I may end up posting quite a lot about this book (Omnivore’s Dilemma) but as I said before it is having a profound impact during a rather introspective point in my life.

Today I went to Costco to get new tires for the truck.  Holy crap did it need them too.  A couple Sunday’s ago, when it was still raining heavily, I was driving from Santa Cruz to Blackhawk for work.  That was not an easy drive.  My front tires were so extremely bald that changing lanes was no longer an option…the suspension in that thing is so light, the tires so bald and the rear end so lively that a simple lane-change resulted in annoying understeer -> ubrupt oversteer -> terrifying understeer -> settle settle please settle…and relax.

I’m all for having a little fun while driving but that was more terror than I like to put myself through.

Yeah…that was a bit ago and it’s not until today that I got new tires…call me lazy…fuck off.

Anyway…why is Costco so damn crowded on Friday?  I got there around 12:30 and the place was PACKED.  The parking lot…the lines inside…everything was so full of people.

I couldn’t stay long inside.  It was…bothering me.  The massive piles of crap…super sized crap…it was almost painful to see.

I am a consumer.  I like buying things…fun things, useful things, consumable things, tasty things…buying in general.  I’ve been to Costco many times and bought many giant piles of things I really didn’t need a giant pile of.

This time really struck a chord though.  I didn’t like it.

I was stuck there for 2.5 hours for the tire replacement (damn I wish I could do that myself).  I went inside the store for a bit but quickly left.  I sat out in the sun, made some calls, sneezed 324 times and realized I was hungry.  I bought this sandwich thing…chunked chicken breast with cheese and bacon bits inside a soft cheese covered baked roll.  It was “tasty” but made me sad.  It made me sad because I could FEEL how bad it was for me…and at the same time definitely enjoyed the flavor.  Sitting outside on a curb eating it…the melted cheese dripping onto my shoe…watching some extremely and disgustingly overweight people pushing overloaded carts full of high fructose corn syrup and heavily processed 400 year shelf life super sized insto-meals didn’t help either.  It felt…wrong.  I felt as if I had stepped far away from the lifestyle that leads to happiness.  I didn’t see one smile.

I don’t want to sound too self-righteous here…but this shit has GOT to stop.  No…I’m not going to fire-bomb Costco…nor write my congressman (congresswoman…sorry ma’am).  I am going to focus on a far more healthy and sustainable lifestyle here…for me.
Costco may have gotten me some great cheap tires…but that place is, in a word, gross.