Sunday Thoughts

 Wandered to the grocery store this morning to pick up a couple small essentials.  Bananas, for one, and bread, for another.  I was afraid that I'd have a minor task on my hand, since they've called for potential winter weather in our area today.  My gut says we'll dodge it by a county or so, but that doesn't mean my fellow McMinnonites wouldn't clear out a grocery store in the name of the French Toast of Tranquility when the word snow is whispered on Channel 3...

And the bread section was fairly cleaned out, but I was in some luck, as not only was my favorite kind of bread (Lewis bakeries' Nutty Oat) in stock, but it was on sale Buy One Get One free.

Bananas, luckily, were well in stock.  I take my evening pills with a banana.  I share a bite of the banana with our Anatolian Shepherd, Thesaurus.  He was much dismayed when I noted to him that we were down to our last banana.  That disapproving look was very much what sent me out into the wilderness this morning.

As a boring middle-aged man, I have a favorite cashier.  Her name is Wanda, and she has a sarcastic take on the world that I appreciate.  As I got into her line, her register phone rang, and she picked up and answered "Wanda's House of Horrors."  I had to smile.  I had to relate a time when I was in my old store's office, and saw the phone ring with the meat department header.  I picked up saying "Tommy's House of Whoopass," which was met with silence.  I had been expecting my meat manager to be on the other end, as on that early morning, he, my DSD Receiver and I were the only ones yet in the store.  Or so I thought.  My District Manager, who had his office in our store, had managed to sneak in without my seeing him.  He had been exactly the sort who might have made an issue of my answering the phone that way.  He must have been in a forgiving mood, because after a long moment, he simply asked what he'd called to ask me: whether our produce manager was in yet.....

Wanda laughed at my story.  "Retail is hard enough," she said.  "They gotta let you have some fun...."

They don't.  At least, a lot of them don't think that way.

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Yesterday, my nephew and I wandered out to watch Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim.  It's an animated take on Peter Jackson's take on Middle-Earth.  The story itself isn't anything very special, but it's told well, and I'm really glad to have seen the flick on the big screen.  There are a couple animation sequences that were just beautiful:  the battle at the gate of Helm's Deep, with the blowing snow....and the raising of the Siege Tower, were both exceptionally done.

We had wanted to see it, but adult animation still doesn't have a foothold in the American market like I wish it would.  So, to find it still showing in Chattanooga was a small wonder, and it was playing at a couple oddball times.  Our showing was at 10:25 in the morning.

As such, we had the theater to ourselves.   Sometimes we whisper to each other, but I think we were both entertained enough by the flick that we didn't converse much.

Lunch was obtained after at Chattanooga's City Cafe.  It's a nice diner setting that's open all hours.  They bring a menu that's about 14 pages long, and usually I just order breakfast.  Their sandwiches are good, and I've heard people swear their Italian and Greek choices are wonderful.  But I usually stick with breakfast.  The serving size on breakfast platters is amazing.  I think roughly 38 eggs go into an omelet.  And a side of bacon usually means the entire side of a pig has been turned into bacon.....

The nephew continued his quest to have a buffalo chicken wrap at every restaurant serving one in the state of Tennessee.  He pronounced his wonderful.

We also obtained a slice of cake for Shyam.  Their cakes are the true star of the show.  We chose for her a slice of Tiramisu Cake.  I almost chose a slice of Coca Cola cake for myself, but decided to be good.

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Taking in another flick this afternoon, possibly.  Shyam and I both want to see Nosferatu, and perhaps find some pizza afterward.  We'll watch the weather, making sure the rain doesn't turn to frozen stuff....