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It’s Labor day weekend. The end of the summer. School starts next week for the 14 year old, and starts in three weeks for myself and the students I work with. It’s been a good summer though, lots of fun.

I’m delighted to link to my new Daytrips photo album to show just two of the fun things I did this summer.

DayTrips

Of Course Autumn means Halloween is coming soon, and the local Walgreens already had an aise of decorty items that I could get to make our house look more spooky.  One season ends and another begins.

Recently I’ve reviewed :

Star Life on the Oasis

The Grand Illusion Cinema

Padi Indonesian Food

Ride the Ducks 

Outback Steakhouse 

Burger and Kabob Hut 

I dont know K and S very well. I’ve only known K through reading her journal for about a year. She’s one of those friends of friends, someone known by a number of my respected friends. Thats why I added her to my blogs reading list.
 
We’ve got something in common, something beyond  our friends. We’ve both got a love of our pets.  I make no bones about the fact that Tiffa  is the princess in my life and we have what is likely to be considered an unhealthy codependent relationship with my cat. As dependent as I am  on mine, I can tell you that K is as dependent on hers. She’s got five beautiful kitties, and a brand new puppy that they’ve given a safe secure home to.

Sadly, their house is under siege in a wildfire as happens here in the west.  They were able to evacuate, luckily. Unfortunatly, they were only able to grab the puppy and 1 of the kitties. The rest are back at the house, as they sit paralyzed watching the news, hoping against hope that they are able to get the cats out or the house is saved.

I’m in tears over this. All I can think of is my kitty and how I would react if it was me. I dont have an emergency plan in place. I dont think I even know where the carrier is, if it was me, I’d be screwed. Something to think of for the future.   I’m thinking of S and K sending them love and care from one pet companion to another.

Patrick had never been on a Ferry before. While a trip to my beloved Port Townsend is on the books for later in the summer, We popped up to Edmonds and took the Ferry over to Kingston just for a walk around.

We got off the Ferry and were greeted by the site of the Kingston Farmers Market.

Lots of little tents , a mixture of actual produce with crafts and handmade sweets. From chocolates and yarns to zucchinis the size of a bat and corn on the cob 5 for a dollar.

I look forward to going back for local yarn and a handmade corian cutting board. The rest of Kingston was kind of a miss. There is not a whole lot you can do on foot in Kingston.

We had fun though, isnt it obvious.

From customer service.

When I walk into a store I want to be greated and welcomed, offered assistance then left alone to shop. When I have my hands full I want to be offered a basket. When I am near the counter I want to  asked if I am ready to check out. When I am in line for the check out I want to wait no more then 5 minutes.

In a customer service experience I do not want to be followed around, I do not want to be assaulted with questions about my likes and dislikes, I do not want to be continually upsold. I do not want to be interrogated. I do  not want to be ignored when I’m ready to check out. I do not want to waste 10 minutes standing in front of the counter waiting to be checked out.

Oil and Vinegar, a new store I’d never been in to was the former.  The women zerod in on Patrick and I as we entered the store , dug her teeth in and would not let go. “Do you grill” “Do you like olives” “Do you like balsamic” “Which of these have you tried” When Patrick stated he didnt like something for example the garlic oil didnt taste like oil she agreed “No it doesnt taste like garlic at all” and went back on to her questions. I wasn’t planning on getting anything anyway so there was no real loss there.   I’d heard of their Strawberry Balsamic  and while i found it tasty, none of the balasamics were anywhere near O and Co’s

Lane Bryant was the latter. Frustrating as I had my items in hand and was ready to check out. I wandered around back and fourth in front of the counter waiting  for customer service. Finally they began checking the gal in front of me out, but she signed up for the credit card deal, and that takes forever. Even when  another coworker showed up behind the counter, she just used the phone then went back to the front to fold t-shirts.

I left in a huff, stating that I hadn’t found what I was  looking for.

I’m always on the look out for something new to do in Seattle. Festivals, fairs, parties and other kinds of events. This weekend it was The Bite of Edmonds. Every time I mentioned to folks that  I was going to  The Bite of Edmonds they stared at me blankly “What is there that is interesting enough to eat in Edmonds?

For those who don’t know Edmonds is a small suburb just North of Seattle. With a Ferry terminal and a very cute downtown, its one of my favorite places to go.  It’s fairly white bread though.  A variety of pan Asian restaurants, a cafe or three, a  u brew store, a coffee shop or three. Not a whole  lot exciting.

That said, I was optimistic about The Bite of Edmonds would be tasty fair food. We parked three blocks away and walked over . $3 at the door  let us into what was  basically a gauntlet of   sales pitches. No map showed us which way to go. As we wandered up and down the aisle we were approached by vendors trying to sell us stuff.  There were mortgage brokers,  massage therapists, clothing dealers, scalp  massage  salesman. If you wanted it it was there.

We finally found our way to the “stadium” after asking for directions . There  in all its fair like splendor was a fairway of fair foods. Things like sausages, funnel cakes and onion blossoms to go. Sadly whole these  foods are tasty they arent particuarly exciting.

It was hot, it was crowded. Too many people and not enough of interest. I want my $3 back

Of course after discussing the movie in the car on the way to Edmonds “Bit of Edmonds”  we spent our time trying to find sines that were and werent  Helvetica.

What would you do to see a movie about a typefont?

A movie about Helvetica ? You know, the genaric, used for signs and to symbolize sleek modernism.

Would you preorder tickets? Would you stand in a throng of excited people waiting for your chance, drooling over the cute typegeeks in town for Typecon? Would you shift from foot to foot in excitement  hoping to get a ticket. When introduced to the convention goer next to you, the profession typegeek what would you say? “I’m a geek groupie?”

I was lucky enough to get that seat and to explain that I was there with my geek boyfriend who is in the biz .  Helvetica was a fascinating look not only into what goes into make a font, but just how many  differing opinons  there are on fonts. From the  “There are only at most 12 good fonts out there, to the “art fonts” camps.

The most interesting fact learned at the movie was last night wasnt even really font related.  You know those ovals on the back of European cars showing where they are from? For Germany its DE, for Britan its UK, for Switzerland its CH for Confoederatio Helvetica.

If you get a chance I’d suggest renting this.