I live less than an hour to 30 million people, which means lots and lots of shopping opportunities. In fact, if you looked up just about any box retailer that you know of, from groceries to restaurants to fashion, you'd be hard pressed not to find them in either Rancho Cucamongo or within a few minute drive. There are something like 4 or 5 major shopping centers right around where I15 and 10 and 210 meet. I wasn't sure what I was going to do with myself yesterday. I kicked around the idea of going to San Diego to look at paddleboards, but knowing myself, looking often turns into buying, which I don't have the extra scratch to do and putting it on credit, while the American way, would be irresponsible and now that I'm 40 I'm not supposed to be irresponsible in money matters anymore. Right! But I am trying. So instead I decided to see a movie, Moonrise Kingdom. I Fandango'd the film but the closest theater with showings was down in Ontario. Ugh! Really. One of the 5 theaters in my local area won't carry a film with Bruce Willis, Ed Norton and Bill Murray in it. I guess that says a lot about how lower middle class american Victorville and Apple Valley are. A short drive through the whole thing made me realize a long time ago, this is corporate thought hell. Oh well. C'est la vie. I decided to make it worthwhile and hit the movie, Bass Pro, Ontario Mills, a nice restaurant, and whatever else I could squeeze in. I've realized why I've never liked shopping. While it is pretty cool to see new product, it is pretty depressing realizing how little of it I can truly afford. Being frugal ain't fun. I know some people really enjoy the challenge, but not me. If I want a vanilla frap, I don't want to have to worry if I'm going to be able to retire before the reaper comes knocking. I just want to order it and enjoy its creamy cool goodness.
I started off with a quick trip through the drive up, handed the lady my paper saving ceramic mug and rolled on down the road sipping on a vanilla latte as I headed down the hill to LA. The drive was super easy and before I knew it I was in the Bass Pro parking lot. I parked near the walkway in the middle and immediately saw a blue heeler do a backflip while on leash. I soon realized it was a rattlesnake training course, a serious threat out these parts, and the poor little guy had taken a jolt from his collar. A great training aid but I bet it isn't pleasant on the receiving end. I watched them train, he got hit with volts at least twice more before I headed inside. I went directly to the little boys room and emptied my latte strained bladder, then into the Zombie section. It was hilarious. They have half a row of zombie prep stuff, from bullets to boxes to targets, to just about anything for the zombie concerned among us. (Later I saw a Jeep Zubicon, prepared for Zombie defense with big biohazard badging). Then I roamed the aisles gawking at the sheer volume of stuff for sale. The guns and ammo sections were the busiest in the whole store, especially the black rifle area. It was cram packed. Prepping for the lean times ahead I guess. After thoroughly exploring the store, I decided to grab lunch and was already near the restaurant in the store which had a couple fish specials for lunch, fish tacos being one. They were quite delicious. After the tacos, I had some time to kill before the movie and headed to the Mills. I watched the RC helicopter guy for a little while, he even landed the copter in my had once for a crowd of kids that were lingering around, but he never let me give the controls a try. i did some clothes shopping and fought off a pretzel urge then ran into the massage chair area. it was $20 for 30 minutes. A deal I decided and had them work out the rough spots in my posture for the day. More clothes shopping then it was movie time. Movie theaters in big cities are different than elsewhere. At Disney, they had true dinner theater with a waiter that delivered to your seat. This wasn't that nice but they had pizza, dogs and burgers on the menu plus the usual movie foods. I skipped out on food but grabbed a rootbeer, the 60oz variety. The movie was great. I recommend it to everyone. There were a couple uncomfortable parts but they added to the character of the film overall. Afterwards, I headed back to Bass Pro as I had decided I needed something afterall. Some .45 ammo for my pistola. I snagged up a box of zombie specific for collector purposes and a box of critical defense for home protection, not that there is much of a need in my neighborhood but who knows where I'll land in the coming months. I hung out around the fish tank for awhile then headed back up over the hill for the house. Total, I had spent about 10 hours out of the house, and about 5 hours of just walking and shopping. The day went by quickly but I didn't really feel that i had accomplished anything seriously worthwhile, so I hope not to repeat it too soon. A hundred years ago, guys just grabbed their guns and headed to the woods, no seasons, few limits, no plastic, all in the name of meat in the smokhouse. How far we've fallen. As Matese says, I just need to go fishing. I wonder what is in season?!
No comments:
Post a Comment