Adventures in the World of Mobile Knowledge Workers

Yami Daily Products Store

Yes, this is outside of my normal beat. It's not a cafe or a place where the Mobile Knowledge Worker might get work done. But I've driven by this store a million times and seen this sign as many times. I was sick of being intrigued. I had to investigate.

It was boiling hot, but I decided that today was the day that I would get to the bottom of this mystery. I was sweating, not gleaming. Poor air quality was giving me a headache, the light was a tobacco-y color and I felt as though I was driving in Purgatory. But I was on a mission.

Yami Daily Products is in the Toy District, which might make you think of Toyland or Santa's Workshop at the North Pole. The reality, however, is that it's a garment district-type neighborhood, where many drivers seem to be attempting to qualify for the Indy 500.

When you walk into the store, your eyes are almost overwhelmed by

Warm-up: I Go to Little Tokyo

Sometimes the Mobile Knowledge Worker needs to be in the world of people. And so it was that I decided to set off on an expedition yesterday, as I felt that my energy needed to get juiced. Little Tokyo was my destination, because I knew I had an article in my files about neat places in the Little Tokyo Village mall, a small, pedestrians-only walk-through. 

On the drive downtown I talked with my 70+ year-old Obama-head aunt who volunteers at the campaign headquarters in Chicago. She is an active forwarder of emails about all things political. Auntie had previously forwarded exposé emails regarding Hilary Clinton. But she has now shifted her sights to McCain and Palin. Her critique of Palin is interesting, especially as she is herself an active Christian (a member of the Ladies' Missionary Society, a Bible study group, etc.).