10:59 p.m. | 2006-01-14 Wild Lizards, Oh My. What a busy day! I got up early to go shopping for a winter coat. I had decided that today would be the day that sales would be the biggest while inventory would still be sufficient that I could find the coat I wanted. It worked. I got it for more than 60% off. That and a few sweaters, shirts and a really great jacket. Because I went early, it wasn�t even crowded. Awesome. After shopping, I stopped by the watch place to get my battery replaced. The place I go to is convenient and it usually only takes a couple of minutes. While there, I asked if they could remove a couple of links from my watch band as I still hadn�t had it sized. (That�s a little shameful considering I bought the watch about 2� years ago, but there it is.) I proceeded to wait. Then this happened. (WatchPerson:) Excuse me, Miss? Is this your watch? (CI:) Yeah. (WP:) We really shouldn�t have agreed to take some links out because it�s really hard to take links out of this type of band and it takes a lot of time. (CI:) Um, okay. (WP:) So anyway, we can either replace the band or send it out to be fixed. (CI:) It�s broken now? (WP:) Uh, no. Just that we�d have to send it out. Would you like to look at some other bands? (CI:) (?) Um, okay. (WP:) (After trying several.) Hmmm. We don�t seem to have any metal bands that are the right size. How about a leather band? (CI:) Uh, sure. (WP:) (After checking several.) Here�s the only one we have that�s the right size. It�s a good one though. It�s genuine wild lizard. (CI:) Genuine wild lizard? (WP:) Yes. Lizard. That�s why it�s so expensive. But, we won�t charge you though because� uh, you�ve been waiting so long. (Maybe 15 minutes.) Would you like me to put this band on your watch? (CI:) Genuine wild lizard. Hmmm. Uh, sure, I suppose. (WP:) Okay, it�ll take just a sec. (CI:) Alrighty then. So, my watch has a whole new look. And a genuine wild lizard band that�s at least twice as expensive as the watch. I suspect that they actually broke my band and hoped I�d be placated with a new band. I was. Mostly, I just wanted my watch back in working order so I could keep track of time. I didn�t know they made watch bands out of lizard skins and I�m not sure how I feel about that but there you have it. Replacement of the battery went smoother, however, ironically, they set the time wrong. Not a big deal though; I fixed that myself. I wasn�t gonna push my luck. Especially since they broke the watches of two other customers while I was there. After shopping, I went to brunch. I ran into the cute grocery guy at the caf� and he asked if he could share my newspaper with me. Which, apparently, is code for: �Can I sit and talk with you?� No matter. No complaints here. Next, I went grocery shopping. I was followed around the store by a young boy (about 3 or 4 years old) and his mother. Unfortunately, the young boy was wearing plastic high-heeled sandals. Consequently, he clomped about very loudly. Such clomping was encouraged by his mother who repeatedly asked him such things as: �Can Mommy put this in your cart?�, �Can we go down this aisle?�, �Do you think we could stop right here for a minute?�. Sometimes he said yes and sometimes he said no. Surprisingly, she followed his command. That�s not gonna be so �cute� in a couple of years. Anyway, I finished up my shopping quickly so I could race over to the archeology/history road show that was in town today. It was interesting. They had a lot of kid activities (e.g., digging for bones, playing historical games) so it was difficult to get close enough to the various displays to really check things out. But, it was still cool. There was a biker show in the same building; very interesting dynamic between the two shows. Lots of leather. I guess I fit right in with that crowd now that I have my very own genuine wild lizard watch band. your thoughts? seed flower