And now...for more trenchant tales of the city....

Doing some errands/shopping today after work. First stop: The Apple Store to buy stuff for my computer and iPod. You know, walking into a Mac store while wearing an iPod is kind of fun. You feel at home, like everyone there gives you that little look like you're part of the club. In a way, wearing the iPod as well as being a certified Mac-head, walking into the Apple Store is kind of like being Jewish and going to Israel.

Next stop was the San Francisco shopping center. Got the iPod in, of course, listening to a little U2 "War" and I notice as I'm walking around the mall-like place, surounded by teens, teens and more teens, that no matter how long it's been and how old I am, I still deep down, get the icky feeling of dread in my stomach. I mean, if I squinted it could be 1985 again and I'm back in the King of Prussia shopping mall, especially with "Sunday Bloody Sunday" blasting through my head. I even had that knee-jerk reflex voice come in and tell me not to look to dorky. Which, luckily, was quickly dispatched by another voice telling me that I'm 37 and shouldn't listen to that voice anymore. But just don't act too dorky.

Finally, I went off to check out a car, another Honda. Once again, it was a bit of a tricked out car, which seems to be the only Hondas I'm stumbling into. This time, however, I didn't take it for a test drive (man, that other time was fun). But I did notice that when buying a car, there's a certain code that dealers say to let you know it's tricked out. They'll say something like "it's lowered" or "it's got some extra power" and then they'll say "it was owned by Asians."

And finally, at the Mac store I bought one of those fancy, plastic cases for the iPod so I don't ding it more than it already is dinged up. The packaging for it was one of those clear, plastic contraptions that seal the thing good and shut, you know, the one's that are virtually impossible to open.

It took about fifteen minutes to open it. I had to basically take the cork screw I use for opening wine to scratch open the lid enough so that I could pry my fingers into it to open up the rest of it.

If there was such a thing as karma, I think the guy who developed that sealing packaging definately deserves some of it headed his way. Like I'm imagining he has to take a certain kind of heart medicine and just as his ticker goes clomp clomp and is about to burst, he reaches for his new heart medicine only to discover that it's that type of packaging....