In case you didn’t believe me about the sun having gone missing from the sky, here’s a pic from my lunchtime walk. My, how my scenery has changed from my lunch outings in Santa Monica.

There are rumors of another walkout of the train employees later this week. So, I’m trying to figure out a way around that. I was also thinking of taking the train to France this weekend to search for the sun, but I might have to look at other options.

I got home a little after 6 tonight and had to stop by the store to pick up some food. I passed by the butcher, gambling on the grocery store having acceptable meat. Nein! All they had was ground pig. It’s really hit or miss with their meat selection–I feel like it’s Christmas when they have beef. So I picked up some veggies and went back to the butcher. By this time it was around 6:20 and he was cleaning out his meat display case.

I asked if he had any ground beef and he said sorry, he had just cleaned his machine. So I asked if he had anything not pig. He pulled out a cut of beef, which I ended up taking. He told me next time to come by 6, otherwise he starts cleaning up.

I found this whole encounter fascinating.

For one, he actually grinds his meat on the spot. That is mind-blowing enough. But, the fact that he starts cleaning up at 6 is just as crazy. We are so lucky in the US to be able to get pretty much whatever we want whenever we want.

I wonder if it’s going to feel like Disney World the first time I go home and I can go shopping at any time, or on a Sunday, or even get ground beef if I want it.

Meanwhile, I ponder this question: how do these people eat so much pig??