The little shop around the corner....

The things you find on the way to the library....


I need to get out more in my own town.


On my way to the library this morning I finally stopped at this little shop on our mainstreet. Which actually makes it sound much grander than it really is - two blocks long and main only because two of the three bars in town are on it, along with the library, fire station and this little shop. Rest of the buildings are abandoned.


The little shop is called "Wisecrafters". I never paid much attention, except I knew they had sold live plants on the sidewalk last summer and always seemed to have lots of people coming and going.


So I figure what the hell, it's been here all along and it is open so I might as well see what's in there. Talk about a surprising discovery.


Two nice ladies are in there. I know both of them. One works at the bank in the next town, the other at the library right across the street. They run this little arts co-op shop in their off-time.


One is weaving airy, featherlight shawls on the coolest loom I have ever seen and the other is pouring ceramics. Incense wafts through the air and spanish guitar is on the stereo. The whole building is crammed with arts, crafts, esoteric doodads and more stuff than I was able to see in one visit. The building was the original country store here and is over 100 years old. The old soda fountain backbar is taking up the entire back wall. Awesome.


The floor is a trip - almost literally. It is the old cobblestone base floor and tilts and rambles at crazy angles. It is inset with custom concrete pavers here and there and you need to keep your eye on where you step.


The ladies give ceramic lessons, weaving lessons, have people come in for workshops and sell local artisans works. My kinda place. The kind of place I would take my friends and say "Your gonna love this." They will, too.


I was immediately hooked and spent much more time than I really had to spare chatting and poking around and by the time I left I had a place to sell my arts and soaps and honey in exchange for manning the shop a few days a week.


All this time I just cruised by and never bothered to check it out. Just goes to show you should pay attention to your own backyard sometimes.

When the bank robs you.

We flew into San Diego on Halloween. Maybe this should have been some sort of clue to how the day would go. Our trip had gotten off to an auspicious beginning on the way to the airport when we pulled through the ATM at our bank to make a deposit. The bank had just installed brand new, state-of-the-art ATM machines.

Wow, look at that. Beautiful full color video, spiffy little doors to put the deposit in, and "No envelopes needed!" it said (it actually talks now.) So I followed all the instructions, placed $300.00 in cash in the little door and......the machine choked on it. The smiling model on the video monitor was still extolling the virtues of these wonder-machines.

It spit out my card and a note that said "Equipment failure. Please try later." Umm, what about my cash? The cash is lodged behind the little door, there are a couple of corners of twenties sticking out. The door will not open. This is not good. It is 7 am, the bank is closed, the plane leaves at 10 am, airport is still 30 minutes away, and $300.00 in cash - my cash - is stuck in this stupid machine! Terminal meltdown is now occurring. The bimbo on the video monitor is now telling me how much simpler the new machines make my banking.

My husband suggests I pull around to the front of the bank. No way, I am not moving from this thieving machine. So I make him go pound on the window of the drive-thru tellers, who are now moving around inside, but still not open yet. The tellers get all nervous thinking there is a robbery in progress and won't come to the windows. Finally one gets up the nerve to punch the intercom and husband explains problem. The teller says they don't have access, sorry, go away, have a nice day. Wrong answer.

So I post him to guard the offending machine and admire the bimbo while I pull up to have a word with the tellers. We don't have access, sorry, go away, have a nice day. So I explain that I will not go away until I get some sort of receipt for my money. We can't give you a receipt until you deposit the money. Get your butt out here and look at the money sticking out of your damn machine. Oh, can't do that.

We have a stand-off. FBI should be alerted by now, I'm thinking.

So I park my car in front of the ATM and sit there. All the nice bank people now have their faces pressed to the window watching me. I'm sure their fingers are poised on the panic buttons. I tell my husband to give me his leatherman, I'm getting my money back. He won't do it. Man is a former cop and starts in about felonies and vandalism and how unpleasant the Federal prison system is. Damn cops, never let you have any fun. It is not stealing it if it is my money, how about we put the bimbo in a Federal prison, huh?

Finally, one bank employee gets brave and opens the back of the ATM. Thought you didn't have access? Hmm. Thieving and lying. New bank time. This nice lady actually verifies that yes, there is a huge wad of cash jammed in the intake chute. Is it yours, ma'am? I stifle the smart ass response and humbly tell her what has so far transpired. She tells me she can't credit it to my account until the service people balance the ATM at noon. Wrong answer again.

So I explain that we are catching a plane in 45 minutes, upon landing I need this deposit to pay for a hotel and rental car. I play the pathetic you've ruined our trip card and she finally says she will do a temporary credit to my account until they straighten this out.

Great, but I still want a receipt for my money, with your name on it for future reference. Can't do that. At this point I tell her either I get a receipt or I am going to perfom plastic surgery on their electronic beauty to retrieve my money. She must have recognized the manic glint in my eye by now because she promptly sent a receipt out through the carrier chute. Thought you can't do that? Lying again. This relationship is crumbling rapidly.

I have a plane to catch, so I take my receipt and move so the ten cars behind me can find out the ATM is out of order, and get a shot at jimmying my money out the little door. We make it to the airport with time to spare so I find an ATM to check my balance. No $300.00 credit yet. OK, you have two hours before I land in San Diego. First stop in the airport is another ATM. Still no credit.

Now I get on my cell phone and call the bank. They have no record of this incident. Huh? So I ask for the lady whose name is on the receipt. She finally comes on and apologizes for the delay, she forgot and she will take care of it immediately. So I ask her how can you forget an incident like that? Oh, with the new machines it happens all the time, Ma'am.

Definitely time for a new bank.

Traveling should not be intimidating.

I have traveled extensively in my life and it never ceases to amaze me just how intimidating the process can be for some people! Travel should be fun, relaxing, a chance to learn and explore and experience new sights, cultures and thoughts.

But for way too many people I have encountered the whole process is fraught with anxiety and confusion. Everything from deciding where to go, to packing so as not trip the TSA security sensors and getting the most bang for your travel buck just freaks some people out so bad they never really enjoy the trip much at all.

This is a real shame.

My son recently joined the U.S. Marines and we traveled to San Diego for his graduation ceremony. During the three months of training I was very active on a message board for the parents of new Marines. As we discussed our travel plans I was constantly amused, frustrated and just plain baffled by some of the questions that would come up in regards to planning for this short, simple trip.

Having just returned from this trip to San Diego it occured to me that perhaps I should share a bit of my experience about traveling. I have been to all but two of the 50 states, Canada, Japan, Mexico, and France. I have traveled by car, ship, rail and plane. I have stayed in 5 star hotels, slept on the floors of airports, camped in a tent and toured in a luxury RV. Every one of them had it's own unique appeal.

Some thoughts on the San Diego trip: We flew from Spokane to San Diego on ExpressJet Airlines and these guys are great! The planes are small but then so are the prices. I figured for the cheap ticket price this would be a no frills flight, boy was I wrong! The attendant at the gate gave us free (Yes, I said FREE) headphones for the XM satellite radio, I was allowed to take my Starbucks venti mocha on with me and the flight attendant was very polite and helpful, when we told her why we were traveling she asked some other people if we could trade our seats so we could see the Marine base as we landed! Talk about thoughtful.

I did not expect food, but we got chicken and swiss sandwiches with cookies and fruit - huh, any other airline would want five bucks for that. Drinks were free, except beer and that was only a dollar. Yep, one measly dollar for a can of name-brand beer. The local tavern charges more than that!

The really great part was the landing. Our pilot hit the tarmac, hit the brakes and turned left to the terminal all in one motion. This might seem scary to some, but I loved it! It was the fastest landing I have ever experienced and a real adrenalin rush for us flying junkies.

We unloaded on the apron and our bags were waiting for us at the bottom of the stairs, along with the pilot who was a former Marine and wanted to congratulate us on our sons achievement. Talk about a friendly little airline. Definitely will be flying with ExpressJet again.