Flashback Friday

This morning on the way to work, once again I was raped by OPEC.  I filled up the Blazer, and for the record I paid more per gallon of gas this morning then I have since I started driving.  The record high was $3.36 a gallon.  It hurt a bit at first, but I got over it.  Later on at work, I thought about gas prices when I first started driving.  Even though it was during the 1979 Energy Crisis, I remember filling up my little VW Rabbit for about 75 or 80 cents a gallon. 

I remember back then, people were freaking out like they are today with gas prices over $3 a gallon.  But just like today, they just paid the "high" price of gas then and went on about their business.  When we got the Rabbit, I remember Grandma giving me a five dollar bill in an envelope, and had me tape the envelope inside the glove compartment so I would always have money for gas in an emergency.  Back then, you could have filled up the Rabbit on that five bucks. 

We kept the Rabbit until the engine literally fell out of it, and before the tow truck came and hauled it to the junk yard, after I took out the stereo I made sure I took out the envelope with the five dollar bill.  It was still there - unused.  I put the envelope - still sealed - in one of my dresser drawers, where it still is today.  If only I could fill up the BMW or Blazer for five bucks now. 

New Store Review

After not being in the mood to tour the entire Super WalMart yesterday afternoon, I decided that today after work I would stop in and get some extra walking in and stroll through the entire store.  I had an hour to kill before heading across town, so it was perfect timing.  I even decided to push a shopping cart as I walked, in hopes of burning up a few more calories. 

My first visit was to the deli, bakery and produce sections.  I never knew there were so many different pears.  The fruits and vegetables were perfectly arranged, and they were probably the most vibrantly colored produce I've ever seen.  I was pretty impressed.  I came across something pretty cool in the produce section that I'm going to have to try - they have prepackaged individually packed bags of grapes.  With the current trend of 100 calorie packs of practically every food out there, it's no wonder that we now have 100 calorie packs of fruits.  I thought this was pretty cool, even though the price for 8 small individual packs of grapes was probably over twice what the same abount of bulk grapes would cost.  I'll be sure to pick up a pack on my next visit.

After a quick visit to the meat section, I travelled up and down every aisle in the grocery store part of the store, and then headed to the department store part of the store.  The aisles weren't arranged neatly in that portion of the store like they were in the grocery store part, but I'm pretty sure I went up and down every aisle in that section.  By the time I made my way back to the front of the store to check out and pay for my Progresso soup, I was pretty tired.  But it was a good tired. 

All in all, I give our new Super WalMart a thumb's up, even if they did disappoint me in one area:  they don't have a fabric section like they do at the other regular WalMarts.  I wanted to buy a fourth of a yard of clear plastic (like people use to cover table cloths) and was for sure they'd have a fabric section in the new Super store, but no.  I'll have to go back to the regular WalMart up on Dixie Dieway and get it. 

A Great Day In The 'Hood

This was the day our 'hood has been waiting for for almost a year: our new Super WalMart opened this morning.  In addition, less than two miles away, a WalMart Neighborhood Market opened this morning.  What a great day this was for us folks here in the 'Ridge. 

I'm excited because the Super WalMart is on my way to work; in fact, it's just about two miles from The Compound.  So if I was feeling adventurous, I could walk there.  But then I'd have to lug my bags of groceries nad stuff home.  Of course, I could air up the tires on my almost-new bicycle and put a basket on it and tote my stuff home that way.  But I digress.  Not only do we have a new Super WalMart in our 'hood, the store is part of a pretty good sized shopping center that will have a Sonic drive-in.  We're waiting for the token sandwich shop, Chinese buffet and check cashing place to open in the strip mall; the nail salon, discount shoe store and video game store have already opened.

Other than local convenience stores, a grocery store, a Rite-Aid and a McDonald's, we don't have any other big stores close to our neighborhood.  So we were pretty excited when we heard another Wally World was coming to the 'Ridge.  We were counting the days till this morning's grand opening, and I stopped on my way home from work to check out the store.  I splurged and bought a bottle of ketchup and a bottle of mustard for the fridge at work, and bought myself a six-pack of V8 juice.  That was the extent of my purchases.  And as excited as I was about the new store, for some odd reason, I just was not in the mood to walk around and see the new store.  So I just paid for my three items and left.  I plan on going there this weekend and doing a thorough walk-thru and check out the entire store then.  I'm sure I'll spot some mullets, too. 

More Non-Words Overheard At Work

In case you didn't know, today is Grammar Day.  What a better way to celebrate then with another edition of More Non-Words Overheard At Work.

1. Drawling - not as slurring your R's with a Southern accent. "I go to the VFW every Tuesday night for the jackpot drawling."

2.  Pop-A-Level Road - used in place of the correct pronounciation of Poplar Level Road. 

3.  Chester Drawers - not a character on Hee-Haw.  "I keep some cash hidden in my chester drawers." 

4.  Chimlee - "The smoke was rolling out their chimlee."

5.  Prostrate - not a Biblical term for lying on the floor in a humble state.  "Every man ought to go have his prostrate checked."

6.  Calvary - not the hill in Jerusalem where Jesus was crucified.  "I love to watch those old movies where the calvary would fight off an Indian attack at the fort.

7.  Northrupp - a former Congresswoman that represented Kentucky; used in place of the correct pronounciation Northup.  "I heard Anne Northrupp is going to run for Congress again."

8. Sherbert - "There's nothing better than punch made from orange sherbert."

9. Valentime - "I heard he broke up with his girlfriend on Valentime's Day."

10.  Liberry - a building that houses books. "I need to get a new liberry card."

Biggest Loser Update

It's hard to believe a whole week has passed by since the last Biggest Loser update.  I'm proud to report that this past week I increased my daily walking to almost 3 miles a day, and on Saturday, I did over 4 miles.  I wore myself out so much it was all I could do to make it to church and over to Diva Stacy's yesterday afternoon.  

At this morning's unofficial weigh-in, I was down 1.5 pounds.  I was a little bummed at first, thinking I should have lost more with all of my extra walking, but then realized that as long as the number on the scale keeps going down instead of up - no matter how small the decrease - I'm still doing great.  I slipped a bit Saturday afternoon and drank a can of Coke, and I have to say that high fructose corn syrup and caramel coloring never tasted so good.  But I'm back to business today, and plan to get in 4 miles on today's walking.

Thanks again for your words of encouragement and your interest in what I now call "my healthy lifestyle changes." 

Link Of The Week

As you know, I love gadgets. And I love buying gadgets.  Combined, that can be an expensive habit.  But I found a website that will help me with this habit.  No, the stuff isn't free, but it's darned close.  I owe a big thanks to my co-worker GS for telling me about Buy.Com.  The site rocks.  If there's some electronics or computer-related gadget you you want on eBay or Amazon.com, check out Buy.com first - chances are they'll have it way cheaper and with free shipping.  Just this week I bought a micro SD card for my new cell phone.  On sale at Big Electronics City store, it was $29.  On Buy.com I got two for $28 with free shipping.  You can't beat that.  Please visit http://www.buy.com and see for yourself.  You won't be disappointed.

The Year Of Trying New Things

I've done pretty good with my healthier eating, and I'm very proud to report that there is a new healthy food that I will eat: cottage cheese.  I grew up in a house full of cottage cheese eaters, but I could never bring myself to try it.  It always looked very appetizing and at times, pretty, when Mom or Grandma would cut a tomato into quarters and put the cottage cheese in the middle.  No matter how appetizing it looked, I could never try it.  That is until a couple of weeks ago.  I was determined to make myself eat cottage cheese.  The first spoonful wasn't that bad; in fact, it tasted pretty good.  As much as I love cheese, I can't believe that I never would make myself try cottage cheese before now.  Anyhoo, I'm eating it now and I guess that's the important part.

I've discovered new and innovative ways to eat cottage cheese.  My first discovery was mixing some chunky salsa with the cottage cheese.  If you try this, be sure to drain as much of the juice from the salsa as possible or else the cottage cheese will be runny.  And if there's one thing I can't stand, it's runny cottage cheese.  Another new way I eat cottage cheese is mixed with my veggie dip.  It rocks, especially when I mix it with my favorite Krogers Special Recipe Spinach Dip.  I highly recommend it. 

One cottage cheese item I don't recommend are the combo packs with cottage cheese on one side and alleged fruit on the other side.  I tried a pineapple one and a strawberry one and I'm glad I only paid a dollar for them.  The fruit wasn't fruit like in fruit cocktail - it was fruit topping like you'd put on a banana split.  I just left the fruit in its side of the container and ate the cottage cheese plain.  So try them if you want, but you've been warned.