Hello again.
Sorry I didn't write the last couple of nights. By the time I could sit down to write something, it was late and I decided to turn in, instead. But I am carving out a few minutes now, because I love you all.
I am gratified by the few comments I have thus far received about corner stores. One fellow wrote me on twitter, saying he thought which store I was referring to in my visit the other day. He is probably right. That store seems to have just about everything a fella could need in a pinch, and while you pay more, it is not obnoxiously more. When we went to the Sobeys in Timberlea today, I noticed that the distilled water was up to $1.99 a 4l jug. The very same product is $2.49 at the corner store. I don't mind paying fifty cents for the convenience of having it so close by. Every time I wish they sold a certain thing, I seem to be able to find that certain thing at that store, which impresses me and makes me appreciate it all the more.
I am told that the store has been there for a very long time, certainly much longer than the 20 years I have lived in this neck of the woods. I recall that it closed/changed hands several years ago. The word at the time was that the place was toast, but it soon reopened under the present owner, who is getting on and will likely retire before not too much longer. The store may close yet again, with no one to take over the business or to sell it to. That would be a sad day.
I do feel a little sorry for the people who live right next to the store. Their driveway bleeds into the the parking area for the store. The homeowners had to put up a "private driveway" sign to keep people off their property. It would drive me around the bend if someone were encroaching on my dirt all day and all night, so I don't blame them for putting up that sign. In fact, I would sell the place and move some place where I would be able to walk to the store but not have to endure the rush of humanity that is there all day.
Anyway, I did enjoy very much receiving the comments about corner stores. Please keep them coming. These stores serve a vital purpose in any neighbourhood. I consider myself lucky to have one so close to Casa Bevboy.
We went to the Sobeys today, though. While it is more expensive than Superstore, there can be some pretty good deals and markdowns at Sobeys, so one shouldn't just write them off. The one in Timberlea is smaller than many other Sobeys stores but it has just about everything we could need in a grocery store. There is actually a really good sale on chicken wings this week. $8.99 for a good size box, and if you get four of them, you get 100 bonus air miles, which is a lot of air miles. We accrue them during the year and cash them in at Christmas, so it is sort of like getting a free Christmas dinner.
They had bacon on special. If you get four packages of this particular variety, you got an additional 75 air miles, which is three quarters as many air miles as you got with the chicken wings. We got over 200 air miles today overall, which is a whole bunch.
We noticed that they had fenced off the area in front of the Sobeys. For years there has been talk of a service station going by the store, but I had thought it would be across the street in another area of undeveloped land. Plus, there is some construction getting ready to happen behind the Sobeys. As well, Brunello Estates is growing in such leaps and bound, with a luxury apartment building all-but completed and a bunch of overly expensive housing that we could never afford. Those roads will lead to the new Sobeys and whatever other retail is coming to that section of Timberlea. The sad thing is that there are plenty of people in BLT who are not well to do and do not have their own transportation. There is no bus service up there so they have to get their groceries in another community. I do hope they move the bus service to and from the Sobeys. It is over due.
In the 20 years I have lived here I have seen quite a few changes. By and large they are good changes, with more and more retail slowly coming around and seeing that the many thousands of people who live out here are underserved in that regard. I hope this trend continues. Now, if we just had a comicbook store...
I think I will turn in.
I will bark at ya tomorrow.
Bevboy
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