THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY

THE GOOD

Acting on an advertising supplement SWMBO received in the mail this week, we set out to explore Food City today.  This is a supermarket chain that tends to operate in and caters to areas with a large Hispanic population.  I was surprised to learn that the chain is part of the Basha's family of stores.  But SWMBO was struck by the low prices on produce.  Upon entering, it was like the supermercados we remembered from our days living in Mexico.  The produce was excellent and the prices were as low as my wife had hoped.  I was thrilled with the displays of spices in plastic bags at what I think are excellent prices.  SWMBO said the display on a rear wall of the store had everything any Mexican cook could want and there were many she had never heard of before.  So that was a great experience and one we will repeat.

THE BAD

I finally found a computer tech and he came to the house a couple of days ago and tried several fixes on my non-functioning PC.  He couldn't be sure of the problem but took the computer to his shop, promising a return this morning.  He said it appeared as if the video card needed to be replaced.  Today he was back and told me the bad news.  It's the motherboard that needs replacing.  There were a couple of swollen capacitors on it, probably because of their location next to the heat sink for the video card.  But he said fixing it would probably cost as much as buying a new computer.  Since I've had this one for 5 or 6 years or more, I asked him if he could build me one.  He said yes and that the price would be about $500.  Well that's probably cheaper than I would pay for one in a store so I told him to go ahead.  He said he'd probably have it done by Monday.  I like this guy, he appears to know what he's talking about and his shop is only a couple of blocks away so he'll be close if I have future problems.  So, actually that's kind of good and bad but I put it under the BAD heading.

THE UGLY

The weather.  It's 98 outside right now and supposed to top 100 in the next few days.  SWMBO is worried about the coming utility bills but we will survive.  I asked her this morning how she liked Phoenix so far, other than the heat.  She said she loved it and so do I.

Weather through the Midwest has been and continues to be really ugly.  Much worse than here with tornadoes occuring through many states.

And finally, just to stay with the theme of this post and I'll let you pick where you want to place it - today is the 83rd birthday of the man whose movie inspired the theme: Clint Eastwood.

Oh, no, that's how he looked way back when, even before that iconic movie.

Here's "the man with no name" from the Spaghetti-western that resurrected his career.

And here's how he looks today.

He made some good, maybe even great, movies in his day but after his performance at last year's Republican National Convention, I think maybe his day is . . . over.

I LOVE THURSDAYS!

Well, I loved this one anyway.  Judy and I each had doctor appointments with a new general practitioner.  He gave each of us a thorough examination and took down our medical history.  We both liked him.  

So wait a minute you're saying.  We each went to a doctor and for that I love Thursday?

Well, noooooo.  It was what came after the doctor visits.  I asked Judy what she wanted to do next and she said "I want some lunch!  And nothing fancy, just someplace to get a sandwich."

So we started out, not having any idea what we were looking for when I had an inspiration.  "How about Duck and Decanter?", I said.

Duck and Decanter is an old and famous sandwich shop which was launched in central Phoenix the year I first came to town.  The sandwiches are so good we once stopped there on our way to the airport and got our own airline food for our trip to England.  When we opened the bags on the plane we were the envy of the place.  We each had picked a sandwich called The Whole Thing - imported ham, oven roasted turkey breast and Italian dry salami.  The smell of garlic filled the airplane cabin and had mouths watering everywhere.

So today we went to "the Duck", as it is affectionately known.  I had today's special, the best Reuben sandwich I've had in years.

  

Accompanied by some great potato salad and a Smith's Nut Brown Ale from England.  Yummers for sure!

Now you see why I Love Thursdays.

WEDNESDAY

Once upon a time I tried to learn French.  I was a complete failure.  I was stumped by the Gallic way of spelling words with miles of vowels and consonants but only pronouncing a few of them.  What's up with that?

Then I moved to Mexico for five years and endeavored to learn Spanish.  I think it's a much easier language to learn, perhaps the easiest.  But I was living with mostly U.S. and Canadian ex-pats  and most of them didn't bother learning Spanish.  They just raised their voices as they continued speaking English, apparently surmising that volume would make them understood.

I had my vocabulary of a couple of hundred words which enabled me to fill my car with gasoline, order in restaurants and shop in grocery stores.  But if, for example, the water heater broke - I was lost again.  Once something did happen to our water system and a couple of big guys from the city were about to turn off our supply because we were "using too much".  I made them understand that they should wait a moment while I ran down the block to a neighborhood market and return with my Mexican friend who was fluent in both English and Spanish.

All of this confessional venting comes about because I was looking at the title of this post:  WEDNESDAY.  Now think about it.  Shouldn't that be spelled Whensday?  Or even Wensday?  That's how we pronounce it.  Not Wed-ness-day.

And don't even get me started on FEBRUARY!

A RECOMMENDATION

Aha!  Whilst using SWMBO's laptop (yes, my pc is ailing again) I discovered the blog of one Natalie Darbeloff of London, England.  (Or U.K. if you prefer)  It is called Blaugustine and it reveals a woman of inventiveness - a writer and illustrator and general experimenter.  I shall add it to the blog roll on the right and invite you to investigate the workings of her mind.

Thank you, Lucy, revealing her to me.

TUESDAY

MEMORIAL DAY 2013

Always remember "the boys".

I hung the flag at our new front entrance in Phoenix this morning.

A VERY HAPPY THURSDAY

SWMBO and I visited the Arizona Science Center yesterday afternoon specifically to see the traveling exhibit "DaVinci - the Genius."  It was well worth it.  

There were huge reproductions of pages from DaVinci's drawings - anatomical and mechanical.  His skill is an artist was unequaled.  But his creative mind must have been constantly busy.

Many of his ideas predicted inventions that would be made hundreds of years into the future.  This is a forerunner of today's helicopter.  Many of his ideas never worked in his lifetime but the science that was involved came into play and was developed much later.

And then there was one of his most famous paintings.

The Mona Lisa.  This, of course, is a reproduction.  We saw the real thing at the Louvre in Paris back in the 1980's.  I don't think we knew though that a photographer was given exclusive permission to photograph the painting, unframed, some years back and used today's technology, including infrared photography to determine the actual pigments and oils used by DaVinci to create the masterpiece.  Fascinating display with many different views of the Mona Lisa.

That took up much of the afternoon and since this is Arizona Restaurant Week featuring prix fixe meals at dozens of restaurants, we had made a reservation at one of our favorites - Tomaso's.  Dinner began with some crusty bread, garlic butter and/or a Balsamic Vinegar and Olive oil dip.

Accompanied, of course, by wine - an Argentine Malbec for the lady, a Tuscan blend for me.

Then - the appetizers.  Mine was an Italian pasta selection with an incredible parmesan cheese sauce.  SWMBO chose a delicious crab cake and a Portobello mushroom.  Mine disappeared before I remembered the camera and I've somehow lost a shot I took of hers.

But I DID get pictures of her humongous butterflied pork chop with pasta and my plate, which included lamb, petite filet and sausage over risotto.

She brought perhaps better than half of hers home.  I, typically, ate all of mine!

But there's more!  This was a three course dinner and desserts were the finishing touch, accompanied by tiny cups of espresso.

Mine was a foamy-stuffed profiterole drowned in chocolate with a couple of strawberry wedges on the side.  (And, by the way, I wasn't sloppy - the kitchen had painted the serving plate with chocolate!)

But just to prove that Mother Knows Best, SWMBO finished her meal with a delicious pistachio gelato.

Everything was delicious and it was a fantastic day!