Ramblings on My Day Off

I had to take time off since I am reaching the limit.  I made an unscheduled grocery order for pick up mid day since I was free.  Then Walmart cancelled that order.  I was all what the what!  Seriously Meredith Grey?  Yes … seriously.

We’re regular customers.  Pre and post Rona.  The curbside was a new thing for us though.  We swore we’d never get that lazy but then going into the store became too dicey.  Out of the gate we were impressed.  The phone knows when you arrive.  Someone is out to load the groceries almost instantaneously.  We even got a gift the first time.  Snacks!!!    On Mother’s Day I got a rose.  On Father’s Day B got a sample size deodorant.  We became spoiled.

Then two weeks ago, the time to check in alert never came.  We went to pick up anyway.  After parking I checked my phone.  En route we got an email of a delay.  Which is fine except the notice came 5 minutes before the allotted time.  Last Sunday same thing.   They were delayed.  Then today a complete cancel.  Must be too much to handle with the spike in cases.  I have to imagine people are calling out and turnover is high.  We have $20 discount for next time so there is that.

I get this is small potatoes.  Teeny tiny.  We’ll get by.  The only reason we even had an order was HEB shorted us.  Despite ordering 1 to 1.25 lbs cube steak, we got .24 lbs for four people.  Not gonna cut it even though we are scaling back on portion sizes.

Again, small potatoes considering we’ve not been hungry a day in our lives  Never ever.  Not truly hungry.  Ya see “America has been very very good to me”.    I believe it was Eddie Murphy who said that in the movie “Coming to America”.  All I know is that I heard it somewhere.

Sad day in the Dub household.  On July 2, 2006 my brother in law passed away.  In quite a tragic manner.  B’s baby brother and only sibling.  Not a day goes by that B doesn’t think of him.  He’s stoic and says little but it’s palpable.

I wrote this three years ago.  Still fits.  In Memoriam – DGW

As always, more to come.

J-Dub’s Review of “The Andromeda Strain”

Welp, no spoilers because the book has been out for ages.   Michael Crichton’s 1969  “The Andromeda Strain” was cutting edge.  In fact, I read in the Wiki that he started the genre of techno-thriller with this book.  For me this is take two or three.  Still as good as ever.

A quick easy beach read.  Yeah, I said beach read.  Not that the subject is all rom-com chick-lit but the pace was quick and easy.  I could picture myself lounging on the beach.  In my favorite chair, under an umbrella with drink in one hand (plastic only or course) and Kindle reader in the other.  Well I can sort of picture myself lounging and reading on the Texas Riviera.  Ya see the beaches here are closing up again.  Dang mo-fo’s couldn’t wait to be back out there again and this happens.  Failed re-open attempt. But I digress …

Or do I digress?  Ya see in this story written 50 some odds years ago, space crud hits the fictional town of Piedmont AZ.  Everyone but two die.  The old Sterno drinker and a baby boy.  A response team of scientists/doctors set up years before for this type of emergency is called in to save the day.  Lots of stuff happens and eventually they do just that … save the day.  The ending is heart racing, we are on the edge of our seats wondering can he stop the detonation in time?  The space crud which caused a town’s demise mutates to a harmless blob and floats up, up, and away.  If we switch space crud with Rona then Bingo! no longer fictional and we are in 2020 instead of 1969. Woo to the hoo.  Ha!

I was going to quote a line but since my book was a loaner from the online library on my Kindle which has since been returned, I will have to paraphrase.  This single utterance struck me since this was written all those years ago.  Somehow like Kreskin, Michael Crichton is a soothsayer.

“The president doesn’t like scientists” so-and-so said.  He simply doesn’t trust them.

Well, well, well what have we here?!?!?

Solid 4 of 5 star 💫 rating.

As always, more to come.