Chickening Out

I spent most of my only day off this week running errands. I went to the Acme to pick up my paycheck and a few grocery items, mostly produce - grapefruit, escarole, bananas, and a bag of lovely Gala apples that's cheaper than buying them individually. I also picked up the generic Acme Cheerios (on sale, and cheaper than the real thing even at the regular price) and the 18-count eggs that were on sale as well. I received a surprise when I picked up my paycheck. A Chick Fil'A just opened in the lot that used to be the home of the International House of Pancakes, and all Acme employees were given a coupon for a free chicken sandwich. I'm not a big fast-food fan, but I figured, free food is free food, so I headed over to Chick Fil'A next.

The Chick Fil'A has been a very popular spot this week. Apparently, they're giving out freebies all over the place in honor of their opening, including free meals for the first 200 customers or something. There was a picture of people camped out - in the freezing, snowy weather - waiting for the doors to open Thursday morning! It's amazing what people will do for a free lunch. As for my free lunch, it wasn't much. It was just the regular Chicken Sandwich, which was just a piece of fried chicken on the usual role with two big pickle slices. At the very least (and unlike McDonald's and Burger King's chicken sandwiches), it looked and tasted like real chicken. Not bad, but really could have used some condiments or actual vegetables.

(Incidentally, this is the first free-standing Chick Fil'A I've ever seen. The only Chick Fil'A's I'd seen before this were always in mall food courts. There's one in the Hamilton Mall, one in the Deptford Mall, and the one at the Voorhees Town Center where Amanda and I ate at in October. I didn't even know there WERE freestanding Chick Fil'As.)

After I went home, I put everything away and added an apple to my not-exactly-healthy lunch, then went back out again, this time headed for the bank and the Haddon Township Library. I had an even harder time making my away around in Westmont than on Kendall Boulevard and Manor Avenue. The sides and most of the sidewalks on Cuthbert Road, one of the busiest streets in Haddon Township, were covered with ice. I found myself riding rather precariously on the busy street, trying to avoid speeding vehicles and small piles of frozen snow chunks.

The library was busy, too. Most of the kids had just let out of school, and I found myself helping quite a few youngsters find DVDs. We're still clearing PG-rated DVDs out of the children's section, too. I found the live-action Scooby Doo sequal, Ice Age-The Meltdown, and The Neverending Story II, among others. It took a while for me to get everything done today. There were piles of just-returned DVDs, both kids' and adults', to be put away.

I stopped quickly at Super Fresh afterwards. I didn't get what I was looking for, which was peanut butter, but I did find pudding, whipped topping, and graham cracker crusts on good sales. Great! I decided to make a pudding pie for Uncle Ken's Super Bowl party. Unlike the Acme earlier that day, which had been steady, Super Fresh was stone-cold-dead by the time I arrived.

Oh, and I got a notice from Turbo Tax saying my tax return went through and the check will be arriving in about two weeks. God, I hope it's sooner. The check arrived a lot earlier than they posted last year, and please let that be true again. I really need the money. My rent is going to be late again (though hopefully not as late as December).