Let’s start this column by letting you know that the Pet Supermarket next to the new Kroger’s will give you 10% off your purchase of regular priced or sale items, on the last Tuesday of each month. Now, you also have to be old. Yes, senior discount. Now, I’m not going to tell you that I’m old, no, no, no, but I did arrive at the store last week right before they closed at 8pm. I saved $18.87 which also included my $10 reward savings because I spend so much there on the three cats and Teller. There are some very decent rewards when you get grey hair. You just have to take a deep breath the first time and be adult enough to ask for them. I now ask at the movies, Goodwill, appraisal district, and my water bill.

A 57-year-old Italian dentist attempted to fool a nurse who was administering a Covid vaccine, by wearing a fake silicone arm. He now says that his life is ruined after his scheme was exposed.

When Anne-Elisabeth came home for Thanksgiving, I made chicken soup, one of her favorites. She was only home for 48 hours since she had finals coming up, so I added some alphabet pasta to the soup. When she discovered what I had done, she looked up from her bowl and burst out with, “It’s alphabet soup!” I told her that I had added letters to make her smarter during finals. I think she liked that. I also sent a package to my son in Boston. I figured that all of us could use some extra letters in our lives right now. If you want some of your own, I found the pasta at Home Goods.

Whether you’re browsing online or strolling the mall, do the right thing and choose to shop small.

Optometrist, Dr. Tom Pruett was honored at True to Life Ministries for his 110 trips and 40 years of volunteer humanitarian work in Mexico. The University of Houston College of Optometry, where he attended, presented him with the humanitarian award. Yeah, the world needs more Dr. Tom’s. Brazosport College Board of Regents has named Dr. Vincent Solis to succeed Dr. Millicent Valek as the fifth president of Brazosport College. He certainly has big shoes to fill.

A very smart and clever man, recently released from prison for possessing child pornography, is accused of selling fake vaccination cards on social media. Like a dodo, he discretely announced, “I’m gonna be rich,” and “I SELL PROOF OF VACCINATION CARDS,” then later he announced, “I’m sold out right now no more vax cards until next week.” He was selling them for $75 each through the mail. U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials talked to some of his recipients (yikes, bet they were surprised when they opened the door), then seized his next shipment of 500 cards and replaced the goods with face masks, so then he announced on Instagram that he had been shipped the wrong items. “Look yo,” he said. “I got masks yo.” He faces a maximum of 20 years in prison for mail fraud and obstruction of justice. Oh, my.

A mountain climber on Mont Blanc, the tallest mountain in western Europe, found emeralds and sapphires on a climb in France in 2013. It is thought that the precious stones were being transported on board an Air India Boeing 707, the “Kanchenjunga,” which crashed on Mont Blanc in 1966, killing 117 people. The crash was the subject of conspiracy theories suggesting the flight, which carried the father of India’s nuclear industry, Homi Bhabha, was shot down by a fighter jet or missile. The climber will now get to share half of the $168,700 value of the jewels, as his own. Meanwhile back in Texas, the plumber who discovered the cash in the walls of Joel Osteen’s Megachurch was whining about a reward after he opened a loose tile in a bathroom at the church and found loads of envelopes with checks and cash stuffed into some insulation in a wall. The money is tied to the 2014 case in which $600,000 was stolen from the church. Crime Stoppers awarded him $20,000. WHAT? No. He didn’t deserve a reward for doing the right thing while he was being paid by his employer to do his job. Good grief.

RECENT BIRTHDAYS: Game show host Bob Barker is 98. Singer Connie Francis is 84. Singer Dionne Warwick is 81. Singer-guitarist Dickey Betts of Allman Brothers is 78. Gymnast-turned-actor Cathy Rigby is 69. Singer-percussionist Sheila E. is 64. Actor Dick Van Dyke is 96. Actor-singer John Davidson is 80. Actor Kathy Garver of Family Affair is 76. Singer Ted Nugent is 73. Guitarist Jeff “Skunk” Baxter of The Doobie Brothers & Steely Dan is 73. Actor Wendie Malick is 71. Actor Johnny Whitaker of Family Affair is 62. Actor John Malkovich is 68. In 1976, along with Joan Allen, Gary Sinise, and Glenne Headly, Malkovich became a charter member of the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago.

Guitarist Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones is 78. Actor Hal Williams of Sanford and Son is 87. Police Officer Smith. Singer Joyce Vincent-Wilson of Tony Orlando and Dawn is 75. Actor Dee Wallace of E.T. is 73. Singer Cindy Birdsong of The Supremes is 82. Drummer Dave Clark of the Dave Clark Five is 79. Drummer Carmine Appice of Vanilla Fudge is 75. Actor Don Johnson is 72. Journalist Lesley Stahl of 60 Minutes is 80. Guitarist Tony Hicks of The Hollies is 76. Singer Benny Anderson of ABBA is 75. Singer-guitarist Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top is 72. Actor Barry Livingston of My Three Sons is 68. Director Steven Spielberg is 75. Movie critic Leonard Maltin is 71. Actor Brad Pitt is 58. Singer Taylor Swift is 32.

The realtor who took a private jet to the Capitol riot says she plans to practice yoga, detox from alcohol, and lose 30 pounds while in prison for 60 days. Ah, yes, Vacation. She is the same person that posted a few months after the attack that she was “definitely not going to jail” because she has “blonde hair,” “white skin,” and “a great job.” Well, now that she is more aware of her future surroundings for next couple of months, she said, “And also I can’t eat because the food is awful, and there’s just no food. So hopefully they have, like, some protein shakes and some protein bars, I think, because you don’t want to eat, like, green baloney – that’s what they have to eat.” Some girls will do anything to get needed time off.

5,262,849 (that’s million) people have now died from Covid worldwide. The first case of Omicron in Texas has been found in Harris County.

Medina Spirit, the 3-year-old colt who failed a drug test after winning the 2021 Kentucky Derby, died during the end of a workout this week. I won money on that horse. 😊 Jussie Smollett now claims that he is the real victim in what police are saying was a fake anti-gay and racist hate crime attack that he planned himself in 2019. Police have spent over 3000 hours investigating the alleged attack.

It is estimated that Trump came in contact with about 500 people between his first positive Covid test on September 26th and his hospitalization on October 2nd. Since physicians are bound by law and ethics to protect a patient’s privacy, some people are wondering whether he really had a duty to inform the public. Throughout history, U.S. Presidents have been less than honest about their health woes, just never during a worldwide pandemic.

What Can I Do to Help Small Business? Make at least one significant purchase from a local independent business. Encourage friends and family to make at least one purchase to an independent business. Pass It On!

Home Depot is having a bad run of luck recently. A 43-year-old Virginia Home Depot employee was unloading supplies when a forklift fell, trapped, and killed him. A 60-year-old Missouri man and Home Depot employee was using a forklift to transport drywall when pieces of the drywall fell on his head, and he died. A 32-year-old homeless man in Santa Cruz was found dead in the nursery department of Home Depot.

This morning as I walked from my bedroom to the living room, I noticed a bunch of brown stuff on the carpet that from a distance, looked like remnants of a chicken carcass. Hmmm. Many thoughts quickly filtered through my brain. No chicken on the menu last night, so no bones in the trash, so no real reason for the dog to go through the trash. Although recently, he doesn’t really seem to need a reason. Pet throw up, maybe? Nahhh. I would recognize that, whether or not I was wearing my glasses, which I was not. I bent down to get a closer look and to smell. Dang dog. It was one of my brown paper mache eggs. In the past, I brought them out just for Easter, but years ago I decided that they made me happy, so now I leave them out all the time, stacked in an old pedestal bowl which also makes me happy. I can visualize how it happened. The first cat jumped up on the table, paw-popped one egg out of the bowl straight to the floor. The second cat rushed in to tell Teller to quickly make his way to the living room, then the third cat sauntered in to whisper to him that those paper eggs taste just like chicken, and of course, the rest was history. He knew he had made a mistake and wronged me because he crated himself. But I’m pretty sure it was a set-up, but we’ll never know for sure. Shame on Winnie, Sully, and Oliver.

You cannot do kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late. Ralph Waldo Emerson.

More Uses for Hydrogen Peroxide: 1.) Store in a spray bottle and use as household cleaner. 2.) Ink stains on clothing. 3.) Ear irrigation for ear wax. 4.) In humidifiers to reduce germs. 5.) Rusty tools along with steel wool scrub. 6.) Burn residue on pots and pans. 7.) Nail fungus and athlete’s foot soak 8.) Natural deodorant. 9.) Encourage garden growth. 10.) Clean most fruits and vegetables. 11.) Foot soak for cracked rough heels. 12.)  Remove sticky labels. 13.) Canker sores. 14.) Disinfect toothbrushes. 15.) Some carpet stains, test in a small area first. 16.) Whiten teeth. 17.) Unclog slow drains. 18.) Mildew in showers and on grout. 19.)  Remove mold. 20.) Clean your retainer. 21.) Clean your makeup brushes. 22.) Spot treatment for a pimple. 23.) Bad breath. 24.) Disinfect kitchen sponges. 25.) Clean lunchboxes. 26.) Disinfect cutting boards. 27.) Bug bites. 28.) Swimmer’s ear. 29.) Shock your pool. And let’s not forget, of course, scrapes and cuts. There were more helpful hints, but I got tired of typing. Obviously, hydrogen peroxide is something cheap and effective, that should always be in our cabinets along with baking soda and vinegar, as a multi-purpose, healthy alternative to harsh chemicals and expensive products. Please remember that there are different strengths of hydrogen peroxide and most times you need to dilute before you spray, soak or gargle.

For 21 years, no one knew what has happened to high schoolers, Erin Foster and Jeremy Bechtal. In Sparta, Tennessee, a scuba diver (Exploring with Nug) who aids in the discovery of lost or stolen property, found their car underwater in the Calfkiller River, where it looks like the teens lost control of the car on a curve. An ex-neighbor of the Michigan school shooter’s (Ethan Crumbley) family said she had previously made an anonymous phone complaint to CPS to speak out about the way his parents would leave the young boy while they went to bars. The 15-year-old is now being treated as an adult because of the severity of his charges – terrorism, assault with intent to murder and possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony. He pleaded not guilty to those charges. His parents are now in jail after evading custody.

Thank you for reading us this week. Be safe and kind. And remember, it’s hard to do what needs to be done, when there’s no gas in the sleigh.

LISA