The Kind Of Meandering Personal Post This Blog Usually Avoids

So today, a couple things of minor interest to the middle-class New York consumer:

• Went to the doctor in Gramercy. Proved that I’m irrational, because while everything that mattered was the same as my last checkup (clean lipids, near-optimal blood pressure, 70 pulse, etc.) I was a little happier because the previous one I had gained 3 pounds and this time I lost 22, partly because I don’t like being lectured.
• So walking downtown I decided to walk by the new Trader Joe’s in Union Square. To me, the only key issue was the wine; TJ’s has some neat stuff, but nothing really compelling enough to make the trip without the cheap drinkable wine. Fortunately, as Mr. Sisyphus Shrugged suggested to me they have gotten around New York’s antiquarian liquor laws by opening a separate wine store next door. Outstanding!
• Speaking of which, I for some reason thought there were no Costcos in New York City, when in fact there turns out to be one maybe a 20-minute walk from my apartment. Not that walking distance is a relevant metric when it comes to Costco, but…anyway, I’m pretty excited about it. Granting that it leads to dubiously rational “that’s a great price for 600 cans of tuna!” purchases, it will prove to be useful.
• And the coup de grace: among some insanely generous birthday gifts–nice dinner, very tasty cake (mmm, wingnut), a couple books, a wine.com gift certificate, thanks again to all–as of today’s trip to the license-to-print-money Apple Store in SoHo I am now the proud owner of an I-Pod. Yay to my parents! The key question: will this rare gesture toward the 21st century cause people to get off my ass about getting a *&$^& cell phone? In my day, we had cordless land lines and we liked it, goddammit! Now all you punk kids get off my lawn!