Friday, March 21, 2025

Everything all at once

Early in the week, I ordered some everyday household stuff from Amazon, and on impulse I added a paperback to it.  Then I took a good look at my everyday black shoes and realized it was time to get a new pair.  I'd be curious to know when I bought my first two pair of SAS Time Out.  Wouldn't be surprised to learn it's been 10 years between buys.

Yesterday, part of the order from Amazon arrived early on an Amazon truck, with the rest coming later via UPS.  After that, the SAS shoes were delivered by FedEx.  Neighbors with an inclination toward minding someone else's business got an eyeful of delivery drivers carrying boxes to our front door.  

Next week:  Naming Names paperback arrives via USPS.  That's pretty much all of them, except for DHL.

Neighbor cat


This young lady cat has been visiting us when the weather cooperates.  I'd like to believe that her owners keep her indoors on rainy/snowy days.  But today was warm and mostly sunny, so this morning she stopped by to ask politely for a snack, which we provided.

Monday, March 10, 2025

Once around the neighborhood

Tomorrow, it's supposed to feel springlike, but today was another late-winter day with cold wind throughout.  Not as cold as it has been, granted, but when I decided to go for a walk after finishing off the last of a pint of Graeter's Black Raspberry, I layered up and was glad I did.

Just before the last right turn into the home stretch, I looked across the street and saw two rabbits in the yard of the house on the northwest corner.  Encouraging, as was hearing robins at two separate times during the walk.  

Also heard a favorite song right after walking in to the Macungie Weis (aka the Nice Weis) this afternoon.  PG looked and sounded much better than she has in the weeks since she came down with a virus.  It was a good day, pardon the expression.

Sunday, March 9, 2025

Costco Wardrobe

After losing weight, my XL clothes are overly loose.  I picked up long-sleeved Woolrich t-shirts at Costco in size L, which are heavier than the average and which fit well.  When I put them in the closet, I saw two pairs of casual pants and two sweatpants that I realized I'd also found on large flat display tables at the Costco down the street.  Functional good-quality clothing, that's what I'm after.  

Tell you the truth, that long winter underwear in one of those closet cubbies also came from there.  

Friday, February 28, 2025

Monday, February 17, 2025

Don't ask...

A day in a hospital, a day visiting the TP cats, and then three days down with some kind of virus.  Still hacking, but appetite is coming back, as is energy.

Sunday morning, I woke up in a dark bedroom.  It was darker than usual because the power had gone out.  The electric company's website said the reason for the outage was unknown, but that it would be back online by 10:00 a.m., or eight hours later.  It was hard to get back to sleep, so my eyes were closed when it came back on at 2:35.  At that time, PG's iPad lit up, making the room bright enough to get through my closed eyelids.

Monday, February 10, 2025

There is this...

The headline read, "Coke’s $7 Billion Bet on Milk Hits Big, But Wall Street Wants More"Turns out all that expensive Fairlife brand milk in the dairy section belongs to Coca-Cola, Inc.  

QUOTE:  "Fairlife filters its milk to boost protein, reduce sugar by half and eliminate lactose, while also, according to fans, being creamier."  

And this: "Despite being about three times the price of traditional milk, retail sales topped $1 billion in 2022."  I was at Wegmans today and can confirm that.  $2.42 for a half-gallon of whole milk, or $1.21 a quart, and the Fairlife on the shelf just above it was going for $3.30 a quart.  

But here's what got me:  "The US milk industry...has been facing declining demand for decades as kids aged out sooner and cereal’s popularity waned.  US per capita milk consumption has sunk nearly 30% since 2010."  Also during that time: "Since 2000, data analyzed by Beverage Digest, a trade publication, shows that the total amount of soft drinks consumed each year in the US has sunk by 37%."  

Well, my weight and blood sugar levels have forced me to cut way back on soda, so that last part is understandable, but I've been a fan of whole milk ever since grade school, when it came in half-pint cardboard containers and cost 2 cents.  Here it is, 60 years later, and I'm still drinking whole milk, putting it on my cereal and making homemade pudding with it.  For all I know, 2 cents in 1965 dollars is worth 30 cents a half-pint today.  (However, now the president wants to stop minting pennies, and I'm with him on that.)