I went into the Central Shopping Centre on Friday (what is it's proper title, I never know. MK Central Shopping Centre? You ask me. I really don't know. Does it matter? It's called the Centre MK) It was later than I'd have chosen. We had a Sainsbury's delivery, as we'd decided it was easier to do the grocery shopping on-line. It cost £6.50 for the privilege, but once in a while it's worth it. You have what you've ordered before saved in 'favourites,' so you can go to that at the beginning of your 'shop' and it saves traipsing around the store with a trolley. I could go on about the ease of on-line shopping versus shopping in the actual store, such as why they insist on changing where your usual items are because it's Christmas and things like crackers, wrapping paper and mince pies get preference over jars of sauce or breakfast cereal. We'd booked the delivery between 10-11 a.m., but the delivery man decided to come early, so it was unpacked and put away a good deal quicker than anticipated. Which is why I drove into the centre of Milton Keynes when I did.
The ground-level carpark where I usually park was jam-packed. Not a single spare space. So I had to find a space outside in the other parking area. It cost more. It's £1 for two hours in the larger carpark but £4.50 for a few hours in the outer area. I had a problem parking and when I found a space I have to admit I didn't park as tidily as I might have done.
The shopping centre was heaving. I don't think I've ever seen it as busy. What on earth is it going to be like closer to Christmas Day?
I had to go to Marks and Spencer first. I shan't say what it was I was looking for because if Carol reads this it will spoilt the surprise of one of her Christmas presents. I'd seen whatever it was when I was in there a while ago, on one of the displays when you walk in. I couldn't find what I was looking for immediately, so I had to ask a member of staff who was really helpful and we located the item very speedily. I then had to pay for it and the queue at the till was quite long, but there was no alternative but to wait to pay.
I had intended stopping to have something to eat in one of the numerous places to eat, but each time I walked past places such as Costa, Starbucks or Gregg's, there were long queues so I gave up. I reached Middleton Hall, which is where the annual Christmas display was situated. There was the usual mini train ride, a carousel and an array of wood cabins which were set up selling all manner of craft items. I have to say it's been rather a disappointment for the past couple of years. They seem to have lost any sense of imagination, unless they have less money to spend on it. It seems more focussed on getting people to part with their cash, for example, so that children visit Father Christmas in his grotto. It's just not as good as it used to be, I'm afraid. They had a Peter Pan-themed display one year, which was rather good, with a life-sized ship and Peter Pan standing on the rigging. But this year's is rather feeble I have to say.
I went into John Lewis. The store is next to Middleton Hall. I walked through to the escalator as I wanted to get to the haberdashery department which is on the second floor. It always used to be on the ground floor and was easy to find, but when the store was refurbished a few years ago, it was moved upstairs. Also, the restaurant was moved up there, too, and used to be on the floor at the front of the store overlooking Middleton Hall. At Christmas you could drink your coffee and eat your sandwich or whatever and watch people as they walked through the Christmas display.
I was going to look for a work box for Carol's crochet work. She had ordered something on Amazon, but for some strange reason it got lost. Don't ask me how. The cost has been refunded, but she was somewhat disappointed when it didn't get delivered as promised. I wasn't that impressed by the selection in John Lewis. I had a look into the restaurant with a view to stopping to have a coffee and a bite to eat, but even there it had a long queue to wait so I gave up and left. Infact, by now I was getting a little bit fed up with shopping and decided to make my way back to the car.
It seemed an extremely long walk back to the carpark. As I drove out, I noticed that someone had tucked a piece of paper under the lefthand side windscreen wiper blade. I ignored it, thinking it was probably some sort of piece of publicity which would have been placed on all the vehicles parked in that carpark. I didn't bother to take it off, but it was annoying when I had to turn the wipers on when it began to rain and it still wouldn't come off as they moved back and forth across the windscreen. It wasn't until this morning, when I went out to get Carol some ibuprofen and came back in to park at the front of the house that I noticed what had been written on it 'Idiot' or something, as a reference no doubt to the way I'd parked earlier the previous day. I'm sorry someone had thought it necessary, in their bad temper, to leave such a note on our car. Just shows that, during the stress of Christmas shopping, people don't have any patience for others., particularly those attempting to park correctly in a carpark.
The ground-level carpark where I usually park was jam-packed. Not a single spare space. So I had to find a space outside in the other parking area. It cost more. It's £1 for two hours in the larger carpark but £4.50 for a few hours in the outer area. I had a problem parking and when I found a space I have to admit I didn't park as tidily as I might have done.
The shopping centre was heaving. I don't think I've ever seen it as busy. What on earth is it going to be like closer to Christmas Day?
I had to go to Marks and Spencer first. I shan't say what it was I was looking for because if Carol reads this it will spoilt the surprise of one of her Christmas presents. I'd seen whatever it was when I was in there a while ago, on one of the displays when you walk in. I couldn't find what I was looking for immediately, so I had to ask a member of staff who was really helpful and we located the item very speedily. I then had to pay for it and the queue at the till was quite long, but there was no alternative but to wait to pay.
I had intended stopping to have something to eat in one of the numerous places to eat, but each time I walked past places such as Costa, Starbucks or Gregg's, there were long queues so I gave up. I reached Middleton Hall, which is where the annual Christmas display was situated. There was the usual mini train ride, a carousel and an array of wood cabins which were set up selling all manner of craft items. I have to say it's been rather a disappointment for the past couple of years. They seem to have lost any sense of imagination, unless they have less money to spend on it. It seems more focussed on getting people to part with their cash, for example, so that children visit Father Christmas in his grotto. It's just not as good as it used to be, I'm afraid. They had a Peter Pan-themed display one year, which was rather good, with a life-sized ship and Peter Pan standing on the rigging. But this year's is rather feeble I have to say.
I went into John Lewis. The store is next to Middleton Hall. I walked through to the escalator as I wanted to get to the haberdashery department which is on the second floor. It always used to be on the ground floor and was easy to find, but when the store was refurbished a few years ago, it was moved upstairs. Also, the restaurant was moved up there, too, and used to be on the floor at the front of the store overlooking Middleton Hall. At Christmas you could drink your coffee and eat your sandwich or whatever and watch people as they walked through the Christmas display.
I was going to look for a work box for Carol's crochet work. She had ordered something on Amazon, but for some strange reason it got lost. Don't ask me how. The cost has been refunded, but she was somewhat disappointed when it didn't get delivered as promised. I wasn't that impressed by the selection in John Lewis. I had a look into the restaurant with a view to stopping to have a coffee and a bite to eat, but even there it had a long queue to wait so I gave up and left. Infact, by now I was getting a little bit fed up with shopping and decided to make my way back to the car.
It seemed an extremely long walk back to the carpark. As I drove out, I noticed that someone had tucked a piece of paper under the lefthand side windscreen wiper blade. I ignored it, thinking it was probably some sort of piece of publicity which would have been placed on all the vehicles parked in that carpark. I didn't bother to take it off, but it was annoying when I had to turn the wipers on when it began to rain and it still wouldn't come off as they moved back and forth across the windscreen. It wasn't until this morning, when I went out to get Carol some ibuprofen and came back in to park at the front of the house that I noticed what had been written on it 'Idiot' or something, as a reference no doubt to the way I'd parked earlier the previous day. I'm sorry someone had thought it necessary, in their bad temper, to leave such a note on our car. Just shows that, during the stress of Christmas shopping, people don't have any patience for others., particularly those attempting to park correctly in a carpark.
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