Rehoboth Mall Early Morning Shopping 7-20-2-25 And Other Ramblings

Embolden by my early morning success of the past two days of venturing out early in the morning to beat the summertime traffic, I got up early to make a Walmart shopping run.

Normally in the summertime, I wouldn't go near the Walmart in the Rehoboth Mall because of the heavy traffic and crazy drivers. Almost every weekend there is an accident, sometimes fatal. And remember last year when I collapsed in the Walmart parking lot and had to spend three days in the hospital for a series of tests? That was when my best pals Glen (from California) and Pat (from Canada) were here in Lower Slower for a visit to Casa Tipton-Kelly where I played the Gracious Host. Thank God there were here because they had to look after Casa Tipton-Kelly while I was held captive at Beebe Hospital for tests. 

I wasn't sure if Walmart was opened early but apparently someone in marketing got wise and YES, Walmart opens at 6 AM! I'm old enough to remember that, especially on Sundays stores like Walmart didn't open until 11 AM. I remember going to the Dover Mall and standing outside with a crowd of people waiting for J C Penney to open it's doors at 10 AM on weekdays and 11 on Sunday. Hey folks, do you want to sell your merchandise or not? Finally, some of these businesses are getting "it." I can see why Lowe's early (for the contractors) but Walmart.

My empty Walmart shopping cart needs to be filled!

Well, when I hobbled in the store, there were plenty of summertime visitors to the beach shopping. Among the shoppers were a rather large Hispanic family shopping. When I see Hispanics shopping now I'm on the lookout for Trump's Gestapo Ice agents out profiling little brown people to arrest. So far none of that police state activity here in Lower Slower thank God. Not that we don't have a large Hispanic population, Mexicans and also many Guatemalans. In fact, at the Georgetown Walmart there are so many Hispanic shoppers one would think  you were shopping in Mexico City. I feel so bad for my Hispanic neighbors, having to live in fear every time they go out shopping now because of Trump's Secret Police Ice Agents who could possible whisk them off to a foreign gulag. What kind of world are we living in folks? But I digress, this is a subject for another blog.

At Walmart I stocked up on Walmart's Bran cereal which contains 100% vitamins on almost everything and at only $2.38 a box, it a real bargain. I was also able to find a Gnome to complete my little flower garden around my now naked transformer on the border of my property. Remember a few weeks when Comcast's Goon Squad came by and ripped out Bill's fence and my clematis plants? That ugly scar was really bothering me every time I looked at it and also damaging my reputation as the Flower Man of the neighborhood. I just couldn't let that now fertile soil go barren like a Mars landscape. I've planted annuals there, which of course are having trouble rooting in our current heat wave, to soften that now naked spot. And besides, that dirt around the transformer has been carefully cultivated over the past twenty years. I'm not about to give it up to.........grass and even worse, crab grass which is now trying to make inroads. So aggressive that crab/wire/Bermuda grass. As long as I'm alive and living here I will not let that happen.

Walmart parking lot early this morning - I wasn't the only early bird

After I did my Walmart shopping I exited the Walmart parking lot, which in the past was hard to do because of all the traffic, but this morning easy. 

Casa Tipton-Kelly is only four miles north from Walmart. With light traffic, like this morning, I can make that run in twelve minutes. On regular summertime peak tourist days, that run could take thirty minutes or more of white knuckle driving (grasping that steering wheel hard and swivel head which I find difficult to do now because of my arthritis, yes my arthritis is especially bad in my neck. I can't swivel my head like I used to and when I do it HURTS.) 

After dropping off my Walmart shopping items at Casa Tipton-Kelly I headed out north on Route One (Walmart is south) to my food store Food Lion. After picking some more of that wonderful marinade I discovered last week (more about that in a future blog post, boy do I have content to posts in future blog posts now that I've been rebooted) I drove over to my favorite plant nursery. I had to buy some green "tomato" string to tie up a few cherry tomato plants that have seeded themselves and grown  up near my garage. I love those cherry tomatoes in my pasta salad, a real Summertime Treat for me. A few weeks ago I post an ad in my NextDoor app for free tomato plants. Several very nice people came over and took advantage and left with my free tomato seedlings. But I had a few of those seedlings left and I just don't have the heart to pull them up and put them in my compost pile. I try to be "plant brutal" but I always have a problem being heartless to innocent plants who are just trying to have their own life. 

I  got home just in time for my weekly Zoom call with Stuart (my former school mate) and Pat. That takes place every Sunday. We three old geezers, one from Boca Raton Florida (Stuart) and Pat (from Hamilton, Ontario, Canada) never have a problem taking. And we don't always talk about our health like you would expect Old Geezers to talk about. And we always record our Zoom calls (actually just me and Stuart, not Pat) for posterity. We sometimes talk about someone two hundred years from now looking at these videos and saying in pity "Look at those poor bastards and how primitive they were."

Hey, maybe that will be one of us in our future life. Yes, we talk (me and Stuart actually before Pat comes on the Zoom call later because Pat still goes to church) about our past and future lives because folks, we all have lived and will live future lives. Believe it! Speaking of which, another long time friend and former classmate just sent me another "Jesus" booklet. He hasn't given up on trying to "save" me no matter how much I insult him when he does things like that. The sheer hubris of him to try and push his fairy tales on me. But again I digress. Subject for a future blog.

Anyway, when I got home I was exhausted. Maybe it's the heat but I also think my age continues to catch up with me. I don't want to pass out in any more Walmart parking lots. Especially now because I don't have any backup like Glenn and Pat to watch my house while I'm in the hospital cheating death.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have a fish pond filter I have to clean.

Have a great day everyone!