Usually, when I order from Amazon, the books are all shipped from the Coffeyville KS warehouse, and I receive them in about 2 days regardless of the shipping option I choose. Therefore, I usually choose “free shipping.” This time, however, there is weirdness. I ordered 4 books on July 2, with an anticipated ship date of July 7. The good news is they shipped much earlier than anticipated. However, 1 item shipped at 11:41 am…

For a city in which setting off fireworks is illegal, there sure are a lot of fireworks being set off here tonight. When I returned home this evening about 10:30pm, the smoke of spent explosives already hung thick as a heavy fog. Some of the neighbors are setting of the usual assortment off firecracker-ish things. Others went straight for the heavy artillery. And they’re still at it. It’s gonna be a long night….

I may have mentioned once or twice that I’ve been having digestive issues for the past several months. For that reason I’ve been living on an extremely low-calorie, low-fat, low-acid, non-dairy, non-carbonated, non-processed, soft, bland diet. We’re talking about the grilled chicken, applesauce, oatmeal, pretzels, and iced tea kind of low-fat bland here. While it can be incredibly boring and somewhat problematic while traveling or dining with friends, it has one beneficial side effect: I’m…