In here life is beautiful… The girls are beautiful…

When I worked at Value Village my parents were dismayed to find out that the store does not wash anything before it’s put out on the floor for sale.

“How come it all smells the same, then?” Asked my dad. Because when your stink mixes with thousands of different people’s stink, it all becomes one general stink. And the air ‘fresheners’ that are strategically placed throughout the store also have an effect on the smell.

When I say that it was the worst job I have ever had, I am not kidding. I worked in production, pricing clothing, first womens, then mens and kids. I was on my feet for the entire shift (yeah, I know, boo hoo, but at first it really was a whole lot of boo hoo, I’d come home and cry my feet hurt so bad) and each person that works there is expected to fulfill their quota, each shirt, pair of pants, sheet, china lamb is counted and accounted for. Tallied. Yes, people pad (fudge, aka stealing) their tally sheets, especially after being threatened with losing their job. I was constantly being told that I was in line for a managerial position, just learn this, do that, do all this extra work and it will be yours…some day. I quit well before some day ever came.

Anyway, part of pricing clothing is deciding if it the pair of jeans is even worth putting a price tag on and hanging it out to sell. What makes something unsellable, you ask? Stains. Rips. Crotch rot (lots of that, hoo boy!). Bally sweaters. Hand altered anything. Deodorant streaks. Stink. Mold. You get the idea. In summer time when people are busy donating sweaters that no one wants to buy because it’s 120 in the shade, you can be even pickier on each sweater that comes down the line.

So what’s the deal at the Value Village that is (almost) right next door to me? I really have to wonder. I know pricing techniques have changed since I was employed there (we had to staple the tags onto the garment and then hand write the price in grease pencil and they have those plastic hanger tags now) and maybe that has something to do with it, but for real, the clothes there are horrific. I can honestly say that I have never, EVER found anything even remotely worth buying and wearing. Even the time I went before we went cob house building so I could get grotty work pants, I came home empty handed. Both pairs that I found that would fit me had someone’s left over yeast infection inside. No thanks.

Today I took a few pictures just to show that I’m not just talking out of my ass.

#1 Sheet with glorious white ‘mystery’ stain. It’s so obvious, it’s right at the fold of fabric that is on top of the hanger. How could the person pricing this MISS THIS STAIN?!?!

So you can see, it’s not a small stain either. It’s a lot of stain.

I just shivered and felt a little like puking.

#2 Jeans with hole.

and how much are they charging for ripped jeans these days?

Plus tax, people. To be fair, these were Diesel jeans. But they were also Diesel jeans from at least 10 years ago. If I’d gotten these on my line when I worked at VV I would have ragged them off. Or, if we were desperate for jeans, I might have put them out for 99 cents.  No, I take that back. I would have ragged them off.

#3 World’s prettiest dress. This dress is home made. It’s easy to tell, the seams are 2″ wide and all the edges are just pinked. It’s really badly made and it’s an extremely ugly pattern. Even the fabric isn’t worth salvaging for anything, it’s cheap and (not really) cheerful.

It’s so gruesome that not even a hipster, desperate for attention and validation would buy it. Can you guess the price on it? I know, you’re thinking “free” right? Well, you’re close:

That’s right. It’s also $7.99, same as the ripped jeans! Maybe that pricer’s pricing doo-dad was stuck on that number? Again, this is the type of dress I would have priced for 99 cents and it still wouldn’t sell. Just for the tally.

#3 and #4 Filthy jeans. All I did was walk down one aisle of womens jeans and these were blatantly just hanging there for anyone (like management!) to see. This is a common ailment of jeans and pants, the hems all ripped, dirty and stepped on. I’d have ragged these off without a second glance.

And I didn’t even have to look for any of these in the store, they were all out in the open. Not smashed into a rack, not covertly folded to hide the problem. And it certainly isn’t like there’s a lack of jeans in this particular store, there’s rows of them, all jammed in. Imagine what I couldn’t see.

And so? If you find problems like this at your local Value Village (or equivalent type store), you really ought to point them out to the manager on duty, and preferably to the Production Manager. That is the person in charge of the people who do the pricing. I’ve done this before, at this very store, but I guess they don’t care because it’s in a pretty ghetto area of Toronto.

All I ask is that you remember, before you wear it,  to WASH EVERYTHING YOU BUY SECONDHAND. Especially anything that will come in direct contact with your skin. And happy hunting!

I refuse to ice skate. It’s totally different from roller skating and I just don’t do it. And thanks to Drew Barrymore, I begged for roller skates for xmas-and got them! I don’t know if I love these more than the Kindle, but it’s a close draw.  And considering I haven’t really skated in about 30 years (apart from one birthday party with Ryan O’B and Karrick and Tony 15 years ago) and I am finding it quite amazing how quickly it comes back to me.

It’s hard to take a picture of one’s feet without the picture coming out all twonky.

The superb news is that there is a free skate here, in Toronto, once a week in the North Market, across from St. Lawrence Market. With that and my quilting class on Thursdays, I will be a busy bee starting 2010.

I also finally finished Shannon’s final xmas gift-the other thing he asked for-a handknit hat. It’s done in blue variegated chunky alpaca yarn and it’s pretty plush. I might make a pompom for it, if he wants one!

We’re getting ready to take off for a few days over xmas. Because we’ve taken so many trips in the last year, it’s become easier for me, I no longer make lists of what to bring-it’s second nature now. I also keep vacation stuff (passports, goggles, miniature toiletries) all together to keep things simple. The only thing is that I do still tend to over (and occasionally under) pack for trips bringing clothes that I don’t end up wearing.

If we’re allowed to go. If, if, if. I never believe we’re going anywhere-and refuse to get too excited about anything-until we’re actually on the plane.

I should take another picture when we get home and it’s all balled up and covered in white sand. And smells like sweat and spf40.

Today was a good day, I had a tattoo consult with Bill and we’re going to get together in the new year to get back to work on my right arm. It took me years to figure out what I wanted to do in the negative space and I finally got it. He seemed happy enough with the design and I am very happy about it.  Plus I love to hang out with Bill because he’s very funny and friendly and full of great stories.

Then I ate lunch at Big Fat Burrito and was not disappointed. My goodness, SO GOOD. I had a small yam burrito with everything and burrito sauce. To. Die. For. I should have ordered a large…drooling just thinking about it now.  There are some things I could eat almost daily, and that burrito was one of them. Perfection.

I got new shades too, since I’d lost my green G4K pair and was reduced to wearing the black wrap arounds that came free with our Hallowe’en contacts. These new ones are ok, they were only $5, but my hair’s already been ripped out by the metal logos pinned to the sides. Stupid knock-off D&G.

Big glasses for a giant head.

Now I have to decide on entertainment for the trip, which yarn/needles to bring and books. And my DS, it’s always good. And I have to remember to get fish food blocks tomorrow. Gosh.

I’m in desperate need of new bras-or brars, as my boss calls them-and I’ve been on the hunt for the kind I like. But no, I am unable to find them. Here’s what I want: NO padding. No ‘light lining’, as it’s called at LaSenza. Just simple and preferably no under wire either. There’s nothing like that anywhere, it seems, although I got this piece of lacy fluff today and will give it a test run tomorrow. It’s pretty, my favourite colour.

Hmm. Moody. Tomorrow I clean my craft zone.

So if you’ve got any bra recommendations for me, that would be swell. I’ve looked in the boxed bra drawers in Zeller’s, on the racks in Walmart, in La Senza…I’m not looking to spend a fortune either, so don’t tell me Agent Provocateur, ok, or anywhere in America because I don’t shop at Target very often.

Winter, it seems, is finally here which means I’ve worn my new winter coat all of 3 times. It’s stunning, not just in appearance but in it’s warmth, a knee length down-filled coat is very cozy. Oh, so warm. I wore it to the grocery store this morning and actually had to take it off while shopping because I was so sweaty, my arms were wet! I absolutely love this coat, it’s wonderful, and has 3 inside pockets! And a hood that comes off! And when I  wear it on the subway, it feels like I am sitting on the comfiest pillow ever. And it looks super with my gorgeous boots.

Harder than you’d think to take a picture of a long coat. Just imagine it’s down to my knees.

It’s funny, as I type a blog entry about my lovely new winter coat that my darling buddy bought me, he’s dozing on the couch right beside me while wearing his own winter coat. His ancient winter coat that I swear he’s been wearing since 1998.  He’s tired because the tarp kept him up all night: the one on the skylights in the interior space where we sleep, it’s windy outside so the tarp flap flap flaps and it’s pretty noisy but doesn’t bother me much. He kept thinking someone was coming into our place to murder us. I took a picture of him because I think he looks adorable but I won’t post it without his consent.

I’m also working on my second attempt at chocolate truffles. I actually weighed the chocolate this time, so hopefully I got it right.  And for dinner we’re having scalloped potatoes, chicken and broccoli. Gosh, how domestic am I anyway?

(Oh, and ps, I got my second email from Richard Christy. He’s my favourite!)

1. Pigeon! This one, again at Bathurst Station, was too pretty to ignore so I snapped her picture. She looked like she might be offering Lotto advice.

This was across from the Jamaican patty bakery downstairs.

2. For Joanie:

One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish pants. On Queen West, outside of CityTV. It’s hard to take a decent picture when you’re trying to be discrete.

The lady taking money at the subway yelled at me today. When I approached the booth to buy tokens (five for $11.25) she was having an animated conversation with another TTC employee and it was clear that it was her ranting about something that had happened. So I gave her 2 five dollar bills, a toonie and a quarter, she gave me the tokens and then turned back to her rant. So I stood there and said “Can I have my dollar please?” and she stared blankly, touching my fives with no comprehension in her pig-like eyes. “What did I give you?” She said. “Five tokens, but you owe me a dollar, I gave you $12.25.” More blank staring. So I was getting frustrated, I wasn’t trying to rip her off, I wasn’t trying to be rude, but jeez, it’s rush hour, there is a line forming behind me and I want my fucking dollar. Then she figured it out and had the balls to turn it around on me “I was gettin’ to it, calm down!” Giving me the stink eye,  like she was just taking her sweet time, not that she’d forgotten or anything.

Stupid people. There are lots of great people that work for the TTC, but much like the police force, it really only takes one or two bad apples to spoil the entire bunch. She’s union so she’s totally safe. Ugh. Don’t get me started about union workers.

Then, as I waited for the subway (and I had to wait 2 trains as the first one was so packed it wouldn’t have been possible for me to fit on) I started thinking about clothes. I was trying to imagine me wearing cut off denim shorts with super high heels and zexy sunglasses. And I couldn’t do it. Then I tried to imagine me wearing Ugg boots, cut off track pants and a string around my head like Kat V-D wears, and again, I couldn’t do it.

Why do people wear string tied around their heads? It looks really dumb. Like, really.

In good news, I got new runners. I finally replaced my Chuck Taylor One Stars that I got in Detroit a year and a half ago. They were totally falling apart and were starting to be kind of silly. My new shoes are also Converse, but they’re not Chucks. I’d post a picture but my camera is no where near me and my feet are tired after an afternoon of retail therapy.

Shannon had been bugging me to start a new project (oh, just find a diy stuff website and pick something!) so I decided to get back to work on one that we’d started in June 2007 and put away indefinitely. The quilt. Remember? Me either, almost. Until we moved and all those bags (I think 6) of old t shirts that haven’t even been cut yet appeared. This was started so long ago I didn’t even have a blog then. So!

I laid out all the blocks onto a duvet cover in some sort of order and started pinning them all together. It’s very haphazard and crooked, but when I sew the strips of patches together, I am hoping it sort of looks ok. I’m not even doing proper seams, just lots of raw edges, the black fabric always on top.

Picture taken from the loft, which is why the perspective is off. I don’t know what’s going to happen on the back, but I can decide when the time comes. I also ended up switching a bunch of blocks after I took this picture. My sewing machine is going to have quite a workout!

Other good news? Donna, the white fish that survived, seems to have become good pals with the little red fish that survived. They swim side by side a lot and seem to hold hands. Well, maybe not that cute, but it’s still good to see them both relaxed and happy.

In not so good news, Ashley’s dog Puppers has gone missing.  He’s a little weiner and he needs his meds. Not that I expect that this will help his trek, but if anyone that reads my blog lives in her area, please, PLEASE keep your eyes peeled for a little white scruff ball.

Do you live in a city that has a Forever 21 store? There’s one in Toronto at Yonge and Dundas (where the Gap used to be) but I don’t really go there-it’s a lot smaller than the one at the mall in Detroit-ish (it’s in Dearborn) and a million times messier. In fact, last night it looked like a bomb had hit it.  When I went to Windsor a couple weeks ago my friend Jill took me cross-boarder shopping and I got a t shirt there that I fell in love with. That’s why I was at the Toronto store last night, I was hell bent on buying at least one more, and I was hoping for more than that. Seriously, if there’d been a half dozen in my size, I would have bought them all.

There was only one.

Here’s why it’s nice: it’s super soft fabric that only gets softer after being washed. It’s long and goes all the way down to my jeans, unlike most shirts on my super long torso. It’s got orange stitching to keep it from looking boring.

Happy day indeed!

We had a work Christmas party to go to the other night so I decided to wear festive makeup. And colours. I dread the day when this green shirt is too worn out.

The next picture is me when I am frustrated by how not great my self portraits are. Hm, whatever.

I have also stopped washing/brushing my hair. No, I don’t want dreadlocks, but I just hate washing it. It gets totally disgusting, my scalp can be pretty itchy after 2 weeks, and when I do wash it, the soapy water rinsing down the drain is black. Literally.

In good news, the shirt I was coveting at Zara was on sale so I got that plus another shirt plus a new pair of jeans. No, I can’t afford it, but my 3 favourite pairs of jeans are falling apart on me. Zara jeans are…uh, low cut. And the website is…uh, annoying.