Chili redux

Wow.

I just finished a couple of bowls of my latest batch of chili. Actually I just finished drying my hair and changing my shirt, necessary after eating two bowls of that wonderfully flavorful, incredibly hot but irresistible chili.

It's the sort of chili that separates the men from the boys. It's so caustic that it cleans it's own pan, but damn, it's good!

And I made some observations at the grocery store while I was there. Interestingly, they had some cloth bags for sale by the cash registers. A sign announced that they were "recyclable grocery bags" and urged everyone to save the environment, ostensibly by not using paper or plastic bags. The bags cost a dollar each and had the store's logo on them.

Now hang on a minute. I might have been born at night but it wasn't last night. Here's the store actually saving money if people use these bags because then the store doesn't have to pay for paper or plastic bags, and they want us to pay for these bags that save them money, plus they get free advertising by putting their logos on the bags! Come on... if you want me to spare you the cost of giving me a dozen or so plastic bags then you need to up and give me those cloth bags for free. You'll still come out ahead in the long run. And if you want me to carry a commercial for your store by displaying your logo, then you need to give ME a dollar each time I carry one of those things out in public. But charging me to advertise for you while I'm costing you less by not using your bags? Please...

And while we're talking grocery stores, what's up with the sizes of the prepared meals that they sell? It's like every pizza or lasagna in the place is either some sissy ten-ounce size (translated: chick food) or some monster two-and-a-half pound deal that might feed a family of illegal aliens just fine but works out to be way too much for one non-obese American male. Why can't they market something in between the two extremes? 16-18 ounces is just fine for a single guy meal. No leftovers and we don't go away all hungry. Come on, food companies...stop marketing to anorexics and blimps and just sell food in sizes that normal single guys can call a decent meal.