Monica's Musings

Why I hate Randall's Grocery Store

noreply@blogger.com (Monica) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 22:43:00 +0000

So, before I joined the "I hate the Randall's Club Card" group on Facebook the other day, I had already taken notes and photos that describe precisely why I hate Randall's. So here it is:

I am wondering why Randall's Grocery Store is engaging in fraudulent advertising? They are the type of store that has a "club card" and if you use it, you pay one advertised price, if you don't use it, you pay a different advertised price. Well, I found a book in a bin full of clearance items that were 50% off, according to the sign. When the cashier rung it up, it came out to the full price. I told him I found it in the clearance bin and it was 50% off. He told me that the 50% off only applied to "club members". I went back and looked at all of the markings on the bin, as well as the book, and no where did it specify "club members only". People that have been to Randall's know that there are always 2 prices listed for all of the items: the "club" price and the "regular" price. I went online and nowhere online did it state that only "club members" were entitled to clearance priced items. There’s not even a “color-coding” system or anything listed anywhere that describes that “x” color code means this price and “y” color code means this price. I think that Randall’s is full of sh*$! While standing there at the checkout, the lady in front of me who had not completely walked off yet, turned around and said that I could use her card if there was a problem. She was very sweet but I told her “no, thank you”, I will not use the card, thus allowing “The Man” to keep tabs on anyone. I deliberately don’t have a “member card” b/c I find it unseemly to discriminate like that for no good reason. This isn’t a program that you pay to get into and that offers something special for being a member. They just make non-members pay outlandish prices and play “Big Brother”, spying on all the “members”. I have gone to that store when I needed something quick because it’s the closest to my work, but never again. I will most certainly drive out of my way from here on out. That is a promise!
I consider what they did to be outright fraud. They advertised a specific price - no strings attached - and then did not follow through on the sale. In fact, I’m wondering if it was illegal? I am attaching a couple of photos so that people can see that they did not identify the bin items as “club member only” ANYWHERE.
I hate Randall’s Grocery Store and I will never again give them any of my business.

Anybody who would like to explain to me how Randall's is not engaging in fraud and is actually a great company, please, by all means, enlighten me.

A Sunday here at home

noreply@blogger.com (Monica) — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 01:52:00 +0000

I thought I would share a typical Sunday in the summer out here at my home. Being that the temps have been in the 100's for most of the summer, it seems like most of us come to life in the morning hours, then hibernate for the day until the temperature drops below 100 in the evening. These photos were taken around 8:30 am today:

Scott and Evan check on the water level at the tank in the lower pasture.

Hummingbird at the esperanza.

Hummingbirds at one of the feeders.

A doe and a buck at the barn.

Butterfly, a purple-spotted or a pipevine swallowtail, at the esperanza bush.

Indira, my peahen, sits on the car that I should have parked in the garage just for the very reason that she usually likes to perch there.

My peachick, who is quickly growing up.

Then, as I said, not much happens during the heat of the day. I cleaned up a bit outside, cleaned the chicken coop, etc. and felt absolutely awful, like I'd run a 10K or something, and wanted to throw-up. It's just so damned hot!

By 7pm, the activity starts back up and I captured a few more pics of the residents out here in my backyard. Here they are enjoying the evening hours:

These two photos are of Buddy, Minnie Pearl, Almond, then Prime Time and Paleface.

The hummers come back out to get some dinner at the feeders.

Evan helps water the plants.

Then, it's time to go inside, cool off a bit, get ready for bed and start a new day...Monday.....

A couple of notable passings in the backyard

noreply@blogger.com (Monica) — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 16:16:00 +0000

A couple of my favorite animals past away this past week.

My very elderly longhorn, Honeycake, finally went to sleep and didn't wake up. She was a lovely and sweet cow. Very pretty and a truly wonderful and strong mother to all of her calves. In fact, she had her last calf this past winter. She lived a really long life, approx. 30 yrs. give or take. I am glad that she didn't suffer. She was up and walking around, eating, drinking, using the bathroom, just being a cow, all the way to the end.

Then, one of my favorite chickens, a little white bantam I call Ballerina didn't come in to roost the other night and hasn't been seen since. I'm guessing it was a hawk, but I don't know for sure. She was incredibly sweet and one of the few that would always let me pick her up.

I really miss her.

We had a batch of chicks earlier in the month and three of them are hers, so I am hoping that maybe one will look like her and have her temperament.

Everybody is trying to get by in the heat this summer.

noreply@blogger.com (Monica) — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 15:56:00 +0000

Well, we have made several heat and drought records this year. Fifty-something days of over 100+ degree heat. Very tired of the heat.

Oh well.

It seems that everybody is hot and thirsty. I took a pic of a frog this morning around 10am that was hanging out at one of the chicken waterers. Neither the chickens nor the dogs paid him any mind. I guess everybody understands we all need to just get through the summer.

More Pictures from Evan's Birthday

noreply@blogger.com (Monica) — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 01:01:00 +0000

Max is such a little sweetie.

Scott's old friend, Layne, and Scott.

Ed and Jenny.

Ed, Steph and Mom.

Evan turns 3 years old

noreply@blogger.com (Monica) — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 00:44:00 +0000

We celebrated Evan's birthday with a very small family get-together. Work and an incredibly hot summer made the thought of throwing a bigger party a little too much to handle right now.

Evan had a great time with his cousin, Max, and his aunts, uncle and Nana. Just the right amount of presents and birthday cake, too.

Peafowl

noreply@blogger.com (Monica) — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 01:52:00 +0000

OK, I am working full-time again and I absolutely do not have the brain capacity to manage a blog and everything else.

That said, what's going on with me? Well, I have been trying to build my peafowl flock but it's just not in the cards.

Indira, my peahen, still wanders around, but my peacock has been killed and my peachicks have ended up as snake food, save for one little guy. I started with 5 chicks and I only have one left. The snakes have been feasting on my chicks.

Rat snakes seem to be the predominant species around here, although I've seen indigo and coral here from time to time.

This morning, I checked on my last 2 peacock chicks around 6 am and by 7 am, when I was ready to leave for work, a rat snake had killed and half eaten one of the chicks. The shovel made swift work of said rat snake.

I am sooooooo pissed. I am trying to figure out what to do, but, seriously, I have never had this much trouble with snakes before!

Lord knows I've raised plenty of chicks around here, but this is the first time I've had the snakes come out and kill them so aggressively! I wonder if it's the drought that's finally driving them to do this.

Anyway, I am really mad.

Pottery

noreply@blogger.com (Monica) — Sat, 09 May 2009 21:30:00 +0000

I enjoy pottery. I enjoy pottery that I know someone made with their own 2 hands. My neighbor is an artist, print making is her specialty. This is the second year that she and I and another friend have gone to the annual "Art of the Pot" here in Austin, where artists display their wares and demonstrate their craft. It is a lot of fun.

Below are some of last year's finds:

Just the bird cups and the elephant at the front of this photo.

TV

noreply@blogger.com (Monica) — Sat, 09 May 2009 21:03:00 +0000

OK, I' m a little behind on my TV shows. I'm about 4-5 episodes behind on "In Treatment". But, I just watched "In Treatment" week 4 Oliver. Oh, my goodness, I love this show. I love Gabriel Byrne and I love the writers! I don't know what else to say. He is such a superb character!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dead Chicken

noreply@blogger.com (Monica) — Sun, 03 May 2009 19:00:00 +0000

Woke up, let the chickens out of the coop but one didn't leave. She was one of the americauna chicks. Older now, about the size of a bantam chicken. This, of course, is sad, but also concerning. The chicken looked wet and slimy from the top of her head down to the bottom of her neck. Yes, it looks like a snake tried to eat her but she was just too big.

I've fortified the base of the coop and I'm going to put up additional screening. I hope that helps. Poor thing. When chickens are asleep, they are "sitting ducks". It's kind of like being under anesthesia.

Evan and the rain

noreply@blogger.com (Monica) — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 01:58:00 +0000

It rained!!!!!!!!!!!!! OMG, we need rain! Evan got a super cute pair of rubber boots and umbrella from his Nana and they finally came in handy!

Beautiful Morning

noreply@blogger.com (Monica) — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 01:33:00 +0000

I woke up to a beautiful moon this morning. I believe it's jupiter that is sitting just below it. The pictures don't do it justice. It was lovely.

Easter Egg Hunt at Home

noreply@blogger.com (Monica) — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 23:17:00 +0000

This year Evan really "got" the Easter Egg Hunt, as I told in my previous post. At home, we did another hunt for him on Easter Sunday. It's so funny, though, b/c he lives in the moment, so each egg had to be opened as soon as he picked it up. As you can imagine, it was a slow process...

And Scott, bless his heart, tried to get a few cool things for the eggs besides candy. He got some cute little stretchy bunnies, little stretchy animals, little spongy animals that come in capsules that enlarge in water, AND...fireworks! I say FIREWORKS b/c they were little flammable bottles where you pull a string and that triggers a "pop" and flings streamers. They're more like caps for cap guns, in that they have a tiny little gun powder charge that goes off and shoots whatever is in the bottle. It smells awful, just like fireworks, and scared the crap out of Evan.

I didn't want to spoil the day, so I tried to act cool, but inside I was going, "what the hell?!" You gave my child fireworks? The label said in all caps "FLAMMABLE" and "NOT FOR YOUNG CHILDREN". Fortunately, Scott circled back around and said he didn't realize what they were and was surprised b/c he bought them at WalMart in the "holiday" section. He thought the bottles were like the eggs you can buy where you crack them open and there's confetti inside--no explosives, very low-tech. No, Scott, next time bring your reading glasses and read the label.

It was funny b/c Scott pulled the string on the first one to show Evan how it works. It went "POP" and Evan looked and then said say in his little-bitty voice, "That's scary, daddy!". The intonation was so cute and yet, so matter of fact.

Evan's Easter Egg Hunt at School

noreply@blogger.com (Monica) — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 22:19:00 +0000

This year was Evan's 2nd year taking part in the MDO Easter Egg Hunt. Last year he didn't fully understand the hunt but he had fun. This year he realized that the eggs had goodies in them and, thus, were very valuable.

Last year, Scott and I both attended with Evan but this year I couldn't make it since I'm working full-time. But Scott did a great job of taking pictures to commemorate the event. Unfortunately, he forgot to send Evan's Easter Basket along, so Evan had to use a paper bag, but that's OK.

Visit from Bryan

noreply@blogger.com (Monica) — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 01:24:00 +0000

Bryan is an old friend of Scott's. They met back in college and Bryan is Scott's BFF (besides me, of course). Isn't BFF weird to say in relation to a 40-something? It sounds so wrong, it makes me LOL. Obviously, I am a relic trying to exist in these tech-savvy times. Pat me on the head and send me on my way.

ANYWAY, it's always nice to see him. Evan thoroughly enjoyed his "Uncle" Bryan, too.

We took the daily walk down to check on the cattle.

Peafowl now at Chez Monica

noreply@blogger.com (Monica) — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 21:16:00 +0000

I LOVE BIRDS! Have I mentioned that? Well, if not, here ya go. I love 'em. As of yesterday, I am now the proud owner of an adult peacock and peahen. I'm so excited!

I'm keeping them in the chicken coop for a while until they get acclimated to their new home.

A friend of a friend needed to re-home them and my friend knew of my predisposition to animal husbandry so she put her friend in touch with me. She said that the peahen has been laying as of late;-)

I am so glad. I've wanted peafowl for a while now but I never did anything about it.

Not to get too weird about it but I kinda think the universe is trying to help me out. Here's why:

1) Completely not an avian topic--I needed to get a job. I did not want to go out into the "job market". I loved my old boss and always loved the thought of getting back in touch with her. What happens? My old job opens back up, a friend recommends me and I'm back with my beloved old boss as of the beginning of April!

2) I always wanted peacocks. Never did anything about it. A friend of a friend comes along and viola, I have peacocks (peafowl; sorry).

I know it may sound flimsy to some, but I do kind of feel like things are going my way. Knock on wood, I hope I'm right:-)

I AM a Knitter! Sort of….

noreply@blogger.com (Monica) — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 17:10:00 +0000

My most wonderful friend, Jeni, sent me a beautiful knitting set to get me started knitting a couple of months ago. I was feeling pretty low and she really went out of her way for me. There was some super soft chenille yarn that was begging to be made into something really pretty. I tried to learn via the instructions but I wasn’t catching on very quickly so I went down to my local Alpaca Ranch and spoke to a lady there to learn a bit more. She got me started on a very small project with very thin yarn, better for a complete novice, like myself.

So, I set out to make a hat for Evan, and I just finished! I’m very excited. I feel more and more confident and I can’t wait to use the super cool yarn Jeni gave me!

I’m also getting some very helpful advice from Cristin, who is a fabulous knitter. She is the one who inspired me to take the leap into the world of knitting.

Please don’t look to close to the hat, so as not to see ALL the dropped stitches and such. Just remember, this is my very first knitting project. Pretty cool, huh?!

A little bit o’rain in Central Texas!

noreply@blogger.com (Monica) — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 15:19:00 +0000

We are having a little rain shower here this morning. Everyone around here is thoroughly excited and we relish ANY moisture we can get! It won’t alleviate the drought but it may lessen it a bit. Right now we are at the “Exceptional” Drought Stage, which, I believe is the highest drought stage.

Teddy took a trip today

noreply@blogger.com (Monica) — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 01:46:00 +0000

Wow, I am truly in awe of my bantam rooster, Teddy. He survived quite an ordeal today.

It all started when Scott, Evan and I left out to run errands today. We took the truck (F-350) b/c we needed to pick up some feed and supplies among other things.

First, we drove to the mailbox, about a little over 1/2 a mile down a dirt road, stopped and got the mail. Then we drove approx. 15 miles to the electric co. to get some account info. changed. Then we drove to Austin, on the highway, doing between 70 and 80 mph. We stopped at the OC Condos to drop off some stuff, then we went to the dry cleaners to pick up some of Scott's cleaning.

It was at the dry cleaners that Scott tapped on my passenger window and said, "Is this ours?" He was pointing toward the back of the truck and I had no idea what he was talking about.

I got out of the truck, looked by the back wheel and saw my beloved Teddy clucking under the truck. I was dumbfounded.

We tried to catch him but he kept running under cars in the parking lot. Eventually, we managed to manuever him across the strip mall property, across over to the OC Condos we had left and locked him in one of the backyards. Then we spent a good bit of time chasing and lunging at him in the backyard.

Scott finally grabbed his little leg and I got a good grip on him. He was very sedate in my lap on the way home. I told Scott I hoped that Teddy wouldn't poop on me on the way home and Scott responded that he thought Teddy probably already had the "poop scared out of him" from his ordeal. I think he was right because he didn't poop on me for the whole 30 mile ride home.

Poor Chicken!

I am so thankful that Scott was able to catch him and that it was a happy ending. I honestly don't know how he made it. There were so many times that he could have jumped out or fallen to his death. It was incredibly windy today, too, which is probably why he was there in the first place--to take shelter from the wind.

Anyway, I think he has a strong will to live and I'm glad:-)

This is an old photo of Teddy and me. He's a sweetie.

Out of the mouths of babes...

noreply@blogger.com (Monica) — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 16:05:00 +0000

OK, so this morning I am putting Evan in the car and as I am buckling him, he snorts from a stuffy nose. I sweetly say, "Oh, poor baby, you've got boogies?" Boogies are what he calls snot and boogers.

He replies, "Yes, momma, I got boogies." Nothing out of the ordinary about that, BUT, then he follows with "I don't eat boogies, I drink boogies".

Um......hmmm......OK. I guess the good news is that it sounds like he knows he shouldn't eat them. After that, I'm at a loss.

Moving on. We have some more chicks. Evan loves them. He is so gentle with them, thank goodness.

My Little Reader

noreply@blogger.com (Monica) — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 14:58:00 +0000

Evan is such the little person nowadays. He wants to be just like mommy and daddy.

Yesterday morning, he pulled the kitchen stool into the middle of the room, climbed up with book in hand (not a child's book either) and announced in a very studious manner that he was going to read. I had to grab the camera and preserve the moment!

Presently, this is my life

noreply@blogger.com (Monica) — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 12:54:00 +0000

It's not quite 7 am, the animals are fed, the child is fed, I have had at least a sip or two of coffee and I hear it....Kind of a hacking, but more throaty. Then I see it, my lovely white kitty projectile spews just a few feet from me. It stretches well over a yard ahead of him. I'd be impressed except that with only a little bit of coffee in my stomach, I'm feeling a bit like throwing up, myself, when I get a whiff of the fishy vomit odor eminating from the spill.

Good Morning!

The trip to Georgia

noreply@blogger.com (Monica) — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 17:38:00 +0000

Well, I think that most of the people who knew I went to Georgia to visit my family know that a couple of days into the visit I got some VERY nasty food poisoning. Starting at 11pm at night and all through the next day I was throwing up every 45 minutes. Then I slept for almost 2 days straight and then we drove home. I don't think it is an overstatement to say that the visit could have gone better---just a bit.....

What really bums me out is that I was so excited about going to the Georgia Aquarium but I got sick the night before we were to go. I hate that.

Oh well. No good pics of the trip either -- shocking, right?

noreply@blogger.com (Monica) — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 16:05:00 +0000

So, it's been a while, again, since I've blogged. What can I say? I am a terrible blogger.

November is flying by, I just got back from a trip to Georgia which I will probably write about later.

I know Halloween was 2 weeks or so ago, but I wanted to post Evan's Halloween pics. He didn't go trick-or-treating b/c we don't really live in a good area for that, so we took him to a Halloween party at our Gym and he had a Halloween Parade at his MDO Program. This year he was a Bumble Bee.

There were some good costumes at the Halloween Party. I liked the Storm Trooper-very realistic.

Evan and his Daddy both chowed down on popcorn. I couldn't get a good pic of Evan in the Moonwalk Castle (behind them in photo), but it was hysterical watching him get bounced around by all the other kids jumping. He loved it! I don't know if you can see him in the photo, but there's a kid who looks like he's trying to escape the moonwalk. I can almost imagine him yelling "let me out of here!"

This kid was a little too scary looking for me.

Evan had a great time. He didn't choose his costume this year but I'm pretty sure that by next year he will be old enough to have a strong opinion about his choice of costume.

Evan, the 2 year old toddler!

noreply@blogger.com (Monica) — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 00:09:00 +0000

My baby is 2!!!!!!!!!!!

He had his birthday a couple of weeks ago. It was a very small affair; daddy, baby and mommy. We thought about a party but things have been a little off lately so we decided against it. We did have a cake, balloons and presents. That was plenty for my little guy.

He is into his "bossy" phase now. I mean REALLY bossy. He tells me, daddy, the pets, kids at the playground, everybody what to do. If I'm in the wrong frame of mind, it can be a little annoying....

He's awesome, though, and I love him terribly!!!!!!!!!!!!!