The Short Saturday Post

A link… I’ve been waiting for quite some time now for a “killer” Air Force blog to pop up in the blogosphere…someone to give Lex a run for his money when it comes to writing about the ins and outs of military aviation, well-told war stories, and just high-quality writing, in general. Perhaps I’ve set the bar too high, because if there’s one thing I know about life it’s this: most people can’t write. That may be especially true about the military. I digress yet again. But here’s an Air Force blog candidate: chic[k] pilot. Chick Pilot riffs on Tantor’s rant about the (sorta) new USAF Memorial and the difference between the Blue and Green Air Force(s). Both are good reads. Tantor, by the way, works in the Puzzle Palace, is ex-USAF and an ex-aviator, to boot.

Good Buddy Michele took me to task in the comments yesterday about failing to mention Danny Wegman’s Famous Food Stores has won another award…this time from the Food Network. As I told Michele…Wegmans is the one thing I miss most about Ra-cha-cha, aside from my friends. This statement isn’t arguable: Wegmans is the best damned supermarket chain in the entire world. Just in case you didn’t chase that Wiki entry, here are just a few fun facts about Weggies:

· Wegmans won the 2007 Food Network Award for Best Grocery Store.^[5]

· In March 2007, Wegmans was ranked No. 5 in the BusinessWeek Top 25 list of "Customer Service Champs".^[6]

· Wegmans has been named one of the "Top 100 Companies to Work For" in America by Fortune magazine every year since the inception of the list in 1998, ranking No. 1 in 2005 and No. 2 in 2007.^{[7][8][9][10]} The 2007 list brought Wegmans up to No. 2 from No. 5 in 2006.^[11]

· Consumer Reports magazine ranked the chain as number one in its survey of the top 54 supermarkets in the United States for 2006.

As if having their own Wikipedia entry isn’t enough, Wegmans also has a local wiki in Ra-cha-cha. Here’s an excerpt:

Wegmans is not just a supermarket, it's an experience. Open 24 hours a day, with shuttle service to and from your car, it offers fresh local and worldwide produce, a pharmacy, florist, enormous deli, wood fired bakery, patisserie, submarine sandwich shop, fromagerie, organic/health food sections, butcher, fish monger, and sushi chef- as well as a plethora of delicious pre-cooked meals. Depending on the location there might also be a full Chinese food bar, salad bar, chicken wing bar, pizza shop or Godiva. The store specializes in delivering a wide selection of high quality goods at low prices. You can find $399.00/lb truffles and vine-ripened tomatoes to star fruit and plantains; Camembert to aged cheddar; orange roughy to king crab legs; bagels to Foccacia; Budweiser to Speights; egg rolls to filet mignon; Ceasar salad to rotisserie chicken; fruit tarts to organic yogurt. In short, if it isn't stocked by Wegmans, it isn't worth buying.

Now there may be a specialty market somewhere that comes close to Wegman’s in terms of service, selection, quality, and all that stuff; it’s possible, maybe even probable. And…don’t even mention Whole Foods, puh-leeze. WF is over priced, over-trendy, and over-patronized by the Birkenstock crowd. Wegmans is for real people, not frickin’ fruit-and-nuts organic hippie wanna-bees. (Hmmm. Did I over do that last?) I only wish Wegmans didn’t limit themselves to the Northeast, coz P-Town sure could use a one. Understatement, that.

There, Michele. And yeah…I think you should start your own blog, while we’re on it. You have a…uh…rather unique point of view, Girl!

Bad weather in store today…at least according to the WX Channel:

Southwest winds will continue to increase through late morning to 25 to 35 mph with gusts to 50 mph starting over the higher terrain of the central mountains and adjacent east slopes and over the lower Rio Grande valley. The strong winds will then spread over the eastern plains by early afternoon. By late morning and early afternoon wind speeds could reach 30 to 40 mph with gust of 55 mph especially over the central mountains and adjacent east central high plains. Wind speeds will decrease during the evening.

With thunderstorms!! The dry line is sitting right on top of the NM – Texas state line, or right on top of us. Oh, Goodie.