Grocery shopping, Arizona trip, observations

In my last post I mentioned grocery shopping in my by-line but then didn't say anything about it in the body. Well, here is what I wanted to say but didn't, and boy is it earth shattering. Since there are only two of us, plus Buffman & Squeaky, in the house our grocery shopping has no degree of consistency and usually amounts to "running" by the store and getting essentials and that is that. So, we are continually out of something that we really want or even need. With this in mind and getting more frustrated by the day I decided to make a management decision here and take over the grocery shopping. So, here is the deal I made with Marti: she is to keep a running list going of what we need, displayed in a prominent place so I can see it and be reminded of it. There will be no verbal discourse(nagging)on when I am going to shop and how large the list has to be(the one thing we know is that we will not run out of dog food. So, with those few rules I embarked on my first stab at this very important responsibility. Of course this is not the first time I have shopped in the grocery store, but it was the first time with this new job description(family grocery shopper). My first thought when I go in with a list is, "where the hell is everything?" It just seems that even though the aisles are neat and well stacked it is just overwhelming as to where everything is. The other thing I noticed is that apparently more people shop on Sunday morning than go to church. It was completely crowded and I expected anytime for some born again type to jump out of the cucumber bin screaming, "repent you sinners, you are shopping on the Sabbath!" But, thank goodness that didn't happen. The next thing that came into my mind was that I have had this brilliant idea for sometime that some computer nerd would sit around in his garage(kind of like Gates did) and design this electronic wonder that when I walk in the store I walk over to it, push in the items I am shopping for and each one of the aisles would either be printed, i.e. okra(location-3rd bin down in vegetable section), condoms(aisle 2 section 3, right down from dirty magazines, etc.) Anyway I think you see my idea. Well of course this doesn't exist right now but I am sure it will some day and another nerd will make billions. So, I embarked on my system of finding things. This means a stab in the dark and guessing which aisle to go to. After a couple of hours and asking 4 people I finally loaded my basket and got out of there for $200.00. One thing I noticed is that the dog food is not close to the pet food and the cucumber bin did not have a born again hidden in it, and last but not least the velveeta cheese(my favorite) is not close to the other cheeses. For right now I am kind of a hero to Marti and the dogs. They all seem to love it when the plastic bags of goodies are brought in the house. If Boston Terriers had tails they would surely wag them, in Marti's case I think she wagged something. But, we all ate happily everafter, at least until we run out again.

This next bit of information concerns my most recent trip, of which I am still on and writing this from my hotel room in Tempe, AZ, to work the expo and observe the 2nd annual Ironman Arizona triathlon. From the beginning, I left Ransom Canyon on Wednesday early in the morning, fully packed and pulling my trailer with the beloved Heritage Softail Hog and bicycle. I had it all with plans on getting some bicycle riding in, some motorcycle riding in, working the expo, then helping with the Ironman on Sunday. Everything went according to schedule until about 10 hours into my trip and 15 miles east of Flagstaff I hit what is referred to as "black" ice. Easily defined, but unknown to me, that is a thin layer of ice on the Interstate that is not visible but causes you to lose control of your vehicle and then hang on for your life. After four jack knife maneuvers, but keeping the vehicles up right, I lost the trailer and it did a beautiful turn over to its' side. After coming to a halt some 20 yards on the shoulder I noticed I had quite a mess. My $21,000.00 Hog was laying side ways in the $2200.00 trailer and it was now snowing to the point that it could very easily be called a spring snow storm. Well after two and half hours the tow truck got the trailer up righted, the motorcycle up righted, with both loaded on the truck. While I was not injured I was mighty upset, for not seeing the conditions that confronted me within minutes. The AZ highway patrol said, "don't feel bad this happens all the time, this time of year, he also noted that many times the accidents are much worse and the victims are usually wearing shorts or thogs." So, at least I was not injured and was dressed for the occasion. While I have not had my Hog with me in Tempe I have had a very productive expo and look forward to another good day today and the race on Sunday. My trailer guy in Flagstaff says he will have me ready to go on Tuesday and I will bring the Hog back to heaven. Word of advice, even though Mapquest recommends the Northern route to Tempe, take the Southern route. It actually snowed 4" on us after the accident and while we were re-loading the up-righted trailer. What a night!

For tomorrow I will have a report on the race, but will also offer some astute observations on the paper towel dilemma in most service stations and what the Clines Corner, NM Subway sandwich shop had to offer.

Off to the expo,

greer