I had gone there specifically to look for a new pair of sneakers and (perhaps) some of the strings my lawn trimmer uses. The selection of sneakers was pretty awful, though. Okay, when you see a pair of sneakers sitting in a box and the first thing you think of is "anal beads"--and you're a straight conservative Christian--that pair of sneakers is probably not your style.
The rest of the sneaker selection breaks down into two basic categories: "street youth" and "mall walkers". Neither of which appeals to me. So much for a new pair of shoes.
Their lawn and garden center is in the process of being reset for "back to school"--this late? No, sorry, HALLOWEEN--so there was not much left of supplies for weed trimmers. I gave up on that and did some browsing.
I came across the short-sleeve henleys I like. Priced at $8, they had a "take an additional 40% off!" but I wasn't sure whether the price on them reflected that or not.
It didn't; they cost me $4.79 apiece. Score! I picked out three, two in new colors and one to replace the light blue one which is apparently irretrievably stained with burrito juice. *sigh*
I got a new fanny pack, also for the princely sum of $4.79; a tube of "Shoe Goo" to fix the soles on my other pair of sneakers; and a ream of printer paper.
That stuff used to cost $2 per ream; now it's $5. *sigh* But there's no inflation!
And as I walked past the appliance section, it occurred to me to look at chest freezers.
"Oh, no!" You say. "You didn't--!"
No, I didn't; I just looked. But it was a near thing, because I saw a basic white Kenmore 5.1 cubic foot freezer for $159.
It's small enough to fit in the Jeep for the ride home, too.
I was actually in the middle of my shopping when I saw it the first time; I stopped and looked, and then went to check on shoes; and on my way back I stopped again and looked again.
If some old jewish guy wearing the appropriate K-mart paraphernalia said, "For you, $159 out the door! I need to move some of this stuff so my kids can eat!" I would have taken him up on it. I guess that means it's good for me that big retail chains don't work that way.
...but $159 is a damn sight cheaper than the ones I saw at Best Buy's web site. I'm wondering what's wrong with this model.
Anyway, so I got out of K-mart for a surprisingly low $30, which is f-ing awesome when you're buying three new shirts alone, much less the other stuff. Dang.
After that was done, I hit the Chinese place and ordered a General Tao's Chicken combination special; and I watched them make it. As I drove home the slightly-overloaded styrofoam container was sqeaking at me as the truck hit various bumps.
I said, "Damn, it's so fresh it's still chirping!"