RIP Eddie Bauer Salvage Store

For at least fifteen years, a trip to Columbus, OH included what we jokingly call our annual clothes shopping trip to the Eddie Bauer Surplus Store. We have found some incredible deals at this site. From $5 jeans to more recently a $20 lined raincoat that I have worn on three continents. I remember the first time we went to the surplus side of Eddie Bauer Outlet store in the warehouse district of Columbus on Fisher Road. We stopped by the outlet on a lark. We already liked their clothes, even if they were more expensive that we would have liked. We noticed people rushing to the back. To a "secret" room. We walked and and saw boxes of clothes labeled with unreasonably low prices. $5 for jeans selling for $50 in the retail stores (remember, this was in the early 2000s, the "naughties").

In recent years, the salvage side was only open on select holidays. Sometimes our trip coincided with them being open (like the time I bought my light blue raincoat), but more often they were either closed or we struck out. I did still have a lot of success on the warehouse side, which was still cheaper than the outlet side. I bought most of my long-sleeved shirts for $10-$15. My big score, though, was fleece lined jeans for $30 -- they retail for $110. With the polar vortex we are dealing with this year, I have worn them a lot.

This week Laura emailed me to say the site is closing for good. 

Don half-jokingly said "why go back to Ohio?" Um...because we have family and friends who live there? Spending $100 and filling a large trash bag with my new wardrobe is an experience I will miss.

Fortunately, though I have pairs of jeans I have not yet worn. I bought them because at $10, they were too good a deal to not stock up on.

Planet Fitness Goal

I don't want to brag ... but I can still remember the combination to my middle school lock. I'm not going to prove it by posting it here. Instead, I am proving it by bringing it with me and using it when I work out at Planet Fitness.

Yes, the polar vortex has convinced me it is time to join a gym. That and my favorite doctor insists that women of a certain age should be working on our arm strength. I resisted for a year, then gave in. I even made it an official goal for the year.

I have been seven times now. Considering I was on vacation for a week and they were closed for snow and holidays, I'm off to a good start.

I make it a point to do the yellow 30 minute workout room. Reminds me of how my mom described Work Out World. The difference, though, is Planet Fitness also has showers, and much much more equipment. That, and I am the only person who I've seen use it as a circuit. Everyone else uses one or two pieces, or hides there on their cell phones hogging up the equipment.

I then move to the elliptical or a recumbent bicycle, or an outdoor run on those rare days the weather cooperates.

My goal is to try each piece of equipment at least once. Don thinks that is an overly ambitious goal. We'll see. I think I've tried about 15 pieces so far. The only one I don't plan to try is the treadmill.

How are your resolutions going? 

Visibility Brigade Protest

It is cold out and I am still protesting. This month Renee Good and Alex Pretti were murdered in Minneapolis by ICE. The people of Minnesota have taken to the streets in sub-zero degree temperatures to fight. 

One of my 2026 resolutions was to go on a visibility brigade. Those are defined as gathering on an overpass. I learned at the Princeton protest this month that Lawrenceville has a group called Lawrence Citizen Activists that meets about a mile from my house on the 206 overpass for I-95. I joined them before the blizzard to help be more visible. They ran out of signs before I arrived -- which I told them is a good problem to have.

As usual the group was made up mostly of people in my age and general demographic. We noticed a guy about 30 across the street from us, but everyone else was 50s and older. We, too, would much rather do something else, but Democracy is worth fighting for.

It seems public opinion is shifting. I'll continue to protest until there is no longer a need. Meanwhile, there are PRETTI GOOD reasons to be out there.

Now for something completely different ... As Seen in the Loo

Don and I recently traveled to the United Kingdom to visit family, and see a couple of shows in the West End. I found their loos (or bathrooms as we call them in the States) to be entertaining. They fell into several different categories: pretty to look at, filled with information, and then there were the ones with the interesting reading material.

Pretty to look at:

I especially appreciate the full door,
a rarity in the States.

Not sure the tile and the wallpaper go
together, but I appreciate the attempt

I like the herringbone tiles
and wood paneling

Filled with important information:

Interesting reading material:

Toilets with instructions

Write a review while in the loo?

Time to return

Our trip to Brighton and London felt like two separate vacations. The first half was a cozy time with family, and the second half was a bustling time in a big city. I try not to obsess with the news when I'm not home, but it changes so quickly I feel compelled to at least have a high-level knowledge of what is happening. I am a bit outspoken and when people ask my opinion, I feel the need to reply intelligently.

This was the first time I've ever wondered if I would be able to return. If we sent troops to Greenland to take it over forcibly, the rest of NATO would respond by cutting us off. This means trans-Atlantic flights would almost immediately cease, especially those by American owned companies. 

Sorry ... nothing personal.

The value of the dollar would plummet as NATO nations pulled their money out of our economy.

So sorry.

The embassy would close. 

Again, sorry.

I ruminated on a conversation I overheard a couple of days earlier while sitting in the Prince's Head pub in Richmond. A British man approached a table of four blonde 20-something women speaking a foreign language. He asks where they are from, they say Ukraine. He replied "I flew into Kiev in 2021. At the time it was the only way to get to the United States from England because of COVID restrictions. Great place. I felt lots of optimism."

The pick up line was rattling around in my head as I was trying to figure out if he would be dumb enough to invade our allies before our plane was taking off. He didn't (that's the reason he is called TACO), but it still hung over my head. What would our back up plan be? Where would we have to go into order to be able to return to the United States? Swimming across the ocean was not an option.

During the intermission of Cable Street I struck up a conversation with the man in the row ahead of me. He echoed the fear posts I had been reading. Yes, the United States would be cut off. He felt sorry for us, but there was nothing they could do about it.

Thanks to the ease of public transportation, we arrived at the airport with plenty of time to wait for our flight. As I was finishing up a cup of tea Don pointed out the window. A Porsche 911 was being loaded into the hull of a Thai Airways plane. From our angle it seemed like it would just barely fit. Based on the jiggling they went through to make it fit, I suspect it was close on the ground, too. I left thinking "now I've seen everything."

Our flight home was a little more crowded than the way out -- Don and I had three seats for the two of us. It was a day flight so I binge watched "And Just Like That." I wish it was on a streaming service we subscribe to so I could watch the rest of the season at home. It helped pass the time.

Thanks to Global Entry we showed our faces to the screen and kept on walking. No line for us, long line for everyone else. The best part for Don is he doesn't have to answer any questions. I miss getting a passport stamp.

London: Cable Street: A New Musical

One of my goals with going to London was to see a show that was headed for New York. I'd ask people "what should we see on the West End" and invariably they would list shows I had already seen on Broadway, or did not want to see. I wanted to see something new. Something up and coming. This proved to be a tough concept.

I subscribed to an email list What's On Stage that lists shows taking place on the London Stage. Through that I learned about Cable Street: a new musical. I was not familiar with the history of Cable Street going into the show, but the premise caught my attention given these times. It is about the October 1936 uprising against fascists. They have already had two sold out runs, have reworked the show and are presenting it in its latest iteration. 

The musical is brilliantly done. The covered the stories of the 100,000 Jews, Irish, and Communists who united against Oswald Mosley and the Fascists. When I told a theater friend about the show he asked didn't I want to see something happy? I feel this show is uplifting. I was excited to read in the program book that the show is coming to Off-Broadway. A quick chat with the producer when he overheard me say I live near New York and want to know more said the show is coming to 59E as part of their British theater festival at the end of April/beginning of May. I am hoping to see it here, too.

UPDATE: We ordered tickets for its US opening on April 26.

Trigger warning includes Fascist imagery

London: British Museum

Ever have the experience of reading a book at just the right time? A couple of months ago I read "Girl in the Blue Coat" as I was traveling to Amsterdam. I was literally reading about places I was seeing in person. This trip I read "The Dig," a book about the 1939 Sutton Hoo excavation which was later turned into a movie readily available on Netflix.

As we looked at the artifacts on display at the British Museum, I was having flashbacks to the book. I had just reached the courtroom scene where they are deciding who owns the treasures found at Sutton Hoo: Edith Pretty (the owner of the property) or Britain (because they are national treasures). The case hinged on the intent of what was found: did the person who left it behind intend to return to claim it later? I noted the artifacts were donated by Edith Pretty before I reached the part in the book where she won the case because the items were part of a burial chamber therefore there was no intention to return to claim the items.

The trip to the British museum was a consolation prize of sorts. I had wanted to go to Sutton Hoo to see the site of the archaeological dig our friend Dan participated in a couple of summers ago. When I first looked into the trip it seemed like a two hour trip from London, but when I plugged in the date we were going (a Saturday) from the place where we were staying it became a four hour trip involving four different transfers each way. I couldn't justify it. Going mid-week would mean only seeing the grounds and not being able to get inside the museum because it is January.

Not long before the courtroom scene, archaeologist Peggy Piggott found two garnet encrusted pyramids. The narrator for the audio introduction to the room said they were her favorite artifact on display. I searched until I found them. It was as if the book was coming to life. I knew the museum had the real helmet found (as well as a replica), a series of silver bowls, and a part of a bucket, but the pyramids were something I had just learned about the day before our visit. It was surreal mixing the past with the present. I gave Edith Pretty a silent cheer for winning her case, later I read she wasn't that excited about winning it.

As for the rest of the museum, I found a guide for if you only have one hour, see these items. They guide had a picture, listed the room, and gave a high level listing of why the item matters. Items included the Rosetta Stone, Parthenon sculptures, bust of Ramsses the Great, the Ife head, statue of Tara, Aztec serpent, a mummy, a game, the Sutton Hoo treasures, and the Lewis Chessmen. With the treasures spread out, we had the chance to admire other pieces, but this kept us focused. 

Sutton Hoo treasures:

A purse clasp

Replica

The original

Featured in the highlights tour (or caught my eye):

London: Harry Potter

Sunday was a quiet day for us. I looked into finding a church service, but the ones I found started at 11 am and would last "about an hour." With a 1 pm curtain time to see "Harry Potter," I was afraid the timing would be too tight, especially since we wanted to eat first.

After COVID, Broadway took the two-part "Harry Potter" production and turned it into a 3.5 hour version. We took Yoran to see it when he lived with us. At the time Don said he wanted to see the original version to see if it filled in any gaps for him. London seems to be the only place still showing the two-part version.

After a long line for security, we entered the Palace Theater for the 1 pm part one. We left around 3:45 pm and were told to return at 6 pm for the second part. That ended around 8:30. Even for me, that is a lot of time spent in the theater.

I'm a "in the room where it happens" kind of theater going, so our seats were pretty far up, at least they were centered. At our knees were binoculars we could rent for a pound. Unfortunately, we did not have any British money. Attempts to take some out of ATMs were denied either by the ATM, or by Don scoffing at the fees. Other than this time, we could charge every other transaction. I will add that now that mass transit accepts credit cards, it is so much easier traveling by credit card. Missed opportunity. Then again, I could have brought my binoculars from home.

The show was well done (of course). In the end, Don said the play did not take away from his confusion. He read the first three books many years ago, and has not seen any of the movies. I read the entire series years ago, but did not watch the movie. It is the basic quest plot of pitting good against evil. Try to remember who is good and who is evil, and enjoy the magic acts. It is pure entertainment.

Inside Leicester Square are iconic characters from West End shows. I enjoyed playing guess the show before reading the plaque. Some were easy (such as Mary Poppins), but some, such as Bridget Jones, were a challenge. I really do have a soft spot for public art.

Between shows we visited London's largest LEGO store in Leicester Square and got some really good gelato. I didn't feel the two hour gap was long enough for dinner, though I'm sure many others disagreed with me. After the show we went to a pub for dinner. I hadn't factored in that though the pub was open until 10:30, the kitchen might close earlier. We were able to order dinner with a couple of minutes to spare thanks to the barkeep who let us know the kitchen was closing in six minutes.

UPDATE: On January 28 it was announced London will switch to the one show Broadway version on October 6, 2026. The last day for the two part version will be September 20, 2026. Glad we went when we did. The Palace Theater is the perfect venue for Hogwarts.

More pictures from our adventures:

Bridget Jones

The clock reveals a show on the hour

It got dark outside

Still light after the first part

Good flavors. Went with Pumpkin & Amaretti,
Burnt Caramel & Pecans, and Dark Chocolate

Vegetarian Sunday Roast