Shop til you drop

- and it won't take long in this heat.

I went shopping today and I want to make a few observations.

1. I wasn't in the mood to shop. I went to three department stores, a book store, and a grocery store and spent less than $50. That's not like me.
2. It's hot outside!
3. Summer clothes and picnic items are on sale. How can they be on clearance? Summer is just getting started.
4. The young people working at Marsh (grocery store) were more than usually polite and cheerful today.
5. While I'm talking about Marsh --- I got the best watermelon there today. Either it's been a long time (like a whole year) since I have had a watermelon or this one was just extra good. (I recently read a tutorial explaining the finer points of watermelon seed spitting, but, unfortunately, the one I got was seedless so I can't practice.)
6. On the other hand, the bananas I got at Target tasted like insecticide. I think that happens when they get too hot.
7. My plants need watering. (I noticed that fact when I came home because I carried my packages in through the back door where the flower are. They were all gasping and crying out in parched, barely audible voices, "Water! Water! We need water!")
8. There was a lot of road kill smashed on the pavement today. I don't know why particularly today. Do you suppose it has something to do with the heat? The "forest" looks cooler on the other side of the road? It's so hot, it was driving the little critters to commit suicide?
9. Sears Essentials took over the local K-Mart a couple of years ago. Everytime somebody there asks if need help finding something, I want to reply, "Yes, please. I'm looking for K-Mart."
10. A lot of people were off work today, like me.
11. I saw a woman I used to work with at Target today. (I saw her at Target - we didn't work there.) Three weeks ago she lost her job from the same company where I lost my job 4 months ago. She said they had lost 3 contracts recently and a lot of people were shoved out the door or demoted. I hope they all find jobs or can retire on easy street. (All except the president and executive directors, who probably still have their jobs anyway. I don't care if they can't find jobs selling pencils on street corners.)
12. The price of gas went down about 10 cents.
13. They put a new stop light between Sears and Wal-Mart.
14. There's a pot-hole about three feet deep at the mini-mall across from Sears. It looks like a mini-sinkhole.
15. There were a lot of people at the Dairy Queen this afternoon. (I wasn't one of them. It's so hot I was afraid the ice cream would melt before I could eat it.)