Unfortunate Sign-of-the-Times

This past Wednesday evening, yes, the day before Thanksgiving, we found out that our local camera/scrapbooking store was closing. "Corporate" decided to close a number of Cord Camera stores in OH. I can be open minded and understand that they needed to considered the bottom line and that maybe, if they kept those stores open, then the entire company would go out of business. But, in an strange way, that store gave me a sense of community. It provided a home town feel. I knew that I could always stop in there for anything specific to cameras. I could get great service from the experts - service that I could not get from a [bigger] big box store like WalM or BB.

Additionally, Cord had a FANTASTIC scrapbooking department. They had product that was not found at Archivers or WalM. Several sales associates knew me by name or face and greeted me when I was there. Their marathon crops were GREAT - 12 hours of uninterrupted crop time - pure BLISS! And, if you wanted a cup of coffee, a burger, pizza, or a taco, Caribou, Steak and Shake, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell were just steps away. No need to get in your car and drive. This, too, reinforced the hometown feel that Cord provided to me.

Oh well, maybe one day when the economy is better, Cord Camera or something similar will return. Until then, there is a beautiful building on Rt 82 in Macedonia OH, once teeming with memories, laughter, families, and friends, that is now dark, cold, empty, and silent.

That time of the year...

Yes, it's that "wonderful time of the year" - creating digital Christmas cards! I always try to get them ordered by Thanksgiving so that I can write them over the weekend. Ever receive cards that include a letter summarizing a family's events for the past year? It is a great way of catching up on their lives. Well, I am a woman of few words. This means that I select one significant travel moment and memorialize it on a Christmas card - just the pic and the location. Fortunately, now multiple pics can go on one card. Fantastic! A few more pics to tell our story!

I create several cards:

• a cute one of the cat - sent to those who would prefer to see the cat over us
• a standard one of me and my s.o. - sent to those who would like to see us
• a quirky one - sent to those who may or may not appreciate my odd, bizarre, off-the-wall humor

Which one will you get this year?

No More Strobe

Ok. I am upset. Earlier this week, Sirius took away one of my favorite channels - "The Strobe". Yes, I enjoyed listening to the disco classics of the 70s when I was in high school. Now they are again distant memories. In its place, I have discovered "1st Wave" - the new wave music of the late 70s/early 80s. It reminds me of my favorite station when I was in college - WLIR. Although the station was "on the Island", it came in clearly in The Bronx. They played U2, INXS, etc before they made it to the pop charts. This begs the question, if I have moved away from 70s Disco and to 80s New Wave, will I one day catch up to contemporary music again? Hmmm. Stay tuned...