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Ok I knew that might get your attention. I was at the controls of the good ship Salve Lucrum this morning when the market opened, but Man Child get's a few more minutes to sleep on Tuesday as it is his late day.
I got to see what went on in the Asian markets and look for those little pearls of wisdom that might make a couple of bucks. We will talk more about that later.
After taking Jack to The Halstrom School, I had a few errands to run for Devin and Jack. (I am so proud of them becoming such good delegators.) Anyway I went to Staples to pick up some things for the office and had a few minutes and walked into several stores just to see what they had and how they merchandised things.
My gosh I could not believe all the crud at each of these stores. I went to a place called "Things Remembered". False advertising. I was in there a good twenty minutes and by the time I left I forgot why I went in there in the first place.
They had all these artsy fartsy things for making memory books and scrap books and bulletin boards. What is wrong with a shoe box or a cigar box. A whole industry has developed around keeping stuff organized that you will never look at.
Then I went next door to a place called big lots. It is a cross between KMarts Blue Light special aisle and Walmart trash dump. But there were crazy Coto women (Sorry I Know I have a few Coto readers so I am obviously not talking about you or your wife.) who had baskets full of this crud that you could buy anywhere. The prices are not that good. (Not that I am an expert at retail pricing. I once bought a set of prescription glasses-Chrome Hearts- for about 1,300 dollars, but I thought that is what glasses cost.)
A few weeks later, my buddy Douglas was getting in my car and the black case blended in with the black leather and SNAP, I had a broken Chrome Heart. Douglas is a reader so I am sure he is enjoying this special moment.
After walke around big lots, I went next door to my friendly family Walmart Shopping Mart. I have to say it was quite nice. It had a minimalist approach to the grocery store environment. It reminded me of shopping in the UK where the stores are organized for efficacy, not the accretive spend per shopper.
Example you had radishes. Just radishes. Not sliced radishes or nutritionally validated radishes or all natural radishes or organic radishes or radish paste or pickled radishes, just radishes. The simplicity was quite refreshing. Not so many Coto mom's in this joint. The clientele appeared to be more from the service side of the Coto gates that the resident side.
Then I walked into a Planet Make Up store. Dear God there was a lot of beautification products in this joint. We certainly are a vain society. Sorry, I have to get ready for dinner and put on my expensive wool slacks, my brand pimping uncomfortable shoes and my Master's long sleeve shirt.
Well, dinner was incredible. I had the honor of sharing the bill with our dear friends, no, family, Doyle and Anne Wolf. Doyle was my wife's father's best buddy's. They are the nicest couple and a great role model for anyone.
Hanna's put on a feat for all 15 of us, which would be our family and Doyle and Anne's family. We enjoyed the 2008 Kumeu River Chardonnay Maté's Vineyard
which had a beautiful balance of acids, citrus, and a creamy feel that made it a joy let linger in your mouth.
I ordered enough appetizers to choke a herd of horses. It was embarrassing. We went on to enjoy a 2007 Anderson's Conn Valley Vineyards Éloge.
Some nice florals and big oak on the nose. It was a little acidic even though I had them open it 3 hours ahead of time. I liked the bite, but perhaps other didn't. It was a long smoky finish that I liked. It would have been great with a Benji Menendez Partagas cigar, but went well with the evening.
We made it home about 10:15 and Devin wanted to watch DWTS as it was elimination night. Emmit Smith headed home tonight as did Apolo Ohno. It has been a great season.
What a great day.
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Since 10/10/2012
