Monday Meanderings - 9.24.2012

The space shuttle Endeavour paid a brief visit the other day, flying low over the city on its way to its last stop in California. During the thirty year shuttle era, three have stopped over in Austin as they criss-crossed the country; the Concorde, the ill-fated Columbia, and the Discovery. I don't recall which one, but the kids and I drove out to see one of the shuttles. It was parked at Bergstom, an Air Force Base at the time, and was clearly visible from the highway, bolted awkwardly atop another aircraft.
 
Last week our refrigerator began making strange, loud "knocking" noises. I did some research on the Internet, and thus far I have ruled out "the little guy that lives inside and turns the light off when you close the door." Some advice is worth only what you pay for it, I guess.
 
After a several-year wait, Time Warner and the NFL network finally came to terms and beginning Thursday we will get one more pro game on TV. Yea! Still no Longhorn Network, though. Boo!
 
Saturday was so nice, I said "Mosquitoes be darned!" and spent a cautious five minutes on the patio. Nobody can say I'm not a risk-taker!
 
Under the heading, "Nothing exceeds like excess," the news is that a new Buc-ee's is coming to the area. No, not a new hamburger place or foodie establishment, Buc-ee's is a chain of convenience stores on steroids. The flagship store in New Braunfels, previously the closest, has 60 gas pumps and 67,000 square feet of convenience store items such as fountain drinks, ice, hunting equipment, Texas kitsch, baked goods, meat and sandwiches, toys and jewelry, beaver nuggets (caramel-coated corn puffs: the first five ingredients on this health-food favorite: Sugar, corn meal, corn syrup, canola oil, molasses), weather vanes, cheese, barbecue, barbecue pits, cookbooks, produce, religious items and much, much more. Take a look at the wall of snacks:
 

The new store, in Bastop, will only have 24 gas pumps and 650 parking spaces. It will, however, have 71 "spotless toilets and urinals." I can't tell you how relieved I am to hear that.