Any day I visit the Volvo shop and the bill doesn't register in hundreds of dollars is a good day.

I'm off work, Wilma is freshly lubed, and I'm on the prowl for some tunage. Yesterday I heard some funky euro-pop/lounge/trance kind of a thing on my semi-local public radio station which I later determined to be a ditty called Kaboom by Ursula 1000. It was just too much fun, so I went-a-lookin' fer it. The clerk at the store informed me that the thing is out of print already, so no go. I opted for a substitution.

Being in the vicinity of of a plethora of retail opportunities, I got sucked into the world of people whose hair has been whipped into stiff peaks. I visited a Pier One, talked to my mother on the phone, visited a consignment shop where I'm keeping my eye on a couple of prints, and was on my way to the interstate when I spotted a store I have never visited. I CASUALLY THREW AWAY ABOUT AN HOUR AND A HALF OF MY LIFE LOOKING AT CRAP. Like some kind of Crapaholic, I ventured down aisle after aisle, hoping against all hope that this time things would be different. I even picked up a couple of things, even though they were not things that I really wanted... my attraction for them was only relative to the repulsion I felt about other things I saw there. Ultimately I didn't buy anything, but the fake word craptacular kept going through my head.

One of my goals today was to highlight a local culinary institution known as the Hamburger Wagon.

This Miamisburg, Ohio landmark serves up the most wondrous little burgers... I suspect there is no "all beef patty" claim, express or implied, regarding Hamburger Wagon hamburgers. We suspect some pork must be involved, whether merely for frying (lard) in the giant cast iron skillet they keep going in that little "wagon" or in ground form. The burgers themselves are crispy little things served on diminutive buns with slabs of pickle and onion. No lettuce, no tomato, no ketchup, no mayo or mustard either. I think each one gets a sprinkling of salt and pepper, but no other condiments. God, they're good. And you can only get them here, in Ohio.