A collection of unrelated, miscellaneous news.

There’s been so much going on around here today I almost don’t know where to start. First, at 11 this morning the three Mexican tornadoes showed up to clean our house, our landscapers mowed the front and back yards and Schwan’s delivered our frozen food order. And then ... Sam walked in with several sacks of groceries from Wal-Mart, including bagels, bananas and what appeared to be a lifetime supply of Coke Zero in two-liter bottles. Altogether this was so damn exciting I almost couldn’t contain myself.

In other news ... big storms are on the way. A tropical weather system in the Gulf is producing several waves of thunderstorms and torrential rain and all of them are headed straight for the Dallas area. The first line of storms should be here by 7 p.m. According to news reports we’re expecting up to three inches of rain per hour. Naturally, I’ll believe it when I see it. There’s usually a huge difference between the forecast and reality. (Translation: everybody who works at Weather.com is a pathological liar.)

Here’s a follow-up story to my June 27 restaurant review of CiCi’s Pizza. According to the Howdygram’s visitor statistics, the next day (June 28) someone at CiCi’s executive offices visited my blog and read the article! Sam and I assume they’ve got a specialized search service that prowls the Internet looking for anything that mentions their corporate name. Well ... mazel tov and welcome to our friends at CiCi’s Pizza. Please forgive us if we never go anywhere near your food again. And last but not least, on Tuesday morning I had an eye doctor appointment. My prescription changed slightly so I decided to order a new pair of glasses, which will be ready sometime next week. Although I’m sure most of you already know this, eyeglasses are TOO DAMN EXPENSIVE. Even with vision insurance coverage they’re costing me $198. I told Sam it’s probably to our advantage to drop the coverage altogether. We’re paying $240 a year for family coverage ... but I only saved $200 on my glasses and eye exam, and Sam doesn’t wear glasses at all. This is NOT a bargain. Thank you for reading this.