Sunday, September 29, 2013

Mooove over

Cow, Constantine Farm, near the Crossings Park, Colonie, NYI was walking over a lunch break at work recently when I encountered 3 ladies coming from the other direction.  As the distance closed, I scrunched to the right and in fairness there may have been a slight scrunching on their behalf, but it was not enough and I clipped elbows with the nearest member of the trio.  Such encounters have always fascinated me as I've frequently wondered why there isn't more collisions.  As the sidewalk constricts space and as the distance closes between two opposite traveling parties someone needs to make a quick decision as to who will "slide over".  For example, does a member of the trio position themselves ahead or behind their cohorts to yield space or do they make an attempt to "scrunch" to make it work as in my encounter?

Sunday, September 8, 2013

Oh, Kmart... some MTQ solutions for you.

If you're an old fart living in the great northeast and wish for some nostalgia, look no further than a trip to Kmart.  Before Target and Walmart arrived on the scene there was Kmart and other, now gone, discount stores such as Bradlees, Ames, Caldor, The Big N, and Montgomery Wards.  If I were to have bet on the survivors and casualties back 25 years ago, I don't know if I would have picked Kmart to be the living dinosaur among us.  To its credit, Kmart has never appeared on the MTQ Shit list, but that is because Kmart is not a regular MTQ destination and there are many other choices that make shopping at Kmart unnecessary.  So it was, that this MTQ author took a special journey to Kmart for this post.  Upon entering the parking lot of the Albany, NY Central Avenue Kmart, the first thing that strikes you is how vacant the parking lot is.  Unfortunately, this is normal and this parking lot is rather empty every day and I like many others often wonder, how does this store keep open?