After lunch I decided to ‘warm up’ and go for a long walk. I headed down to El Paseo, the famous high-end shopping street here in Palm Desert. I was just about to cross Hwy 111, a busy 6-lane road just a block before El Paseo, when I saw a car lying upside-down just up the road. The driver had crawled out of the rear door and was sitting, basically unharmed, on the curb beside the car. He had a tiny scratch on his arm. He said he’d lost control of the car when the front tire went flat. That seemed a bit hard to believe — the speed limit is 45 as the road is right in the middle of town.

I walked up and down El Paseo for a while. There are blocks of boutiques, high-end retailers, and fancy restaurants. All the major luxury brands — Burberry, Escada, Grayse, Gucci, Ralph Lauren — expensive clothing, jewellery, art and antiques. Both sides of the road are lined with parked Jaguars and Porsches. The only shop I actually entered was the Apple Store. I had to check out the new MacBook Airs. One of these days…

It’s interesting that unlike clothes and cars, in the world of phones, the rich and the plebeians all get the same deal. I’m always amazed at how Apple, with only about 10 different products to offer, builds big beautiful stylish stores, where customers are ENCOURAGED to touch the merchandise, and ongoing help from the techies is free long after the warranty is off the product. And no matter if you buy the entry level phone or the latest top-of-the-line phone or ipad or computer, everyone gets the same operating system, exactly the same user experience.

I walked and walked until I was hot and tired. I made my way to the Westfield Mall. I found a couple of pairs of golf shorts for half price at Macys. Then I went to my new favorite hangout, the movie theatre, and asked what movie was playing next. I bought a ticket and went in to watch Robert Redford’s swan song, “The Old Man & The Gun”. I hadn’t read or seen anything about the movie so was pleasantly surprised. First of all, it had quite a few big names starring in it — Sissy Spacek, Casey Affleck, Danny Glover, and TOM WAITS! A very good way to rest my legs and cool off from an afternoon of walking.

I walked home in the dark. I thought I might go grocery shopping, but when I got home and looked at what I had on hand I decided to stay home — mac & cheese and leftover meatballs. I listened to the new Mark Knopfler and Mumford & Sons albums and worked on my web project until I got tired of that. I watched the CBC News and went to bed. Gotta golf game tomorrow morning and I need to be at my best!