The other day, we decided to try Five Guy Burger.  It was, well, OK.  $11.00 for a burger, fries and a soft drink

The burger was a double stack with synthetic cheese.   YUCK!  The fries were OK but not fantastic.

I can get a better burger at a much lower price else where.

It seems that the reigning champion of the hot dog contest was not invited to the Mustard Belt, contest in Brooklyn, NY.  So, he had to appear in abstention which he did.  He also consumed more hotdogs than the reigning champ.

Oh well.  Maybe the loudest belch wins the contest?

The parking ramp at work is getting painted:  new numbers on parking spaces, new lines, new arrows.

But, I do have to smile when I notice that the number are not always in the right order.  Sometimes a number gets missed only to be add a couple of spots down.  And a couple of the numbers get repeated in a sequence.

I don’t know if this is because of the paint fumes or if the painters loose their focus towards the end of the day.  But, unfortunately,  they may just be doing what they are told to do.

The other morning, when I went to get dressed for work, I grabbed a clean pair of socks from my sock drawer. But, when I went to but them on, I discovered that there was only one sock and not a pair.

I checked the drawer high and low.  No sock.  I looked on the floor.  No sock.  I even looked at my feet to make sure that I hadn’t already put it on.  (some mornings are like that).  But, no sock.  So, I had to go through the dirty clothes looking for a sock just to get me by for the day.  Luckily, I found one.  So, when I got down stairs, I wrote “socks” on  my grocery list.

Now, I have been buying  the same style of socks for the last 20 years, so, I didn’t think that it would be a problem.  I wanted black, crew, synthetic knit socks, a standard fair in most stores.

When I got to Meijer (regional grocery chain) I headed for the socks.  The first pair that I picked up were a black knit crew 3 pack.  Great!  But wait, they were argyle.  Arrrh.

Now, I buy black socks for a reason.  They go with anything so I don’t have to decide whether the navy would look better.  Plus, I don’t have to deal with the black/navy cross match issue.  So, if I already have problems deciding between black or navy, argyle will drive me nuts!

The next 3 pack that I picked up looked like they were black crew.  But, upon closer examination, they were black, navy and gray.   Since I didn’t want to deal with issues of crossbreeding, I put them back.

Finally, I found a 3 pack of black crew socks.  They were not the kind that I would normally buy but they will do.  After all, I was out of socks and they were black.

I guess that this could be an episode on Seinfeld.

The government is coming out with a new labeling requirements for cigarettes.  And while the labels depict smoking realities, I doubt that it will do much to encourage quitting.  No one would ever smoke knowing that it will kill them.  Rather, they smoke because they believe that it won’t happen to them.

When I was in high school, we had anti-smoking campaigns where students would enter anti-smoking posters in a poster contest.  And the ones who won the prizes for the best posters were the one who smoked.  And, while their posters were very graphic and to the point, it didn’t seem to deter them from smoking.

The other day, when I was in Meijer (regional grocery chain), I over heard one woman asking another “Where’s the bread?”

This question surprised me because, judging by her proximity and direction in the store, she must have already pass the bread isle.  It wasn’t until I rounded the corner that I realized that the bread isle was missing.

That’s right, the entire bread isle was missing!  And so was the beer isle!

Now, I could understand if the bread isle was missing.  After all, they had way too many brands of bread.  And in all actuality, all you really need is your basic “white” and “wheat” and maybe a “rye”.  But, the beer isle is a whole different matter.

Lowell depends on it beer,…and frozen pizza.  The main staples of the Lowell diet.

And, not only were the beer and bread isles missing, so was the pop isle.  And since I needed to buy some pop, I needed to find the pop isle.

Well, I checked the ends of the isles.  Sometimes they put their pop out there.  It is intended to attract attention.  I guess the idea is that if you put pop on the ends of the isle, you will attract impulse buyers.  But, like beer, I think that most people already know what they want before they hit the store, so end isle displays of pop are a waste of time.

But, there were no end isle displays of pop, so I had to look for the pop.  Well, I found the pop.  It was right next to the beer in the pet section.  OK.

Well, I guess they figure that if you need a case of beer you probably also need a pail of Kitty litter.

And, I suppose you could also pick up a package of doggy snacks.

I never did find the bread.  Progress.

KIA thought that this would be a great ad to promote their dual heating/cooling controls.  Unfortunately, the pictures were negatively received by the public.

What were they thinking?

I have a laptop at work and a laptop at home.  And, both of them have touch pads.

Now, the touch pads are a nice idea but they are lacking in functionality.  It seems like I have to tap the touch pad several times before it selects what I want.  And, I find this to be rather maddening.

You see, I am never sure if it didn’t see my tap or if the computer is just slow.  And, it doesn’t seem to matter if I lightly tap it or if I give it a good rap.  It just doesn’t respond.

I guess this is advanced technology, but it still needs improving.

I know several women whose husbands work the night shift.  And, they do so by choice and not because of low seniority.

Now, why would anyone want to work the night shift?  Well, some claim that they do it because it gives younger men, with families, the opportunity to be on the day shift.  While others claim that the night shift is better because it is quieter.  Still others claim that it gives them the whole morning and part of the afternoon to do whatever it is that they want to do.

But, more to the point, it also gives them the opportunity to be away from their wives for a week at a time.  In fact, working the night shift could be viewed as a male survival tactic.

I wonder if it has ever occurred to these women that the men are working the night shift because they can’t stand them?

The FBI has arrested James Whitey Bulger, a notorious Boston crime boss.

For many years, Whitey was an FBI informant.  In exchange for information about rival gangs, Whiteys’ crimes were over looked.  So, he got away with crime while ratting on his enemies.  Talk about a win win situation.

Of course, at age 81, Whitey didn’t put up much of a fight.  In fact, the FBI had to be more concerned about him falling and breaking a hip than trying to escape capture.  Besides, how fast can a walker move?