A reader, who is now my friend Jim from Cazenovia, wrote to tell me that I could find chocolate soda at a little shop called Lombardo's in Syracuse. I was pretty excited, both because I discovered I have a reader and because I have a reader who has useful information.
I deployed recon troops immediately, and asked one of our editors, Matt Craver, to drop by and pick up a few bottles.
Matt stopped at the place, and was impressed by the array of specialty sodas available. Alas, no chocolate.
I am a soda lover, however, and so Matt picked up some vanilla bean cream soda (loved it), some sarsaparilla (loved that) and some espresso soda. The espresso wasn't so great. But I loved trying it anyway.
So thanks a ton for the tip, Jim...

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Dave Grieves just came in to tell me that it's raining.
I know that seems funny, because it's November. And if it isn't snowing, chances are pretty good that it's raining. But rain here can be a problem. Especially lots of rain.
A couple of months ago it rained so hard here that several of us were trapped inside. The road was flooded out and my office even suffered some water damage that hasn't yet been repaired.
I felt pretty positive that my Jeep would make it out. Others across the street were getting stuck, but the Jeep sits higher. I could have made it.
But the Jeep was new, and I was worried. I was sure I'd hit something stray in the road and scratch the paint or smash up the engine...

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I hope I remembered to pack my snow brush.
It's funny, but I keep forgetting to check and see whether I moved the one I had from my old car to the new car. And I'm getting dangerously close to too late. At least that's what the falling flakes outside tell me.
I'm pretty good about snow. I don't like shoveling it much, but it doesn't bother me for driving. I don't get depressed to see it outside. I actually look forward to the first real snowfall, especially if I get to be the first on the road in the morning. It makes me almost hopeful to see the world look so clean and neat for just that short amount of time.
Sometimes, on those mornings, I think of snow as a huge sheet or table cloth, covering up all the mess we make of things...

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It's not a secret (I least I don't think it is) that women's bathrooms are more comfortable than men's.
Men take care of the business at hand without privacy, usually in an ill-kept, odor-filled, purely functional "room." We aren't looking to spend time there. Women have all sorts of things, depending on where you are. Some ladies' rooms have flowers, scented oils -- even couches, for crying out loud!
I don't begrudge them that. I don't understand it, but it doesn't upset me.
It also didn't surprise me that Julie, who is our classified ad director and the most generous person I know, decided to make the ladies room a little more comfortable for all who used it. She's been quietly doing it for a while, without taking credit...

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