Good morning. 9:58 am over here, about to go to the gym. I should have checked the class schedules yesterday and not this morning, I was hoping to go to "fitball" where you work a lot more of your core muscles and not your "show me your muscle"-muscles. Unfortunately, it looks like it has been completely wiped off the schedule. Hope to get some shopping done this afternoon. Did some baking yesterday, as well as some cardio at the gym as well. Made some baba ghanouj, wrote my last exam which was a sham. Townsquare A & B, there were about 20 too many students than there were chairs and tables. Some unfortunates ended up having to share, four to a table. Then there were some pages missing in the exam, and then there were no instructions to bring course materials and textbooks, only that students were "allowed" to bring said texts. This, combined with the one proctor to a room of a friggin' hundred students, made it full of shit. He started fifteen minutes after the actual time it was supposed to begin, and yet only gave us five minutes after scheduled time to complete it. I was NOT pleased. Two dollar stores: Bag of Bargains #3 4429 Kingsway (Corner of Willingdon and Kingsway,) Burnaby Is it really a dollar store? Hell no. But they don't claim to be. It is indeed, however, a bargain store. Offerings? Usual toys, cards, utensils, hair junk, huge assortment of candles, as well as hardware (screws, nails, etc), light bulbs, bags of seashells, and crafts (no knitting needles). Comments? Super nice father and son business. Every time I've been there, they've been nice, sociable, and even yesterday, with the holiday shoppers, the son took the time to help me find something and also chit chat, which was nice. ...although I remember the time Mark handed me this marble rolling pin that I assumed to be much lighter than it looked, and I almost ended up dropping it....and the owner came running up to me thinking that I'd shoplifted it or something because it must have looked like it'd disappeared in the convex mirrors.. Return / Exchange? Exchange only, within 7 days. (I assume you'd need reciept as well.) Score: 7/10. It's not a dollar store, but they don't claim to be. Some of their items are very nice, and in some of their selection, you have to watch for unit per price. I.E., a box of six nice candles costs more than a box of ten not-so-nice candles. Bonus points for service. (something not usually associated with $ stores.) Dollar Giant Store Coquitlam Center (Beside T&T supermarket, diagonal from mall entrance to Zellers) Is it really a dollar store? Sure is. The don't even bother putting price tags / stickers on anything..it made me suspicious at first, but when I neared the cash register, I noticed signage saying "Nothing over a dollar!" Sure enough, it was true. Offerings? *sigh* I went after work on Monday, in the midst of holiday shopping and on the first day of Kid Carson raising toys for Salvation Army. It was very messy and I wanted to get out of there ASAP. There was incense, make-up, nail care, some hardware, a little craft section for kids, greeting cards, and candy. Nothing too special. Comments? Messy as HELL. They had items all the way up the wall and up on shelves. I know I'm short, but it's also in Coquitlam, with a high incident of shorter people.. ;p Return / Exchange? No refund, no exchange. Score: 6.5/10. Messy, crowded, hard to access many items, and no one around to help you. The plus is that it IS a REAL dollar store..and I might just go back because I know what they have, and I know what I need. Have a great day! Also check out the knitting work in progress and finished projects. Hi-dee-ho! Back again. Didn't get much shopping done. Got some ideas, but still missing a lot of things for people. I remember from years past when I used to make a list and all..including estimated prices, etc. I need to do this NOW. I can't believe that it's only a week away! *sigh* I am contemplating taking a leave from work. I need to think about this since next term I'll only be working one day a week, or an extra Saturday if I need it. This puts a strain on resources, so I really need to consider: length of time taken to work amount of gas to get to work amount of energy to do work what other options of work This would have to be considered against what job opportunities I have out here. I found myself during the week really missing working...of all places, at Rogers. It was mindless work, really, but you also got to work with different people, different customers... I don't know. I like what I'm doing but I don't like the drive, the gas, the rain.. People....who need people.. hehe. Ahhh. How does that happen? I think of Mark, and he calls. Like "THAT!" I must have him on ESP or something crazy. I miss him. During finals, I didn't see him at all....and during the holidays, he works like mad because he "can". That sucks. I was glad to go drinking with him last friday, I completely needed it. I *do* have part of a drunk entry. Don'tcha love those? I miss those too. I'll post it within the week. One last dawdle about dollar stores. Then it's upstairs to finish the i-cord on this baby: Lougheed Loonie Store Lougheed Mall, Upper Level Beside Mall entrance to Wal-Mart Is it really a dollar store? Uhh..NO. It's not even a toonie store. Prices ranged from ~$.70 to $5.99. Offerings? Cards, hardware, giftwrap, seasonal decorations and knickknacks. Usual candles and toys. Comments? Busy as hell..I don't know why, there was nothing really worth looking at. Narrow aisles. Perhaps it is because I am tiring of dollar stores (#4 in 3 days), but this was so same old same old. Return / Exchange? No idea. Score: 5/10. Crowded, not a "true" dollar store. Nothing particularly interesting here. Just remembered that there was a dollar store on the lower level of the mall, down the hall from London Drugs. From what I remember, it was voted as "Burnaby's Best Dollar Store" some time ago. Hmm. Pre | ^ | Post