Venturing into the "Real World"

["The Mall"]

Today is my "day off". I just have one task, to replace my broken glasses in time for the opening of the show tomorrow. Well, that meant driving to the faire site to borrow from my paycheck and then finding the Lenscrafters.

Remember my promise from yesterday to never travel without seeing a map first? Well, I did look up the exact location and figure out just how to get here. Once I got to the street address, though, finding the place was another matter. Everything down here looks the same: a sea of beige-painted "instant construction" plazas plastered with the logos of chain stores. I don't know the difference between the stores big enough to stand on their own and the stores that group together into malls. I can't tell the difference between the back side of a plaza and a (capital m) Mall, either. And then there's the habit down here of naming everything after the location. Ontario Mills Outlet, Ontario Center, Ontario Mills Mall - which is which? And, more importantly, which one has the Lenscrafters? (Answer: it's Ontario Mills Mall, which is just labelled "Ontario Mills" because apparently everyone down here knows it's a mall.)

After driving around in my hooptie of a van and asking for directions multiple times, I finally found it. And after paying for an eye exam and new glasses, I really hope that the monetary potential of this show becomes reality for me. I know it'll all be fine, but at this point it's seeming like I fell off the edge of the earth into a world where money is more free-flowing than water.

So, one task, one traffic jam, $20 in gas, and 6 hours later, I'm waiting to pick up my glasses and head home to enjoy my day off.

...and later, back at the ranch... Well, it really was worth it. I got my new glasses and the world is even clearer than it was with my old ones. My prescription strength dropped a quarter of a point, just like it had last time. Yeah!

While I was at the mall I decided to look for a book store to buy a Southern California Atlas. The directory of stores was huge, but had a convenient section labelled "Books, Cards, Gifts". Notice that every store has a number to help you find it on the map and a phone number so you can call them from your cell phone from inside the mall. This is sure a different culture than I'm used to!


[The Mall Directory]



[The closest thing to a book store is Sanrio, aka the "Hello Kitty" store]

So, another day without a map...