"You're Kind of a Snob" part 2

I went to the grocery store last night and bought a 12 pack of regular Busch. My Kroger card knocked it down to 6.99. And though I said I was going to pay the extra couple of bucks for full flavor, when it came down to it that savings really called to me. And Busch is really pretty tasty. Kind of like one of those Budweiser Selects, the Marlboro Medium of beers.

I wonder how many other folks are combatting the rising fuel costs by buying discount brands? I know that one of my uncles has switched to Miller High Life Light from his usual Bud Light. And it's not like he can't afford to spend the extra. Choosing to save some money by buying a bargain brand beer, smokeless tobacco, or breakfast cereal gives us a little feeling of being in control. The oil companies can rape us all they want to because we really have no alternative. We have to drive. The mass transit in most American cities is so aggravating that no one with a choice is going to use it. I would have to spend 2 hours on the bus to get to work and I work 6 miles from my house. Which would you rather spend: four hours on the bus or four dollars? I'll hand over the four bucks to the gas man. And to make up for it I'll pick up some bargain beer.

But there is still no way I am drinking PBR.

New Car Fever

I have caught a terrible case of new car fever. And I know that the only thing that is going to make it go away is that new car smell.

My love affair with the blazer began to fade over the winter when the heater core ruptured and eventually filled the truck with steam and smoke one morning on the way to work. Because I was in Nashville and had no other options I wheeled it into the Chevy dealership across the street from the old office. That was a $1500 repair job. A couple of months later some kind of rocker arm broke and I had to get new tires. (a veritable bargain at $800) that was followed by another $800 hit the next month when the numerous engine leaks wound up driving up the temperature to dangerous levels. I really wanted to trade the Blazer, but there was always something going wrong with it. And then I really wanted to get some riding out of those fresh off-road tires. (i know, i know...but the Blazer has an off road suspension package that would make any other tires look absolutely ridiculous.)

And now with the price of gas skyrocketing I could be making a note on a new economical car for less than what I am spending on fuel---and I don't even drive that far unless you count my trips back home, when the Blazer gets 17 MPG on the Highway. (It gets 10 or 12 in the city)

The number one thing that has kept the Blazer so near to my heart is it's clean title with my name on it. The other thing is it's tough 4x4 stance. (It's a really good looking truck!) And I have always just liked it. But it's time to start thinking about something else.

The problem with thinking about getting something else is getting a bad case of new car fever. Which results in thinking about new cars constantly. It's a really good thing that there was no internet when I was 16 because I wouldn't have gotten any school work done. I swear, I'm going to have to buy something just to shut down the new car freight train in my head.

The Maximum Leader is coming to town this weekend. Maybe we'll go cruise the lots.

"You're Kind of a Snob"

For the past six months or so I have been sampling cheap beer. I have tried Pabst of course but also Busch and Busch Light and Lone Star and Natural Light, etc. And I think that I am about to go back to full price and full flavor.

I once told someone that I would quit drinking beer if I couldn't afford Coors Light. And she told me that I was "kind of a snob." And maybe I was (what else was she going to think with my BMW and fancy Star Tac phone and all the other things I said or did to blow her indie rock fantasies away.) But as far as the beer was concerned I think that I was on to something.

The BMW days are long behind me. And things started going in a different direction when the CRM money ran out. When I moved to Nashville I had a job at a bookstore that paid $7 an hour. I was getting by because of some money I had saved, but there wasn't a lot left over. So I started buying cut-rate beer, PBR for 5.99 a 12 pack. And after a hard day hustling books or later making copies at a temp job A cold PBR tasted pretty good. I hardly ever drank more than 3 or 4 beers a night and everything was going fine. I laughed at my former self. Think of all the money I could have been saving. Yes, PBR was all right. And with its hipster popularity it was easy to come by. I might have still been drinking a PBR every now and then today if it had not been for the night in January when Tommy USA came up for a visit. We went out that Friday night on an East Nashville Bender, drank PBRs from 7 PM til 3AM, and the next day I thought I was going to die. The Anthropologist came in at 3PM Saturday and I was in bed. It was terrible. She was visibly upset by the sight of me. I was so bloated and red eyed. That might have happened with some other kind of beer, but I can't imagine it being that bad. If I drink just one PBR now I have a headache the next day. Yuck.

The rising gas prices have sent me back to the cheap end of the beer aisle. And while none of the beers I have tried are as nasty as PBR, they just aren't worth the money you save. The biggest reason for this is their low alcohol content. I will get tired of drinking Natty or Busch light before I get any of the benefits I'm looking for in a cold beer. Busch gets closer. But not enough. Next time I am going to spend the extra 2 bucks and get Coors Light or Bud. And leave the Busch and the Natty for a day at the pool. And leave the PBR alone all together!

Underworld

I was reading a review of the new Don Delillo novel, and it mentioned his 1997 novel, Underworld. And whenever I read about Delillo or Underworld I remember that I never finished it, and I'm not sure why. The articles about Delillo or some new book of his usually say that Underworld is very good. But the only thing I remember about it is that it starts with a short story about Bobby Thompson's "Shot Heard Round the World." And it might have something to do with a lady who is painting old planes in the desert. There might be a lady who is taking pills so she won't be afraid of dying, or that could be White Noise. There may be some kind of Illuminati postmen, or that might be from that Pynchon book Dr. Duvall thought we ought to read in his modern novel class at the University of Memphis way back in 1994. (He thought we ought to read White Noise too and that short story about Bobby Thompson. Maybe that is why I've got them all mixed up.) Dr. Duvall also thought it was a good idea for us to read The Sound and the Fury. That's the kind of book I can get into.