Today was another cold, wet day in Seattle. Nothing really detracts from this city though. I still think it’s just gorgeous.
Today is our last full day in Seattle which really is a shame. There is still so much we would like to do here so we went full tilt doing as much as we could. I might just point out that we are fortunate that we are not on the same block as a massive explosion that rocked the city in the early hours. A natural gas leak almost cost a number of firemen their lives. It sure blew a couple of businesses clean off the map.
First up today we visited the Pike Street Markets at the recommendation of one of the Bears friends. What an amazing place. Floors and floors of eccentric little stores with every possible thing you could thing of to buy. There were fresh food markets, fresh flowers of every brilliant colour (how they grow in this cold weather is beyond me), and countless things of interest. If you ever couldn’t think of something to buy a loved one, this place would give you inspiration. The markets conveniently (for me….not for the Bear) had a store which sold every “dog”. This store was made for every person just like me who is so in love with their dogs that they are prepared to spend an obscene amount of money on the absolute ridiculous just so that they can promote our “l” word. I call it “love”…..the Bear calls it “lunacy”. It is almost as awesome as PetSmart. I managed to keep my spending down to a dull roar….and my end total included some gifts for my nearly equally obsessed Mother in Law (who is doggy sitting as we speak).
After the Pike Street Markets (where we simply did not have enough time!) we decided to go back to the Boeing Store…via the Moore Theatre. What is the Moore Theatre? It is where Pearl Jams “Even Flow” video clip was filmed. It would have to be one of their top three most played songs. (And for those that don’t know/care, the song is about a homeless man. You wouldn’t expect that from a grunge band eh?) It’s not that I would be able to go in there and kiss the stage; its just that such “greatness” had been there. In the traffic, and the rain, we managed to find the said holy place at which point I was able to enjoy and photograph it for approximately 3.5 seconds (ok…while we were at a red light) before we were on our way.
We made our planned stop at the Boeing Store before heading onto yet another Wal-Mart. One might think of my Wal-Mart obsession as being unhealthy, but given that we purchase supplies there for a tenth of the cost of a restaurant it makes perfect sense. We often have a Wal-Mart salad instead of eating out (the same as we do every trip) or a frozen meal should our hotel room have a microwave. Today’s Wal-Mart visit however was not for this. It was for first aid supplies….in particular Betadine.
On our very first night in the USA, whilst staying in L.A I received some sort of bite on the little finger on my left hand. It hurt right from the word go and had managed to fester and become infected over the past 9 days. I had already purchased some anti-biotic ointment however it doesn’t appear to be working. My finger is swelling, throbbing, and turning a terrible shade of red. I wanted to get something that I was familiar with using from home hence my shopping for Betadine. As it turned our, Wal-mart didn’t have any. We were not sure whether they simply didn’t stock it or had sold out of it, but we were not about to zip around to a thousand pharmacies to find it. I showed the Bear a bottle of colourless iodine which claimed to have antibacterial properties for First Aid purposes. The Bear said that would do as that is what he remembered as a child.
After I had a shower this afternoon, I decided I would dab some of the iodine onto my finger before bandaging it back up. I undid the seal on the bottle and then the lid however there was a ridiculously strong scent of bleach. I took a sniff of the bottle and my eyes watered. Grabbing my glasses I read the impossibly small print on the side of the bottle, and sure enough it was meant for first aid purposes. I was confused by this so went and gave it to the Bear to smell….which he did……before telling me it was exactly how he remembered it smelling. I told him that the only time I had smelled anything like that was when I was soaking my children’s nappies or having my hair permed! He assured me it was ok and after doing a quick Google search to confirm I was doing the right thing, went back into the bathroom and applied the clear yet disgusting smelling liquid.
Somewhere in the distance I could hear a Curlew screaming. Did they even have Curlews in the USA? And where the hell did that dust come from? Once the dust settled it was clear my head was in the ceiling and my little finger was on fire. WHAT THE F**KING HELL WAS IN THAT BOTTLE!!!!!!!!!!! Apparently I was still screaming because the Bear came running. He might have thought that because I didn’t bear his children he would never have me swear at him in pain. Bullshit! I was holding him personally responsible for the fact that my pinkie had now fallen off! Jesus H Christ!!! This $3.95 bottle of acid was on the verge of costing us $497 for a broken mirror, and a $10,000 swear jar bill with the cost escalating by the second. Bloody hell!!!!!!!!! The Bear hurriedly stammered that it might hurt but it was doing the very best thing for the infection in my finger. Well that’s what I thought he said……I was still slamming my hand against the marble vanity basin to douse the flames…so couldn’t be sure. Not that I cared. I wasn’t putting that shit near my hand again. Well not until the next time anyway. Given the infection in my finger…..and given that the last time we were in the USA I had to go to the hospital and it cost us more than $1000 (which could NOT be claimed on travel insurance) I seriously wasn’t game not to do what I could to settle things.
*sigh*
*sigh*
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