Tarzian Hardware

So this didn't actually happen today, but since I didn't go to any place in particular, I figured I'd reach a little and talk about a Saturday errand. I am really trying, as much as possible, to keep this weblog primarily about "places" I go to. Its a good way to keep me busy and actively explore the city.

I don't make it a habit to go to the hardware store, in all honesty, though I love them. Tarzian is that typical small neighborhood place, everything is really crammed and they have a little bit of everything. Granted, when we painted the living room or when we've had major home repair projects we made the trek to home depot. I love local stores, but what can I say, when push came to shove, Home Depot has move wood and tools. And we've gone to HD a few times, I think both Nate and me tend to like DIY home stuff. (On a side note, I hope to someday make my own coffee table. But that'll be some other day.)

Tarzian is that perfectly dependable place that has everything you need if it's just a couple of items. Over the months I have purchased tape, nails, hooks, putty, different sized screws, cables, light bulbs, paint, and the like. I don't think I can say enough how much I love my neighborhood and having a hardware store nearby that actually has products I need. Sometimes, if I'm not careful, I go several days without leaving Park Slope, and that's not really good for me either.

Last Saturday we needed twisty ties. There's a back story. I woke up in the middle of Friday night with a terrible splintering migraine, and I went to the bathroom desperately looking for my meds. I hate my migraines; they are the bane of my existence. And that very night our bathroom shelf (which we had put there) decided it was time to fall off the wall. On top of me. It wasn't the wall connection that failed, it was the black wire shelf itself. So despite the dramatics, I only ended having a huge bruise on my arm, and a little bruise on my nose (that looks only like badly applied eye shadow, thank god). Still, I totally freaked out about it, and Nate wisely decided we needed some reinforcement for the shelf. We also got a couple more brackets to attach the shelf to the wall.

All I have to say is, good thing the bathroom floor had been recently scrubbed, and we are lucky the toilet seat was down. : )

Bad picture of my arm bruise, that's my elbow at the bottom. And the new reinforced shelf is back up. Just need to put all the towels and stuff on it.


Tarzian photo courtesy of PSFK

Park Slope Food Coop

I worked my shift today at the Park Slope Food Coop. And despite the fact that I am growing a bit tired of it, I have to admit that the Coop is one of the greatest assets to living in Park Slope.

We joined soon after moving to the neighborhood. I wanted a place that had "a more varied selection of whole wheat pastas" and "better produce, seriously, Keyfoods sucks." Since then, I have discovered that there are indeed other options for good produce in our neighborhood, such as Union Market and the Farmers Market on Saturdays. Furthermore, if need be, we could go to Whole Foods in Union Square or the Union Square Farmer's Market. But it was all those options are more cost prohibitive in the long run. And I have problems shopping at Farmer's markets. Don't get me wrong, love the idea, love the whole concept of farmer's markets. But every time I've gone one, including the Austin Farmer's market, I get this weird feeling that the farmer is just watching me, watching as I make decisions, silently appraising whether I am making good produce choices or not. It keeps me from feeling free to browse and look at things. It's just my issue, not sure where it comes from. And I am mildly ashamed of it, to tell the truth.

This is how the seed of the Food Coop was first planted.  About two or three weeks after moving to Brooklyn, Nate and I were walking down Union St (in Brooklyn) at night, exploring our new digs. And we randomly ran into Matt C., an old high school friend of mine. I hadn't seen him in years... so he seems rightfully shocked to run into me just chillin' in "his" neighborhood half way across the country from Austin. But I digress, in our brief chat he told us he was on his way to the Food Coop, a store which I had seen but hadn't ventured into yet. And that was all the recommendation I needed.

A couple of weeks later we were at the orientation to join.

The way it works is pretty simple and totally socialist. It is a true cooperative. Essentially, only active members are allowed to shop there. Every member pays a one time membership fee and a refundable "investment" that you get back when you leave. And every member has to work 3 hours every four weeks - stocking, cash register, sorting things in the basement, pricing, cleaning, bagging, etc. Because of this, there are very few paid employees at the Coop, who coordinate, and take care of business with providers, etc. But since most of the bulk of the busy work is volunteer based, it allows the Coop to keep prices really low. This was a nice surprise, as we joined because of the produce, not realizing that in addition, it's really cheap.

Love the place. Great selection of cheeses, veggies, whole grains, the whole shabang. Now if they could just do something about the ridiculous lines in the evenings....