Ramblings on a Christmas Morning

    I'm pretty much finished with everything to do with Christmas already, so I don't have much of anything to talk about today.  No one is probably going to read this today anyway.  Well, maybe, so why be topical? I mean, no one offered suggestions for my next serial posts as of last week.  No one found the term "takeaway" instead of "take-out" in last week's post, or commented on the strikethrough 'victim' as part of a pun to the title either.  Anyhow.  Today is just another boring day, albeit a little behind schedule.  I don't get gifts any more, as it is only my mother, and she is not the best at getting me gifts.  She has been known to mess gifts up even after I tell her the exact things to get.  I've already finished going over hundreds of books coming out in February, a task I started yesterday but had to stop when my computer's battery started to run down and it was too close to closing time to start recharging it. (I found nine more books that I might get for the store, or myself.) There were only three customers at my store yesterday:  a woman who came in to pay for some chocolate-covered cherries she got but had problems getting her credit card transaction to work, a man who got a gift certificate for a neighbor, and a man who picked up almost $400 in cherries he ordered over a week previously.  We had to stay open a little later than planned for the that one.  The rest of my day will just be my usual random internet searching, a few games, a weightlifting session this afternoon, and maybe a nap.  I have to be ready tomorrow when I have to start the year-end inventory, as well as the trying to figure out the best order to take down the Christmas decorations so I can take home the more delicate things on days without a forecast for rain.  Some things won't matter if they get slightly wet, so I'll probably take them back first. My special technique for counting inventory is sort of tricky, but I realize I can't explain it in an easy fashion. It allows me to not just tabulate what the stock currently is, but also double-check on what had been sold over the past year.  (I do weekly checks on those books, but I have been known to haphazardly miss one or two.) Quite frankly, I am starting to get bored writing this morning.  I always planned on having a brief post today that kind of just plods along, so I feel I have achieved that goal. See you next week.  Year.  Whatever.  Merry Christmas!

Serial Filler

    Earlier this year, I wrote a series of posts about every single place where I bought/could have bought comic books.  I followed that up with a much shorter series about every single place where I bought my World of Darkness RPGs, as well as places where I almost/could've bought them.  I also had a few posts listing some of my favorite things.  Well, I've been thinking about doing another such series.  On one hand, it gives me content that can last for weeks, if not months.  This makes it very easy to plan my blogcast.  On the other hand, I sometimes forget some of the details after planning so far in advance.  I also have to delay some more topical posts rather than interrupting an ongoing series. My recent RPG series delayed the past six weeks of posts, making some of them slightly later than they should have been. Still, the ease of creating such series makes them very desirable.  So, what should I write about next? Books would have been a great choice, but I pretty much already mentioned practically all of them in my comic book series. [I have visited one new book store, the Barnes and Noble at the Fayette Mall in Lexington, since that series.  I didn't buy anything.  No magazines, but some graphic novels and manga. It really had a great atmosphere.] I don't really want to rehash mostly the same material so soon.  Magazines might be a little better, as a few places that I hadn't mentioned in my comic book series would be included, but maybe not enough to warrant going over them again.  Toys were a possible choice, but many of the same places would be brought up again.  Furthermore, I really haven't bought any toys since the early 90s. (Yes, that would place me in my early 20s. Don't judge.) I also have no idea where some of the toys I got as gifts came from.  Now, music might be a good bet.  I used to buy all sort of singles and albums back in the day.  I still buy CDs.  I bought three in the past two years.  Unfortunately, most of these places have gone out of business. I've even forgotten many of their names. The few places that remain have seriously cut back on product, mainly relying on vinyl, a format I can no longer play. I also don't have any digital recordings.  I'm just not into that format yet.  Video games were another possibility. The only problem is that I haven't bought a new console game in twenty years.  Haven't even played one in almost that long too. Mostly, it is just mobile apps on my MacBook and iPhone. Clothing was a strong choice, one that I've mentioned a few times.  Remembering which places I actually bought stuff from, as opposed to just browsing, might get difficult.  Also, I've pretty much just bought clothes from just three stores over the last decade or so.  Maybe four or five if I add shoes and mail-order. I thought about doing supermarkets/grocery stores as a unique take.  Sure, I've already covered many of them, but there might just be enough that haven't made the list yet to warrant doing a series on them.  It just feels a tad boring and dull. [As an aside, in planning for a possible series, I thought that most stores had a counterclockwise flow from entrance to check-out.  Turns out, while the majority do, many stores have a clockwise flow.  Many more than I originally thought.] The leading contender for my next series, though, will be restaurants and other food service places.  Dine in, takeaway, and even some delivery.  Just going over the Pikeville/Coal Run area will take three weeks.  Probably more.  There would be many repeats, with up to eight or nine locations of certain ones.  Sometimes with two for the same locale.  Still, this is the one I'm leaning towards.  Of course, I could take this into a different direction entirely.  I could go with car dealerships or libraries (three to at least eight, with maybe two or three more to the former if I include those my mom dragged me to).  I could go with favorite magazine runs and subscriptions. Toy lines. Television viewing habits.  Meal plans.  Exercises and routines. (I'm currently up to 115 abdominal crunches in a row.) The list literally goes on and on. So, what will be my next victim, topic?

What's Poppin' in the New Year

    This past summer, I clicked on a suggestion from a comic book news site on Facebook about a certain Olympic athlete's fail (i.e. "The Bulge").  For the next few weeks, I was getting the worst suggestions.  It took a while to clear out, but I am now getting a fairly steady supply of comedy, astrology, and weightlifting tips in Reels. (Although one recent 'tip' had a guy performing a bench press only to look up his spotter's gym shorts.  Cut to a kitten bapping a Christmas ornament. NO.) Another thing that has shown up is information about new food products getting ready to appear at supermarkets and restaurants. Way back in late September/early October, I got news about a number of new sodas coming out next year.  I finally have the time in my blogcast to cover the ones I am most interested in.  Note that I am only covering what I have seen and double-checked, so things might not be as exact as I am mentioning here.  First off is A&W Ice Cream Float.  This is the first special flavor I can remember coming from A&W so this could be a big thing.  On the other hand, this one isn't due out until late next year, and the little bit of information about it is kind of sketchy.  Supposedly, it will taste like an ice cream float with a cherry on top.  I guess I'm in for this.  For those who can't wait, you could probably mix A&W Root Bear with Cream Soda and add a splash of Cherry 7-Up (a related brand) to duplicate what the taste could be.  The rest of these flavors are pretty much confirmed and are due in the first quarter of 2025.  Next is Orange Cream Coke.  Coke used to have an orange vanilla flavor that was recently discontinues, so I'm not sure how this flavor will be different. Coke has stopped production of a number of flavors recently, so bringing back an older one with a slight difference is unusual.  I will say that the original orange vanilla flavor was one of the few Coke varieties I could stand, so I might be willing to try this one as well.  Maybe.  The next flavor is Wild Cherry Vanilla Pepsi.  Again, this would be an update of a discontinued flavor. I personally like this flavor combination, although I found the original version a little too sweet. [Cherry Vanilla Dr Pepper is still one of my top two flavors of all time, with Crystal Pepsi being the other.  Supposedly, Dr Pepper still makes it, but I haven't seen any around in years, and I don't order food online.  However, if anyone does find it in the 'wild,' it would make a good Christmas/birthday present.  Just saying.] I will definitely be trying this one.  Probably multiple times.  I just hope it isn't too sweet this time around.  Finally, Dr Pepper is coming out with Blackberry.  They have had a limited-edition flavor called 'Dark Berry' many times over the years.  Its flavor profile was supposedly blackberry, black cherry, and black currant. The first time I tried it, I didn't really care for it.  However, I enjoyed it more in later tastings.  I'm not sure if I would like blackberry on its own though.  Yes, I do eat blackberries on their own.  They are not my most favorite berry, but they are way about raspberry and would make a better pop than blueberry, although I would probably like that one.  Earlier this month, Dr Pepper was giving away free samples of a mystery flavor, probably this one.  Unfortunately, they were all gone by the time I found out about them.  I didn't have enough points to redeem to purchase one anyway, but still. Of all of these new flavors, this is the only one I know I will be trying multiple times. I will say that the purple cans look neat as well, better than the red, white, and blue of the Wild Cherry Vanilla Pepsi at least.

A Balm for My Irritated Soul/Skin

    As a consequence of my annual late-fall shopping trip, I found out that my favorite after shave balm (not lotion, more on that later) had been discontinued.  I go on about four of these shopping trips per year as a day off from work and to check on products not really found locally. My last trip didn't turn out too well, so I had hoped this one would be better.  I had to delay it by a week, as the weather was too rainy for the original date, but it allowed me to research and plan things out better.  I was running a few minutes late that morning, but I was ready to go within the scheduled time frame.  However, the person accompanying me needed over twenty minutes more to get ready.  This made us late, only to be compounded by having to drop off some chocolate-covered cherries to a customer and an unscheduled rest stop.  Not to mention a regular scheduled rest stop later on. Ultimately, we were over thirty minutes behind schedule, so a few destinations had to be cut out, as well as a few things I was looking for.  Fortunately, I had looked online for a few things, so I knew what to look for.  I already knew that there weren't going to be any shirts in the brands I follow in the color palette I needed, but I took a quick glance anyway just to make sure.  Pants and jeans were almost better, but still nothing in the style, color, and size (W34 L29/30 is a tricky combination sometimes). I wound up not trying a single thing on that day, even with all of the great sales going on.  Finally,  I went after my Bleu de Chanel eau de perfum and after shave balm.  While I found the former, no one had the latter.  The clerks even mentioned they weren't getting their orders in. I wound up just getting a small bottle of Bleu (stupid inflation).  So, while I spent more this shopping trip than my previous one, I actually got fewer things. I got back home only a little later in the day than I would for a normal Tuesday, made a little later because I forgot to bring the windshield frost cover that morning. (Turns out, while it did frost that night, it melted before I left for work the next morning.) I somehow I managed to cram a day's worth of streaming videos, social networking, and playing games into a few hours that night.  Along the way, I managed to get an ad for Bleu.  So, I naturally clicked it to check out what was going on.  Turns out that Chanel had discontinued its entire after shave balm line for all of its men's fragrances.  Instead, there was a 'watery' after shave lotion for better coverage, as well as moisturizer for skin care.  I have always preferred balm as it provided a better soothing sensation for my sensitive skin, and not just the irritation I get because I never really learned how to shave via a cartridge or electric razor. Now, I don't know what to do.  I don't want to order a different product online, unless I tried it out for myself in the store first.  Not just because of the scent, but the coverage as well.  I'm not due for another shopping trip until February, and I might not be going to a store with a great selection of men's fragrances.  There really isn't a great selection locally, at least for the higher end products.  Even then, I wouldn't want to get another fragrance that might clash with my regular Bleu.  I don't like many scents, so I tend to stick with one for a long time.  (I usually only shave every other day, but I only use after shave on the days I actually go out, so about twelve to fourteen times a month.)  I will probably be forced to buy a bottle of cheap stuff from the super-center like I did during the lockdown. In fact, my current bottle might be the one I got when I could go on shopping trips again. Yes, it can take me that long to go through them. That's why I am taking my time in determining what to do.