Herbie Goes to Wal-Mart and other Diversions

At lunchtime today I made a dash over to Wal-Mart, to try to replace the worn out shoes I wear every day. As I pulled into the parking lot I found myself behind this VW Beetle, with its very familiar markings. What was Herbie the Love Bug doing at Wal-Mart?

Well, parking, it turns out. I never did get to talk to the owner of the car and find out the whys and wherefores. But I did get these pictures for you. That was the only good part of the excursion. Wal-Mart had no plain black loafers in a men's 9 to 10 1/2 W, my usual range. None at all.


So I wore my old shoes to a company function after work tonight. See, today was "Employee Appreciation Day" at Unnamed Largish Company. Basically that meant people were allowed to wear jeans to work, and were invited to a Casino Night at the Hilton after work. There was blackjack and poker and craps using company-provided chips (not cashable, and returned at the end of the evening). There was food and drink (no drinks ticket needed for my usual "Diet Anything), and there were prizes. I didn't win the plasma tv, the iPod kichen sound system or a covered parking space, but that's okay. Several of my friends from work did rather well with their prizes, and I won a $25 gift card for AMC Theaters.

Then the person next to me also won a gift card. Hers was to Barnes & Noble, which made me a little jealous. She proceeded to complain that it wasn't an ideal prize for her, because "I don't read." Recovering quickly from my shock upon hearing this blasphemy, I offered to swap. So yay - I get to go to B&N!


I see that I may have been unduly alarming in writing about Tuffy last night. A few clarifications:

1. It is not definitive that the particular batch of dog food was tainted. It was from the right time period, but did not quite match anything on the recall list - close, but not exactly.
2. At the time of the recall, there was nothing at all in Tuffy's behavior to indicate any sort of illness. There still isn't, really, aside from the fact that she's ten years old now and therefore not quite as spry as she was five years ago. She's always been a picky eater, so the fact that she's still a picky eater is not terribly indicative. There's nothing we can point at to say why we think she may not be at 100% for a dog her age, just a vague feeling.
3. Yes, of course I'll take her to the vet anyway, probably next weekend.

Am I worried about her? Yes, but only a little. The fact is that well before the dog food recall, I was noticing that Tuffy's getting old. She won't last forever; I know that. When she does I'll cry, as I did for Jenny and Noodle before her. But I honestly don't expect this to happen any time soon.

Karen