Random Musings for a Wednesday Afternoon in Late July

    Okay, technically it is still morning when I write this, but the title sounds better when I use 'afternoon.' Anyway, I don't really know what time it is because my watch is broken.  Okay, I know what time it is, but this reads better the way I wrote it.  And, my watch isn't 'broken,' just the watch band.  I was carrying a few heavy bags back from the grocery store last week, and the handles pushed down on my watch.  The watch started to come off my writs.  When I looked at the watch soon after, I noticed that on of the major joints was breaking apart.  I was trying to bend it back into shape, when I had to put the watch down to answer the phone, landline.  I must have thrown the watch down to hard, because the other side of the weak joint broke, with the original weak side following soon after when I examined it.  I've had this watch since Christmas of 1992, although I started wearing one back in high school.  I had three different digital watches though high school, with only one lasting well beyond a year, although I had torn the plastic wristband off after my freshman year as it was getting too tight to wear comfortably.  The other two tore up whenever I tried to change the batteries, so I ultimately just left them alone, carrying the first watch with me whenever I really needed to see the time.  I guess my current watch corroded because I never cleaned it enough.  I planned on getting it professionally cleaned every year, but that never happened.  The store where I got my watch went out of business before the watch needed a good cleaning.  The store where I went to next either couldn't or wouldn't clean it carefully, possibly because it is a self-winding watch.  They said they would have to send to a special place to get it looked at, as they didn't really had the right materials for the work.  Or, it was due to the fact that I didn't get the watch there.  Anyway, it has never been professionally cleaned, although I have tried to keep it okay.  I accidentally opened it up one day trying to clean it, and it has had problems ever since.  For some reason, it tends to run fast.  Also, the timer function doesn't really work any more either.   The reset button just won't work properly most of the time. I'm looking into other watch bands, but I haven't set my mind up for a final decision yet.  Soon after my watch broke, I found out that the store where I was shopping is getting an exclusive new product from Hostess cakes, the first in their new fusion pastries.  This first experiment combines a Ding Dong with a Twinkie.  Basically, it is a round Twinkie covered in the same chocolate as a Ding Dong.  Technically a round Choco-dile, the chocolate-covered Twinkies from before the Hostess bankruptcy from a few years ago.  While I don't really like regular Twinkies, I loved the chocolate coated ones.  In particular, I loved the limited-edition banana split flavored ones with a banana-flavored cake, vanilla filling, a layer of strawberry spread on top, and all covered in chocolate.  Whenever someone combine banana, strawberry, and chocolate, I am there.  I don't know what other fusion possibilities exist, as most of them are already out there--chocolate Twinkies (albeit very hard-to-find now), chocolate honey buns, golden cup cakes, and a few others.  I'm thinking a fondant coating on a Twinkie, kind of like a Zinger in this regard, might be next, but that is just guesswork.  Finally, I had an unusual occurrence this weekend.  I almost ran over a young heron in my car.  It was just standing on the side of the road, trying to walk around, when I was driving towards it.  Of course, it flew off before I could hit it.  Strangely enough, this isn't the first time this has happened.  At least one other time, if not two.  Usually, herons just fly alongside or over my car. Yes, this has happened quite frequently to me.  At least once, it happened on the highway. However, almost running over a heron has been much rarer, but I get to see the bird close up just as it takes flight.  Sort of like a pterodactyl or some other ancient beast.  Magnificent really.