,” Spring said, and we drove off.

To the largest Wal★Mart store I've ever seen. It's one of those Wal★Mart
Superstores that are the size of small Latin American countries. Walking in I
felt I had reached Conspicuous Consumer Consumption Mecca. Isles and isles of
merchandizing. Satelite stores lining the edge. Thousands of people dashing
about buying last minute Halloween supplies. We didn't feel like spending the
next few hours trying to track down the few items we needed, so we left.

Next was the supermarket to pick up some food and lovely beverages. Home.
Then back to the supermarket to pick up some lovely alcoholic beverages (“I
knew we were missing something when we left,” said Spring).

Then relax a bit before the evening plans start.

[1] http://www.springdew.com/
[2] http://www.blockbuster.com/
[3] http://www.springdew.com/sushiinspace.htm
[4] http://www.scifi.com/mst3000/
[5] http://us.imdb.com/Title?0099740
[6] http://www.hollywoodvideo.com/
[7] http://www.wal-mart.com/
[8] http://www.lowes.com/

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