Truffles?

Alrighty,
I've recently decided that Starbucks should return to only making coffee (and I wouldn't really mind of they stopped making that as well). Over the past two weeks or so I've had the occasion to try two different flavors of Starbucks truffles. The flavors I had the misfortune of trying were 'Mocha Peppermint' and 'Chai Tea', now peppermint is nice, and Mocha is nice but the two of them together in a dark chocolate shell isn't so nice. In fact it's terrible. The other one (Chai Tea) was better only in that it didn't try to pack two completely different flavors into one chocolate. I like me a little chai but I like real chai. This so called Chai Tea Truffle was not real chai. Again it was two flavors (in this case chai and milk chocolate) that should never be mixed packed into one small candy. I don't know who at the Starbucks headquarters comes up with these schemes but he should be sacked immediately. Anyone who thinks it would be a good idea for a international coffee company to launch a line of little chocolate with absurd flavors has no right to be employed by said international company. As I said before, Starbucks should stick to making mediocre, over priced coffee

A Trip To Wal-Mart

I generally try to avoid Wal-mart as much as I can, it makes me feel icky. But the other day I stopped by Wal-mart with the intention of buying (a) a set of long underwear and (b) a nine volt battery. This seemingly simple task was, in fact, not simple in the least. I figured I'd grab the battery first, but after more thought I realized that I had no idea where one would find a battery in the vast expanse of Wal-mart. After much stumbling around it dawned on me that perhaps batteries could be located at the checkout. I frantically dashed to the front of the store only to find that batteries were not to be found there. At this point I was almost desperate enough to ask one of the grouchy looking employees for help (which I ultimately did and got naught but a blank stare), so I decided to go in search of the long underwear. This too proved disastrous but not nearly so much as the battery escapade. when I finally found the Men’s Clothing section and ultimately the aisle with long underwear, I found that you can no longer buy a set (or pair if you prefer) of long underwear, you need to buy the shirt and pants separately for six dollars each. If that weren’t distressing enough, I couldn't find the pants anywhere. I finally found them buried behind several rows of shirts. Now that I had my long underwear I had to resign myself to the fact that Wal-mart is the only place around I know of to buy it and that I would have to pay twelve dollars for it. When I finally convinced myself that I would shell out a dozen clams I still had to find my battery (which when I did find it turned out to be a ridiculous five dollars).
This is why I will always opt for a thrift store over almost any other retailer there is

Travelling The Highways Of America (Or At Least A Small Part Of Them)

Me and my family drove to Ohio over Thanksgiving to Visit Relatives. This sixteen house drive gave me a chance to observe the highways of America (outside of New Hampshire and Vermont) for the fist time in two or three years. It was, to say the least, distressing. The fist thing I noticed was how grateful I am to the government of northern New England for outlawing billboards. The greater part of American freeways are spattered with hideous and obnoxious signs advertising anything and everything. I was amazed to see that there are even billboards advertising themselves ('your ad could be here!! call 125-8325 for details'.) It's ridiculous!

The next thing the baffled me was the fact that it's nearly impossible to find local restaurants anymore. It would appear that the only food one can get without venturing several towns away from the highway is from chain restaurants. Generally food from these places is nasty stuff that makes you feel as though your arteries might be clogged after the first bite. This is not the kind of food you want to eat when you're going to be sitting in a car for the next ten hours. In short, it feels as if the roadways of this country have been defiled and ruined.

November Funk

People, New Englanders especially, always complain about becoming depressed or blue during the month preceding winter. I have never been privy to these feelings of despair. I tend to remain content during the winter months, but this year may prove different. It may be that the time of year has nothing to do with this, it's possible it's just circumstances being he way they are. but either way I'm feeling a little down these days. not depressed, you understand, just down. Lots of wandering around the house simply because I feel I have nothing else to do, or grouching at everyone because everthing feels the same and couped up and beating down on me. now of course that isn't the way it actually is, but that's the way this venerable month makes it feel. Short days and long cold nights will do that.

I like to call these November Doledrums...