No Car, Ice Cream, and Nasty People Thoughts

I still don't have my car. I called on Thursday to ask them if the work was done. It was not. I called them Friday to ask if the work was done. It was not. I was told it would be ready late Monday. I'm deciding to not believe that, in which case it will come true. At that point my car will have been in the shop for 28 days. It better look damn good.
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Recipe for Dr. Pepper Ice Cream

Stir one cup sugar into one cup milk and 2 cups half n half.
Add 2 teaspoons vanilla (or more if you want)
Add a couple tablespoons of Dr. Pepper syrup from the Dr. Pepper bottling plant in Dublin, TX (available online)

Pour into 1 1/2 quart ice cream maker and let it run for 25 minutes.

Deeeeelishusssssss
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Because of the recent happenings regarding terrorists and the airlines, I was reminded of a couple things that happened the day after 9/11.

Many many people wanted the 9/12 newspaper, especially the New York Times. We received a few copies, like always. We had received numerous phone calls before we opened, and all of our copies had been placed on reserve for those folks. When we opened I remember there was one man who was absolutely livid. I mean yelling, red in the face, teeth snarling irate because we didn't have any NYT papers left for him to purchase. I remember being incredulous at his behavior. Thousands of people had just lost their lives, and this guy was yelling at me because he didn't get a newspaper.

That was one of those situations where all I could do was apologize. What I wanted to tell him is that we had a store in the WTC. It was demolished when the towers fell, though it was in one of the other tower complex buildings. We hadn't yet received word of the safety of the people who worked there, as they all scattered quickly, much like when one of our stores was hit by Hurricane Katrina. I wanted to tell the man that there were more important things than getting a newspaper to keep as a collector's item. But I didn't.

It was within the next couple of days that we learned all of the store staff were ok. They had gotten out well before the towers actually fell.

In the days that followed, as I learned more about what was going on I became increasingly proud and felt privileged to be working in the industry that I do. A large bookstore like mine wouldn't be permitted in many countries, at least not with any kind of diverse selection. I felt good about being able to walk through my store (and that was my 1st store; I'm now on my 4th) and see books on all topics and know that I live in a country where I can read whatever I want. I don't have to sneak around like the ladies in "Reading Lolita in Tehran".

I'm not really building up to any one huge point here. The recent events have just had me reflecting on the past a little bit. Reflection can be good sometimes.