Monday, August 25, 2008

My lululemon Rant

When in Kelowna recently, my partner and I saw a lululemon athletica store. Since we don't have a lululemon in Prince George, I wanted to take a look. I know their clothes look and feel great for active wear. I also know it's expensive. The store was just opening for the day as we passed and we were swept in with a gaggle of women who were entering the door while the salesgirl held it open with her key still in the lock.

"Did you hear about the sale?" one woman asked me.

I was a bit confused, since 5 seconds before Shawn and I had been peacefully ambling with our Starbucks in the sunshine along the quiet early morning streets.

"No..." I started.

"Well, I didn't want to stand in line, so I am here to pay full price," and she darted away into the store with the other frantic shoppers.

As the salesgirl retrieved her key from the door, she explained that all the lululemon stores in the region had taken their discount items and were holding a huge sale in an arena in Kelowna.
They were only allowing 600 shoppers in at once, apparently, and the lineup was huge.

"Well, I have never been to a lululemon and I am just here to look around," I said.

The store was suddenly quite busy, for having just opened, and Shawn and I made our way through the room, feeling fabrics, looking at price tags, trying to not get run over by frenzied lulu lovers.

Before long, I said, "Let's get out of here."

As we reentered the pleasant cool of the shady side of the street, I told Shawn, "It's really good stuff, but I am not spending $100 on a pair of pants so I can look like everyone else."

Shawn said, "You know who's not wearing lululemon? The yogi in India, that's who."

I guess that's it in a nutshell.

I practice yoga to strengthen my body, but also to still my mind. Shopping in lululemon was far from the stillness I enjoy in my yoga.

We made our way to the Cannery Lofts, which were under construction the last time we visited Kelowna. We wanted to see how they had turned out. As I peered down the street at the storefronts, a couple on the patio of the corner coffee shop began pointing and saying, "Yeah, that's right, it's right down there!"

"What is?"

How do they know what we are looking for when we don't?

"The lululemon sale.... it's down there!" the woman said.

Oy!


Sunday, August 10, 2008

Pepper Spray & Beer

We can't wait till Shaw brings the phone service to our area!

Telus sucks!

Last week, we had some issues with our phone. We have a business line and a personal line in the same house and they started crackling and bleeding into each other. So Shawn called Telus.
They sent a repairman, and after he left, Shawn tried testing the lines. Holding the cordless in one hand he was randomly hitting buttons on the other phone line.

About 15 minutes later, there was a loud knocking on my studio door. I wasn't expecting any students, but thought someone must be dropping by anyway. I was startled to see a very tall RCMP officer standing outside the door.

"We have had an abandoned 911 call from this residence," he stated.

Right away I knew what had happened.

"Shawn," I called up to the living room, "did you accidentally dial 911?"

I explained to the officer what had happened. He stepped into the studio and said, "Come down here, boy! I've got some pepper spray with your name on it."

"Mind if I look around...see if there's any corpses?" he asked me.

I laughed and said, "Sure, come on in."

He was impressed with our music studio. "I need one of these!" he exclaimed.

"Well, we're having a party tomorrow night," Shawn offered. "Come on over. You know where we live."

The officer was jovial and easy going. He must have been having a slow day.

He walked through to the kitchen in the front, took out his pad and pen and said, "Who wants to give me their information? Who doesn't have a criminal record?"

I said, "I'll give you mine."

He said, "I want his!"

"Are you kidding me?" Shawn said. "I shoplifted when I was a kid."

As I gave him my info, Shawn suggested, "I'd offer you a beer, but we drank it all."

Just then a police van pulled up and a second officer walked toward the house.

I said, "Oh man, there's another one here."

This guy was younger and a little more serious.

The first officer said, "It's ok, there's no dead bodies. I checked."

The younger one sniffed and said, "Can't smell any." Still never cracked a smile.

"Good thing we just cleaned," I replied.

I heard another car door slam and said, "Oh brother, is there another one here??"

"Pretty soon you're gonna a need a keg just to get rid of us."

But it was just a neighbor. After a bit more banter, they decided we weren't criminals and got ready to leave.

As they left, the friendly officer said with a wave, "You guys seem pretty cool. Give us a call anytime! You've got our number."