monkeys workin' overtime

There's NO way I was going to make it through this day without GOBS of monkeys: my friend Dana and I made a trip to the Bins and to the Teen Challenge Thrift Shop on Sandy. The Bins, for those of my many readers beyond Portland*, is the Goodwill dumping ground where crap is sold for $1.39/pound (it used to be less than a dollar per pound). The Teen Challenge is where disadvantaged Christian youth and some really funky old-timers get to earn some money by working at the thrift shop. I got a record of as many monkeys as I could:
That last one's not a meerkat, I swear. It's the "speak no evil" monkey.

The sad fact of this trip, though, was that we were going in search of some plastic toys in order to make a prototype for a project idea we have. SUPER TOP SECRET, of course, but to our UTTER dismay, because of all the problems with lead paint on toys from China, ALL childrens toys are BANNED from being SOLD! I shit you not. EVEN if they arent' from China. NO TOYS. Google it. The law went into effect only days ago, THWARTING our plan, and according to what I just read online, the shops are just stopping the sale of toys altoghether rather than check the "comprehensive database available online from the Consumer Product Safety Commission." They are, of course, afraid of getting sued. So ridiculous... The Bins wouldn't even sell me a childrens cardboard BOOK because of this "ban." And, though the Teen Challenge dudes were very nice and funny and talked to us a lot and gave us a great deal on the junk we did get, they still would not accomodate our need to get our hands on some plastic toys.

* ha ha.