I was driving by REI and got an email saying they had a package for me

I was at a stoplight

I remember REI from way back in the catalog days -

I purposely keep bluetooth turned off while driving in town I’ve found i’ll get spammed texted like crazy when it’s on. And after every update have to go back into settings and restrict access across apps. unneccesary stuff I don’t need 24/7

Back when I lived in Montana, the public library was right next to the park where the summer arts festival was, both on the opposite end of town from me where I seldom went for any other reason. About a decade ago, I was walking to the festival, and got a call from the library that the book I ordered was available, right as I was on the sidewalk directly in front of the library.

There’s also one not far from downtown Chicago, and another 3 in the metro area. I certainly know of them, and I am quite the city slicker.

As a student my friend and I were walking to a store my friend says “I really hate Mr X, he’s a jerk” (can’t recall his name) and right after that a guy yells “Come have a beer” and it was Mr X. We had no idea he lived there but we stopped and had a beer. We only knew him a little.

No, there is an REI store in Seattle. The flagship original store used to be between Pike and Pine, a couple blocks up from Broadway. It was awesome. It had character. Then they closed that iconic place and moved their operation into an REI store that is really quite generic as compared to most other REI stores.

A flagship store isn’t necessarily the original store, but instead a large store in a prominent location. And in many cases, there is more than one flagship store.

Sing it. I miss that old store so much. I remember how you’d go down some nondescript hallway and discover a whole room of gear that you didn’t even know was there. Every visit was its own adventure in itself.

“…I was driving by REI and got an email saying they had a package for me…”

I recently upgraded my very basic phone (trac-fone).

The next morning I went to McDonalds for breakfast (leaving my phone at home) as I am not tethered to like

When I turned on phone, I got a popup message if I wanted to download the McDonalds App. I was kind of freaked out.

Yes, I miss that as well. It is kinda like that in Powell’s book store in Portland Oregon, & The Tattered Cover book store in Denver. It is always an adventure.

These stories always freak me out.

But when Siri called me by my name, I realized we are not alone.