When guests leave....

What does one do? In my case it was mope around for a while trying to decide what to do. Then I didn't want to waste the day so spent some time getting things a bit tidier for the incoming tenants. What was there left to do? My bathroom cabinet which now looks very gorgeous- clean and neat- detritus deleted and essentials established!
In a moment of madness I suggested to Shirl that perhaps I love NYC t-shirts would be good farewell gifts from her current play which ends just after I get home. This meant getting 10t-shirts for her it was really quick and simple really but it also meant I had to rethink the suitcase I was taking home. Talk about falling dominoes- to use my large suitcase I had to hang my "winter wardrobe" in the hall cupboard- in order to hang things i the hall cupboard I had to clear that out too. That's all done now too.
I had an idea that I should possibly have two bedside lamps (one either side of the bed) so Bed Bath and Beyond looked like a good place to start.
The 104 bus up Broadway and off at the corner of Barnes and Noble. Not wanting to waste an opportunity to explore a bookshop I meandered in there. What is it about libraries and bookshops that I need to locate the bathroom almost as soon as I start browsing the shelves. I used my usual method of locating them in the store- where the cafe is the restrooms will be nearby. I could have tried looking at a map of the store as there are some on every floor but at least this way I got to the top of the store to work my way back down after the restroom visit.

I found a few purchases- one for the flight home- Fingersmith, Lorraine had been talking about it earlier in the year so I figured it was a good bet for the interminable flight. Then a few others to share with people at home. As I left the store it had started raining , lightly so my way to Bed Bath and Beyond wasn't impeded at all. I found some replacement pillow slips, extra bits for the neat and clean bathroom cabinet. Locate the check out and head on home- not so easy to do - this place had the most disorganized checkout system. It wasn't just me people kept coming up to the register and the young woman kept saying the line is over there pointing in the vague direction of elsewhere in the store which resulted in people walking over in the direction she hinted at and sort of jogging on the spot waiting for an opportunity to approach the checkout again. That's how I managed to get through anyway- effective but not sure if it was correct!

It was still raining - what to do? No umbrella and I wasn't going to buy another one no matter how cheap they were. Umbrella sellers appear out of the cracks in the pavement when the rain starts and then they disappear somewhere when the rain stops. I wonder how they make their money on sunny days- perhaps they ditch their big brown boxes of bags when it rains!?!

So it's raining where does one shelter? A bar of course- I had books to read and settled at the bar of O'Neals and started one of my recent purchases- darn it was one I'd already read! So a couple of drinks and a bus trip back to the apartment and as I was getting off the bus I realized I didn't even look at lamps!
Time for that another day perhaps.