Weekend ends

My first visit to Trader Joe's was somewhat of a letdown. Even with the live music playing and happy t-shirt clad workers handing out food samples, it was just, really, a grocery store. And not a very big one. True, there are some fun and different things, but most are ones I'll have to avoid if I am going to re-lose the pounds I've re-gained. (Like the Trader Joe's oreos I sampled this weekend.) And the badly designed line system seems to be part of the organizational culture of the store - even with bigger space, they chose wider aisles instead of a distinct and comfortable place for the line to form and wrap upon itself. Frustrates the hell out of me, as I stand there and think I know better and can fix it. Although I will say that keeping the re-usable grocery bags near the exit where you can't get at them if you're at an express register is not the smartest decision.

Meanwhile, time marches on.

1- It seems like just a few weeks ago I went to see Stephen King present "Best American Short Stories" at Selected Shorts. But it's another year, and another edition and I'm going in just a few days to see the current guest editor, Salman Rushdie.

2- My phone has been out since Friday. When I called then, they were going to send someone on Saturday until I said I was going away for the weekend. So, I was told if I stayed home Monday they could come. Luckily I called just now and I don't need to stay home because, as I suspected, it's not just me but a swathe of the neighborhood (all of us stuck to our landline tether) and it will be fixed outside. I feel really cut off, though, which is dumb, as I have 2 cell phones (work and home, although the work one doesn't get any reception here) and of course, you, the internt. Hi.

3- October looms. Already?