I call it my Baby Beast – my 2024 Mitsubishi Mirage. It’s a small – really small – hatchback. I bought it about a year ago for a couple reasons. First, it was a one-year old car with less than 13,000 miles (meaning it had a ton of warranty remaining) and second, I bought this like-new car for about 12 grand. When I factored in that my 2004 Jeep Liberty would cost about $2,500 to get back into full … [Read more...]

I hate going to the Charlottesville Downtown Mall. I didn’t like it even before they opened the parking garage and said, “Come and in and park. We’ll read your license plate and if you flash your credit card to us (and anybody else in cyber space) and we’ll let you park here without checking in at a gate. Nobody else will ever see your credit card, we double-pinkie promise.” So, I no longer … [Read more...]

In the old days (like 25 years ago), we used to have maps. If we wanted to get someplace, we had never been before, we used road maps. We had them stuffed in glove compartments and in the sides of the doors. We bought new ones every couple of years in case a new highway came into play. The big problem with the old maps was how to fold them. They were like paper Rubik’s cubes. You had to fold … [Read more...]

We have a female coffee maker. I knew they made coffee makers to handle both Keurig and regular drip blends. I also know they make fancy coffee makers for Espresso and other exotic barista creations, and I am aware of digital and programmable coffee pots. What I didn’t know was that coffee makers came in sexes. Ours is clearly a female. It has mostly good days, and then again, some not-so-good … [Read more...]

We drove through Madison last week and stopped by an amazing hi-tech Tastee Freez. You won’t believe this. Instead of having to drive your car all the way around the restaurant and spit out your order to a little box beside the drive-thru lane, and having to repeat your order several times, and instead of then having to drive to the next box to pay for your order and then drive to another … [Read more...]

This is snake season, when the slithery reptiles shake off their winter chills and make their presence known in yards and beneath porches and around sheds. Unless it’s a copperhead, there is nothing to be concerned about. Snakes are good to have around the house because they wouldn’t be there unless they had a reason – like eating mice and rats. I once took a nap with a snake, tough I had not … [Read more...]

Nancy has an above-ground garden on the patio and has grown lots of delicious vegetables over the past few years. Because the soil is warmer, her tomatoes come in earlier than mine and she truly has a green thumb when it comes to growing peppers. This year, she said she’d like to plant some turnips and bought a package of what she thought were turnip seeds at the nursery last week. The front of … [Read more...]

Here’s a tough question.Which had you rather do, go to DMV for any reason or mail a package at the Post Office? But couldn’t I go to the dentist instead and get a root canal without Novocain? No, pick one. DMV or the Post Office. Let’s see. Let me weigh my options. At DMV, you have to go through two lines. The first line is to decide where you will wait in the second line. Then you get to … [Read more...]

My hunting pants had met their match in a spirited contest with a blackberry thicket on the last day of rabbit season. There was big tear across the right front leg and a 12-inch rip in the back seat. Unfortunately, the rip in the seat had nothing to do with the blackberry thicket, but more to do with too many blackberry pie servings throughout the year. I not only tore my hunting pants, but I … [Read more...]

Even the thought of snow makes some people go a bit crazy. This week’s storm, named Fern, was highly advertised and anticipated. It was on Labor Day last year that they first announced a severe snowstorm or about January 24, 2026, so you damned well be prepared. And were we ever. Last Wednesday, I had to go to the grocery store for a few items and the parking lot at Kroger’s was jammed pack. … [Read more...]