THE BIG DAY!

Yes, after all these months and years, Trader Joe's has finally opened it's first store in our immediate area.

Only a couple of hours after the doors were opened, parked cars ringed the building.

SWMBO said she probably wouldn't go near the store for a week or so because it would be mobbed.  During the months since the store was announced there has been a running feud going on in the local paper.  On one side people like me who said they couldn't wait for the store to open.  On the other side the grumps who said it wouldn't be popular.  Guess which side won the argument today?

The employees wear Trader Joe's t-shirts or Hawaiian shirts.

I merely walked through the store, taking pictures.  I didn't even try to shop.  Not today.  But lots of people did.

A couple of doors down, a Five Guys hamburger shop appeared to be still under construction.

I asked a fellow bolting steel tables together when they would open.

"11 o'clock," he said.  That was less than an hour away.  He said at 8 o'clock this morning they didn't have any tables.



There's another shop - the House of Bread Bakery Cafe - in between Five Guys and TJ's but it looks like it's opening is a little ways away yet.

Meantime, adjacent to the Trader Joe's property more ground has been cleared and leveled in preparation for construction of another row of shops.  Sort of looks like the economy is recovering.

A DAY OF HEDONISM

SWMBO and I made our annual trip to Scottsdale today for the 2012 Celebration of Fine Art, a huge show with more than 100 artists displaying their work and demonstrating their techniques under huge white tents.  The show lasts three months and features some of the finest artists in the nation.  Unfortunately photography is not allowed so I can't show you any of the show.  I am happy to say that every one of the artists I spoke with said the show had been good for them.

Many of the artists have been showing here year after year.  One artist we spoke with today was back for his 19th consecutive year.  Apparently they return because sales are good, even in tight times.  It's a great show with many different styles of art.

Then it was time for lunch and we went to one of our favorite restaurants in Phoenix - Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen.
 

The outdoor patio is beautifully designed and features water features and gorgeous spring blossoms.

Inside, lots of dark wood and skylights with a seafood theme.

There is the requisite lobster board above a tank of fresh water.

But getting down to our lunch.  We began with an assortment of six baked oysters.  Unfortunately we scarfed them all down before we remembered the camera so all you get is a photo of the aftermath.

But we did better with the entrees.  Mine was my favorite - blackened catfish with Cajun spices, red beans and rice.

SWMBO couldn't resist the Cajun Combo - blackened catfish and shrimp Creole over Dirty Rice.  She brought a large portion home for her evening dining.

A couple of glasses of wine - Australian Shiraz for her, Argentine Malbec for me - topped off the meal.

A terrific meal after which we paid a visit to a nearby Barnes and Noble bookstore.  Our local store closed at the end of the year so this was a treat.  We picked up a couple of iced Mochas for the road and headed for home.  A little over an hour later we were there.

A good day.

CHOPS

Some of us just don't take good care of their teeth.  I don't know why.  Maybe because of the dentists we had when we were kids.  Our dentist was my godfather.  He was a little short guy and my brother insists that he used to climb up in the chair, putting his knee in one's stomach to get the leverage to work on the patient's mouth.  My brother has lousy teeth.  Mine aren't as bad but they're nothing to write home about.

So, why am I telling you this?

Because I have an apparently abcessed tooth that's going to have to come out next Monday.  And, as my new dentist told me today, serious gum disease that will have to be treated.  Now, I don't mind going to the dentist.  Hell, I don't even mind having a root canal.  The last couple of them I had (years ago) were done after I'd been shot up with enough Novocaine to put a small country to sleep and I didn't feel a thing.

But the point of this is why do I, we, put ourselves through the agony of dentistry, if that's what it is.  Frankly, I think with the new dentists of today there's very little agony involved.  Maybe just mental.

I remember one time when my favorite uncle was in his late 70's.  He had always taken incredible care of his teeth, brushing after every meal, flossing (presumably), and keeping them clean and white.  But here he was, in his 70's, being told by his dentist that he needed a root canal.  Now, what the hell is the justice of that?

So, I'll go.  I'll get my tooth pulled.  I'll begin treatment for my peridontal disease.  I'll probably bitch and moan to my wife about how much this is costing.  And you know what? 

Some day I'll die.  Anyway.

TANNING

Tanning is not good for the skin, say the medicos.  As does my wife.  We have known a number of people who were dedicated to their tans, only to end up with tiny melanomas late in their lives.

But.  I read awhile back about a man who lived in New York City and always had a lovely tan no matter the time of year.  Meeting an acquaintance on the street, he would be asked how his Florida vacation had gone.  Truth be told?  He never went to Florida.  His son revealed that he would spend 10 minutes a day in the sun, every day, and thus acquired his all-season color.

So I thought I'd try that.  For several weeks, I have spent 10 minutes a day facing directly into the sun, on the days when there was one.

This was how I looked today.  Not much different, I'd say, from my normal Norwegian pastiness though there is a bit of color beginning to show.

Here's (sort of) what I'm aiming for.

Probably a little less orange and a little more George Hamilton bronze than this.

SWMBO keeps telling me to put on lotion when I come inside and, variously, telling me I am crazy, not being conscious of my health, will be sorry someday, etc.

She seems convinced that I will turn out more like this:

She may be right but I like to think that living in Arizona, I will retreat from, as I call it, "the solarium" long before the temperature rises high enough to do that kind of damage.

But . . . time will tell.

Bennett and Gaga

SWMBO and I watched Tony Bennett's "Duets" show on PBS last night.  The more I watched, the more I realized that Frank Sinatra's statement that Bennett was the world's greatest saloon singer was absolutely true.  The man swings, he's soulful, he's just great.  And he's 85 YEARS OLD!!!

There were many great performances with singers ranging from Andrea Bocelli to Willy Nelson but we both agreed that this one was our favorite. 



Blue hair and all . . . that gal knows how to swing.

WHY OH WHY?????

I'm gonna have to stop watching the news.  It just gets crazier every day.  Two examples.

Maricopa County (Arizona) Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who held a news conference to report that his investigation has shown that President Barack Obama's birth certificate is phony.

Sheesh!  Even Donald Trump gave up on that.  Why is a county sheriff in Arizona investigating the birth certificate of the President of the United States any way?  Because he's a publicity hog, that's why.

And then there's this cretin.



The increasingly disgusting Rush Limbaugh, who said that a young woman who was denied the right to testify before a Congressional committee is a "slut", a "whore" and a "prostitute".  The young woman in question wanted to testify that employers should be required to cover birth control pills in their company healthcare programs.  Limbaugh further suggested that such women should provide videos of their sexual activity in return.

This goes beyond the pale.

Joe Arpaio and Rush Limbaugh are creatures cut from the same diseased cloth.

I can't express strongly enough how much disgust I have for both of them.

A LITTLE SNARK

Oh, they've done it again, those Republicans running for President, they've gotten under my skin.  Mittens Romney seems to do it virtually every time he opens his mouth but recently Rick "the former Senator from the 14th Century" Santorum did it to me. 

And surprisingly, it wasn't his comment that President Kennedy's speech about separation of church and state almost made him throw up. 

And it wasn't his comment that President Obama is a snob because he wants every young person to go to college.  (Santorum, by the way, has three college degrees.) 

It wasn't his critique of Romney's wealth.  (Santorum lives in a home in a rich suburb of Washington, D.C.)

No what got under my skin was a recent campaign appearance in which Santorum stated that when the Republicans nominate a moderate, they always lose.  And when they nominate a conservative, they always win.

Senator, does the name Dwight David Eisenhower mean anything to you?  He was a moderate Republican and he served two terms as President.

How about the name, Barry Goldwater?  He was known as Mr. Conservative when he ran for President in 1964.  He lost.

SWMBO said this morning something about Santorum just saying whatever comes to his mind.  I said it doesn't have anything to do with his (alleged) mind.  He just says these things without even thinking about them.

So enough with Santorum.

Since I brought up that 1964 Goldwater run, I thought I should tell you how I decided who to vote for - Barry or President Lyndon Johnson.  After a lot of reading about both men I came to three conclusions.  Goldwater was crazy and Johnson was a crook.  That's two.  Now, which to vote for?  I finally concluded that Congress could control a crazy president but not a crook.  I voted for Goldwater.

A decade or so later I lived in Arizona and covered Goldwater as a newsman many times.  I wrote about him for a national magazine.  I went to Washington to cover the "10th anniversary of his non-inaugural" in 1975.

Barry wasn't crazy but he certainly was unelectable as a Republican in 1964, so soon after the assassination of John F. Kennedy.

In his final years, Barry pissed off most of the Republican establishment in Arizona as he seemed to become more and more Libertarian.  Many people blame his second wife but I think Barry was always that way.

I don't think anyone will ever have fond memories of Rick Santorum.