Categories
Month: October 2011
…
Categories
Tagging along
You guys know I like Tagalongs, right? As in the Girl Scout Cookies with the peanut butter in the center and the chocolate on the outside? I call chocolate-peanut-butter ice cream “sex on a spoon,” so this is basically sex in cookie form. If you think the notion of buying sex in cookie form from Girl Scouts is awkward if not outright disturbing, consider this even more alarming fact: they only sell Girl Scout Cookies once or so a year.
Which probably explains why I’m actually not fatter than I already am.
A while back, Wal-Mart tried to make their own versions of Tagalongs. They failed. The balance was off. The beauty of Tagalongs is that you’ve got just the right amount of PB inside, and just the right amount of fudge on the outside sealing it in – neither flavor really dominates. It’s nature’s most perfect food, aside from that whole pesky not-really-contributing-anything-nutritionally-meaningful thing. Wal-Mart also took a huge amount of criticism for trying to approximate the recipe and therefore, by extension, trying to steal sales from a wholesome organization like the Girl Scouts. Okay, I can kinda see that angle too, though I think that had everything to do with it being Wal-Mart that was doing it.
But now, completely under the radar, I’ve found that someone else has done a damn nifty job of approximating the recipe and getting the balance right. You can get these at Aldi stores, and they are delicious, and make no mistake… they are Tagalongs.
Truth in advertising: whoever Benton is, these are indeed the best
They’re also only a couple of bucks a box. I know, I know… I’m evil and self-serving.
Aldi doesn’t have them in stock year-round (yet), but they do make them available a few times a year as advertised specials. And when they do, I will be there. Because even when I buy Tagalongs, real Tagalongs (and I still do, you know), I never have enough cash on me to do the whole freeze-a-year-round-supply thing that so many people talk about doing but never actually do.
Besides, it’s best if I buy only a few boxes, a few times a year. Do you know know long a single container of Tagalongs (or their generic twins) lasts around me? Not very long.… Read more
Categories
Basket cases
Laundry baskets are for clean laundry. And catboys who like sleeping and shedding on clean laundry.
Life as a cat is so rough in this house. Small wonder we’ve got [only] five of them.… Read more
Categories
After-action report: visit to Game Point in Conway, AR
The boy and I happened to have time to kill in Conway this afternoon (while mom was at a work-related function – things being what they are right now, she’s about the only one with work-related functions to attend), and not far from our hotel was a massive store with all sorts of video game logos in the windows: Xbox 360, PS3, Wii… whoa, wait, a vintage Atari logo? Since Little E is already my video gaming buddy (it just so happens that most of the games reviewed in Phosphor Dot Fossils these days are picked by him almost at random, which explains why recent reviews there have been such an eclectic mix) and an avowed Mario fan, we made it a point to visit this place called Game Point.
Sadly, this photo was taken as we were back at the car, so it doesn’t show the giant Atari logo … Read more
Categories
Kitten home found!
The itty bitty kitty is now someone else’s welcoming committee!
Here she is, just a few minutes before her new family came to pick her up. Her name is now Spook, and she’s spreading kitten kraziness to a new home. I hear she’s making the whole family very happy.
Bon voyage, Spooky cat. We were glad to have you here with our motley assortment o’ kitties, but we’re even more glad you’re bringing the pint-sized fuzzy crazy to a new family.… Read more
Categories
The department of mousing and urban development
First off: mission accomplished! A home has been found for the pretty mystery kitten. I’m glad we could, for once, add four legs to someone else‘s family for a change.
It’s very late at night, and I just came back from the kitchen and noticed that an annual ritual has begun that takes place every year when it finally gives up on being warm and gets seriously cold. Every year, Obi and Puck (it used to be Obi and Othello) start camping out in the kitchen and staring intently at every nook, every cranny, every cabinet door. It’s like they know something and they’re not sharing that information with me.
It’s like they hear a mouse or something. … Read more
Categories
Adopt this kitten!
The Tail Waggin’ Mail Wagon has once again made a pickup and now needs to make a delivery. This would be kitty #6 for us, and with me presently not employed, the sustainability of having the existing five cats is a big question mark. Number Six needs to find a new village. She’s a very pretty kitty.
…
Categories
Puzzled
In case you hadn’t noticed, Scribblings has undergone another revamp. I’ve never particularly felt like my personal blog needs to have the same “look and feel” as the rest of the site, but I’ve grown so fond of the Easel theme being used everywhere else that I’m actually more than happy to make everything unified this time. Perhaps not surprisingly, my blog section is a bit more… colorful. Easel gives you lots of options, and if you have any graphics or PHP chops at all, you can coax it into giving you even more options. It’s the best WordPress theme I’ve encountered thus far. Really.
The “season to taste” menu is still there, though it may go away soon. It’ll allow you to swing things back over to the faux-Facebook look, though I’m gonna come right out and say that I’m becoming less and less enamoured with Facebook with every change they roll out. I suspect that the “timeline” thing they dump on us by the end of this year may be a make-or-break for me. And for a lot of other people. I don’t just automatically dislike every Facebook alteration that lands on our doorstep; it’s this jacked-up “OHCRAPWENEEDTOADDTHISBEFOREGOOGLEPLUSTHINKSOFIT!” stuff that’s really annoying. They’re really feeling threatened by Google Plus, aren’t they? Here’s a hint, Zuckerberg: making constant changes to a system that people have liked and enjoyed is what drives them to Google Plus. Just a crazy thought. Anyway, that being said, you can switch back to the Faux Facebook look if you like. While supplies last.
Drifting dangerously closer to my original point: the near-psychedelic background artwork for this section is my invention and mine alone, and had a lot to do with the state of mind I was in on Friday when I put it together.
Puzzling, isn’t it?… Read more
Categories
Little E vs. the undead
We have a fun little game that’s good for learning letters and words. This was the hand I wound up with this morning.
As you can see, this game is great for exercising our… braaaaaaiiiiiinnnnsssss… … Read more
Categories
LASTDAY
Holy crap. I want to work this morning and my palm crystal had turned red! LASTDAY! Time to report to carousel.
One of the last things I worked on was checking and prepping this morning’s Live With Regis & Kelly, the source of more than one closed captioning snafu. This one was funny: when you slow it down and pause it for whatever reason (getting up to answer the phone, answer a question, have a conversation with someone, save the universe, etc.), the captioning sticks on whatever characters last came through, and it repeats itself onscreen. It doesn’t do this on air, just on the edit station.
I just thought it was weirdly appropriate.
It’s like the equipment knows, man.
Last day at the station was more or less quiet. I’m so happy that I don’t have to drive to Rogers every night and back from Rogers every day. There aren’t words to describe how much of a drag that was, and how tired I was as the end of either leg of the trip.
Best of luck to my former co-workers. Enjoy your nice new batcave.… Read more
