So Few Cars In The Costco Parking Lot...But, Why?

We had it all figured out. We had several places to go this morning and we thought it best if we plotted out the route we'd take (my wife and I had slightly different ideas of the route we'd take...). In the end, we were able to make it to the three locations with few issues.

At least, until we came to the last one.

I have been working the same shift for years--Monday through Thursday, then Friday off. Personally, I can't think of having it any other way. I'm so used to putting in ten-hour shifts, it hardly phases me anymore. Beginning before 7am helps. By the time noon hits, I'm more than halfway done. Do that four times in a row and you've got your forty hours.

So, Friday mornings are great for running errands. This morning was no different. We hit the first place (to get a quick yummy breakfast...), then we hit the second place (to pick up groceries...). Finally, we needed to stop by Costco. For us, Costco is a "need" store, because the store is so dangerous. There's a lot under that roof that can be considered wants and not needs. If we stick to the needs, we can afford to stay in our house.

At 9:30am we turned into the Costco parking lot and we were blown away--six cars. That's all we saw, six cars. My wife and I chatted about why so few. We'd been at Costco when it opened at 9:30am before. Sure, the parking lot wasn't full, but it was more crowded than it was today. Still, we thought we had hit the "Costco Not Crowded" jackpot. We'd have the whole store for ourselves!

Turns out, that didn't happen.

Costco opens at 9:30am...

On Saturday.

On Friday (today...), it opens at 10am.

Mystery solved. We had to wait around for twenty or so minutes, and even though there were maybe a couple dozen cars when we left Costco with our purchases, it was nothing like it'll be tomorrow. Next time, we'll work this information into our route plotting.

Your Own Personal Astroids Machine...Turning Back Time

I spotted the machine a few weeks ago, but the crowds at Costco kept me from it. This morning, however, I arrived early to buy things completely unassociated with this item. Because there were so few people in the store, I was able to draw close, and even give it a try.

Instantly I was a pre-teen in the Farmington A/G store with my childhood friends, lining up quarters, finally able to play my favorite video game.

I mean, I have no idea how many Astroids video game consoles they built in the late 1970s--I would suspect millions. I'll bet if I looked on-line I could find an operating machine from that time, one that requires quarters to work, one that has the original Atari name--the world's first great video game manufacturer--proudly displayed for all to see.

The thing at Costco costs $200. There's a question about who exactly is this marketed for? Is it for kids? Most likely not. For kids this is like preferring a Sony Walkman over their smartphone. No, I'm their target audience. Which brings up another question--if it's for aging video gamers who were born before the invention of Pong, why is it so small? It it weren't raised up a foot or so, I would have had to bend down to play it.

I don't know. Maybe it's for aging video gamers who think it would be a great gift for their kids (or grandkids...), but really they want to play it themselves. And I wonder how many of the units they've moved since it first hit the sales floor.

Of course, I did not buy it. I've got an infinite number of games available on my phone or the laptop on which I'm typing this blog post. Still, there was something about seeing the most basic of computer effects, the feeling of the hard plastic buttons responding to my touch. Turns out there's a price to have a piece of your childhood returned to you.

It's $199.99, plus tax.

Getting This Year's Christmas Tree...At Costco

Things have been a little different preparing for this year's Christmas. It's little things that have caused me to be busier than I normally am. I'm in no way complaining, it's just different.

We would have liked to have gotten our lights up and a tree bought last week, but that was just not possible. We decided this was the weekend to do all that, and since tomorrow is going to be a little less hectic than today, tomorrow was going to be the day.

That is, until I went to Costco.

If you had asked me last week if I thought Costco sold Christmas trees, I would have not believed it. I should have believed it--they sell so many other things. We went there this afternoon looking to buy something else, my daughter and I turned a corner, and boom--there it was, along with other trees lying on a big orange cart.

After a few texts back and forth to my wife (complete with several photos...), the decision was made. I bought it, took it to the car, hoisted it up, tied it down, and drove away. It's now in the house waiting to be trimmed, and it makes the front room smell heavenly.

Usually we go to a place that brings trees down from Montana. We've been so pleased with them in the past. We did get a tree a few years ago from our local grocery store. That one turned out to be a pretty good tree. We hope this one does to.

After A Decade...I Guess It's Time To Get A New Couch

It's one of those things you think about then you go shopping for stuff, like when you go to IKEA in January to just look around. But after a decade, we decided--or, I should say Costco helped us decide--to finally buy a new couch.

We have sort of an odd shaped house. It's modeled after an A-frame cabin so the end of the house juts out. It makes things not line up, especially furniture, which is designed to line up to things like walls and such. Around ten years ago we drove down to RC Willey and picked out a couch, a big L-shaped one that had enough room for the whole family.

In that decade our kids have grown. They grew up sitting on our couch, watching TV and playing video games. The kids have done homework on it, my daughter's crocheted sweaters and other treasures, and she's read libraries of books sitting on that couch. Our dog could once spring lively up on and off of it, but no longer...she's just too old.

But material things--like all things--can't last forever. And so it was time. We found a killer deal at Costco, almost 50% off--clearance (we like that word...). It took two trips to get the three large boxes home, and I spent the rest of the day hauling out the old one and hauling in the new one and re-arranging the stuff we're keeping so that our new couch has a home.

Once it was inside and set up, the kids chose their "spots," or some of the kids did, anyway. It's funny how much of an impact a small thing like changing the furniture can be. The kids will be picking a new spot for Santa to deposit their Christmas gifts. We'll need to remember those spots as well.

The last couch lasted about a decade. I have no idea how long this one will last. Time will tell.

The $100 Gallon Of Milk...

A friend of ours calls Costco--the membership, shop in bulk store--the place where you can pick up a $100 gallon of milk. It's not that the gallon costs $100, but it seems impossible to leave the store without spending at least $100.

I believe the person who came up with this tag for Costco was really onto something, namely, she was basically spot on when it comes to the store. Yesterday we needed to pick up milk and printer toner. Of course, other things fell into the cart...things with evil intent. 

We bellied up to the checkout counter and the total for four gallons of milk (plus the evil extras...) totaled almost $100. And, we didn't even get the toner, which cost a cool $65. Many of you may be thinking, "I wish I could only spend $100 each time I go to Costco." And to you I say, "I hear you...I understand."

All in all, the adage proved true. We did spend $100 going to Costco yesterday. But since we bought four gallons of milk, I suppose we could call Costco the place where we can pick up a $25 gallon of milk.