Donna H

My Comments (239 so far…)

Remember shopping pre-Internet? What era/memory in the evolution of shopping do you think of most fondly?

Oops! I should have said "Billie HAD a Secret Shop". To my knowledge, the Secret Shop ended years ago.

Remember shopping pre-Internet? What era/memory in the evolution of shopping do you think of most fondly?

Belinda, thanks for reminding me of Gimbels!!!! I have lots of great memories of that chain.

When I was a kid, I used to go shopping with my grandparents at the Mitchell St. store. Most of the sales ladies seemed to know my Dziadzia & greeted him as "Mr. Frank", & sometimes in Polish. My Dziadzia would act regally, nodding right & left, & returning their greetings. My very annoyed Gram would follow him, poking him in the back, & muttering "They’re only interested in your money, you old fool." I would trail after them, giggling. They’d buy me a present or two (especially if I’d try out my paltry knowledge of Polish on them), & often I’d be able to con them into buying me something that would annoy my mum.

When I was a teenager, I worked at Gimbels. One Christmas I was a cashier at the suburban store near Mum & Dad’s, & briefly I worked downtown. I alternated doing clerical & general grunt work in a buyer’s office downtown & sorting new merch for shipment to the stpres at the building on N. 3rd, which was by then no longer a store, but a warehouse & distribution center.

When I "grew up" & worked full time, I loved Gimbels Christmas sales when the stores opened at 7 a.m. I could go downtown right from work & get my shopping done before the crowds hit.

My best memory is Christmas shopping downtown with my sister, Mum, & Gram when I was….oh, five or six. We’d eat at Toy’s, which was on the second floor so we’d had to climb past a huge dragon mural to get there, or at the Butter Bun (neither are in business any longer). We shopped at Gimbels, but my favorite memory is going to Boston Store. The chain’s Christmas advertisements used "Billie the Brownie". Billie has a "Secret Shop" at that was only for children. I was thrilled to be able to remind Mum & Gram (ad nauseum, I’m sure) that they couldn’t go inside, then take my sister inside to spend our saved-up change on cheap little trinkets for family members.

Dear Margo: When Dad/Gramps Just Ain't Interested

I am Jewish. I have several tattoos. They are all small & easily covered, & I got most of them before I converted. The first I got nearly 35 years ago. I have never regretted any of my tattoos.

Will you change your mammogram routine given newly released guidelines?

I always dread mammograms, & they always turn out to be not nearly as awful as I expected.

I expect that whatever my decision will be, what my insurance covers will play a major part in that decision.

The Palin Book, as Dear Margo Sees It

deber, my comment was on how often Palin (mostly, bits of her Oprah appearance) have been on TV recently. I said nothing about her book, & wouldn’t since I haven’t read it. Since you’ve decided to chastise me for judging Palin’s book without reading it, please quote what I said specifically about the book.

If you had Warren Buffett's money, in what industry would you invest?

Education, sustainable energy, mass transit, health care.

The Palin Book, as Dear Margo Sees It

c lawre, your last comment was great! Thanks for starting my day with a chuckle.

I’m not interested in reading her book & didn’t watch Oprah yesterday. However, because of all the hype (both pro & con) on seemingly every news & political commentary show, I’ve probably heard most of it.

Yawn.

What was your favorite book (or books) as a child?

I loved the "Little House on the Prairie" books, "Wrinkle in Time" & it’s sequals, & the "All of a Kind" series,all of which I still have.

My all-time favorite was anything by Louisa May Alcott, especially "Little Women". I’ve read it more times than I can count, & I still tear up when Beth dies. I identified with Jo March.

Caption This!

"My husband told me I look ridiculous in this hat. Ah, men. You can’t live with them & you can’t plant them in the rose garden."

While driving? In the shower? During sex? Where and when do you do your best thinking?

Usually, while doing dishes. There is no window above the sink, so there is no pretty view to distract me. While I wash dishes, I stare at the copper tile backsplash & think.

However, I have made some of life’s major decisions while sitting on a park bench in Edinburgh’s Princes Street Gardens & staring up at the castle. It was there that I decided I was finally grown up enough to send down roots of my own; the day after I got home I went to a real estate agency & asked for help finding a house to buy.

Dining room table? Fur coat? A new house? What was your first 'adult' purchase?

I’d been living on my own for several years, had purchased furniture, dishes, etc, but the first purchase that made me feel grown up was a trip to Europe.

Are you photogenic?

In good pics, I look like an angry badger. In bad ones….well, I’ve seen more attractive pics on post office walls.

Want to Dress Up Your Cat? Explore the Enchanting World of Kitty Wigs

Bubba the WonderCat wouldn’t even lower himself to look at the pictures.

My sister used to "ooh & ahhh" over pet costumes at Target at Halloween, & once, urged me to buy them for my posse. I said I would under one condition: she dress the cats.

That was the end of that idea.

Dear Margo: Backing Up and Coming Clean

I was engaged to a guy who wanted to give me a ring. I don’t care for diamonds, & convinced him to have a new furnace installed in my house instead. My house is old, the wiring was inadequate. I went out of town to visit my brother, & came home to new wiring as well as a furnace. When I decided I could no longer tolerate his drinking, & kicked his whiskey-soaked butt to the curb, I got to keep my engagement present!