September 16, 1994
Dear Everyone:
Last Sunday, I announced that we needed to go shopping.
"Oh, Boy!" said my personal executive shopping advisor (“Jeannie”).
"What are we shopping for?"
"Clothes."
"Oh, boy!"
My personal executive shopping advisor enjoys spending my money.
We were looking, specifically, for something appropriate to wear to "a
semi-formal banquet to be held at a mystery location" at the end of next
week's Spectrum Users Conference. I've
been told that this is the highlight of the Conference and that "the
sequins and the diamonds really
come out that night". I don't
have any sequins. Or diamonds.
Not that I'd planned on buying
either. I was hoping for
something that would do for this, any visits to the theater in the next
few years, and at least one Christmas Luncheon.
My personal executive shopping advisor and I had already picked over the
contents of the local mall, so this time we went a little further
afield. There's another mall near
“Livermore”, where I work, when I work in “Livermore”.
It has the same stores, of
course, but we figured they would have different managers and so, would
have different stock.
While I looked for something that was "semi-formal" without being
god-awful, “Jeannie” scrounged around the clearance racks.
I managed to find a black chiffon
skirt (for far too much money). “Temperance”,
who has attended these Conferences before, told me that you could get
away with a plain skirt and a fancy top.
Meanwhile, “Jeannie” came up with a fully-lined textured silk dress in
teal, starting at $128 and marked down to $65 (less 30%).
I wasn't looking for a teal silk
dress, but my personal executive shopping advisor advised me to try it
on anyway. While I was in the
fitting room, “Jeannie” bustled around, handing things over the door.
Like a black silk blouse that was
a steal at $21 (less 30%). You
can always use a black silk
blouse.
$145.27 and one very happy sales representative later, we left that
store long enough to leave things in the car, then went back to check
out the linen section. “Jeannie”
was on the lookout for a "European style sham" in a particular pattern.
She didn't find it, but I noticed
that they had feather beds on sale.
Now, I've been looking at feather beds, from a distance, for several
years. They usually run around
$220, which is why I've done nothing more than look.
But these were about 60% off.
This required some serious
consideration. But, I still
hadn't found anything to go with the black skirt, so we hit a few more
stores.
In time, “Jeannie” actually did find her "European style sham" for about
$12 instead of for the $45 they had originally hoped to get for it.
It was her single purchase for
the day. And the same store had
the same feather beds at the same sale price as the other.
Furthermore, “Jeannie” found the
same teal silk dress that I got for $65 offered for $119.
So it pays to bring your personal
etc., etc., with you.
On the way out, we swung by the first store and bought the feather bed.
More about that later.
However, we
still hadn't found anything to wear to the banquet and time was
getting short. We stopped at the
Broadway Plaza on our way home. And
I finally found a
rayon blouse, with
colored metallic threads forming vaguely floral designs, which my
personal executive-and-so on would approve.
I got home about 6:00 pm, having "saved" $332 (including tax).
Now, about the feather bed. They
look terribly luxurious and
cozy, like they'd be just the thing on a cold winter night.
The truth is, they're even better
than they look. When you climb
into bed (and with a feather bed, you
do have to "climb") and lay
down, everything around you sort of goes "poof!" and gives as you settle
down, except for your feet which don't weigh enough to displace the
feathers.
Movie review…
Before we went shopping on Sunday, we went to see
Milk Money,
which “Jeannie” wanted to see before it disappeared, which could already
have happened by now. The
producers are
Kathleen Kennedy and
Frank Marshall. If the names
don't mean anything to you, it's because you don't pay enough attention
to the closing credits. Check out
any "Star Wars" or
"Indiana Jones"
movies and you'll see Kennedy and Marshall.
They are card-carrying members of the
George Lucas-Steven
Spielberg Mafia. They are
also married. To each other.
In Milk Money, they have
struck off on their own, forming their own production company.
In my opinion, they should head
back to
Amblin Entertainment (Spielberg's company) as soon as possible.
Milk
Money looks like it was handed to three different committees to
write. It's "The
Hooker With A Heart Of Gold" meets
The Courtship of Eddie’s Father, with
Malcolm McDowell
as a small-time gangster and, when in doubt, throw in a car chase.
Melanie
Griffith plays the
Hooker. Ed
Harris plays the absent-minded professor whose kid has picked up the
Hooker as part of a school project.
It does have some cute touches. The
kit tells his father that the Hooker is really a math tutor.
Then he tells the Hooker that he
told his father the truth about her and that Dad doesn't care.
The resulting conversations, with
"unintended" double-entendres are good for a few chuckles as the father
tries to hire the "tutor" for his kid.
Hooker: "Don't you think he's a
little young?"
Dad: "Well, you're never too
young to learn the basics."
And there's another scene where the boy, required to do an oral
presentation on sex, brings his friend as a "visual aid".
It's worth renting sometime when
you don't have anything better to do.
Love, as always,
Pete
PS. Because of the trip to
"Cincinnati", there
will be no Letter next week.
P.
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