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Late yesterday, I discovered a strange side effect of the almost one year of pandemical isolation: sweet Jesus on an Orange Julius, I've apparently lost the ability to Mall.
Not that I ever considered it a skill, or even a desired one to gain. As activities go, shopping anywhere other than Wegmans is on my list somewhere between dental visits and colonoscopies. If it isn't get in/get out/get done, I have no interest. Malls and their unique features are at the bottom of my retail barrel, and the fancier and schmancier the venue, the lower it ranks.
In these parts, the Map of Mall was typically defined by Boulevard to the furthest north, Eastern Hills to the (duh) east, McKinley to the south, and the original mid-region venue was Cheektowaga's Thruway Mall. Then came the Galleria, aka "the Galleria Mall," aka "dat big mall where da Leonard Post used to be dere." Sibley's was the first to open on the Cheektowaga grounds, and Eleanor and I were among the first to ever set foot in its anchory area while she still worked for them in corporate construction. But it expanded to numerous other anchors, and to two levels of smaller stores mixing taste and tackiness in roughly equal measure.
-Apple Genius Bar vs. the Love Pink Store, the latter being where genius goes to the back of your panties and dies;
- Lego Store vs. Spencer Gifts, the latter still existing to guide alien ships to Earth through their use of blacklight;
- Cheesecake Factory vs. Auntie Anne's, because sugar and salt are basically the same shit.
All conveniently located right off the 90, twenty miles from the Canadian border but somehow attracting the neighbouring Canuckstanis like moths to a Calgary Flame. Until COVID, anyway, which shut the place to everyone for months and still keeps the foreigners oot at the international border.
I hadn't been in the place for probably three years, since my last visit to the Genius Bar. But over the weekend, I found myself with a sudden hankering for wireless old-school headphones, which assorted Best Buy rewards would bring down to barely 10 US dollars of cost! Our usual strip-mall store of that brand didn't have them in stock, but the Galleria did. Yes, the mall moved some traditional non-mall big boxes like Best Buy and Dick's into their fold as the anchors slowly went aweigh.
Finally, I get directions from a nice young woman in Dick's, who sends me on a series of escalators and left turns before I find the place on a different level of the complete opposite side of the damn mall (Calling the store to ask where they were was no help, thanks to a voicemail jail phone system rivaling Guantanamo.)
When I finally get there to pick up my toy, I ask the blueshirt about the sign location.
“We’ve been asking them to take that down and they won’t do it," he says. I presume this is Cuomo‘s fault like everything else is.
On the bright side, the place is pretty busy, and I don’t see a lot of empty storefronts. I’m sure when the Canadians get back, it’ll be even better. And good thing there's not a Sears or any other hardware joint in there anymore, because otherwise I would've fixed that fucking sign for them:
----
Part of my frustration with all of this was that I was in pain the whole time I was walking about. Beginning Saturday morning, and even worse Sunday all day, my lower back was in seriously bad shape. I suspected it was not from exercise but the opposite- from sitting on my ass through three extended phone hearings during the week and not moving around enough during or after them.
In the end, I finished on the treadmill with a slower than usual but more consistent final third of the class, and met the "afterburn" goal of 12 minutes of heartrate in the mid-80 percent range.
She scooted out before I could thank her for a kindness she didn't even know about, but if we meet again, I will. She's not only smarter than Evil Cat, but definitely nicer:)
Not that I ever considered it a skill, or even a desired one to gain. As activities go, shopping anywhere other than Wegmans is on my list somewhere between dental visits and colonoscopies. If it isn't get in/get out/get done, I have no interest. Malls and their unique features are at the bottom of my retail barrel, and the fancier and schmancier the venue, the lower it ranks.
In these parts, the Map of Mall was typically defined by Boulevard to the furthest north, Eastern Hills to the (duh) east, McKinley to the south, and the original mid-region venue was Cheektowaga's Thruway Mall. Then came the Galleria, aka "the Galleria Mall," aka "dat big mall where da Leonard Post used to be dere." Sibley's was the first to open on the Cheektowaga grounds, and Eleanor and I were among the first to ever set foot in its anchory area while she still worked for them in corporate construction. But it expanded to numerous other anchors, and to two levels of smaller stores mixing taste and tackiness in roughly equal measure.
-Apple Genius Bar vs. the Love Pink Store, the latter being where genius goes to the back of your panties and dies;
- Lego Store vs. Spencer Gifts, the latter still existing to guide alien ships to Earth through their use of blacklight;
- Cheesecake Factory vs. Auntie Anne's, because sugar and salt are basically the same shit.
All conveniently located right off the 90, twenty miles from the Canadian border but somehow attracting the neighbouring Canuckstanis like moths to a Calgary Flame. Until COVID, anyway, which shut the place to everyone for months and still keeps the foreigners oot at the international border.
I hadn't been in the place for probably three years, since my last visit to the Genius Bar. But over the weekend, I found myself with a sudden hankering for wireless old-school headphones, which assorted Best Buy rewards would bring down to barely 10 US dollars of cost! Our usual strip-mall store of that brand didn't have them in stock, but the Galleria did. Yes, the mall moved some traditional non-mall big boxes like Best Buy and Dick's into their fold as the anchors slowly went aweigh.
I don’t know where anything is in this place. We once got lost on the grounds when we were unable to find where they hid a 16-screen multiplex cinema. But lo, right off the 90 exit, there’s a bigly BEST BUY sign on the second level.
I get a spot, walk in next to the sign, and I’m in the middle of the damn mall. Ralph the mall cop got laid off, and no signs are there telling you where anything is, except some 3-D interactive directory signs that make no sense to my warped brain.
I get a spot, walk in next to the sign, and I’m in the middle of the damn mall. Ralph the mall cop got laid off, and no signs are there telling you where anything is, except some 3-D interactive directory signs that make no sense to my warped brain.
Finally, I get directions from a nice young woman in Dick's, who sends me on a series of escalators and left turns before I find the place on a different level of the complete opposite side of the damn mall (Calling the store to ask where they were was no help, thanks to a voicemail jail phone system rivaling Guantanamo.)
When I finally get there to pick up my toy, I ask the blueshirt about the sign location.
“We’ve been asking them to take that down and they won’t do it," he says. I presume this is Cuomo‘s fault like everything else is.
On the bright side, the place is pretty busy, and I don’t see a lot of empty storefronts. I’m sure when the Canadians get back, it’ll be even better. And good thing there's not a Sears or any other hardware joint in there anymore, because otherwise I would've fixed that fucking sign for them:
----
Part of my frustration with all of this was that I was in pain the whole time I was walking about. Beginning Saturday morning, and even worse Sunday all day, my lower back was in seriously bad shape. I suspected it was not from exercise but the opposite- from sitting on my ass through three extended phone hearings during the week and not moving around enough during or after them.
I do a workout a couple of times a week that is very goal and stat oriented. It's easy to feel like you're not keeping up with the Joneses (Schwarzeneggers, whatever). It's high-intensity and I doubt I could ever manage it as a n00b now if I hadn't gained the experience years ago.
To keep it all in perspective, I remind myself: I am usually the oldest one in the class (usually 10-14 people these days). Typically, at least half of them will be younger than our daughter (just turned 29), and it's not unusual for at least one or two to be younger than our 19-year-old Evil Cat. I'd booked one for this afternoon early last week, and decided to keep the appointment even though my lower back started acting up over the weekend. My goal was to make it through the hour but not go crazy.
The workout has three components: treadmill, rower and weight floor, assigned in random order but rotated through the hour. Of course I was put on a rower first, and next to one of those Younger Than The Cat kids with a Niagara University sportsball team shirt on. She lapped me (and then some) in those first 15 minutes. But then, when we moved to dumbbell and bodyweight exercises, SHE was the one who asked the instructor for help and options because she must have had some limitations, too. It made it easier to get the help because I didn't have to ask for it- I just did what she was doing.
In the end, I finished on the treadmill with a slower than usual but more consistent final third of the class, and met the "afterburn" goal of 12 minutes of heartrate in the mid-80 percent range.
She scooted out before I could thank her for a kindness she didn't even know about, but if we meet again, I will. She's not only smarter than Evil Cat, but definitely nicer:)