If you want to be distracted, if not entertained, find on the web some of the complaint boards where folks voice their bad experiences with this franchise. Some of it can be quite humorous.

Good morning and welcome. It is Thursday, December 6, 2018. One of our grandsons works for the Big Box conglomerate in one of their stores. I texted him a photo taken in one of the stores as an advertisement. The caption on the photo read, 'You know this photo is fake because there is a cashier at every register.' The other day I had to visit one of the stores to pick up a few items. As I was rolling my wobbly cart around, (most of them are in need of some repair), I looked up ahead and saw four of the walk-around-find-something-wrong managers. They were standing in one of the main customer access lanes. They were essentially blocking the lane. These are the folks responsible for taking care of customers? At any rate, I will admit that I am not always on my very best behavior so I determined to take my cart and part the managers similar to that Red Sea account given in The Scriptures. My wife wanted to know if I at least said, 'Excuse me.', but, I couldn't remember. I did, however, navigate my way through and guess what? They moved. That's right. They relocated their bodies to a different spot and were no longer blocking the aisle. I heard one of them talking about all the pallets that needed to be unloaded just about the time he was nudged by The Wobbly Cart. When I went to check out, there were only two registers open unless you want to do the self-check-out program. My wife does it. I don't. I always look for the same fellow if I can find him. We have an understanding. Of sorts. He quit asking me if I wanted one of their charge cards and we laugh every time he asks if I found everything I was looking for. After waiting for a few minutes, he checked me out. As I was about to leave, the lady who replenishes the register with cash came up. I asked them both if the cashier strike was still going on. They laughed. I laughed. See? Another productive visit.

We added a new venue to our Santa Enterprise. We took care of it yesterday. It was a private school. The fellow who contacted me was very nice. I actually didn't know what to expect. I began checking it out as best I could and found the flyer above on their Facebook page. Hello? Who knew? It turned out to be 80 beautiful pre-school aged children. Wow! It was a most wonderful visit and we enjoyed being with the kiddos and staff so much. We had plenty of parents, grandparents, and additional siblings as well. I will admit there are certain photos that do capture the spirit of the moment. The one of the little guy in deep conversation with me is one of the hundreds of favorites I have from this season. It speaks volumes about the good stuff we get to do as a result of wearing The Red. It was taken last Monday evening at the Chick-fil-A visit we did in Magnolia, Texas. (And, yes, we knew the mother from when she was a teen in our Church and we knew her parents well. All I can say is that God is good. Amen.)

I never realized how retirement can produce a need to hang the Occupied Sign on the door. But, while I joke about how I've learned the most important words are Yes and Mam, typically spoken very close together, and how it works best if they are said often, thus far, it has been a wonderful change of pace that I am still working through. Some may wonder what in the world I will be doing after I ask for the last time for this season, "And, what would you like for Christmas?" We are planning to take a trip. Just the two of us. Several ideas are out there in the percolating phase. The other day after I had walked at the mall I decided to negate any benefit by indulging in one of those renown cinnamon rolls. (The wife wasn't with me. She was at home sharing with the ladies in their regular Tuesday Bible study.) The good news is they now have a smaller version of the famous huge cinnamon roll. That's the one I purchased. The young lady at the register sounded like she was French. I asked her what coffee they served. She said it was regular coffee or she believed it to be that. I asked her if she knew who the maker of the coffee was. She said she did not have a clue. I said, "Well, it appears they don't tell you anything, do they?" She just shrugged her shoulders. I bought a cup. The best I can say about it is that it was drinkable. I mention this only to say that coffee does become a factor in making our travel plans. I do like to carry my Community with me if at all possible. It saves asking all of those questions. You do know what I am talking about. Right? Enjoy the rest of your day and may God bless each one. Amen. ....More later.