Day 3: "Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore"

I was so excited about our day on Saturday. Our travel dates worked out perfectly for us to be in San Francisco the week the Chinese celebrate Chinese New Year. A street fair, the largest CNY parade in the US, lots of shopping, yummy food, etc. This is a huge celebration for the Chinese culture (much like New Years Eve celebrations for the American culture). We took the "when in Chinatown do as the Chinese" approach and celebrated 2008: the Year of the Rat right along with them. We had planned to spend the morning at the Ferry Building enjoying the local artists and the weekly Farmers Market. Then head to Chinatown in the afternoon, have a late lunch of dim sun and do a little shopping before claiming our spot for the parade at 5:30 pm. Ah, the best laid plans...

The forecast called for showers in the morning followed by storms arriving early afternoon and lasting until Sunday night. After our "LOST IN SAN FRANCISCO ADVENTURE" the night before, Daddy decided we needed a GPS for Monday's rental car day. So, instead of the Ferry Building and local artists we ended up at Radio Shack purchasing another man toy (oops, I mean necessary piece of equipment) for our trip. It is important to note that we had to return to the BIG SCARY NEIGHBORHOOD to purchase the GPS needed to keep us out of the BIG SCARY NEIGHBORHOOD. Makes perfect sense, right? We were assured electronics would be less expensive there than in Union Square so off we went to find #38 bus.

#38 bus and the GPS:
You see all kinds of interesting folks on the #38 bus. That's all I have to say about that. I tried to go with the flow but I'll admit that is not my strong point. If the night before didn't do it, this is the moment when I heard Dorothy ever so clearly say, "Toto, I've a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore." Let's talk about Radio Shack. I am not exaggerating when I say everything in there was locked up like Fort Knox. You had to have a key to actually touch most every item in the store. This included the Home Movie/DVD department that included reference signs entitled "Gangsta Flicks". Seriously. I am not kidding. I got a tad huffy with one of the employees as we waited for our purchase. No one could find the key to "the cage" to retrieve the GPS. Instead of diligently trying to locate said key, Joe Cool, our Customer Service Representative walked around the store giving secret handshakes and friendly bumps to all of his Radio Shack friends. After 15 minutes of waiting, the googly eyes were out and my head was about to spin off my shoulders. Daddy quickly reminded me we are not in "our neck of the woods" and to STOP IT NOW! I was blasted back to reality after visions of the night before. Somewhere from within I found my box of patience. 15 minutes after catching up on all the Friday night gossip, Joe Cool returns with the key. The ugly Mommy briefly came out again when he tried to overcharge us. Apparently, I didn't look very honest so he had to go check it out for himself. We'll be waiting...again. Finally, we left with our GPS in hand paying the advertised price I had quoted, of course. "C-ya Mr. Joe Cool. I would suggest you and your Radio Shack friends brush up on your Customer Service skills. However, you and your Radio Shack friends look much scarier than Mommy and Daddy so I will keep that little smart comment to myself." Off to find #38 bus again and get the heck outta Dodge. Then it was off to Chinatown! :-)