Okay. I’ll admit it. Once I wandered around Kohl’s for over an hour debating how to spend a voucher for $10. And, yes, one night I did end up there at 11pm to buy necktie for a wedding the following day. But I swear I didn’t enjoy it.

And I haven’t been back there in over a year. Not since the Kohl’s Cash Debacle. A long, sad story indeed. Let’s just say you need at least a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting, preferably with a minor in Grief Counseling, to figure out how much money they are going to take from you if you return anything purchased using, or in any way involving, “Kohl’s Cash.”

But Kohl’s can’t be all bad. Because, well–check out the expert repair job on this nail-poish display…

That’s right folks. Those are two STAPLES HB #2 pencils. They write, they erase, they support.

These ordinary yellow pencils look a little out of place holding up bottles of  ”Kiwi Bikini” and “Fuchsia Fusion.” I think it’s good to be reminded that looking a little out of place is pretty cool–especially at Kohl’s.

Popular Mechanics buried a few gems in their September 2014 issue: ”Special Do-It-Yourself Issue: How To Make Anything.”

First up. A sweet tip you might have missed if you forgot to study the masthead page vehehehehry carefully…

(You bet I’m going to try this. But, of course, with a hand-powered egg-beater-style drill.)

And then on pages 53-54 there’s an excellent homage by Ted Allen called “The Great American Hardware Store,” with the following lovely bit:

“He dispensed his wares from bins, not blister packs, counted out the exact number you needed, and not a wingnut more, dropped them into little brown paper bags and priced them not with bar codes but pencil stubs. Which he probably sharpened with his teeth.”