Hybrid, Bentley's, Jasmine, Panda House

Update - January 27 to February 2, 2019

-- Dealer Called Back With Better Offer

Two Red Cars in Garage

Although Patti is only in semi-retirement, that is, working three days a week, we are trying to organize our lives to adjust to full retirement together. I have successfully adopted the retirement lifestyle, as expected, and am encouraging Patti to come along when she's ready. One of the things we are adjusting to is keeping all costs predictable in the years ahead. One prediction that we dread is the cost of fuel for our automobiles, so it occurred to us that Patti's next vehicle might be electric or at least a hybrid.

The opportunity for that presented itself over the past few weeks and we went full-in to get her a new car that offers about 43 miles to the gallon instead of the more typical 23 miles per gallon for full-size cars. After some research and some test-drives, Patti settled on a Ford Fusion Hybrid in vivid Ruby Red, similar to my SHO, and we made an offer to the dealer. They didn't accept it so we had to leave. The next day, we heard from them and the offer was accepted. Success. Patti brought home the new car and we should be able to enjoy it for many years to come.

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READ my Blog "The Books of Richard F Wright" (Books, Bookstores, Writing)

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Pub Food Rocks

-- Celebrate the New Car with Lunch at Bentley's

We stopped in at Bentley Pub in Auburn for lunch during one of our road trips checking out possible new cars for Patti. When Patti mentioned the place I was not sure where or what it was. When we pulled up to it I realized this was one of the old Piccadilly Pub locations. The layout inside did not seem to have changed much from years ago and the general menu offering was similar to what they used to offer at Piccadilly's.

It's a pub and that means there are lots of items we enjoy. Even though it was lunch, I went with the full Baked Haddock Filet with two sides. It was a large portion and I finished most of it, so no leftovers from my plate. We did have some leftovers from Patti's plate, but if I recollect correctly, I was the one who ate those leftovers? I may have to give that some more thought.

-- Shopping for New Car Makes us Hungry: on to Jasmine

Love the Buffet

After the dealer came back with acceptance of our offer we concluded the deal and then we went to lunch again, in Auburn, so this was a chance for Patti to direct us to a place called Jasmine her friends have been talking about quite a bit. I had never heard of it. It's tucked into the small mall near the Stop and Shop. It's very warm and inviting once you were inside, past the blandness of the mall parking lot. The menu was extensive, but we went with the obvious choice: The Buffet.

You could see that everyone in the place was going to the buffet. We surveyed it and realized that unlike some buffets this one was quite extensive and tempting. I sampled Crab Rangoon, Lo Mein Noodles, Steak and Broccoli, Seafood Casserole, Boneless Ribs, Pepper Steak, and so on. It was no problem to go back and get a large second helping, followed finally by a plate of various deserts. The food was good, the value was good, and the atmosphere was good, so I can see us coming back again. That's always the test, right?

 -- Pleasant View of Downtown Holden Last Week


On my way back from shopping at Big Y as I approached the intersection of Route 31 and Route 122A I saw the sunlight splashed on the church across the street. I took a quick picture from the front seat of my car just so I could remember how the sun was highlighting the steeple.

There are several historic and attractive buildings in downtown Holden, even though the town doesn't really have the cohesive old-town charm that many New England towns have. But, there are some views that are worthwhile observing and remembering.


-- Visit with Family in Connecticut

Panda House in Danbury

We drove to Connecticut on Friday and stayed over in Danbury in preparation for attending a memorial service for a nephew who had passed away last month. We arranged to have dinner at the Panda House in the evening and then joined everyone else on Saturday at the Congregational Church in Brookfield for the services. We have been to this restaurant before on more pleasant occasions, but nonetheless, we enjoyed our visit to the Panda House.



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READING UPDATE: I have a fascination with the schism between science and religion. Science is clearly believable, and religion is clearly not. But, apparently, of the eight (8) billion people on earth, only one billion realize, as I do, that religion is bunk. In his book, Descartes Bones, Russell Shorto provides what is described as a “skeletal" history of the conflict between faith and reason. The humor in this description derives from the “bones” and “skeletal” references. (It’s clearer when you read the book.) Anyway, I finished reading the book this week and was happy to discover another tale about an atheist who had to endure humiliation during life – and then again during death. It wasn’t enough to bury him, years later they had to rebury him. Better than any mystery or adventure novel you may read, this book tells the authentic story of how his bones were used for scientific study, were stolen, were sold, worshipped as religious relics, and fought over. It’s Descarte’s famous quote that inspires me most: “I think, therefore I am.” You may want to think about reading this great book. (Let me know if you want to borrow it.)