Weekend News And Notes And Odds And Ends

...and knicks and knacks... Mutts and Jeffs... yins and yangs... salts and peppers... tweedledees and tweedledums... you get the idea.

We've been so focused lately on the big picture economic issues, with the Dow falling hundreds of points a day and whatnot. Well, I enjoyed two small picture economic victories over the weekend. We drove out to Frederick to go to Costco, hopeful of finding gas under three bucks a gallon, because Costco is always cheaper than conventional gas, and also because Frederick in general is about as cheap as it gets in Maryland for gasoline . (In addition, I always enjoy going to the Frederick Costco, because I can wave to my grandparents, who are buried at Mt. Olivet cemetary, just across the street!) When we arrived, traffic at Costco was spilling out onto the highway, because gas was going for $2.69 a gallon! How ironic is it that Detroit's Big Three automakers are now struggling to survive because the markets for SUVs and Big Trucks dried up when gas prices started to move towards four bucks a gallon?


Meanwhile, even though my garage shelves were already full of soda because of the great deal I found at Shoppers Food Warehouse ($1.99 a case for Diet Pepsi!), I could not resist going to Safeway on Saturday, where Pepsi 2-liter bottles were going for 59 cents! Do I have a life, or what? (Don't answer that question!)


On Saturday night (actually, on Friday, THEN Saturday night), Brad and I accompanied our friends, the Bernsteins to the Sherwood/Quince Orchard High School football game - a HUGE deal in our community because Sherwood has a long tradition as a Montgomery County football power and because Quince Orchard was ranked as the number one team in the DC area.

It's amazing just how much a sense of community there really IS at local high school football games... The stands were packed with parents, most of whom were wearing Sherwood gear, and many of whom seemed to be "regulars" at the games. My friend, Randy, has been going to Sherwood games for years, even when his kids weren't going to school there - and it's easy to see why. The atmosphere is electric... it's fun to see teenage hormones at play in the stands... and the football is not bad, either! Sherwood took an early two-touchdown lead, and held on with excellent defense to shutdown Q.O., 14 - 6, ending Quince Orchard's 20-game win streak!

Finally, I must mention that while I enjoyed watching the Redskins win a defensive battle over the Browns, for me the real joy of the NFL weekend was watching those no-account Cowboys choke like dogs to the Rams. The mainstream sports media have had a Barack Obama-like fascination with Dallas for years, and it's good to see their expectations fall back to earth. The Cowboys suck, and short of a major turnaround, they'll be watching the Skins in the playoffs instead of playing the Skins in the playoffs!

Life When You Have No Life

Anyone who reads this blog knows that the blogmaster is, to put it whimsically, underemployed... Oh, I do have a few crumbs of work here and there, but as often as not, my days are currently filled with - oh... - not much.

Imagine then, the weekly excitement of Food Section Wednesday - the one day of the week that grocery store fliers arrive in the Washington Post - the day that I get to scan the ads and plan out my shopping excursions for the week!

You see, underemployed people don't do much real shopping - the mall is nothing but a tease when you are watching your pennies. But the grocery store is a whole other deal, because everybody has to eat!

So imagine my joy when I opened the Food section this week and discovered that the Shoppers Food Warehouse in Olney was having a Grand Re-Opening! And to make matters even more exciting, they have cases of Pepsi for 2.99! Do I have some kind of life, or what?!?!?!


So sure enough, I was in the door at Shoppers at around 8:45 this morning for the official grand re-opening, and I immediately noticed there were men in suits crowded around the produce section. I mentioned this to a clerk in the bakery department, and she allowed that the entire company's senior staff was there for the event, including the President of the company!

As I walked through the aisles, I noticed suited managers in almost every aisle, checking to make sure that every can of tomatoes was stacked in razor-sharp lines on the shelves. But mostly, they were standing around doing nothing.

And I thought I didn't have a life!

P.S. When I got home, I noticed they had mis-rung my Pepsi. I got them for $1.99 a case instead! Can life get any better than this?!