Oh wow, I skimmed the article and for some reason thought it was about January numbers, when obviously we wouldn’t have those yet. Totally right on the timing, thanks for the correction.

I know California is not just the LA area, but is it possible that the sales dip could be attributed at least in part to the wildfires, not just Elmo’s repulsiveness? It’ll be interesting to see how the sales game shakes out when people start getting insurance checks to replace their cars.

Try booking a couple spots on a deep sea fishing boat, or a marina harbor tour, or a fish-spotting expedition on a glass-bottom boat. Those options won’t have the water slides and entertainment and whatnot but it might temporarily scratch the itch, or one of them will get scared or seasick and change their mind about…

This week is REALLY not the week to pick another fight with ATCs.

He’s the one who used that phrase to begin with! They’re just parroting Dear Leader.

Squirt is indeed a terrible name for soda/pop, and I wish I’d known it was available when I was at school in the RTP area!

That IS a sad time. My local supermarket doesn’t carry the non-standard varietals, but I can find them on Amazon (and have no idea where my office manager sources her supply - my guess is another supermarket chain).

PS - I looooooove Fresca. Black Cherry Fresca is even better than the OG Fresca (in my opinion), and the peach variety is surprisingly popular at my office. But now that I’m back in Michigan it’s all a moot point because I have Squirt!

I lived in Charlotte NC, where the answer to “what would you like to drink” is ALWAYS “Coke,” followed by the clarifying question “what kind of Coke?” It was bizarre to ask for a Coke when what you actually wanted was Sprite. Also, you’d think this experience would be more common in Atlanta (home of Coca-Cola) than in…

Well, it’s free or cheap before tip. And my local grocery store adds a surcharge to most individual items being ordered as part of a delivery order (not sure if they upcharge for pickup orders too) on top of the delivery fee, so the groceries themselves are more expensive than if you buy in-store. Seniors on a fixed…

Well, hopefully his lil Nazi salute this week has permanently lost him a whole new swath of potential buyers - in Canada and everywhere else.

I was teased MERCILESSLY after my family moved South when I was a kid, primarily around the word “pop,” so now that I’m back in the Midwest I use it with abandon.

For a couple hours it’s fine. Overnight, not a good idea.

Came to the comments to make sure someone has mentioned this. I’m from the midwest so we consider the great outdoors to be our second garage (or third, if you’re fancy and have a garage fridge) during the winter months. Carbonated beverages are one of the exceptions to this otherwise cheap and easy hack, and I learned…

TSA employees (and government employees at large) usually aren’t hired for their tech savvy ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I mean, I live in Michigan, so I know a thing or two about Midwestern drinking habits. Especially important is knowing not to go up against a Wisconsinite in a drinking contest ;)

“Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night”

The only demographic that has pulled on my heartstrings even a little bit in this congestion-pricing debacle are music teachers who carry around a million instruments in their cars and are making teacher salaries. Well, and people with physical disabilities, because I know the shuttle service for disabled people is…

And federal charges for a couple people at the top, excluding Chris Christie for reasons that remain inscrutable.

An average Midwest town*