Where's the Cheese?

I think this feeling was magnified by the fact that I had a long list of errands to run last night, so I was unable to go at a leisurely pace, but whenever I venture into IKEA I seriously feel like a mouse in a maze.  I liked some blue pillar candles I saw on their website, for Son #1's bar mitzvah candle lighting, so I went over to the store to check them out.  I grant you, this is maybe the third time I've ever been there.

I climbed the stairs to the second level and asked a yellow-shirted employee where the most likely place in the store would be.  He recommended the kitchen department, which was about halfway through the second floor Habitrail.  They were doing construction in the store, which meant that dropcloths and temporary partitions had obscured the view of the signs that would normally have helped me to navigate the Habitrail.  Just my luck.  Anyway, the yellow-shirted fellow in Kitchens was quite surprised that his colleague sent me there, so I was then instructed to go to the first level in Home Decor.  This blessed young man gave me a shortcut to the end of the maze, where I found the flight of stairs to go down.  

After scurrying around the first floor Habitrail for a bit, I got a female yellow-shirt to give guidance for finding Home Decor.  After I cruised around and found many types of candles, but not the one I wanted, I found a fourth store employee and showed him the printout from the web site and asked him whether I could find this item in the store (that was a lot easier than trying to pronounce the Swedish looking item name).  He knew exactly where it was located, whew, tucked into the middle of a display of large pedestal candles.

After I did a rotation to the other side of the building (jolly good exercise, I must admit) I found some self checkout kiosks (yippee clap clap, let's hear it for technology).  $13.00 later, I was on my way.  And I applaud the veteran IKEA shoppers who zip around the store knowingly and make it look as though any idiot could do it.  I'm not sure I will ever attain that milestone.