Thanksgiving

In honour of it being the day after Thanksgiving, here is a look at one of the projects that the Children's Librarian at one of the branches did with her kids:




Apple Turkey!

Materialism rocks!

I have now found my favourite shoe store. I was at Franklin Mills on Sunday and bought the cutest boots in the world (at least for now).

The Clarks/Bostonian Outlet sells Clarks (and it's sub-brands) at about 50% less than list price. They're still expensive, but oh so worth it. Clarks are the most comfortable shoes I've worn. I bought a couple of sandals at the Clarks store in Scotland, and they were the first sandals that I have bought that I have not had to break in. From now on, I'm buying Clarks (or Merrells) Cute AND Comfy! A great way to follow my father's rule: Always wear comfortable shoes.

Unintentionally funny book cover of the day

Um, is it about a handyman who can't reach the ceiling? Possibly his shirt is stuck up there.

No! It's about some pro wrestler. Check out the leather pants - not the most practical attire for a handyman. Wouldn't want to spill paint on those puppies (or cows, whatever).

Actually, I'd probably want to read the book more if it was about a handyman.

Oooh, Shiny!

A group of us went for drinks and barbeque the other night, which is not the important part of the story. Liz and I were offered rides home, and we were walking through the parking garage to the car when Ernestine noticed a really classy car. We looked closer and realized it was a Rolls Royce. I have never seen a Rolls in person, so it was really cool. It was a Silver Spur, and it looked like the passanger door was actually monogrammed (I know some car afficianado will now tell me that that's some standard Rolls thing, but I was impressed). Talk about conspicuous consumption.

New addition to my reading list

I just picked up the new book by Lynne Truss. She's the author of Eats, shoots, and leaves - which is supposed to be a really good an funny book on grammar (which I haven't read, but Lucie would probably encourage me to do so). Her new one is called Talk to the hand: the utter bloody rudeness of the world today, or six good reasons to stay home and bolt the door.



UPDATE

I finished the book last night (Monday) and spent the rest of the evening being hyper-polite to everyone. Cute book, easy and fast to read. I like her writing style. She is very self-deprecating and funny.

Cool stuff being made

My dad loves going on tours of factories. He's been to paper factories, cement factories, a strip mine, a shellfish factory, a hydroponic tomato factory, and tons of others. In honour of my dad, and all the other mechano-geeks out there, here's a great website that has videos of things being made.

Want to see an aluminium can being made?

How about Campbell's Potato Soup?

Sit back and enjoy the show!

Strike, Day 7

No more strike! Just as I was beginning to enjoy my walk into work, SEPTA and the unions settled and I can go back to being a lazy bus rider. Yay, I guess.

The end of a season

You know it is fall when the fruit carts pack up for the season. My fruit girls near the library left last month, and I believe that today was the last day for the fruit salad and smoothie guy down on JFK Boulevard. In honour of this sad occasion, I trekked down to the cart to get my last strawberry/banana/pineapple smoothie of the year.


Goodbye, beloved smoothies and fruit salad. I will try to eat healthily during the cold and bitter winter months, but I can't guarantee anything.

Strike, Day 3,4, and 5

As promised, I have been walking too and from work for the past few days. It's actually a really nice walk in - Rachel and I meet up at Broad St and walk up together, so I have a very chatty walking buddy. It takes about 45 minutes, I get in at the same time as the shuttle from hell, and it's a much nicer experience. On the way home I walk with Micaela, and occasionally (ok, once) her boyfriend picks us up halfway home bearing Godiva chocolate. Yum.

Yesterday I ended going up to a branch in North Philly to help weed, and on the way back a drive that usually takes 20-25 minutes took about an hour due to the massive amount of traffic. Because so many people are driving instead of taking the bus, the whole city gets completely backed up. Walking is easily faster than driving in Center City.

And it's going up to 23 this weekend! I must plan outdoorsy things to do.

Strike, Day 2

My well intentioned plans to walk to work every morning fell by the wayside today when I decided to take the library shuttle in to work. Of course, you're now picturing a van or a bus or something, right? Well, the library shuttle is neither of those things. It is one of the library delivery trucks. When it pulled up to the corner I was waiting on, the driver hopped out and went 'round back to open the door. By door, I mean the sliding door on the back of delivery trucks. Because it's a delivery truck. There was a wooden plank bench along each side of the interior. We all sat along the sides, laughing about how bad it was. Then the truck started moving. This thing had no shocks - it was like taking a very fast wooden wagon ride over cobblestones, and with every sudden stop and start, we were thrown about the back as there was nothing to hold on to. At least there was some light because the roof was translucent. It felt like a prisoner transport. It's really nice that the library is providing shuttle service, but I think I'm done with it.

I believe that tomorrow I will walk to work. I'm pretty sure it will take about the same amount of time, and be much more comfortable.