Such a Waste of a Lovely Day

This morning was surprisingly clear and sunny. I would have really liked to have been out and about doing things outside because I think it's going to start raining again later today. Alas, I have to stick it out here at the computer working on a project because we have to go back into Salem again today to pick up the part for Lisa's father's car -- they found one of the switches (a $130 part!) at another dealership and were having it shipped overnight to them, and they'll call me when it's ready.

After our errands yesterday, Lisa wanted to drive up to the Bridgeport Village shopping center in the Tualatin area, where we did a fair bit of shopping and purchasing (books/videos at Borders; chocolates from the Belgian chocolate shop; bits to repair her day-pack at REI; groceries (cheese!) at Whole Foods; and some clothes from American Apparel. That last led to an odd overheard conversation. One of the reasons Lisa shops enthusiastically at American Apparel is that everything they make is made in America. She overheard other shoppers in the same store saying with authority, "Oh, of course it's all made in China; everything is made in China these days." I take it that people are now so cynical that they assume anything that says "made in USA" is a lie?

Mission Accomplished

The part for Lisa's father's car was exactly right, and Lisa made short work of installing it in his car and making it legal for him to drive it again. For all that it was an expensive part, it would have cost more than twice as much to pay a shop to diagnose and replace it.