Finding The Lost Symbol at Walmart

So! Big display as you turn the corner with your cart after entering the Walpole Walmart today. Dan Brown's book for $16.88! Such a deal. Looked like some of the copies had already been plucked off the display.

Be glad that at least one book is selling like hotcakes. It's good for the book store owners and they have been dropping like flies. Let's see if I can round up a few more cliches. Speaking of hotcakes, what are they and where are they sold? Is it a pancake? Swear I don't know, but the phrase is persistent.

We never shopped at Walmart until we retired, but of course there aren't any Walmarts in the vicinity of Wellesley or Swellesley as it is sometimes known locally.

Walmart isn't bad. They have great cat litter, and there is none cheaper. We buy Fancy Feast there, too, and it's like getting the sale price every week. Familiary has led to buying vitamins, cleaning supplies, charcoal and we are branching into groceries, too.

Once I bought a Walmart brand "Faded Glory" tee shirt to wear as pajama tops. $5.00, what a buy! Guess what? I liked it so much I took it out of the PJ drawer and put it into the tee shirt drawer.

When the recession is over, I'll probably hang onto some of my newly frugal spending habits. I've found a shampoo I really like, not the $ 12.00 bottle from the hairdresser. I've let my hair grow to eliminate so many hair cuts. We ate our own vegetables this summer. Tomatoes are still ripening. Yum! Picked a few more green beans today.

The bag 'o impatiens is still blooming mightily. Hummingbirds headed south. I worry about my sweet birds having to fly so far. It's always such a relief to see them again in the spring.

The slough turns fall colors and the temperature in the house was 66 degrees this morning. Fall is here and winter is coming.

We have a cord of firewood, so bring it on!

Cat Blog Day

Thisbe on the desktop.


Ah, the cats, those rascals! Annie escaped from the confines of the house many times, because one of the guests just couldn't remember to shut the door properly. Annie is an escape artist. She sneaks outside and eats grass and contemplates nature for a while. Then someone catches her and hauls her back indoors.

Thisbe is still refusing the high-priced cat food from the vet that she chomped down until the latest bag. Something is obviously different. Annie didn't like it either but has given up the nose-in-the-air business and is scarfing it eagerly. So now in addition to the vet's high-priced kibble, we buy Fancy Feast which has a fancy price. Only the flavors "in gravy" will do.

Thisbe made peace, kind of, with our small guest and did not charge under the bed on sight, even allowed herself to be petted sometimes.

Guest is now gone and Thisbe is out and about the house, begging for catnip, begging for moist food at noon. Ha! Ha! Lots of luck Thisbe. We think you look great with your new waistline and you seem a little more playful, too, not having all that lard to lug around.

Maybe this is why people lose considerable weight on those diets where you have to buy the food. Let's face it. How good could frozen dinners really taste? So the dieters eat less and less and of course lose weight. When the folks where I formerly worked brought the diet meals in for lunch, I would also ask, "how is that?"

The answer was invariable, "it's O.K.," which meant it was edible and would stave off hunger, but that was all. It's O.K. Never a compliment. Reading the ingredients alone was a horror show. Meat Product?

Once I ate Weight Watchers macaroni and cheese and it tasted like it had soap in it. Was nowhere near O.K. Gross is more like it.

Many kids who grew up in households with convenience and prepared foods that are half-chemicals have no palate and would not know real food if they ate it. Pathetic and sad. Once I read answers that people now grown had given when asked, "what, if anything, do you still hold against your parents?" and one man answered, "they never served butter. They never told me about butter."

So don't be one of those parents who hand out the frozen pizza and chicken fingers. Cook real food. Make your kids help. Start the day with fresh fruit and whole grains and scrambled eggs with chives.

That was a pretty long rant. Will rant for pay. Will rant for free. Will rant for any reason.

Grapeshot