Streak-o-lean on the buffet marks town's progress

I've been out of town for a few days.  Did I miss anything?  Kelly back in the saddle?  Wink standing tall again?

I went to Smithfield, NC to conduct some family business and visit my older brother.  We've got a cousin and a couple of old biddies who have robbed us of our rightful inheritance.  The whole matter ended in the NC Court of Appeals after 3-1/2 years of legal rasslin'.  To make a long story short, my brother and I got a few thousand dollars to go away and leave my cousin and her sidekicks alone with their new money.  The cousin and her sidelicks got several hundreds of thousands of dollars.  I got enough to buy a new lawn mower.  My brother bought a camera. Oh well, you win a few and you lose a lot.

I did manage to get my truck's broken bumper repaired by a Puerto Rican.  It cost me $150 for parts and labor and took about an hour.  I got three quotes from Reidsville repair shops for $1100 each with a five day estimate for the repair time.

Smithfield is located in a formerly poor county (Johnston) next to a large upscale county (Wake), kinda like Rockingham and Guilford.  Over the years Smithfield has grown and prospered - roads, stores, restaurants, and assorted businesses.  It's been several years since I visited my brother.  It was amazing to see a new world when I returned.

Smithfield's Golden Corral is twice the size of Reidsville.  Rows and rows of food piled high.  Fried clams, stuffed shrimp, an endless variety of about everything.  The buffet even had streak-o-lean.  Don't know what streak-o-lean is?  Don't feel bad, I didn't know either.  Streak-o-lean is Johnston County- speak for fried fatback.  Yes, Smithfield's Golden Corral has fried fatback. The food all tasted as bad as Reidsville's Golden Corral, but there was so much more of it.  It was amazing.

Smithfield's Hibachi Grill was three times the size of Reidsville's Super Super Buffet.  Hibachi Grill was packed with people and its buffet was overflowing with variety.  It was all delicious.  I recommend you try Lei Fun if you ever spy it anywhere.  Lei Fun is a tasty little noodle cooked with some egg and whatever.  Get a bowlful if its available.

We ate at a nice Italian pizza place.  It was called Roma Pizza.  The pizza was excellent.  Best crust I've ever had.  It was owned and operated by Mexicans.

It's kinda depressing to come back to Reidsville after seeing Smithfield.  Smithfield has moved forward while Reidsville continues to shrink, almost ready to blow away in the wind.

To the reader who mentioned this site's pictures were not viewable, all I can say is sorry. I have no idea what the problem might be.   I've read this site with multiple computers in multiple locations using different browsers and operating systems...the pictures were always visible.  Nevertheless, thanks for mentioning the problem.  I'll keep an eye on it.

 

 

Flamin' Hots are banned

I assume you are a fan of Cheetos such as myself.  I mean the crunchy kind, not the puffy kind.  The puffy ones are lame, the crunchy are awesome.

I've been searching for some time for the Flamin' Hot variety.  Reidsville's Lowes grocery certainly doesn't stock them.  Lowes doesn't even carry the Jalapeno Cheddar Cheetos.  All you can find at Lowes is the regular crunchy Cheetos.

You can read about Flamin' Hot Cheetos all over the web.  They got a name for themselves when they were banned by several school districts around the country.  It seems little kids are addicted to them and teachers are upset.  Flamin' Hots make the kids fingers greasy and stained.  The stains end up on the school's fine classroom furniture.  Nothing upsets a teacher like orange stains on a desk.

I can report Flamin' Hots are indeed hot.  I'm don't know why kids are addicted to them.  But I do  know why Lowes doesn't stock them...it's because they've all been shipped to Walmart.  You can't swing a dead cat without hitting a bag of Flamin' Hot Cheetos  at Walmart.

At this point I should mention Walmart grocery is killing Lowes grocery.  The folks who work at Lowes are saying some major changes are coming soon.  Lower prices at Lowes are part of the upcoming plan.  Right now Walmart's prices are about two-thirds of Lowes prices.  Walmart's gocery is crawling with customers while Lowes is definitely in a slump.  My wife is even considering becoming a Walmart grocery shopper, although she refuses to buy meat at Walmart.

Buy your Cheetos at Walmart, but buy your meat elsewhere.

Time Pamphlet

It was more than 40 years ago.  I was in college.  It was lonely and boring.  My mother bought me subscriptions to Time and Newsweek magazines to keep me entertained and out of trouble.  A weekly visit from Time and Newsweek were cause for celebration.

When I graduated from college I let my subscriptions expire.  I haven't seen a copy of either magazine in a very long time.  Newsweek stopped publishing its print version and Time was nothing more than a distant memory.

My daughter gave me a magazine subscription for Christmas.  It was one of the voucher deals which allow you to choose from 20 or so different magazines.  I chose Time magazine as my belated Christmas gift.

My first edition of Time in more than 40 years arrived a few weeks ago.  The cover said it was a special edition.  I assumed the "special" part meant it was only 56 pages long.  Imagine my suprise when the next week's edition was also only 56 or so pages. And then the next, and then the next, and every other edition.

I seem to remember Time being more than twice the size it is now.  I'm pretty sure there is no less news now than there was in 1970.  Time was a real magazine.  It kept a college student informed and entertained.  Time magazine is now a lot like the Reidsville Review.

 A better name might be Time Pamphlet.

Everything is not as it seems

I bumped into a Reidsville Downtown merchant at Lowes Home Improvement today.  He was buying some light bulbs and feeling chatty.

Without being questioned or prompted, he proceeded to recount his tale of how he was recently prosecuted by another downtown merchant.  He was charged with trespassing, stalking, and assault.  The judge tossed out all of the charges, except trespassing.  He was convicted of trespassing and sentenced to five days in jail.  The sentence was suspended.

I noted the charged merchant was not arrested, fingerprinted, photographed, hailed off in handcuffs to stand before a magistrate in Wentworth, and reported on by two newspapers.  I know other downtown merchants who were treated so when they were charged and found not guilty.

Most of the conversation revolved around what a "nut job" the merchant who brought the charges is, how she is being protected by an agent with the FBI or the CIA or some sort of serious sounding agency and a couple of psychics, and how a civil lawsuit against the city and the charging merchant may be forthcoming.

I'm not sure what to make of the account.  The charged merchant is (or was) a member of the High Court of downtown merchants and the charging merchant is regarded as an eccentric at best. 

For the time being, I'm not going to reveal any names. Go out and ask around if you want more information.

Better yet, wait for the Reidsville Review to print an article on the dowtown altercation and know that everything is not as it seems on the surface.

2013 will be a bad year

I'm sure by now you've noticed stink bugs are a bit of a problem.  They can easily be found crawling around the inside of window screens, making a nusance of themselves.  Normally winter is the time for lady bugs, but this year lady bugs are almost non-existent while stink bugs are massing in bug hordes.  Personally I prefer lady bugs.

Wikipedia reports stink bugs are new imports from the far east.  But they seem too familiar to be imported to Pennsylvania from China in 1998.  I remember stink bugs from the time when I was kid which was way before 1998.

Stink bugs eat fruit, being especially fond of tomatoes.

2013 is predicted to be a really bad year for stink bugs. My window screens vefify this may be true.

So far I've not read anything in the Reidsville Review about stink bugs which means they may not actually exist.

Hey, Bieber!

Buy a belt, fool.

I'm not so sure

The next time you go into Reidsville's Lowes Foods look up as you come in the door on the right near the floral area.  When I say "up", I mean all the way up to the ceiling.  Do you see them?  A dozen escaped balloons.  They're always there, at least until their helium escapes, and they drift back down.  Then more get loose from the corral and the cycle continues.

Now go over to the grocery aisles and look up.  There are more escapees.  How did the balloons get there?  Notice the floral area is walled off from the rest of the store yet there are more balloons on the other side of the wall.

My wife thinks the balloons were set free by kids, but I'm not so sure the culprits were kids.

They should know better

Around this time of year wild daffodils start popping out at our house.  There is nothing surprising about the bright yellow flowers shivering in the cold air.  And the first time the temperature hits 60°, frogs begin peeping.  They will peep for a few days and then a cold snap sends them back into their holes.  You would think frogs would know better than to start peeping in February.  Daffodils are dumb, but frogs are seriously stupid.

Who is buried in Grant's tomb

An interesting article.  I wonder who Grant is.