Car buying tales - Honda Fit and Civic

I get rather distracted when typing these continuation type posts. This is part two of three car buying stories.
The first was about my venture to buy a Ford Fiesta here. Next on our saga was trying to find a Honda Fit. I was sent to find a Fit, Fiesta or any cheap small car. The problem right now for these wee little Fit cars is Japan. As per the salesperson at the Honda dealership...hundreds of these minicars were swept into the ocean during the earthquake and tsunami and the plant has been shut down. They have become rare, so dealing on them is not likely. Instead, we looked at a Honda Civic, which there are tons of on the road, and sitting at the dealer. The price point we were looking to hit was around $13K, so we were looking at used 2008's.
Nice cars. The first we looked at was a stick, 29K miles, with a dead battery. The second was an auto with 36K mileage. We made an offer on the first car (after the battery was charged.) I asked to see any paperwork they had on it, and would the salesman explain the numbers on the shop report. What does a "5" mean for tread life left? What does a "3" mean for brakes, etc.
The sales fellow got very testy with me, like all these numbers were fine, the car was great, it is the best car in the world, number one seller, there were no problems, I was basically lucky to be in the running to drive one. When buying a new car for thousands of dollars it would really suck to have to pay right away for new brakes or tires. Hence my questions.
They couldn't get down to my price ( we were $300 off) so I drove home without it.
Pic: 2008 Honda Civic image courtesy Saku Takakusaki

Who are you?

In the upper left of this blog is a page counter that tells how many times the main page of lucky-days.blogspot is viewed. I know my mom in Michigan and I have not viewed blue shoe farm 2,444 times....or I hope we haven't.
Who are you all? Why are you here? Do you have a blog? Can I answer any questions for you? I am good at making things up.
Pic: Need any chairs? I am garage sale selling these this weekend...

Pissed Seattle Driving - Ranting Post

Not pissed like drunk, pissed like I get around inattentive unfocused illegal drivers such as those I drove with in Seattle for two hours.
Arghh. Any nostalgia I had for missing Seattle and it's amazing stores filled with junk I don't need, but boy, is it fun to look at; my old breakfast haunt Vera's in Ballard that I have been going to for 26 years and ordering the same thing all that time(it is not even on the menu anymore); or the hyper-eco bicycle backpack wearin' grannies standing in line in front of me at the coffee shop with their 'put-a-bird-on-it' wallets.... all these lovely Seattle moments have been obliterated by flippin' holier than thou must drive under the speed limit in all four lanes of the freeway cars. People! Move your damn car over one rippin' lane. I swear to god you will not be any less of a man, or woman, or whatever to get your car out of the fast lane when you are going 54 mph. I really promise. I think people who drive in the appropriate lane for their speed are HOT. I don't even care that you drive under the speed limit (well, most of the time) if you are in the furthest right lane for your rate of travel. Did you all even read the driver's education book? This may be one of those posts I should count to ten before posting... nah.
Question for Seattle : What the heck are you doing with traffic and your roads? I drove around through Tacoma to get to Seattle this morn, usually a leisurely hour and a half drive which was right on time until I hit Seatac... then the freeway stopped. No problem, I bounced over the highway 99 to take the back way. Absolutely stopped. No problem, I will get off of 99 and go along the waterfront. Stopped dead, me and about 30 semi-tractor trailers that were also not happy. Then, the waterfront road is closed, and we all get back on 99 (except for those semi's who were picking up loads on the waterfront) Geez Louwheezie, it was dadblame impossible to get into the city today. It took me 2.5 hours. I am going to kiss my front door when I get home. Land of quiet and low density and horses and yard that needs weeding. I can also tell my personality is beginning to match my county. I want my calm two lane roads again. Where traffic is (shock) 11 cars waiting for a light to turn. Pic: The only traffic in my neighborhood, the wait for the Sunday ferry back to Seattle. Which actually, looking at this, is a bit daunting and why if I ever have to go to Seattle Sunday afternoon I take the Bremerton or Bainbridge ferry.

Survived the birthday weekend

This birthday weekend was great, two days of parties, it did not rain, the grill worked, I had enough food and only one child went to the emergency room for stitches.
I guess actually that last one sucked, but keep in mind, only one child went to the hospital. It makes it sound so rough at my house. Yes, nerf guns and ping pong can get craaaaazy. He made it back in time for a burger and s'mores, so all was not lost.
My mom was here visiting from Michigan, and brought her local gal pals. She said she couldn't believe how many people showed up. I have not actually invited many people over since moving here. My house has been in various states of assembly and disassembly... so I think when I sent out the invite curious friends braved the weekend ferry and fees to visit. It was a blast but boy, today I am tired. Bonus: my flippin' house is clean!

Procrastination List

I haven't done one of these lists in a while, and as I sit here with my coffee, I can tell I am procrastinating.
All because what is on my list for today is to Clean. As in Clean my House. I have people coming over all weekend, so I am to make my house have no animal hair in the corners, make sure the newspapers (only cartoons from the kids) are not stacked next to the toilet, on the back on the couch, behind the couch, under their beds, and then maybe try not to stack my stupid paperwork. So in honor of all things organized, I am drafting a to-do list:
1. Clean floors. God, I hate to clean floors. I use the height excuse, I am 6' tall so the floors are realllllly far away and hard for me to see, let alone clean. And I know that is a lame excuse.
2. Finish stupid detail painting around doors. The problem with painting in the evening hours is maybe you can't see what you are painting and need to do touch-ups.
3. Clean out laundry room. For some reason our laundry room is the dump zone for saddles, garden seeds and gloves, horse medicine, baseball mitts, clean and dirty clothes - hopefully all separate from each other.
4. Cook prep for this weekends BBQ. This is actually the only fun thing on here. Except afterwards I would have to....
5. Clean the kitchen. What is it with white cupboards? I can wipe them down and then no joke, within 30 minutes there is coffee/butter/dog drool/honey dripped down a side of them or at least a droplet somewhere on their formerly pristine surface.
4. Deal with Wilder's baseball team. Figure out if I want to go for their jugular or let Wilder pull out of this team with minimal fuss. I am having a really hard time and vascillating between motherclaws extended defense of my son who is being bullied and the coaches (I keep typing couches) do nothing or just letting my son back out quietly and making damn sure he is on a team next year that understands the concept of TEAM- teamwork, sportsmanship, grace.... I don't really want the last memory of his 11 year old boy baseball career in Little League to be his mom going all ballistic.
This seems to be the age that alot of boys have very ugly memories of sports, it does not matter if they exceled or not at a sport. There is some boy pecking order that has to occur that some kids can handle, and right now, our youngster cannot. It kills me to see that, so I am trying to maintain a professional coolness to a very hot topic for me.
5. Finish the haphazard daughter mowing. I swear she drives our mower like she is racing, and sometimes that does not lend itself to a lovely mow job so I go behind and do the fine edging work at a slower speed.
6. Dust.
7. Move Christmas train and bag of ornaments downstairs to storage. I don't even want to talk about this, how when I was moving pictures in the living room last night I found it all still sitting next to the piano. Embarassing.

General news: newly wedded gal and hub are going on their honeymoon to Ireland and Italy. My mom is in town for the kids birthdays from Michigan, she wisked the kids to Sequim today for a daytrip so I could... what? Clean? ha.
I am going to docent volunteer at a local lighthouse. A very enthused bunch, which is cool to see. Lighthouses always happen to be in lovely areas, I am looking forward to learning about ships, boats, dinghys and other floating things. Have applied for two whole jobs! So exciting. I don't think I really know how to do this job hunt thing. I am wondering if I ever did? Will keep you posted.

The Birthday Season is Upon Us

My children were born 8 days, four years apart. That means this time of year is a fest of kid and family events. Since they have gotten older we combine their 'adult' party of family members into a picnic or BBQ.
Today will be spent cleaning my house and replacing my garbage disposal that got stuck when I dropped my whole change cup in the sink. And then turned on the garbage disposal. In my defense, I thought I had all the pennies and dimes out, but those dimes are tricky and it seems there are a few lodged in there. It has sat so long because I have a double sink, and just haven't been missing that extra side.
Now, however, thanks to helping hands doing dishes that forget we can't put water down that side, I have Blech, Gross, Ack, disgusting water sitting in that sink since it can't get down the drain.
Funny how this started as a birthday notice, and now has rolled into a gross house story.
I did finish painting the kitchen, entry and front door jambs. You ever paint and then look at the color and decide you don't like it? I am somewhat in that space. BUT hell if I am painting it all again. Everyone else seems to like it so I will leave it. It is a bit too sunny yellow for me. (And truth be told, that is what I wanted... "I want a sunny bright yellow")
Pic: Not sure if this is before we (meaning I hired Javier to do it in 12 minutes where it would take me 31 hours and three trips to the hardware store) put in the marble backsplash I got for free from Craigslist. I can't see the detail on it. Regardless, you can see my new sink with the now stopped up disposal.

Weird dinner, according to the kids

I have lots of nettles that grow in our chicken coop yard. I mowed most of them down last week, but went out this eve and picked some for dinner.
To describe them to my son who was hesistant to eat them I said they tasted 'green.'
They taste very fresh, and I like 'em.
I am still a bit wary about putting them in my mouth first bite. I can imagine nothing more unpleasant than having a nettle-stung tongue.
The only thing you need to do is steam them quick. The heat (or crushing them) instantly deadens the sting. Oh, and usually I just cook the leaves, not the stems, but I was putting these on a grilled sandwich so didn't mind them included.

Great and busy week!

It has been a busy week. We spent the day at Viking Fest in Poulsbo, the kids disappeared for five hours on rides, Geri came early from Seattle to watch the parade and eat ice cream, we hung with friends in on their sailboat and then walked the beach with dogs and other friends. We have been riding more, which is great for the fat horses. The second and fourth photos are an art walk we went on in the Greenwood neighborhood of Seattle with Eve and Paulo. Even though not traditionally gallery-like, the classic car restorers garage was one of my fave art pieces. Lovely, lovely cars. The window shot is a musician that had been playing in an antique store sitting on a padded toilet visible in the window. They were pretty good, not sewer like at all.
Thirdly, Rose is goofing off having a hilltop zen moment at the most amazing park on Bainbridge Island that has a planetarium, every kind of sport field imaginable, and a great big circle trail around the place. The boy bathroom had copious amounts of pee on the floor and that was not so cool, but otherwise an excellent park.

Finally, finally I got to go on the Navy destroyer Turner Joy which is parked, or anchored, as you grammatically correct people may choose to say, on the Bremerton waterfront and I have wanted to clamber all over it for ever. (It is open to the public and you can go almost everywhere on it, every deck, every level -- ROCKS.)

Craigslist for beginners : Not just for murderous thieves!

In my Dave Ramsey financial peace class last night the topic came up about craigslist. There were tales of how afraid people are of it, how people get murdered all the time. I am here to dispel that myth. Yes, there have been deaths associated with it and you have to be careful when using it, but you should also be careful walking out your door in the morning. You are entering into a possible financial transaction with people you don’t know. If you are selling an item worth hundreds of dollars that you want cash for? Good lord be careful. The most we sold something for was a car for $12500 to a firefighter and his wife and we met at my bank. Most things I sell for $100 or less. One of the deaths was for a diamond ring worth $1000. If you are selling luxury items like that – gold, jewels,coin collections, grandma's furs, designer goods – don’t bring buyers in your home. If they are legit, meet at a jewelers to have the jewel assessed, the gold weighed. Those easily pawnable or resellable items you want to handle carefully, since they can attract a different buyer. Another sad death was a video game set. Once the buyer kid was ripped off of his money… he went after the kids who robbed him in his car, and got shot. The other murders were prostitutes who were advertising their services. Don’t go to someone’s house at night. Don’t sell or buy things that you can’t buy legally at the store. Talk to the buyer/seller on the phone. If you get a weird vibe? Don’t meet them, or meet them outside the police station.
This first section will be a description of some of the people I have met. Yes, at my house. Main safety tip? (besides not having people to your house…) when people email their response always use the craigslist anonymous email sorter rather than putting your phone or email directly in the ad -- this is your first method of screening. I generally don’t respond to people who have funky emails (hot4u@yahoo, cutepartygrrrrl@msn or sexxxymutha@gmail) figuring they are dingbats. The ones I always respond to? Ones that sound sincere, that give information, a telephone number, and their real name. Oh, and they get a response if they use complete sentences. Send me an email from a phone saying “i can pik up where r u” with no name is a guaranteed delete by me.
Have met some great folks: the young couple who were homesteading and hardworking and took down my fence to reuse on their sheep. The gal and her friend who lived on a hillside and dismantled other parts of the fence. The fellow who dropped off his tractor for two days at my place while he loaded his truck with my manure. He did large scale pepper growing so took every square inch. He also redesigned my manure storage, and brought me salsa from last years crop – he was a bonus! The gal who was so excited to get our vintage 60’s sofa for her 60’s house or the other gal who took our old dining room table to start her apartment. The woman and her daughter who loved the chandelier I bought BEFORE I actually had ownership of this old farmhouse--a chandelier in this house would be ridiculous so it hung in my garage over my minivan. The retired merchant marine interested in some lights that told me the whole history of our neighborhood community meeting hall and the couple who searched all of western Washington CL for just the right table and drove two hours from Olympia to pick it up a $45 table at our house. I have hired six fellows off of CL for general labor stuff I couldn’t do…. all honest, hardworking, got the job done quickly and with no fuss. Well, for full disclosure, the fellow who tilled my garden did a great job, but was a little sour alcohol-y smelling.
Sometimes I meet buyers or sellers in public places but usually I just leave the item on my porch with the instructions to put the money under the mat if they want the item. Never been ripped off. Craigslist is used TONS by all sorts of people. I have been involved in dozens of transactions and never felt unsafe, uneasy or threatened.
Coming up next: some craigslist scores I found.

Car buying tales - Ford Fiesta sales

I am going to list out my recent car buying adventure. I was told to try to get a) Ford Fiesta or a b) Honda Fit.

This first part will be about the Ford Fiesta.

A side note is that friends and family take me when they need a new car, since I enjoy the car buying process, and many times people hate it.

First tried to track down a loss leader car for this since it is new. These are the vehicles advertised in the weekend paper that they sell at a loss to get you in the door of the dealership, with the intent that you will upgrade the car or that they will be able to finance you at a higher rate. Either way this great deal car is to get you to the dealership where they can do their best to have you buy a more expensive car. Some of the snakiest dealerships use this tactic, so you have a lot of confidence and stick to your guns when buying one of these. If you can do that, you will get an amazing deal. My first two trucks - toyota and nissan - were loss leaders and both sold two and three years later for more than I paid new.

Since it was a Renton area Ford dealership with a nasty reputation that was holding the loss leader special the week I was looking, I ripped out the ad and took it to my local Ford dealerships in Kitsap. One of these dealerships was so low key, so calm and pleasant and straight-dealing that I would have bought the car in a heartbeat if I didn't feel I was overpaying. The problem with buying a car on a nice day in spring is that is car sales high season, with customers having their tax return money in hand. You want a different time of year for a better deal. Also, when trying to buy a gas miser car, do it when gas prices are lower. You want to aim to buy a car that is not 'in season'. A luxury vehicle when gas is expensive. A convertible on a rainy winter day. When buying a new car, I will pay about $500 more for no pressure. If I get pressure, I want a huge discount. The nice kitsap ford dealership could not get close to the $11499 loss leader price. They could do $13300.

I went to the other dealership. Had a nice salesman, with a crappy sales manager, that got in my personal space and told me I was wasting money by buying a car flatout. I needed to lease a car, that was a better return on my money. He was telling me that paying them thousands of dollars in car rent for two years on a car I will never own is better than car ownership. I am shortening what he said, he actually talked circles very rapidly and I tuned it out, since this is one of my least favorite sales techniques. Act like the customer is : your dumb daughter or wife, doesn't know anything and try to bully them.

Wrong on so many levels.

I worked a Fiesta for a couple of weeks, and could not get (what I consider) a deal at this point. The fleet lease Fiestas are coming back after use in June, then there will be deals again.

Went on to the Honda.

Pic: Ford Fiesta image courtesy www.treehugger.com

Horse Head X-ray

Had to take Bey the horse to the doctor today. He has been having a cough for a while, a snorky nose, and just feeling under the weather.

They drugged him, which is always hilarious seeing a thousand pound animal appear like he is drunk, or at least very very laid back, and then proceeded to take xrays of his head. Dang me for not thinking of taking pictures of this. It was pretty interesting. And, the garb we all wore for the radiation was intense --neck to knee coverage from awkward immobile giant gloves to neck wrap protection.

End result : we are awaiting the 'big x-ray doctor' at Pilchuck Animal Hospital to get back to us about possible strange things in Bey's head.

One thing that was funny was when I was looking over the doctors shoulder at an xray and asked : what are all those dark spaces? Her assistant Katie answered "all these horses have alot of blank space in their heads" ....and that was what I was seeing.

So all my energetic verbal negotiations when riding and philosophical talks with Bey obviously are going right over (or through) those vast caverns of emptiness in his head.

Baptist Church Visit

Yesterday I went to church with my great neighbors. It is a local baptist church, and reminded me of the church I went to growing up at times (Presbyterian.) I really worded that last sentence wrong, I was not growing up some of the time and not growing up the other part. You get the idea. Anyway, it was a bright clean church. And, yes, the baptists and presbyterians would say they are very different from each other, but the essence of the church was the same. The problem was what dawned on me halfway through the god talk. The pastor, a very nice man, who read well out of the bible, sounded like what I imagine George W. would from the pulpit. Literally I was sitting there one minute following along and then bam : this man kinda sounds like George W. I was not particularly fond of our previous president, so this was a hurdle.
My poor friend I saw afterwards had a trying time with me using her as a bible study sounding board. She is a bit more traditional than I, and has a hard time with me wanting to talk and question and hash things out. It is faith, it just is, you just believe, is her mantra. I had that with Santa and the tooth fairy. I need a bit more at this point in my life.
FYI - This post is a bit of a test, also, to see how google finds ads to run alongside a blog. (I am curious if the ads are tailored to topic....)

The Single Mom Next Door

I have lived in Kitsap Co. almost three years. I have several acquaintances that would step in to help during an emergency. Also, neighbors that can pick up my kids from school if something happens or take them to baseball practice when I get delayed at work. But I don't have that nearby friend to call to commiserate on shoes, grey hair, grass allergies, paranoia and motherhood (those don't all necessarily roll together....although could on a rough day.) I still have my main Seattle friends as talking buddies and that is most evident when my cell phone bill arrives. There is a life I have thrown myself into here, that I didn't fully comprehend when I left the bounds of my 25 years with the kids dad. That of an easily identifiable and non-threatening wife and mother in a house with a volvo and minivan. Oh yeah, yeah, I am so much more than that, but for simple discussion we will talk of outward appearances. There is no thought involved to understand the life I used to lead. Kids in soccer, dance, piano. Worked part-time in a non-profit, and husband worked main-line business.
Now I live without a husband in a farmhouse on property. With two children and not working. Tell me what these words mean to you: Single mother. Unemployed. Living alone.
If that was all you knew... what do you see in your minds eye? Would you want your children playing with mine? How about inviting me over for dinner? Would I hit on your husband? Hit on your wife? Do I have a constant stream of unreliable men in my life and bedroom? Are my kids being exposed to drug and alcohol abuse? Am I on welfare?

I feel I have to explain myself more now. I have to gently move conversations to guide understanding of what I am doing, who we are, why we are here. So gently I go. Not necessarily patiently, but gently. I am the same woman, sort of.

Ilness floating around in the hail

Not sure where our spring is. I have not even started the garden. And it is end of April. Is is warm where you are? It hailed today, Wilder was sick the beginning of the week, Rose is sick now, and I am really trying to stay healthy. One of the horses is sick, the vet is coming tomorrow. When I write all this down it seems like everyone has come down with something.

For the record: the dog and cat are fine.

Cranky post - Not your elected officials fault

Yesterday I had hay delivered. When the fellow was telling me how much my total was... he added : and $32... for the governor. Today, negotiating on a car, when I was trying to push them on price... the salesman said... well, that $1300 dollars is non-negotiable that goes to Christine. (*Christine Gregoire is our governor) I got politely cranky, and said... actually it does not go to Christine. It goes to our state. Which we are all a part of and includes the road and ferry I would drive this new car on. And also funds things that all our elected officials have decided, no matter what party they belong to and many that were decided long before Christine got into office.
Whether you voted for them or not, they represent all of us. And believe it or not, if you call their office they will not ask your party affiliation, they will help in whatever way they are able. This hatred of politicians is ridiculous. Do you really think they are so much different than yourself? What the hell happened to everyone's civility? So I don't agree with how .000021% of the federal budget (or my state budget, county budget etc) gets spent so I vilify the individuals we elected? And go all wackjob about it? Spewing hate of someone I have never met?
I know I am also reacting to the birth certificate issue with Obama. Good lord people, this is what you have the attention span to care about? Not any of those wars we have stumbled into, not our spiraling debt, but a birth certificate? Arghh.

Options and Identity

Pic totally unrelated to topic: Next to the Edmonds ferry dock is an odd little wetlands of sorts. It is riddled with the noxious weed purple loosestrife in the summer.

This is what it is. I get my identity from my job. When I was an executive director or manager that was it. When I am not working, I still get my identity from my job - my mom job. When I am looking for work, it is a constant see-saw between keeping myself child focused or career focused. I can go for the higher paying fully sustainable income... with the subsequent dinnertime meetings and overtime or the easier less hours job that would require ex-husband financial assistance while the kids are still in school.
I see it has been good for my kids to have a parent more accessible and home as I have been since November (when I quit my job of eight years.) It feels like a pull between screwing my retirement and present independence for their home life stability. I actually have no problem with that at this point, I signed up for this mom job. It is just stopping me from moving forward. I want off the ex-husband gravy train. I spent many years paying to have other people help raise my kids at a preschool or after school program. It did some good things when they were excellent loving people and taught us all positive discipline and alternative ways of bringing up kids, but it was also crappy when they were unhappy gals in dead-end jobs that weren't particularly fond of small people. I see-saw alot on this topic.

Signs of a Good Blog : 500 words or less

One of the business bloggers had a list of the top 10 things (or top 3 or 5... my mind is a bit fuzzy now) you need to do to create a successful blog. What I recall : use readable fonts and colors, not too contrast-y, don't use black as a background... and keep posts to 500 words or less.

That last one is a corker.

I am so sorry you all are not reading a successful blog right now. Because, besides my sometimes repetitive, grammar challenged funky non-linear thinking I can roll into..... I am long-winded. There are stories out there, and I just gotta type the whole damn thing. Every stinky little nuance. Sorry. Pic: What I will never have alot of from blogging.

Drive-in in the middle of nowhere

We discovered the strangest thing when we were checking out the kids school options two years ago. In between the two schools down an unidentified dirt road was a perfectly designed drive-in 50's style diner. Literally, you are walking from the middle school to the high school down a rough gravel road, and boom, there it was behind a locked fence. I just stood on the other side and said : huh. Weird place for a restaurant. In the middle of nowhere, with no advertising on the main road, and no apparent business. It was a mystery until this year, when I was at school early to pick up Wilder and they were having a school emergency drill outside. It looked like it was going to be a while, so I wandered down the path and found the diner again. This time the gate was unlocked, great! I walked down to look in the windows. An energetic man and calm woman gestured me in. Before I knew it, I was getting a tour of the building... which was 10,000 square feet. Way way bigger than it looks on the outside. He had memorabilia from the last 100+ years laying about... on tables, on shelves. The owner told me he rents it out for events. There was a dancing room, game room, room with classic cars, soda fountain, juke box and booths. It was a surreal experience. I went home and looked it up online: http://www.mygirldrivein.com/ and saw what it looks like all lit up in neon. The owner created a diner on a rural patch of land to hold his personal collection. It has never been a working restaurant, nor a public museum. I will say it again: huh.

How not to use Facebook. Or, Just another way I know I am getting older.

We recently attended the memorial service for a family acquaintance. On a friends facebook page it says something like "My friend lkdjlk, Rest in peace," and then attached a music video. Three people "liked" that. Oh god please when I die don't have people "liking" it on a facebook page. I realize those folks were rating the video, not the death (boy, I hope they were rating the video) it just seems a very impersonal way to express sorrow for a devastating family loss.

Where on Earth is Wally World

Pic: All Wallyworlds are in great seas of asphalt... this photo is taken on the hill above Walmart where the Home Despot, Petsmart, Big 5 and Office Max sit. Also, this terraced height is a great place to view fireworks.


When we still lived in Seattle, I would take the kids up to Port Townsend for the day. Port Townsend which was saved the wrecking ball and still retains its Victorian seaport downtown because for decades it was underpopulated, with no industry other than the pulp/paper mill and maritime. So, accordingly, why would development bother to tear down all the late 1800's structures if there was no money to be earned. The towns I see in the NW that still retain a beautiful historic downtown are the ones that had "no value" to construction investors during the hundred or so years following their original construction. Anywho off the soapbox...
We went up to Fort Worden, my fave park. While we were walking to the batteries, there was a fellow that pulled up and opened his trunk. He pulled out airplanes, as in the kind that make the buzz noise and fly around your head by radio control. I thought it a bit wierd (pedophile! luring my sweet children with his buzzing airborne thingies!) but calmed down enough to let the kids fly one of his planes. (This was when I was still a revved-up city gal, and pointless pursuits that took alot of time were suspect...now I realize they are a vital part of life and accept his 'grandfather' excuse for having the planes)
Flying the planes was a blast. I asked him : where do you get this sort of thing? Meaning the cheaper (19.95) easy to fly ones that could withstand Wilder divebombing them to the ground, vs. the lovely large $200 big planes, that could not. He answered : Wally World. I asked if there was one nearby, he said no, not in PT, but there was further on down the road.
When I got home I looked in the phone book for Wallyworld or Wally World. There was no such listing. I searched all of kitsap county for a hobby store starting with W. Went to the library to search local phone books since I lived in King County...did not find it. Could not figure out where this mysterious Wallyworld was, thought I got it wrong.
About a year ago, someone referenced Wally World as in : I need to get to Wally World. The context of the conversation was that they were going to WALMART. I had a huge Aha moment at that point, it was very refreshing. Now, I know you smart readers already had this figured out, but it took me 5 years. I remember asking a storekeep in Silverdale where Wallyworld was, and they literally turned their head sideways, like an attentive dog to a strange noise. Like I was trying to pull their leg. Yes, I can be clueless.