Dear Target,

I'm sorry. I accidentally became on of THOSE people today. You know, those people who go through the whole store, pile the cart up high, and then abandon it. I'm sorry.

I had to.

I don't remember the last time I saw my debit card. Within the week, I think.

Credit card even longer.

So I figured I could write a check, using my driver's license for identification. And I know the last time I used that was when I cashed a check at the credit union on Thursday.

I pawed all through my bag. No luck.

I'm sure all of this is in my car somewhere, but oy.

So, Target people, I apologize. And by the time I'd done with selecting the perfect purple Skull Candy headphones, the perfect purple-yellow-orange-green checked bag for my books, the this, the that and the other, I was exhausted. And I knew I would not have the energy to put everything back. It was a lot of stuff but thank Heaven I managed to resist buying any perishables.

I'm sorry. Really I am. I will not do it again.

However.

I did have enough cash to go to Barnes and Noble to pick up a copy of Pillars of the Earth. Oh, and I've been ready lots about The Lost City of Z, about the last of the great British Victorian explorers who went into the Amazon and was never seen again. And the people that went after him were never seen again. But the guy who wrote this book went after him, kind of, sort of found out what happened and managed to get out alive.

But wouldn't you know that it was one of those, buy 2, get 3 deals. So I picked up a book about Teddy Roosevelt's Amazon adventures (no, it has nothing to do with the Kindle) and a book about Cornelius Vanderbilt. As far as I know, The Commodore never ventured below the equator.

If you haven't seen the first four episodes of "Pillars of the Earth" on Starz or Netflix or whatever, it's worth the time. Although it has absolutely nothing to do with the Amazon.