August 11-15 2013

A Chapter by dw817

You tell me ? I think the power of advertising goes a long way in what one thinks they are gonna get and what they ACTUALLY get. Maybe I learned something today, about that ...

Blog Aug 11-15 2013

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FARAWAY MEMORIES

I normally see Chris on Sundays. Usually we go out someplace to eat. I was really excited all week when I got this cool flyer in my mail. It showed an awesome oriental building and the prices looked really affordable ! OH MAN did I wanna go bad !!

Chris finally agreed we could check it out but kept smiling at me all the while. Finally I asked him what was up and he said you are so gullible. I said why ? Then I found out as we pulled into the parking lot.

What you see and what you get

As you can see the actual restaurant was nothing like the beautiful photo they showed. I threw their flyer down on the floor board and said that's not fair ! Chris said it's called puffery. I asked what ? He said in advertising, they show you something really good and then you get less of what you really expected.

Man that was disappointing ! I was so looking forward to, well, I dunno, SOMETHING, besides a little hole in the wall place like this. So - anyways, we went to the regular Chinese restaurant we go to, Szechuan's and I got my usual Sesame Chicken.

After that I asked him what he has on his schedule.

Now sometimes we go to Lowe's and he picks up some potting soil or gardening stuff, and - if the weather isn't over 100 degrees, we go out in the back and do some yardwork. Usually I sweep the deck free of the leaves and he mows the grass.

Me sweeping Chris's deck

But - today it was a really hot day ! And while I despise Summer heat, I knew we were gonna do something special today. And sure enough, Chris offered for us to go to the Flea Market.

At first I thought it was the outside one that was down HWY 80 I've been to several times, but no - this is the one I hadn't been to since I was 12. It seems so faraway in my memories since I had been there ...

But things had changed ! It now cost $8 to park your car anywhere near the place ! That was ridiculous ! I know perfectly well when me and Mom walked there that many years ago (cause she lived close by) you could park anywheres you wanted to.

So Chris drove around trying to find a free parking lot. And then we came across an odd sight. A HUGE parking lot with no cars in it that had raised concrete barriers all the ways around it !

There was NO WAY anyone could possibly park there with the concrete posts cemented into place all around the entrances to it and yet - it was a perfectly good and valid parking lot though ! And then it hit me. They did this DELIBERATELY so people would be forced to pay $8 to park in the other 3-lots we came across ! Geez, how greedy can someone get ??

Wow, anyways Chris drove about 2-blocks away from those crazy parking lots and we found a space to park. Then we walked over to check out the Flea Market. And, since I was there that many years ago, not much had changed. There was no air-conditioning.

The only thing to prevent the stifling 100 degree heat were a series of box-fans placed strategically throughout the area. It's always been thattaways.

And there were still guns and pistols you could buy right at the entrance and the stalls looked familiar. Even the far stall all the way in the back right which was what I called the BEST was overflowing with all kindsa good stuff as usual, but they had put up a barrier showing they were closed.

Chris said we got there a little late so some of the stalls were closing. Anyways, we worked our way around counter-clockwise.

And, we looked around. As you know I collect Teddy Bears so I started looking for those. I wasn't having much luck when I finally found a stand that had several, but they weren't Teddy Bears, stuffed toy dogs, cats, and other animals.

Then I saw a box in the corner and started poking around. I found a heavy one near the bottom that apparently was battery-powered, as the bottom was open and the flap was hanging loose with no batteries in it.

Me holding him in my hands and I'm back at my home.

I have so many different kinds of Teddy Bears now that I try to be super choosy when I get a new one, and outside of the the singing Patriotic one that I got from the Antique Shop a few weeks ago, this one was definitely unique.

I asked the lady there how much, she said $2, so I said fine. I later found out all it needed was batteries and it worked just fine - minus the Birthday hat - tho I new I could improvise for that.

Then we came across this wicked cool knife display ! While I would never want to own any of these, I thought THIS one was particularly interesting in the hilt design !

Chris took this photo at the exhibit

Then I saw one of my Dad's old friends working one of the stands ! She was MENSAN and she knew me cause she called me by my name. She told me that Dottie (my Dad's wife), was traveling the world, and - I can understand that.

We talked for a bit, then Chris said he had enough of the heat in there and we headed out.

We stopped by to get something cold and good, a frozen treat at the local 7-11 store near where he lived. Then we finished up watching the new Conan The Barbarian movie as we had only gotten halfway through it last week, and I will tell you now, it is AWESOME so you should totally see it !

And then I asked about, "Pagemaster," the movie cause I know I was playing that on the SNES recently. And, curiously enough, he had it !

And we watched that all the way through and - wow - it was really bad. Most of it was animated with only a bit of live action in the beginning and end, but the animation style was cheap like Hanna Barbera, definitely not good enough for a full motion picture. And the story was pretty weak and silly - no re-watch value.

Anyways, we stopped by Albertson's on the way home and I picked up what I surely thought was as close to the neato rainbow pops that we picked up at that convenience store earlier.

Me holding the box in one frame and one of the pops in the other

You tell me, are we seeing a pattern here ? I think the power of advertising goes a long way in what you think you are gonna get and what you ACTUALLY wind up getting.

Maybe I learned something today, about that China Pagoda restaurant and these pops. You aren't necessarily gonna get what is in the picture. Hmm ...

And, that's all for now ! I'm gonna get in the habit of bringing my digital camera with me when I see Chris so I can have more neat stuff to show you later ...

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Mark

So very true about advertising. Promise paradise and deliver some cardboard cutout version designed to max out profits. I am eating in a cracker barrel restaurant where they promise "down home" food and deliver processed crap. Very disappointing. Good write my friend.