A trip down memory lane . . . Yardsticks + Runzas vs Corn Dogs & Butter Cows
Omaha World Herald (8/26): "Chuck E. Cheeses's is phasing out its iconic band, the larger-than-life ensemble that has performed at the kid-friendly pizza chain for decades. in a big to become more parent-friendly."Ah . . . Dining @ Chuck E. Cheese with grandkids . . . Great memories!
- Realizing that after two exposures to the animatronic band, all they wanted to do was rush off to the games while barely sampling the bland yet overpriced food.
- Following them from game to game to game . . . Helping them collect tickets to spend on cheap yet meaningless trinkets whose pleasure lasted only until they got their prizes home, fought about sharing them for awhile, then losing or breaking them. [ADDENDUM: I spent years of my life waiting for those kids to make up their mind about these same "treats. "Should I get the Chuck E. Cheese stickers, or should I get the 4" tall knock-off doll whose hair will fall out the first time it's exposed to water?" ME: I don't know. Why don't you spend another hour deciding?]
- Hosting birthday parties--totally relaxing for parents & other adults, also terrifying to young grand-children when Chuck E. Cheese appeared at the table IN PERSON & the wait staff gathered around & sang "Happy Birthday" off-key.
- One more long-lasting memory: Having one of the grandkids barf pizza & assorted other food stuffs on Lois' lap while we sat at the table, entertained by the gorilla & friends. [For some reason, she chose to take this child home rather than staying around to enjoy the games & prizes.]
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Dept. of Shameless Joke Stealing
Norfolk Daily News (8/25) From Go Ahead & Smile: "What do you call an overweight alien? Extra cholesterol.* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Go Big Red! Wyoming? Hmmmm . . . NYC? Yeah, right.
OWH (8/26): "State Fair visitors stick with one of its longest traditions. By any measure, one of the prized freebies from the NE State Fair is a yardstick. Year after year, scores of fairgoers can be seen at any time strolling the 240-acre grounds [in Grand Island] with a slender piece of wood that measures 36" long. It's as much of a fair tradition as watching the birth of piglets, riding the Ferris wheel & peering face to face with a catfish behind the glass wall of a huge aquarium."
MY COMMENT: Yardsticks . . . so much better than standing in line for hours to get a minute-long gaze at a butter cow w/o even a patty of butter to take home. [SEE related item below.]
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SIDEBAR: The following item may drive my son-in-law to take a quick(?) road trip from Ventura, IA, to the nearest Runza restaurant in NE. I don't want to embarrass him by mentioning him by name. I'll just refer to him as J--se B-rns.
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OWH (8/26): Nebraska's beloved Runza sandwich will represent the state at a new national food event. The Flavored Nation event in OCT aims to serve the most iconic food from each of the 50 states. Organizers of the event have selected the corn dog as the food representing Iowa . . . The first Runza Restaurant opened in 1949 in Lincoln & began serving the namesake, Runza sandwich, which features ground beef, onion, cabbage & seasonings baked inside homemade bread . . . "
MY COMMENTS: We had never encountered these one-of-a-kind taste temptations until we moved to Lincoln in 1980. We couldn't get enough of them! My favorite? The original Runza . . . Lois? The Swiss cheese mushroom burger. And I STILL crave an occasional trip to their drive-thru to treat myself to an order of onion rings, better than onion rings found at any other fast food chain.
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OWH (8/26): "Where to age gracefully . . . Nebraska & Iowa rank high in a report examining quality of life & health care. All 50 states were ranked by the elder-care resources site Caring.com on 13 categories including quality, cost & availability. The calculations also incorporated a state-by-state well-being ranking for older Americans."
MY COMMENT:Too bad it doesn't actually compare IA & NE in the rankings. It does list these "WORST States to Grow Old In." (1) Wyoming, (2) North Dakota, (3) New York, (4) Indiana, (5) W. Virginia."
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ADDITIONAL COMMENTS YOU WILL NO DOUBT FIND HILARIOUS
For years I have resisted Lois' efforts to add NYC to our bucket list. Why? After watching years of CSI New York & Law & Order episodes, my thought was, "Why visit NYC just to get murdered?"After binge-watching "Longmire" on Netflix, it turns out that WY seems to experience an equal number of rare murders that are resistant to the best efforts of forensic experts & law enforcement. [In all fairness, WY has Oregon Trail Sites, the Grand Tetons. NYC has, what? A monument to a historic site of the first riot on behalf of gay rights? [I am not a hater.] *
* Having said that, it's been & continues to be my favorite show to binge-watch. Much more wholesome than those Marvel & D.C. cartoon-like wannabe's.
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Taglines from the Drudge Report (8/26)
- "California Could Tax Drinking Water . . . "
- "Sex robot TAX . . . "In my efforts to continue being as apolitical as possible, mostly for the sake of my own mental health, along by ongoing threats from, well, you guess which side of the political spectrum, I'll my time, energy, & mental health well-being by thinking up [which is not always as easy as you might think] witty, snarky comments, not to mention the time reading & re-reading these items for inspiration [& to make sure that I have reported the substance of the news items accurately].
- "When will [CA] start putting coin slots on public drinking water fountains? Adding a surcharge on periodicals that publish conservative punditry [which won't add up to very much money raised in this state]? Taxing air, especially in areas where air pollution is the worst. After all, isn't that where the most funds are needed? Aren't the people in these areas, which pretty much ranges from the SF area to the Mexican border, most responsible for their own air pollution problem? Solution: Tax them.
Exerpts from My STILL favorite pundit (NRO, 8/25)
"Many liberals love to mock the "War on Christmas. And they also have a point. But many of these liberals are the first to argue that we need to replace Christmas w/l'Winter Break' or bore me to death with pseudo-sophisticated lectures about pagan solstices." COMMENT: He writes this in a section re: iconoclasts. Guess whom he considers to be just as iconoclastic if not more to than those of us in fly-over country?- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
ICONOCLAST: "A person who attacks cherished beliefs, traditional institutions, etc., as being in error. (dictionary.com).
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A link to JG's Various & Sundry items:
"Man stops for Chick-fil-A nuggets while wife is in labor. A NC father-to-be whose wife was in labor made a pit stop at Chick-fil-A on the way to the hospital MON a.m. & grabbed a bag of his favorites chicken nuggets . . . 'She was relaxed & I was starving,' Wes Cope told the Charlotte Observe. 'If you want Chick-fil-A to move fast, tell them your wife's in labor. They did." COMMENT: Notice what this man did NOT stop to buy because he was starving? That's right. A corndog.What about those of us who can't use this as a valid excuse to get speed up a fast-food order?
- I need to make sure that I get a good seat for the next total eclipse.
- Please get me a Runza "to go" to I have time to drive to the IA State Fair & get in line for bacon-flavored corn dogs.
- [Californianites will appreciate this one, I'm sure.] Could you speed up my order before an additional fee is added to ketchup & mustard packets?
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