In some ways the three years have trudged by, while in other ways it seems as if Donald ought to be pulling up into his traditional parking spot on the street. Time is a rum thing, isn't it?
This is true, however: I was bountifully blessed back then and am just as bountifully blessed today. Thanks be to God, in and through His only Son, our Savior, Christ Jesus the Lord.
As Dmitry and I were driving home from Elaine's on Thanksgiving, this festive light display caught my eye:
Now that's a light display I'd love to have in MY yard! ;^)
On Sunday evening the choir met for cantata practice and again, my eye was caught by unexpected lights:
That's on the second floor of the church's new Link building. Electricity! Lights! It's really beginning to come together and we should be in it, um, pretty shortly. Meaning, I'm not sure of the precise date but in early spring, anyway. Of course, the big deal to those of us in the various music areas of the church are eagerly waiting for the new music building. That is going to be sweet.
The following is Zeus, our ancient-of-days (17 years or thereabouts) cat who was getting hungry and wondering where on earth was I, the provider of cat food and cleaner of litter boxes?
She's not crazy about hopping through the pet door into my bedroom, but will do so occasionally.
Yesterday I was at Wal-Mart and there was a fire truck pulled up in one of the aisles, next to a brownish Buick sedan with its hood up, and two or three firemen standing around it. Later, while shopping, I heard the following announcement: "Will the owner of a brown Buick please return to your car." Those are not words one wants to hear, and hoo boy, was the owner going to be unhappy when he - or she - got there. Speaking of announcements at Wal-Mart, is there a reason they are consistently made in the most monotonal, disinterested voices possible? Actually, not so much disinterested as vaguely annoyed. Doesn't matter what the announcement concerns - and there were multiple yesterday afternoon - the slightly aggrieved, flat voice is the same. Granted, one doesn't necessarily want the voice to be perky (especially when a shopper is being instructed to return to his automobile in the parking lot), but surely there is a happy medium?
At any rate, professional marketing people don't. Presumably they are paid to exhibit that dauntless Pollyanna spirit that makes the rest of us want to hit 'em with a hammer.
I'd written a stern email to the Nabisco company regarding their sad tampering with that delicious snackable stand-by, Wheat Thins. For years now, one knows where one is with Wheat Thins. Until the recent box I purchased, which contain not what I would deem Wheat Thins, but small, smooth, dark tan squares suitable for tiling bathroom walls (though admittedly one would need to use a lot of shellacking).
This afternoon I received a personal response:
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Hmmm....which part of "I hate what you've done to Wheat Thins!" did Ms. McMiller not understand? I daresay the new recipe might conceivably have made them healthier, but I can say without hesitation they are definitely not "more delicious." They are awful.
Still, she confirmed my fear, which is that Nabisco has, indeed, tampered and tinkered with its recipe for Wheat Thins.
Let the mourning commence.
And as a service to those who might not know how to get to it: http://g.co/doodle/ry4a7b
BION, that includes me as I use iGoogle as my home page. Google won't let me see that turkey for nuthin' unless I sneak around the back door by using a different browser and don't sign in. Isn't that the pits? Of course, I daresay if I didn't use a theme I might be able to see the Google doodles properly. Ought to check that out.
I have, to my surprise, become fond of the foodie show "Chopped." Not crazy about the negativity inherent in it, but no fooling, watching the chefs open baskets containing insane ingredients and have to come up with something not only creative and unique but edible, too, just fascinates me. This evening was cool as the chefs were what are generally known as "lunch ladies," but they are clearly chefs indeed. Where were this type of lunch lady when I was in school, eh? Though I was awfully fond of hot dogs in barbeque sauce, a Stripling Jr. High specialtie du maison.
If the judges want to give the chefs a real shockeroo when the baskets are opened, they should visit a local liquor emporium and purchase bottles of - I am NOT making this up; there's a photo I took! - Alaska Smoked Salmon vodka. What do you think? Pair it with canned peas, crunchy peanut butter, and ground sirloin, and you've got...well, you've got....um, okay, you've got an unholy mess, that's what you've got. The woman at the check-out stand, upon my mentioning the horror lurking down the vodka aisle, shuddered and said she had actually sampled it during a demo tasting the previous week, and the stuff was nasty.
Gee. Do you tell me so? Smoked salmon flavored vodka is nasty? Who'd o' thought it?
The other flavor is Birch Syrup flavored vodka, which is probably more palatable. Could scarcely be less, could it?
I bought a box of Original (as opposed to tomato-and-basil or reduced-fat or multigrain or any of a myriad variations) Wheat Thins and was distressed to discover the recipe had clearly been altered. I do not like them nearly as much. Why must companies tinker? Such tinkerings rarely improve the comestible.
Opened a loaf of Mrs. Baird's bread (the Large) and it's different, too, and also not in a good way.
When I made a mental note to compose this blog post I was able to think of a couple of other examples but naturally I'm blanking on them now. Still, they are out there.
Personally, it would be my preference that the size of the item shrink a bit - leaving the price the same - if it would mean keeping the original recipe for stuff.
Bring back the original Original Wheat Thins!
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