That Time I Bought Fresh Yeast, Chipotle Chilli's and Bottled Water

Hello Dear Reader,

Warning:long and very boring post!

A little while ago while at work, I was packing up my lunch things, juggling a book, lunch bag, tea plunger and mug plus my phone, the phone slipped from my fingers and landed face down on the pavers. I gingerly picked it up, hoping for a miracle, but alas, I had done a really good job of smashing the screen.

This really upset me, not that the phone is that important to me (although I do love the camera) it was the mere fact that I had been so careless and the result was a now imperfect looking phone. Every time I looked at it, it irked me, it didn't help that the screensaver was a lovely photo of LH and I, not that it was very clear now because of, you know, the big ugly cracks all over the screen.

So a few weeks down the track and I had had enough of the unfortunate looking screen, I hopped on line and made an appointment at Apple, Chermside, which was the closest Apple store to me, about a 35 minute drive from home. I made the appointment at 4.40 pm thinking that would leave me enough time to get there after finishing work at 3.54 pm.

It probably would have been IF I hadn't have missed the turnoff for Depot road. The very busy Gateway Motorway has changed so much in the last few years and obviously the GPS mapping app on my phone hasn't kept up with the changes. I thought if I just keep driving surely the GPS would catch up and redirect me.

It finally did and was able to get off the Gateway Motorway and then I had to travel the labyrinth of back roads to finally get to my destination, amazingly, arriving only 10 minutes late. I have to tell you I have definitely lost my nerve when it come to driving on busy roads. By the time I found a car park at the shopping centre, I was beside myself with the stress of being lost, being late and now having to find the actual Apple store in this humungous shopping centre.

I found the store and was helped straight away by a very kind young man who could see how stressed I was. He then proceeded to tell me that the wait time was over an hour. I could have cried, I envisaged handing my phone over and having it fixed in only a short amount of time, then I could be on my way back to the safety of home.

So there I was, in a huge and very busy shopping centre at 5 o'clock on a Thursday afternoon, I had forgotten my water bottle and hadn't thought to pack a snack to keep my going, I was in my work uniform and looked and felt bedraggled after a hectic day at work. I had to pull myself together, so I focused on turning this very stressful situation into something a little more positive.

Firstly I needed to buy water, so I headed into a supermarket and chose a glass water bottle, payed for it and went and sat down to hydrate. Feeling a little better I tried to think of an item that I really needed and had been unable to find locally. I ended up choosing two items, fresh yeast and chipotle chillies as I had been looking for these items for a long time and had had no luck in finding them.

I saw a health food shop and thought that was a good place to start, they didn't have any fresh yeast but they told me of a shop way down the other end of the shopping centre that did. So off I trundled to the other end of the shopping centre, which took up a fair bit of time. The shop was called Fresh Sensations which turned out to be an amazing fruit and veg shop/amazing Italian Gourmet Deli. I had a really good look through their huge range of international products but was unable to find the fresh yeast. I finally asked one of the assistants and she found it for me amongst the cheese!

Then I spied the Mexican section and there front and centre was the same brand of chipotle chillies I seen on this youtube clip on how to make chipotle mayonnaise. I was very pleased to have found both of these items at the same place.

I have washed and refilled the water bottle 

It was still too early to pick up my phone so I went and found a comfy seat near the Apple store to bide my time. I did some people watching and was amazed to see people of all ages and walks of life using the shopping centre as a place to socialise and spend time in, people were dressed up, meeting other people to go and have dinner and so on. I was so far out of my comfort zone that I found the whole situation very stressful and I couldn't relate to it at all. I don't go shopping just because, I don't go out to dinner on a whim and I really don't enjoy being in a big, crowded place. As I spend so much of my time in two places-work and home, anything a little bit different sends me into a tail spin, I get very anxious and feel like a duck out of water. Am I weird to feel that way?

The collection time for my phone of 6.15pm came and I flew into the Apple store, I was served very promptly and was back in my car by 6.40 and home by 7.15pm. I breathed the biggest sigh of relief as I pulled in my driveway, vowing never to go to a shopping centre at that time of the afternoon ever again. We had left over pumpkin soup and toast for dinner, I showered and then I flopped into bed. I was so worn out by stress, anxiety on top of a big day at work.

Does anyone else feel the same way? Do big shopping centres send you into a spin?

Have a lovely day,
💙Fi

One Year Ago-Creamy Chicken, Broccoli and Pasta Bake
Two Years Ago-No Blog Post Today
Three Years Ago-My Easter Menu