This evening I went to The Club to enjoy Happy Hour with my neighbors and friends. While others around me were eating their tapas choices or had ordered from the dining room menu, nothing appealed to me. Kathy H. had some sort of salad and her mom, Betty, ordered the Swedish meatballs. Guess I was still full from lunch or something. The company is good and the conversations quite enjoyable.
Justin had the day off from work today so we made some plans. My deal included water exercises and lunch at the pool, and Justin agreed to join us ladies. He is a brave soul, and I know they were taken with him. We talked about electronics and devices, his cup of tea. He and I each had the steak and brie sandwiches, with him helping with my second half.
While I was exercising in the cool water, he ran some errands, including a hair cut. He is striving to get his hair just right, having troubles, or not having the skills, getting the barber to do exactly what he wants. Justin confesses that he 'is not good at this stuff'---explaining exactly what he wants done, or wants to do. This comes up again later.
Since moving in again, Justin has talked about what he is going to do with his bed. He talked about getting the legs which raise the height of the entire bed, and allow for under bed storage. Then, he was going to get the little cups to hold the wheels in place, so it won't slide around. Now, he is wanting to buy a headboard to help secure the bed in position, so his pillows do not escape while he is sleeping.
His concern about heightening legs was that they would crack, not stand up to his weight, etc. I guess he just never got the little cups or didn't think they would help. On his day off, he planned to go to the discount furniture store on Fleming Island to see if they had an inexpensive headboard for him. And he asked his mama to go with him to help out.
The brother of his friend, Jesse, works at this store but we did not see him around. The man who seemed to be the owner took care of us, showing us various styles and colors. The prices were more than we expected for a warehouse store, and as the fellow kept going into the back to see if he had something else, Justin whispered to me, "I am not good at this...how do we exit nicely?"
That is where I come in! When the fellow came back, he was paging through his loose leaf of headboards, in search of a headboard. I asked him if he had anything at all that cost about half of what he had shown us. He was a little surprised, I think, and asked, "Like $50?" The best he could do was $89 for one Justin was not fond of. The man called to another store to check on availability of a different one, striking out.
I thanked him for his efforts and told him we were going to look a few more places before deciding. I also thanked him for displaying his American flag daily, as he reported to me that he did, and we exited. Schooled!!! Now Justin knows what to say and how to say it. Just be nice, appreciate the man's efforts, don't lie, and move on.
We drove to the Salvation Army Store which is a very nice establishment. After a quick walk through, we could see there were no headboards available and left without browsing. (This was not my first visit to this shop, as I took Kerry there when she came to visit me in 2010. It was here I got my red fuzzy slippers, the ones where the sole cracked off after wearing them for a while, sort of had gotten brittle. When I bought them, they were brand-new, still fastened together with paper in the toes, and cardboard brand information yet in place. Cool! Warm!)
We stopped at Metro PCS for him to pick up a sim card which would allow him do something I do not entirely understand. Guess I did not pay close enough attention at lunch when he was telling the ladies about it---ha, ha. What should have taken a few minutes turned into 30 minutes, so at last I shut off the car and went into the shop to wait. He had kept gesturing at me through the window that he was sorry, but it was fine. I could have walked down to the Peterbrooke Chocolatier store to wait, I guess...
Once back in the car, he announced, "...and that's why I prefer to shop on-line!" He had seen a headboard he liked on-line, closer to his price range, but expected the warehouse place would be cheaper, and have it in stock instead of having to order. Then, the card he needed from the cell phone store is also available on-line, which would have saved him standing around in the store, explaining to the man working there exactly how it works. Now that guy is schooled!!!
Justin knows what he does, and knows it well, and I know what I do, and think it works well for me. I can't get him set-up with his phone, but I can help him to exit a furniture store!
