It pays to advertise...

We are in the San Antonio area.  Mostly just kickin' back before we head for home.  One stop we tend to make when in this area is the SAS Factory Store (General Store).  I used to think SAS Shoes were cheap shoes old people bought at outlet malls.  I was wrong.  I have never seen SAS shoes at an outlet mall shoe store (they sell them in their own stores).  They are not cheap.  While they do have some styles that would qualify as "old people shoes," (my Velcro closure sneaks, for instance), they have all kinds of styles.  Yes, many that are hip and happenin'.  My description; I've never seen them advertised that way.

Foremost, they are comfortable shoes.  Generally available in a wide variety of sizes... "wide" being a key word.  They have shoes that fit my "box-like" feet.  And, you know what they say: wide feet, wide shoes... well, if you want them to fit.  OK, they probably don't say that.  And, I have no idea who "they" are, but there are a lot of things that get attributed to "them."

That image above is the factory store (General Store).  It looks a bit... um, dilapidated, from a distance.  LOTS of very nice stuff inside.  The exterior goes along with that "General Store" theme.  Yeah, we found shoes.  Well, Joan found sandals.  Cute.  I didn't know I needed another pair of shoes, but you know what "they" say: if the shoe fits, wear it.  Well, first buy it, then wear it.

We were going to go to the River Walk, and stroll through the area; take a boat ride.  Yeah, we've done it many times in the past - it is a unique area.  Mother Nature decided to unleash some rain on the area.  Not a monsoon, but enough that we decided to take a "rain check" on the River Walk.

I said, "Well, I did get an e-mail from Guitar Center this morning - they were letting me know that today is the last day to get 20% off any purchase.  That is the "advertising" I was talking about in the title to this post.  I have been contemplating a new vocal harmonizer, so..."

Off to Guitar Center.  I pulled it up on the GPS; Joan found a "direct route" on her phone.  Through the barrio.  In the rain.  On streets that had giant potholes and deep puddles.  We found it...

They had a very nice inventory; better than the last couple Guitar Centers I've been in.   I saw a couple guitars that were very interesting, but... that's not why we're here.  My new friend Joseph asked if he could help us, and I told him what we were looking for.  He didn't see it on the shelves, checked the computer, and said, "It says we have two of them."

"I only need one."

"Maybe it's in our high-end audio section?"  Off we went.  Looking through the display cases, Joan said, "There's one!"  Joseph pulled it out... it was apparent that the box had been opened.  When I looked inside, it didn't have the owners manual or one of the connecting cords.  Joseph went off in search of the other one the computer said they had.  After a few minutes, he came out carrying the box..."It was on layaway.  I'll get another one back in there right away - here you go."

Joseph knew how to make a sale.

With the rain still coming down, we decided to go out for a nice, leisurely lunch.  Still some sprinkles when we were done; no other shopping we needed to do... back to the coach.

It was dry there; hot and humid, too.  Izzy wanted to go for a walk.  I started telling her how hot and humid it is out... then, realized: I am talking to a cat.  Oh, sure, she understands when she wants to, but I am pretty sure my voice just sounded like Charlie Brown's teacher to her.  We went outside... she looked up at me and said, "Damn, it is hot out here!  Why didn't you tell me how humid it is?"  We spent a bit of time out in that... until she went to the door and said, "Open this - I'm done."  We are doing much better with our communication when she wants me to know something.

It is supposed to be dry and a bit cooler tomorrow - Joan has some plans.