The Things I Have Done With Time Alone—Time Alone Is Excellent

I’ve got a 47 hour stretch with no work and with nobody else at home.

Here is how I have spent the first six hours of this time alone.

First—I got a can of clam chowder for dinner at Walgreens as I drove home from work.

Below you see the food aisle from where I got the chowder at a local Walgreens. They got everything you need in that aisle so long as you don’t need very much.

I also stopped at Memorial Park here in Houston on the way home and took a 3 mile walk on the jogging trail.

While walking I read Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbrick. I’ve been walking and reading on the Memorial Park trail for 14 years so far and have not bumped into anything yet.

There certainly is wickedness at the core of our national history when you read how we double-dealt the native population at every turn in the 17th century.

I’m reading Mayflower to study up for Thanksgiving.

I’m sure that Thanksgiving is not all about food and then rushing out to buy stuff as soon as your meal is over.

Once home I fell asleep for 2 hours and had a dream that I was walking along the ocean in Corpus Christi, TX, and that I saw a seal.

I suppose I had the dream about Corpus Christi because I was recently looking at some pictures of a trip I took to Corpus in 2008.

Visit Corpus Christi for a good time. All the Texas coast has interesting things to see.

Below is the picture I took four years ago that formed the central image of my dream.

There was once a Caribbean Monk Seal that had a range just south of Texas. But people killed them all. There are no seals in the Gulf of Mexico.

Click here to read about this seal and where it lived before they were all killed.

After waking up from my dreamy nap, I busted open the clam chowder for a fine dinner and have now moved on to writing a blog post.

With six hours down and 41 hours to go, who knows what more will happen with my excellent time alone.

Chocolate God

For Easter, you can pray with chocolate hands to a chocolate cross.

It is up to your own religious beliefs to decide if you are praying to a Chocolate God.

These items are from a Chicago area Walgreen’s The Walgreen’s can be your church if you wish.

My Secular Blessings To Both Parties Involved In The Ten Minute Walgreens Transaction I Stood In Line Behind At 11:40 PM

Last night at 11:40 PM I went to the Walgreens. Not to rob the place, but to buy some Diet Coke and a copy of Ebony. (These are the things people need at 11:40 PM.)  

I thought I’d get in and out of the Walgreens in quick order. Instead, I got stuck behind the dreaded ten minute transaction.

A man was buying many large cans of baby formula. He had a number of coupons and requested each can be rung up separately.  This I suppose because only one coupon was allowed for each transaction.

As can happen, the scanner could not read the coupons and so it took much time to ring up the sale. The cashier tried many times, but the bar codes were resistant to decoding.

The man seemed agitated. Not so much at the clerk, but in general. He had a head twitch that quirked around a few times and at least two points during the wait he began to pace.

Finally, it was done and the man left with his cans of baby formula. It took about ten minutes for it all to work out. He said thank you when it was done. I always look for that. I hope whatever is agitating him resolves itself in a good way.

The nice clerk apologized for the delay. I told her it was no big deal. What can one do if the coupons won’t scan?

I offer my secular blessings and goodwill to both parties involved in the ten minute Walgreens transaction at 11:40 PM. All involved were doing their best. I shall try to emulate them in my life by trying to do my best.