Shopping Success

Yesterday afternoon, I met-up with a friend in town and we took the tube to Camden Town. Once there, we walked through the street markets and poked around in a couple shops. Fritz and Janine were right; Camden Town is a funky place. Some of the shops are truly – I think "interesting" is the adjective I am going to pick here.

There are Goth shops, and tattoo parlors everywhere. One shop catered to people who wanted medieval costumes, and there were a number of second-hand clothing stores. One store was noteworthy because of the proprietor. The store catered to all things heavy metal. The proprietor stood in the front entry to the shop belting-out the song that was blasting out of the speakers at the entrance to the shop; his hair flailing as he did his head-banging thing.

Before I started-out, I had set my budget. I knew that I wanted to spend no more that £100.00 but could go as high as £125.00. This was one of the reasons I had brought a friend along. Pieter had two jobs. 1) Don't let the salesperson talk me into a coat that doesn't look good on me. 2) Don't let me spend more than I had set as my upper limit. So, after lunch at one of the local pubs, we set-out to buy me a coat.

The shopping trip was a success. I found a really nice coat that would have cost at least $350.00 back home that I picked up for £120.00. It is a black, lambskin overcoat. There was one that was a bit nicer and made of cowhide, but I just couldn’t bring myself to spend nearly £200.00 for a coat! In the end, I talked the proprietor of the shop from the £185.00 down to the £120.00 I paid. Incidentally, my friend bought himself a coat as well.

I now have a new coat which will come in handy whether I return home to Colorado or not. (With all the weight I have lost over the past year, my old overcoat no longer fits me.)

Wherever you are this weekend, I hope any projects you have set-out to do have completed successfully.

Don Bergquist – 07 October 2007 – Thames Ditton, Surrey, UK