The Warning Detector That Didn’t Beep How do you know that a new technology is a “keeper?” When it’s conspicuous by its absence. Exhibit A: the warning detector that beeps in my car — but not my wife’s — as the driver backs up. Which explains how, driving her car and backing into a parking...Read More
When you’re Jewish, the proverbial “six degrees of separation” seldom apply. In reality, it’s often two degrees, or even one. The missive below is from my wife’s best friend growing up (and still one of her closest friends), who lives in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood, down the block from where 11 Jews were murdered in...Read More
“Blind Date With a Book” How should you judge a book? By its beginning (of course). To encourage customers to do just that, Portland bookseller Elisa Saphier set out a table of great reads, wrapped in brown paper, with only the genre (“fiction, “mystery,” etc.) and a provocative sentence or two visible. Cost to “go...Read More
Unfamiliar Sight: Empty Store and Parking Lot During Daylight Hours You know a retail store is popular when a steady stream of cars pulls up in front, and is momentarily frustrated/perplexed by the sight of an empty Costco store and parking lot — a store that might otherwise have thousands of people and hundreds of...Read More
Did you know that good Realtors are all the same religion? No, not Catholic or Jewish or Muslim. They’re agnostic . . . about neighborhoods (what did you think I meant, God??). Diff’rent Strokes for Diff’rent Folks There are a handful of Realtors who live and exclusively sell in just one Twin Cities neighborhood. Like...Read More
Or Maybe They Should be Called “Dismaying Jeans” Yeah, yeah, I know what fancy-schmancy retailers mean when they refer to “distressed jeans”: jeans whose various holes and patches somehow make them look chic — and worth a huge mark-up (also referred to as “vintage clothing” in some quarters). My definition of “distressed jeans” is a...Read More
