No real entry for the day, just a hodge-podge of thoughts.

My distant cousin mentioned locking her keys in her vehicle earlier this month.

Yesterday, a few minutes after noon, I got a call from the wife.

She locked the keys in the Explorer. In the ignition. With the engine running.

Can I come into town and let her in?

Well, actually, yeah. Been wanting to get the heck out of Dodge, and the heeler sisters are hyper to go somewhere too. And the wife is parked across the street from the office/hobby/internet supply shop, where I need to buy a new printer cartridge. And still need to retrieve my coffee mug from the warden's house (no, she didn't wash it). So in I go.

Park in front of the store, where the wife was calling from, and walked across the street, unlocked the Explorer and retrieved her keys. We're downtown, the street and sidewalks are occupied, and naturally nobody says "boo." But the heelers' faces light up when they see their Alpha. And then get surprised when she drives away, and I walk off through a construction site.

My shortcut gets me to the coffee shop first, for a really relaxing lunch with the wife. Haven't done that for quite a while. (Last time she locked herself out was years ago. She had a best friend drive her home for the spare keys, a friend who is in Tennessee now.) Tried her regular: bacon and turkey in a cheese pocket flavored with guacamole and Ranch dressing. Good.

We were their only sit-down customers. Saw the proprietor writing our meals and coffees down on a tab that was already covered on both sides with columns of little numbers. Asked the wife if our monthly coffee shop bill exceeds the monthly heating bill, and got an "ohhhh, yeah" look in reply.

Never did see the mouse come out, and didn't ask the proprietors if they had done anything about it. Did play peek-a-boo with their daughter around the ice cream freezers.

Wanted to thank you for all the kind comments on my banners. But you should be careful, they are addictive to make. We probably shouldn't encourage this creative activity.

Thanks to a couple notes and guestbook entries, I now have names to associate with a couple regular readers I have been wondering about. Thanks for introducing yourselves.

The New Mexico address I had noticed apparently belongs to Caitlin, who is starting to be a little more regular with her entries. So do you know if there is an official name for that gorgeous adobe pink color your state is famous for, and you're using in your template?

And I now also apparently have a name for my reader from Boise. Been wondering about that one, because I've been to Boise. Nice, clean city. Was there for a sage grouse meeting in January, of all months, a couple years ago. Seemed like downtown was always full of suits, and since I was in my usual civies dress (blue jeans, blue chambray shirt, scuffed western boots), tended to stick out and get a few stares.

Enjoyed a good city cafe downtown for breakfasts, and I tried some nearby Boston beanery for lunch, which was okay. Never did get to the asian restaurant (Thai?) on the second floor of one hotel, but it looked tempting.

A coworker had mentioned his military experiences in Boise before my trip, discussing the rough side of town that they were never supposed to go to on leave.

Looked and looked in the phone book, but couldn't find that part of town. If it still exists, I think it's east.

Did find a lounge downtown, though. Just a couple blocks walk. With naturally-endowed strippers that went down to skimpy thongs. (Sorry, yes, I like those sorts of places.) But this one was different. Tables around the stage where folks (mostly young couples) actually ordered burgers and fries. And quite a few visited or watched the big screen basketball game, rather than the nearby dancers (two of whom were quite sincerely interested in each other).

Incredible in my mind, having meals and sports tv with strippers. It was so weird munching on a burger or dipping your fries into ketchup while watching the floor show (I don't watch basketball).

Just kinda took the nastiness out of it, you know?

But I went back for dinner the next night, too.