PB and IKEA

This is Pullnshoot25's big bro Elsensei. Nate gave me admin rights a while ago, but the first time I tried it it didn't work and I have been busy with other things recently. I do check the blog every day because it is always interesting and informative, and just for the hell of it today I clicked the "New Post" link and viola! I am authoring!

I've been OCing for a while, though not as much as Pullnshoot25 has. That kid is an inspiration. For the most part I have not had any issues. Most people simply do no care.

Two days ago, Saturday, I had some time on my hands and had to see my accountant who has an office down in PB. After that brief meeting, I strapped on my glock 17 on my right hip with two full mags on my left hip and took a stroll down to the beach.

I checked the surf first- I don't surf as much as I wish I did, and dang it right now the water is the coldest I can remember. It was 2-3 feet and kinda closing out, and the wind was shifting to onshore. Pretty day though. So I strolled to 7-11 and grabbed a copy of the SDReader, a free local rag with listing all the goings-on about town and with more plastic surgery ads than you could want. It runs about 100 pages. I sat on a bench facing the ocean and flipped through the whole thing, reading the interesting parts and skipping the rest. All told I think I spent an hour on that bench. Didn't see any police in the area. No one screamed or fainted. My gun didn't once sprout legs, overpower me, load itself and run amok, shooting people. All in all uneventful.

Yesterday I stopped by IKEA in Mission Valley. All I needed were a couple of cabinets for my laundry room. They have a pretty neat system with cleverly assembled and attached doors and all. Melamine over particle board, but should hold up as long as you don't hang on them. The way IKEA is set up, you have to walk through the entire place to find what you want. It's like a maze. I couldn't help but wonder how much they paid some marketing crew to design the layout so that we'd be bewildered and follow the path like cattle. I tried taking a shortcut on my way to the cabinet area and of course missed it and had to backtrack. Finally found the cabinets and waited for help from one of the sales girls. She ordered up my stuff, gave me a receipt to present at the cashier, and I was on my way.

At the pickup area, I presented my receipt for my paid goods and was told to wait 15-20 minutes. I walked back to the store exit and sat on a red couch they have there for that purpose. I sent a couple emails on my Iphone while I waited. If you haven't used an Iphone, they are pretty amazing. The error correction on the keyboard is so good that I can actually coherently type faster than on a regular keyboard- even without cut and paste, which will be added in the free software upgrade this summer.

The carryout employee approached and said my order was ready. I rolled the cart out to my truck, loaded everything into the bed and drove home. Again, no issues.

I'm dying to know what SDPD dispatch does when they get a "man with gun" call now. Hopefully its:

Dispatch: OK , man with gun. What's he doing?
Caller: Um, it looks like he's buying cabinets.
Dispatch: Is he threatening anyone or brandishing his weapon or causing any disturbance?
Caller: Noooo...but he did have some trouble using an IKEA gift card. I think the magnetic strip had worn off and the cashier had to type in the number manually.
Dispatch: OK, thanks for the call but open carry is legal. If I have any officers eating hot dogs at Costco across the parking lot, I'll send them over to ensure his weapon is not loaded but barring that, this is legal. Call back if you witness an actual crime. Adios.