And now I don't. What the heck.

I've been writing for a long time, and recently I've clammed up. This isn't good. I still have all the opinions, but I am simply not letting them out.

I am planning on writing more, but not in a blog.

People laugh at what I am saying all the time. I need to capture the laughter, I need to capture the material. I am a 45 year old of above average intelligence who travels trough life (be it the life in DFW or the "real" world) and has observations that ought to be shared. I am going to try it. Ignore it if it is boring.

Thankyouverymuch!

Why hello there, Foghorn Leghorn, er, I mean Claudio!

This week's fast food chicken icon comes all the way from the streets of Buenos Aires, Argentina, apparently a city beyond the reach of U.S. copyright lawyers.

I snapped this photo back in October while walking along one of Buenos Aires' main streets. David asked, "Aren't you going to take a picture of that for your Fast Food Chicken Icon of the Week series?" So I did, and a mere eight months later, here he is in all his scared witless glory...

Claudio!

The sign reads Pollo a las Brasas, which translates to "chicken of the coals", or basically a chargrilled chicken. Unlike most Spanish-speaking countries, in Argentina the "ll" is pronounced "sh", so one would say, "posho a las brasas."

And I can't describe how delicious that sounds to me at the moment (sorry, Claudio).

So, looking at Claudio's face, he is clearly horrified by something (and rightly so), but what? We can't see what he is looking at. Could he be watching the fate of other chickens before him? Could it be that he sees the grill for which he is destined? Or did someone just unexpectedly remove his drumstick with a cleaver? More than likely, he is mortified by the way people drive in Buenos Aires, since he seems to be looking down towards a major street. Trust me, Buenos Aires driving is even more exciting that Paris driving, and Claudio appears to agree.

Or is he reacting to the fact that they deliver? Or that he is wearing a chef's toque? Or that he has a long-lost twin north of the equator... you be the judge:

It was very cold this morning, in the teens, which is extreme for us here in the Dallas area. When it gets this cold, if there is any sign of impending moisture, schools and government offices tend to close. Face it, we do not know how to drive in "weather" and we are better off at home.

This morning I was driving east along U.S. Hwy 380 at full speed, about 60 miles per hour. The roadways were completely dry, and I was behind other traffic that was moving at the same pace. There was no one behind me.

As I approached Hardin Road, the signal turned to yellow. It was one of those moments: Can I stop safely, or do I go on through? I probably should have stopped, but I saw some sort of slow moving convoy of work vehicles approaching from the opposite direction, and I somehow processed that they were sand trucks, and therefore I should not apply my brakes in case of ice on the roadway.

The light turned red just as I entered the intersection.

I made the requisite "horrified that I did that" facial expression to signal to other motorists that I am not a jerk.

As I drove through the intersection, it became clear that the convoy was a street sweeper and not a sand truck. I never see street sweepers here in Texas, so where did this come from and why was it sweeping the center lane of the three westbound lanes?

As luck would have it, a police vehicle turned onto Hwy 380 from Hardin Road and began to follow me in my lane. There was no other traffic behind me, so it was glaringly obvious that he was behind me. I could even feel him glaring at me, running my plates.

He followed me for a while. I fumbled around the center console of my car for my work badge. At least if he saw the logo on the badge he would assume that I was poor and perhaps take pity on me and just issue a warning. Except for my car, while several years old, is considered a luxury vehicle. Crap.

So he followed me almost to Central Expressway, in that intimidating way that cops do, by driving near or behind one who has just committed some infraction.

Then he turned into Chic-Fil-A, a popular place for the officers to stop for a meal.

I seriously thought, as I continued straight and he turned into the parking lot, hooray, "Eat Mor Chikin!"

It is a frequently asked question in our area. What can we do when the relatives come to visit? And it's a good question, as Dallas doesn't have too many interesting natural sights to see. We've no beach, no mountains, and not much that really stands out from the rest of the country. In fact, we seem to have a large percentage of chain retail and restaurants, and a short list of unique or interesting attractions.

So, I'm assembling this catalog of good things to do in the north Texas area, especially those things to do near McKinney.

I'm not ruling out shopping altogether, but I am leaving out most malls and chain stores. Who really wants to travel across several states to go to a generic mall with the same stores and merchandise as one can find at home?

If you have any suggestions of additions to my list, feel free to comment!

Just a friendly note to small businesses:

I know that your employees may be stressed right now. Many businesses are having tough times, and that makes things even harder for those small businesses who are already up against the low prices of the corporate giants and the anything-for-a-buck-made-in-China-loving American public.

So, if you, Mr. Small Business Owner, decide to run a special in order to attract business, please ensure that your employees know about the special and that they hide any dislike for what may be a loss leader.

If you own a hardware store, and you have to special order an advertised item, please actually order the item for the customer. Odds are fairly high that the customer actually wants the item for which they drove to your store to purchase. They may even want it fairly quickly. And if the customer calls to inquire if the advertised item that had to be special ordered has arrived (since your employees didn't call like they said they would), please tell the employees to check thoroughly before saying "yes, it's here". The customer has already gone out of their way to shop at your store, no need to have them return solely for an exercise in asking for a product that isn't there.

Also, if you own a hardware store and an item is advertised at a specific price in the sales flyer and on the shelf tag, it would be good if you actually charged the sales price for that item. If the Murphy's Oil Soap is advertised at $2.50, please ring it up at that price, and not $4.29. As a matter of principal, I will be back for my $1.79 and I will be less inclined to go out of my way to shop at your place if it takes 3+ visits to get what I need. I may be a savant as far as what everything in the cart should ring up, but I should be able to send my husband to buy a few things without being grossly overcharged. He isn't a savant in that regard, and he trusts you to do what you say, i.e. charge him the correct price for the stuff he buys from you.

If you own a restaurant, and you run an ad for a weekday dinner special, please inform your waitstaff of said special. Let them know that you need the new customers and perhaps even mention that the customers are not a bother but rather an asset. Customers who come in for the special, but are served up a heaping plate of attitude along with their Italian food are not likely to return to purchase entrees at full price. I don't want to be treated like a burden for taking you up on an offer that you voluntarily extended. By "you" I mean you or your employees because they are representing you. Yes, we took you up on your two dinners for $17, which was a killer deal, but we also bought a bottle of wine and a dessert, and tipped and spent $60 at your restaurant instead of our original plan of eating soup and sandwiches at home.

Small business cannot survive "just because". I will not pay the same or higher prices to be treated poorly. We don't live in Mayberry, RFD. There are alternatives out there and while I may not like them, if their service manages to surpass yours, I don't plan on paying more for inept or flat out bad service. Yes, everyone messes up from time to time, and I'm the first one to acknowledge that, but a bad attitude is not okay.

Times are tough right now, small business owners. Don't let bad attitudes or misguided employees sink your business!

Nothing makes me long for apartment living more than having to replace a large part of a fairly new house.

Last year, our neighborhood was hit with a series of fairly strong hail storms. The most memorable one hit around 5:30 a.m. on a Saturday morning. The loud cracking noise coming from the roof woke me, and fairly convinced me that the house was on fire. Baseball-sized hail tends to make quite a racket, I can attest.

Many of the houses in our area needed a new roof. Perhaps a third of our subdivision, and slightly south of us, almost entire subdivisions. The roofing trucks were on the prowl, like sharks looking for prey, many with out of state plates.

We got conflicting opinions on the state of our roof, so we put it off. With the one year mark coming up, and the accompanying insurance claim deadline, we had the adjuster out. Yep, we need a new roof, in the $10,000 range.

Our eighth anniversary is coming up:
Traditional 8th wedding anniversary presents have a theme of Bronze and Pottery.
A contemporary or modern 8th anniversary present has a theme of Lace and Linen. 
The flowers associated with the 8th anniversary are Clematis

Perhaps our eight anniversary gift will be a bill for a new roof on some nice linen paper! Ugh. Let's pray for a year of no hail, please. At least not the big stuff.

Hello, fellow middle class Americans.

Let me fill you in on a relatively newly widespread phenomenon, known as the "bridge line". You are probably a bridge line consumer, but don't know it.

Bridge lines refer to higher end luxury items marketing to lower end consumers. We used to see "bridge departments" in high end department stores, where one could buy more trendy clothing by designers from higher end labels.

An example might be a cotton knit dress with a Dior Sport label.

At one time, this was referred to as "better sportswear", etc.

Nowadays, every high end retailer has a lower end line. The line between the average and the rich is blurred by such product lines as "Armani Exchange", "BCBG", etc. Look at the local outlet malls and their offerings, such as Hilfiger, Coach, etc.

If you have ever bought from these bridge lines, versus the "real deal", you know that the labels have been diluted. Many of the bridge line products differ from the original quality by being outsourced to China.

How many middle class American woman are sold on Coach and other purses that sell for $600 + dollars that are made in China?

These are not the same Coach purses from 15 years ago. Nor are they the same Louis Vuitton, etc. They are cheap versions, even if "genuine".

Even Tiffany has a bridge line these days. You can buy Tiffany stainless steel cutlery instead of their silver, priced within reach of most households. And, some of their hottest selling items are their sterling silver with the logo charm. One of their best selling stainless flatware lines tackily enough has their logo on the topside of the utensils. So, people are buying the cheapest stuff with the biggest logo and claiming to be Tiffany customers.

Way to go, Tiffany, Coach, and all the other labels. Way to cheapen yourselves and your brand beyond repair. You are no longer exclusive in any way. Bravo!

Dear Farmer, how we love thee and your new found ability to roam about the country.
How we love that you no longer must stay home to tend to cattle, fowl and hog.
With joy we marvel of numerous connecting flights, you can make your way to San Diego, California via Frontier.
And also that you have a cell phone. That works on an airplane.
We lament your hearing loss, through years of exposure to loud machinery. Or perhaps a loud wife.
We applaud your ability to talk loudly about the wonder of lobster, California weather, and your first plane ride, on Frontier Airlines.
And confessing to the person on the other end of the line that you called, "Just to holler at them", all the while hollering loudly.
And for making the rest of the passengers laugh, and talk to one another a little in a friendly way.
Because you innocently disobey the flight attendant.
Farmer, you are a breath of fresh air compared to the willfully self-absorbed so-called sophisticate,
Who thinks he is more important than most, and above the rules.
You make us laugh with glee and wish we also might fly to Nebraska
Instead of hating our fellow man.

Christmas time is here again. Why is this always a surprise to me? Here I am thinking I have plenty of time to send out my cards when in reality we are down to just 12 days before the big day.

Anyway, it is the time of year when people are thinking about what to give the loved ones in their lives.

And the acquaintances, and complete strangers.

Gift giving has gone over the top, and unfortunately it is now the norm to purchase gifts for people we simply don't know, just because they perform some function in our lives.

Nothing screams (to me, anyway), "I don't know you from Adam" more than a Starbucks gift card.

If you don't know me well enough to pick out something I might enjoy, please don't buy me anything at all. Please save your money to spend on people you do know, or better, give to someone who really needs it. I don't like overpriced crappy coffee, I don't often eat at fast food or chain restaurants and I won't start now because I have a gift card. I don't shop at many big box retailers.

I have some Nordstrom gift cards that were given to me perhaps five years ago by someone who probably thought Nordstrom was a really impressive place to shop. I used to think so too when I was in my 20s but I lost interest in Nordstrom many years ago. So, Nordstrom has had $50 in free money for a few years now, and may have it forever. What a great gift for Nordstrom, but a waste for the giver, and of no benefit to the receiver. $50 just isn't going to make me go out of my way to enter Nordstrom, or a mall.

Gift cards have flourished in recent years and they don't really benefit the public. They are great for the retailers though. How many gift cards go unredeemed because the recipient has no use for the product? Or as in the case of Starbucks, the recipient may actually dislike the product.

Many retailers start deducting value from unused gift cards. So the recipient who doesn't use the card fast enough faces a reduction in value. How is that a good value for the giver or the receiver? It is only good for the store.

Let's not forget that with gift cards, if the retailer goes belly up, the bankruptcy court will likely not allow them to honor the gift cards, so those gifts can become free money to the failing retailer and a complete waste to the giver and receiver.

What would happen if we all stepped back from the catch-all "solution" of gift cards and paid more attention to the recipients habits and feelings? If we don't know the recipient well enough to know some of their habits, perhaps we should stop giving meaningless gifts to strangers.

Another fine Wal-Mart experience.

Jdimytai Damour, 34, was crushed as he and other employees attempted to unlock the doors of a Long Island, New York, store at 5 a.m. Friday, police said.

“This incident was avoidable,” said Bruce Both, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 1500, the state of New York’s largest grocery worker’s union.

“Where were the safety barriers? Where was security? How did store management not see dangerous numbers of customers barreling down on the store in such an unsafe manner?

Please do not insult animals by comparing them to these "shoppers". Better words for these "shoppers" might be lowlifes, dirtbags, bullies, or I guess now, killers. But as long as y'all got your discounted crap, congratulations.

And as long as Wal-Mart makes a few bucks each year, I'm sure we will see the sales events continue.

Was anyone surprised that this death occurred at a Wal-Mart? I wasn't.

I even read about grown men pushing down little girls at the local Wal-Mart near where we live. Also, there was a lot of cussing going on among North Texas shoppers fighting over low prices. Nice.

I doubt I will ever step foot in their stores again. I feel sick that I ever did.