Whilest shopping the other night...

I know, I know, when am I NOT shopping?? It's disgusting!! That's why this past weekend I barely left home. Because leaving the house takes money, and I should be saving, saving, SAVING!! You set off in your car, expending gas, and that requires mucho dinero right there at the outset. And then the $$ tally keeps rising from there. Why, I've got about a hundred books in my "Books-to-Read" queue, I oughtta start making a dent in that!!

But anyways, I was weak the other night (Thurs) and I was shopping. First I went to Borders. I think it's impossible for me to go into Borders and come out empty handed. It is my shopping Achille's heel. I don't recall what it was that particular night that I *HAD* to buy at Borders (doubtless there was something ) but I had, like, a war of the wills in the bathroom. There was somebody in the bathroom when I went in, Lord knows how long they'd been in there. So I select my stall, seize my throne so to speak....and WAIT. I had an indelicately noisy #2 job to execute, but I thought I could, and should, hold off until after this person's exit. Or at least until they flushed. But the bathroom was quiet. They did have music piped in there (always a nice feature in a public bathroom) but not as loud as I'd have liked. Barely a peep from the other occupied stall. I got the feeling that they were doing exactly the same thing I was. I suppose that shows a lack of imagination on my part.... they could have been shooting up heroin, or maybe they didn't want to fork out the cash for the latest Harry Potter book and were opting to read it in store...in the utmost privacy. But none of these scenarios occurred to me at the time. I was thinking...they have a bomb to drop too...they're waiting for me to flush or leave....they're going to have to wait a long time. Ultimately, they didn't really have to wait all that long... I must have sat there for 2 minutes, just long enough for me to conclusively ascertain, that YES, I was in a stand-0ff situation, and then I just let fly. Because, really I'm not all that shy about such things. (shocker,eh??)

After Borders, I did a spot of grocery shopping. Price Chopper, and I was damned relieved that I didn't inadvertantly grab some bargains because I got the cashier dude who not only gives you a perturbed look when he has to swipe the store goodwill Advantage Card, but he also gives you a little lecture about how he's doing this for you --JUST THIS ONCE-- but you really need to go to the Service Desk between 8am and 8pm and fill out a card application. And I smile and nod and my smiley mouth sez "Uh-huh. Mmmm. Ok!" while me brain sez "Uh-huh. OK. Kiss my arse, pal!!" I was picking up some Fantastic World Foods brand organic noodle bowls-- specifically I bought their 3 Onion Noodle & Creamy Potato Leek varieties. A lot of the time I gravitate toward their oriental flavors-- Spicy Thai and some Sesame somethin'-er-other. I was contemplating trying their Hot & Sour soup but I couldn't do it. Although I do -in general-enjoy soups from the Orient and am also continually parrotting that ol' "Don't knock it 'til you try it!!" adage, I have nevertheless not been able to bring myself to try Hot & Sour soup. When getting soup @ a Chinese restaurant, I ALWAYS go w/ the Wonton Soup. Peking Tokyo has some kick-arse Wonton Soup, by the way. Anyways... I am repelled by that name: Hot and Sour Soup. Is that an accurate synopsis of the soup experience? It is hot and it is sour?? That does not sound at all appetizing!!
Another thing that caught my eye (the left one) in Price Chopper--a 4 pack of "Grapples". No, 'tis nothing to do with grapple hooks or the art of grappling (though such product might also intrigue me) . No, these grapples are in the produce section and if the packaging is to believed, they look like apples (ok that bit, I can vouch for, through the transparent plastic case I could see that they did INDEED look like apples) but taste like grapes. That's pretty cool, right? I think so. But necessary?? I don't know about that. Are grapes no longer sexy enough?? Or is it it a more dire case...

Are there new grape predators out there that are being staved off by this disguise ruse? Weird...



Oh, but back to Borders. I am still reeling from this bit of Borders Rewards Club news emailed to me...



Personal shopping days being PHASED OUT?? THE DEVIL YOU SAY!!! Apparently they are replacing them with "Borders bucks" but I am NOT appeased. To gain a shopping day, you only had to spend $50. and now you have to spend $150. in the space of a month to earn just $5 in these infernal "Borders Bucks". I'm not saying I'm not up to the challenge, but I'm still quite miffed about this...