When I was in high school, cigarette vending machines were very popular.   And since there was no one present to supervise cigarette sales from these machines, a whole lot of cigarettes were purchased by minors even though the signs on the machines prohibited such sales.  Those who were inclined to smoke illegally were also willing to purchase cigarettes illegally in spite of the signs.  Kind of like “Gun Free Zones”.

I went to the store this week to buy some bananas.  And as always, I bought Chiquita bananas as they were the only brand that the store offered.  And I got to thinking that I have been eating Chiquita bananas for over 50 years. And while I am sure that there are other brands out there, I just can’t think of any.

While attending a graduation open house I ran into a woman that I used to work with a number of years ago at Calvin College.  She worked as a secretary at Calvin while her husband attended school there.  And I worked as the telephone repairman while I attended school there.

When she saw me, she immediately came up to me and greeted me like I was an old friend.  And when I didn’t seem as enthusiastic as she was, she asked me if I remembered her.  And, I told her that I did.  Unfortunately, my memories of her were not pleasant.  She was the meanest and nastiest and most unpleasant person that I had ever encountered.  So yes, I did remembered her.  And what is more, I will never forget her.

We stopped for a mid morning break at a McDonalds the other day while driving to the east side of the state.  When we went to use the restrooms, we discovered about a dozen senior citizens sitting in the back of the dining area playing bingo.

Now I know that senior citizens quite often meet at McDonalds in the morning for coffee.  But this is the first time that I have ever seen them playing bingo.  I had to wonder if they play bingo every day or if they mix it up with other games on different days?

My allergies have really been bothering me this spring.  So, I decided to try some over the counter medications for allergies.  And while I still have allergy symptoms I don’t know if the medication is really helping or if my symptoms would be worse with out it.

The other day, I went to the store to buy some raisins only to discover that they were no longer in the baking section.  Instead, they have been moved back to the section with the rest of the dried fruit.  Back at Christmas time, I discovered that the raisins had been moved from the dried fruit section into the baking section.  I hope that they don’t move them again.

Recently a woman was robbed at a local mall by a man with a gun.  I don’t understand this as there are signs all over that mall stating that guns are not allowed.  I guess the robber can’t read.

I received a phone call from a telemarketer the other day and I couldn’t understand a single word that they were saying.  After asking them to repeat themselves several times I finally asked if they were speaking English.  There was a short pause followed by a “YES”.  Then I told them that I couldn’t understand what they were saying, but reassured them that I wasn’t interested in what ever it was that they were selling.

For those of you who love the convenience of your pricey little single cup coffee brewing machines but hate paying for those pricey little coffee packets, good news.  You can now buy a reusable coffee packet and fill it with your favorite grind.  Of course, you could have purchased a conventional single cup brewing machine for a tenth of the cost of that packet brewer but that wouldn’t look nearly as cool as a packet brewer.

With the movement towards normalizing relations with Cuba, the bottom may soon drop out of the illegal cigar market.