both tids AND bits

Was reading our local village newspaper this morning while eating a bowl of cheerios. A paper largely devoid of any real news.
It leads with announcing what student won a green competition, and listing info about chamber of commerce dinner.
Best part of the paper is the police column, listing notable arrests.

90% of the weekly list is comprised of South Side Chicago residents being arrested for trying to steal $42.63 worth of merchandise from Evergreen Park's Walmart.
Or $19.37,
or $62.51...

Misdemeanor petty theft, from the cheap-ass department store...
I guess you can steal more for your money, at a place like Walmart.
I can't wait to see THAT ad campaign.

The city of Chicago would not allow Walmart to open a store on it's beleaguered West side, or anywhere else within city limits.

So my village quick stepped up and welcomed Walmart to open a store as close to the city as they possibly could.
It's a mess, not too shockingly. I try not to give Ol' Sam Walton any of my money, on principle.
I avoid this particular Walmart, in particular.

Anyhow... one blotter item piqued my curiosity.
a Nineteen year old village resident was arrested for allegedly (it's always "allegedly" of course) steeling two candy bars, and TWO TUBES OF CREST TOOTHPASTE, from a gas station.
What, no toothbrush?
How's he gonna do a good job on the back teeth, where cavities start, without a good toothbrush?

I'm all for good dental hygiene, especially after eating sugary snacks, so I have to applaud his choices.

Bush leaves office today.

It's kind of a relief, though hollow, due to damage his administration was allowed to do.
I think my daughter said it best, when she said "Bye Bye Poo Poo."
I think she was talking about something else, so context might be different, but sentiment's dead on.

Took my daughter to an "open gym" for toddlers on Sunday, at a nearby racquet club. We walked in, and there are literally hundreds of little kids running around, with their adults in tow.
"Wow" I whispered to my wife.
"This totally reminds me of a dog park."

It was awesome, by the way, and we'll be going back. floor covered in gym mats, trampolines, toys everywhere, balls, frisbees,slides, every piece of gymnastics equipment you can imagine..... awesome.

we had to park two blocks away, which was a bit of a drag on a cold winter afternoon.

And it didn't HAVE to be that way. I do not exaggerate, when I state that 1/10th of the parking spots were wasted in this lot, due to a huge percentage of the parents simply not giving a shit about anyone else. There's simply no other explanation. It was the worst communal parking job we'd ever seen.

Wait there's a spot up there on the.... nope. Ok, over there, in the next aisle....nope
wow, they really took up three spots, how did they do that?
maybe in the last aisle.....nope. But 6 cars in a row did park straight, in angled parking spots. Open gym's only for an hour, time for plan B....