Jimmy Izzo was up early today. He snapped this gorgeous shot at Compo Beach — gorgeous, that is, until you remember the old sailors’ saying.
As Westport prepares for its 1st Snowmageddon of 2015, you should do 2 things:
Go to Stop & Shop, Trader Joe’s, Fresh Market or Stew’s, to clean out the shelves in anticipation of several weeks of famine
Head to Crossroads Hardware to stock up on shovels, snow blowers, roof rakes, flashlights, batteries, road salt, ice melt, and everything else you’ll need. Tell Jimmy “06880” sent you.
I was at the downtown Starbucks tonight (7 p.m.). The place looked like it had been looted. Shelves were empty. Showcase was empty. The usual supply of boxes with things to unload was missing.
I asked the manager if they lost their supplies because of the outage. He said they had power all day, and the lines were out the door most of the day. Now they were down to their last gallon of milk, and were going to be forced to close because of a lack of it.
I asked (maybe with disbelief) why they don’t go to a store and buy extra milk. The manager told me (with more disbelief) that Stop & Shop, Stew’s, Cumberland Farms, Fresh Market and several delis were either closed or had run out of milk, so he literally had nowhere to buy any.
Apparently in a storm, milk is more valuable than gold.
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Meanwhile, further down Main Street, Jimmy Izzo from Crossroads Hardware posted a short item on Facebook: “Had my first storm-related return.” A customer returned some lights, saying, “I didn’t need them.”
Jimmy — who emphasized that 98% of his customers are great — added to his post: “Well, someone sure could have used those lights.”
The comments from Jimmy’s friends were perfect:
“Did the guy who purchased sprinklers on Saturday return them yet?”
“I can’t wait to see if people try to return generators.”
“That reminds me, I need to bring back salt we didn’t use last winter.”
“Can I bring back my barely used roof rake later today?
“I’ve got a spare key you made which I haven’t needed.”
Whether holding court at Crossroads Hardware (which he owns) or driving around town (which he also owns), he’s got his eyes and ears opened.
The other day Jimmy posted this on Facebook:
Almost hit another 2 “Lance Armstrong wannabes” this morning on their bikes. These arrogant idiots who seem to make up their own rules of the road are without a doubt on a suicide mission.
Cyclists blowing through red lights and stop signs is a practice that needs to be stopped. Tickets and fines should be given, just as they are to motor vehicles.
Jimmy didn’t hit any cyclists — but he struck a chord.
Comments poured in:
I totally agree…riding in the middle of the road…not looking crossing intersections.
By law, they are supposed to obey the same laws of the road. I was avoiding 2 octogenarians on bikes one day. They rolled through a stop sign. I was working NOT to pass them. And who gets the $124 ticket?
I actually had a biker hit ME at Minute Men Cleaners. My baby was sleeping in the back seat, my mom was with me. And he started yelling at ME about his $3K bike and how I would have to replace it.
Weston concurs! Stay to the side; ride single file!
There really should be a campaign about it, because Westport has made the effort to put in bike lanes around a lot of the town. Single file is right! Ride with traffic!
I ride all the time, and stay as far to the edge of the road as possible. I never ride side by side with anyone. The police need to start ticketing the riders who obstruct the roadways.
Saugatuck Avenue is loaded with these pains-in-the-asses. Every Sunday morning they are out there yelling their messages to each other, waking the rest of us up.
Sounds like someone should bring this up at a Westport town meeting. I don’t know what this would fall under, but I bet it would pass unanimously.
And if it does — though nothing, not even a request for world peace, would pass unanimously here — I’ve got the next issue:
The logo-plastered Spandex that bicyclists feel compelled to wear. If they really want to pretend they’re Lance Armstrong, do it the right way.
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