Hot Days in August.

Of course it's hot! It's August. I open all the windows and keep them open all night. Do the burglars know about this? I am unable to steam and sleep at the same time. Maybe in the rain forest if I had a mosquito net and lots of sugary water. 

I bought sugary water today by accident. I thought it was mineral water, but no, it was full of aspartame, fake sugar that tastes metallic! I wanted to buy mineral water with a spritz of lime. Easy you'd think, huh? 

Where the heck to they put the sparkling mineral water? Not in the water section, not in the juice section or even the fake hydrating section. I did not look in the alcohol section. Maybe people use it as a mixer. 

My dad used water as a mixer, instructing a young girl to fill his glass with two fingers of bourbon, no wait, hold up your little fingers...three fingers of bourbon four ice cubes and top it with water, plain old water. From the small open bar. Anything you wanted, except something for a young girl to drink, cocktail glasses on the shelf below.

Someone I met quit drinking; it had become a problem; his wife and children were going to leave him. What to do if all you drink is beer all day, hiding a case in the garage, just in case? Find a new drink. My dad went back to drinking bourbon, nothing else tasted good. He tried soda and mineral water; nah, just bourbon for him and a glass of milk for breakfast.

The someone I met made a choice, he chose the family who loved him dearly but needed to have some gosh darn sobriety in the house! But what to drink?

Candy bars and coffee got him through a lot of tough times. But what really satisfied was bitter Schweppes Bitter Lemon. Horrible stuff. And between the candy and the Bitter lemon (sugar and acid) the dentist had a lot of work to do. Early sobriety messes with your body.

So I'll head back to the huge new Safeway and wander the long endless aisles trying to find fizzy mineral water. I asked an employee, but she didn't seem to know either.

We drink tons of the stuff so I don't really understand the lack of availability. Maybe they're under an invisibility cloak. 

Could happen.