Double Shopping Spree! (Blog 268)

Yesterday, I went Christmas shopping in Kingston AND Staines! To start the train journey off towards the former, I had to wear my mask. Unfortunately, I brought the wrong one with me, that always steams my glasses up. Not to worry, I brought another. That was the wrong one, too. I’m not sure what the difference between my third less misty one is. Maybe there isn’t one, maybe the weather was just steamier, somehow. Simon’s steamy trip to Kingston. Wait, that doesn’t sound right at all. Not to worry, after a few minutes of fiddling around, I discovered that if I just covered the tip of my nose with my mask, the steam problem wasn’t so bad. Phew. That could get really annoying. At least I’m not one of those people who drives wearing a mask. That would be really dumb.

When in the Kingston train station, I found the doors were open, meaning I didn’t need a ticket. Festive cheer from the workers or plain forgetfulness? In either case it didn’t matter as I bought a ticket, and I’m assuming everyone else did, too. -_- Anyway, the shopping. The first present I got was a small box of chocolates for my brother’s wife. I got a small box, as she never bought me anything, but there IS still time. If I discover she hasn’t gotten me anything before Christmas, I guess I could just eat them but I think I’ll just give her something anyway. In the shop I was very temped to get chocolates for myself, but as you may know I’ve given them up. Sadly however, the temptation is always with me at home. I couldn’t eat her treats, could I?? I mean they’re right next to me as I’m typing! :S

After that, I bought my brother two computer games - one for his birthday, and one for crimbo. As I spent around £90, that could imply that I like him roughly 20 times as much as my sister in law, but again, if she has ever bought me anything, I’ve forgotten about it. In that case, sorry. Then I got a bottle of wine for my dad. I may be very knowledgeable when it comes to varieties of grapes, but I know nothing about the drink, so I basically picked a bottle at random. Then it was time to get my mini niece and mini nephew a present. So they won’t choke, I got them both fluffy toys. For the girl, I got a toy called ‘Squishville’ which sounds adorable, but I doubt she’d know what it means, even with an explanation. Such an explanation would be pretty weird. As in ‘You see… it’s a town where people get… squished…’ ‘What do you mean?’ ‘Ummm… Sorry I have no idea. It’s not something I’ve seen, anyway’.

For my nephew, I got a Spiderman toy which I liked buying a lot more. I’m sure there are some people who assumed I bought the presents for myself, but whatever. Shorty after that, I lost my shopping list. That didn’t matter as I knew what to get from that point onwards, though if a stalker found it, he or she could find out details of my private life, such as how I apparently massively favour my brother over my sister in law. Not to worry, I quickly found it again. By that time, I had seen two people wearing Nirvana clothing, which was made even better by the fact I was as well. Furthermore, a shop worker said he was just getting into the band or something like that. I guess people like listening to musicians who are depressed. I’ll tell you what’s depressing: Nothing. It’s Christmas. :P

After all that, it was time for a bit of me time - CD shopping! Once again I spotted a You Me At Six album featuring musicians I knew at college, but more interestingly I saw a CD by a band called the Wonder Beers, who I knew at school. That was interesting, as they’re not exactly well known at all. Far from it. Does that make the shop good or rubbish? It’s hard to say. I mean their stock was certainly specialist, but maybe it was TOO specialist? It’s like someone trying to sell paper mache bees. Who cares? Anyway, I didn’t get either CD. Not because the musicians didn’t like me, (and they didn’t), but because I heard their music. One band is too positive and the other rips off Andrew W.K… … … :P I took another risk and bought an album by a band I’ve never heard of, called ‘We Are The Ocean’.

I was given the option of the band’s CD with or without the artist’s signatures on them. As both were the same price, that implies the artist’s markings mean nothing whatsoever, possibly because they suck, but I got the signed version, anyway. When I arrived back at Kingston station, I saw that the apparent festive cheer had gone, and the gates were shut. Still though, the once open doors could have saved me about £3 if I didn’t buy a ticket. Enough for me to buy some chocola… No Simon, no! I had to wait about 15 minutes before the train home which is neither bad or good but in the mid range, but it did give me some time to make some notes. Sadly, I never found a way of talking about YMA6 and TWB without sounding like an asshole.

Soon after all that business, I drove to Staines to get MORE prezzies and various items. First up, I needed some shaving foam and that kind of stuff. As I used the self service checkout for the first time in my life, I wasn’t 100% sure of what I was doing, but it all seemed to be going well. However, I knew there was a chance I’d be stopped by security if I made a mistake and left with a product I didn’t pay for. However, me admitting that I was unsure was too embarrassing, so I took a risk and left the store. As I did so, I didn’t trigger any alarms, so… Success! Then I bought some new shoes as the ones I use for going to the gym are falling apart. Luckily I no longer have to worry about my shoes turning to nothing on the treadmill. That would look very weird and it’s kind of thing people would remember. Hobo Simon.

Then it was time to look like a girl again, as I bought a girl band CD for my older niece. Good. I did look more manly when I bought a DVD for later though, called ‘Capone’. That was basically all I bought in the town so I went back to the car park. Would you believe I bought a ticket for one hour, and stayed for exactly 60 minutes? Now THAT’S cool. What was the film like? I can’t say I enjoyed it at all, to be honest. I understood Al Capone was said to have a weird voice later in life because he had a stroke, but the voice in the film was SO weird. I really don’t think the gangster was portrayed very well at all, it really ruined the movie for me. It also had those super cliched scenes that turned out to be a dream, soon after. Very annoying. Unless of course I’ve misunderstood the film entirely which… maybe I did. That’s it! Bye!