(re-run) Jim’s job was to put the crunch in the new peanut butter, Jif. One machine chopped the peanuts into slivers, and another machine used pistons to plug the slivers into the creamy product. Jim also had to taste test peanut butter that had been sitting on a shelf for three months in 100 degree… Continue reading Hold the Crunch
Month: October 2026
Always Happens on her Couch
(re-run) A widow who is my same age told about some of her bad dates, mostly with guys she’d met online. First there was Dirk. After the initial date of cocktails, Dirk offered to come over to Vanessa’s place and barbecue for her. She was a grandma and had a new grandbaby to look after… Continue reading Always Happens on her Couch
When You Hit a Girl with your Truck
(re-run) I wasn’t texting. I wasn’t speeding. I hadn’t been drinking. Otherwise I would’ve killed her. She ran out in front of me at 4 o’clock on a Monday afternoon. I didn’t see her until her long hair was flying up in front of my hood. I slammed on the brakes and sat there in… Continue reading When You Hit a Girl with your Truck
What to Do instead of Going Online
It’s amazing once a person takes the internet out of the daily equation, just how much she can get done. And how she doesn’t miss it all that much. And how she has time to write about not missing it. As technology goes, I could take it or leave it. I still shop at real… Continue reading What to Do instead of Going Online
Hitchhiking Story
When I was 20, I sold books door to door that summer in Ohio for Southwestern Company. The regional boss told me at our Sunday meeting to spend a day working with one of his ace sellers. The problem was, I didn’t have a car to get to the town where he worked. The boss… Continue reading Hitchhiking Story
It’s Easier to Ask for Forgiveness
(re-run) When I was a third-year teacher in 1979, I had a new school and a new classroom. One wall was white concrete blocks, cold and uninviting. Nothing would stick to it, so I couldn’t hang up posters, classwork, decorations, anything. That wall really bugged me. At the time, I was dating an artist, a… Continue reading It’s Easier to Ask for Forgiveness
Fleet Week and the Ten Million Dollar Lot
(re-run) When I moved to the San Francisco Bay Area, no one explained what Fleet Week was. But after many years, I finally figured it out — big ships, military stuff, the Blue Angels. The Blue Angels are six military jets that fly in formation by some amazing pilots. They fly over the city of… Continue reading Fleet Week and the Ten Million Dollar Lot
Pavlov’s Perfume
(re-run) My girlfriend, who shall remain nameless, lest someone recognize her on this page, has a three-time rescue dog like mine. Hers also started out as a voluntary surrender puppy after his owner first lost a home in the Redding fire. Or possibly he was at the Redding shelter and got shipped out to make… Continue reading Pavlov’s Perfume
Almost Toast
(re-run) Marlene and her friend Beth came out to California from New Hampshire after college to work for Bank of America. They each made a new friend, and each new friend brought another friend to the party (plus one more) until they were a group of seven recent college graduates, living in the city of… Continue reading Almost Toast
Asparagus, Anyone?
(re-run) The farmhouse was next to the highway, close enough for me to hear the train come by every night, and far enough away from the tracks to get used to sleeping through it. No houses could be seen from any window — just trees, sky, and lots of cornfields. It was a peaceful place,… Continue reading Asparagus, Anyone?
