“Remoted – Hybrid” – Day 687 (Saturday)

An 8:00 a.m. routine dental appointment in Fitchburg kicked off the day’s exciting festivities. This was the appointment rescheduled from two weeks ago after the hygienist was out sick. Sure, the slot was early, but the convenience of Saturday appointments makes it tolerable. There was a hair salon appointment in Worcester at 11:00, which had been rescheduled due to the double booking with the original dental appointment. There was time to fill from 9:00 until 11:00 between the appointments, so a trip to Kohl’s was considered after the dentist, as the route to Worcester went right past it. Luckily, I checked the website for the opening time, which is 10:00 and not 9:00 like I remembered from the pre-pandemic times.

Instead of Leominster, I headed to Kohl’s in Worcester. The distance from Fitchburg to Worcester on a light-traffic Saturday morning meant arriving a half hour before opening. Breakfast was the next logical option, and Denny’s is right there at the end of the street leading to my favorite Lincoln Street shopping cluster – Kohl’s, Savers, and Aldi.

It’s been decades since I was last in a Denny’s, and back then it was probably at 1:00 a.m. after being out for the night. It’s entirely possible that this morning was my first time in a Denny’s during daylight hours.

Oh man, those crispy hash browns. 

The Denny’s menu was a surprise. As I recalled it from the olden days, there were basic breakfast mix and match items and the beloved “Grand Slam Breakfast,” my late-night/early-morning go-to. Now, there are many “Slam” items, but today it was a “Loaded Veggie Omelet” for the win. And it was good. A three-egg omelet, with wheat toast and the most delicious super-crispy, finely shredded potato hash browns. It held me all day and there was no need or desire for lunch or supper, making it an economical investment of time, money, and calories. 

From the table at Denny’s, the next move was contemplated. My Kohl’s online shopping cart items were reviewed and discovered to be not available in the store, and it was Aldi instead. I recently read about some covered fry pan at Aldi that is supposed to be super great. Unfortunately, it was a couple weeks ago, so there were no covered fry pans available at this location today. But I did score some basics like mixed frozen veggies, butter, mushrooms, corn chips, salsa, tortellini, and a few others and the pantry is restocked. 

The next stop was Savers, with 15 minutes available to look for the current hit list of soup bowls, butter dish, and spoon rest. It was covered butter dish heaven in Savers with at least four suitable options available, and the blue Fiesta option at $3.49 won for color. At the checkout, it was discovered every register there is now self-checkout. It took so long for me to read the prompts and complete the transaction that I was glad to have just the one item, and I also may never return to that location. If I need to do the retail labor, I would like an employee discount please and thank you.

From Savers it was off to the hair salon for the most glorious shampoo with scalp massage, followed by a trim and blowout. It seemed a waste of my stylist’s talent to not put the hair on display, so from the salon, it was a stop at the Habitat ReStore where sadly, not one single person stopped me to tell me how great my hair looked. I, however, knew it looked fabulous, so there was comfort in that.

Multicolor placemats!

There were interesting light fixtures and living room and dining sets that would never fit in The BungaLowell, and a blond mid-century bed headboard I liked but not enough to deal with trying to get it up the steep, narrow stairs to the bedroom. The only ReStore purchase was a set of four multicolor placemats for $2.50, which was rung up by a very nice human working the register. 

The ride home included the ideas of visiting the St. Vincent DePaul thrift store, Target, and/or the Lowell Antiques Mall. But really, for what? I already had a covered butter dish, and the first half of the day held more activity than in the past six months combined. 

The next stop was home to Winston. With his absence of vision, he is not able to appreciate my professionally styled, straight and silky hairdo, so it seems a night on the town would be required for any sort of complimentary attention. That’s pure fantasy, however, and reality was a glass of wine (Devil’s Advocate from the FirstLeaf Wine Club delivery), and new episodes of Ozark.

Once the dishwasher is run, probably after the usual Sunday cooking, the new butter dish can begin hosting butter again. As for the placemats, there is no solid plan in place, but a couple ideas are percolating that go beyond just placing them on a table under a dinner plate. They might very well become window valances or a wall hanging. Or they might sit in a drawer for the next decade. Time will tell.