Stopped into my local Smart & Final to buy butter and heavy cream (yes, I'm a bake-aholic and big, big foodie, if you haven't noticed), and saw that the price has gone up significantly in the past month, from just over $7 for three pounds to over $10. While I can (still) afford to buy these things, it makes mistakes in cooking and baking much more costly (about 35% more costly!). The price of a half gallon of heavy cream is almost $5 now, so it's in par with almond milk, which I buy because of our (Kat & my) lactose intolerance.
At least bananas have remained relatively inexpensive at 49 cents per pound, which is far below the price at most other grocery stores, including Sprouts, where I usually like to shop, even if only because their produce is fresher and more reasonably priced than at a lot of other food retailers. Unfortunately, Sprouts' locations do not include Mira Mesa, so I'd have to travel to University City or La Jolla to patronize them.
I'd gone into Target to buy feminine hygiene products, bobby pins, and hair conditioner. Maybe I should be thankful that I have a lot less hair now that I used to, but then again, I probably still use about the same amount of shampoo and conditioner as when I had more hair, so scratch that thought...
The other day, I watched a YouTube segment featuring Sarah Silverman, who talks about a "pussy tax" being levied on women because of the unwillingness of the penes in the United States legislature to pass an equal pay bill into law. It's a funny program, and gets the point across. Humourists are the people best able to point out Society's many, many idiocies (and yes, I do realize that's putting it rather mildly). Among my favorites are (currently) Ricky Gervais, Sarah Silverman, Steven Colbert (whether that's his given name or not), Tim Minchin, and my perennial favorite, who has unfortunately died, George Carlin. Other than Sarah Silverman, all of my favorite humourists are unapologetically atheists. I don't know whether Sarah Silverman is an atheist or not, but considering the nice acidity of her humour, I'm led to think so.
While at Smart & Final, I looked for the "food service" packages of dried cranberries that I liked to purchase, but saw that they seem to have stopped stocking these larger (2- or 3-pound) packages and now just carry the smaller, more expensive packs of "Craisins." I'll want to make a trip to Sprouts this week, then, to buy dried cranberries. It'll probably be one day when I can catch the bus to get there after going to the gym in the morning, even though I'll be fully laden with my purchase, in addition to my gym gear, on the return trip. It'll help build up my arms and shoulders, I figure, and improve my heat tolerance, even though Autumn is supposed to be here by now...
I'm registered to attend the "Clean & Green" meeting in Solana Beach tomorrow evening (5-6:30), but now am reconsidering it because it's not that close (for driving), and I hate using gas to attend events created to address climate change. They'll discuss hydraulic fracturing along California's coast, which ought to be interesting, but I've already got a lot on my mind. I'm going to traffic court on Tuesday to tell the magistrate that I want to go to trial for the minor traffic offense (not that minor, as it's a fine of almost $500!) with which I've been charged.
Hopefully, I'll get my trial scheduled before the end of this calendar year. I know they'll want to schedule it really far out, but I won't let them schedule it beyond the guaranteed 90 days, because I want to get it out of my hair and mind. I remember the fellow who wrote the ticket to me, Officer Ryan, had told me that he'd testify at my trial that I wasn't driving unsafely, but that I had not followed "the letter of the law." I had discussed with him, before he gave me the ticket, that I am a careful driver, but am also mindful of wasting resources, so rather than wait through a long red light, I waited until the opposing traffic passed and it was safe, then made my left turn onto the freeway on-ramp. From what Officer Ryan told me, he actually agrees with my reasoning, but unfortunately, the law does not allow for personal judgment, which, in my opinion, is probably the single most egregious fault in our legal system in the United States of America. Because really, especially when it comes to traffic laws, if public safety is the point, then why penalize me for acting safely and in a manner that is conscious of the economic and environmental cost of utilizing my car?
Sentencing guidelines have become mandatory sentencing, taking away any discretion on the part of the judge. The laws are being written for the "lowest common denominator," and in treating everyone as criminals, the legal system has created criminals of us all.
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