Nov 28, 2012

The Costco Problem


I'm very curious. Who designs the layout of the food court areas at Costco stores? Some of the Costco stores might have gotten a clue, but the few Costcos that I've been to have a condiment/soda area that seem to have been designed by mentally retarded donkeys.
The area in question.
Please excuse the crudity of this model as I didn't have time to build it to scale or paint it.

Imagine a narrow corridor with picnic tables on one side and the soda etc on the other. This situation sucks right off the bat because many people are towing behind them a just-filled-up giant shopping cart. The particular Costco I'm at now has this area laid out so you generally enter from the left after you've picked up your food. The first stop is the double-wide soda fountain. So you've filled up your cup and logically you'd expect the lids and straws to be near by. Nope. Next to the soda is the onion crank. And then the straws. But you still need a lid. Since you got a hot dog/soda meal deal you decide while you're there you might as well dress up your wiener with all the fixings. Mmm onions! But wait where is the mustard? You see straws, and next down the line, you maneuver your giant cart while carefully handling your full soda with no lid passed the onions and straw dispenser to the next stop... More onions? Where are the fucking lids, where's the mustard!? Oh here we go, still with no lid you can finish adding desired toppings to your hot dog. But your soda still has no lid. Oh there they are. All the way passed the 2 banks of condiments and the wall mounted napkin dispenser. Oh fuck I still need a damn straw. So you backtrack reaching over people getting onions. Squeezing between other people's shopping carts hoping no one fucks with your cart which you had to abandon by the lids.

What a fucked, unthoughtout, poorly planned piece of shit.

#costco consider this my unofficial complaint

Nov 9, 2012

It only took 4 years. but its done.

When we moved in one of the major obstacles was to redo the kitchen. Fairly quickly we did the cabinets and counter top, and shortly after put the floor in. But the tile backsplash never got started. Finally, after four years of procrastination, I finally bit the bullet and went for it.  Here's some pics from along the way.