Two Pet Peeves

There's two things that bug me.  Okay, not just two things.  But two things that I'm going to share with you lucky people today.

First thing that drives me crazy: when I go to the grocery store, and they are completely out of stock of something on my list.  As in, there's not even an alternate brand of said item to purchase.  (Although I am pretty frustrated that my grocery store hasn't had any knock-off brand tomato paste in about a month, but at least I can still get the name brand kind...)  Like on Monday, when I went to buy peanut butter, and there wasn't any left because, of course, it was on sale, and everyone else wanted some, too.  Or like yesterday, when I did my bi-weekly "stock up the house" trip, and I had planned to make shepherd's pie next week, but they were completely out of shepherd's pie seasoning mixes.

So now, I have to do one of three things: A) Make something else and hope I have everything I need.  B) Make shepherd's pie from scratch, as in the seasoning in the meat part, which from experience, doesn't always work (tried making my own sloppy joes and it failed miserably), and again, I don't know if I have everything I need.  Or C) I can go back to the store later in the week and hope they've stocked up.

None of these options really appeals to me.  *sigh* 

The second thing that drives me crazy has to do with my absolutely favorite past-time: reading.  I hate it when a book doesn't have a little blurby on the back telling me a synopsis of what the book is about.  I'm not saying I need pages of spoilers; I just want a little hint of what I'm getting myself into beyond what the title or location in the bookstore can give me.  A book without a synopsis on the back drives me so crazy, I might actually do the unthinkable - flip to the back of the book and read the ending first.

*gasp*

I know.  Sacrilege, right?  So unless the author is someone I already know I enjoy reading, if a book doesn't come with a synopsis, I will do the one other thing that prevents me from committing such travesty, I put it back on the shelf, and I don't read the book.  Someone else can borrow it.  Someone else can buy it.  But I will let it rest, and a book that might be the greatest book in history will go unread by my humble self, just because some publisher decided it wasn't worth it to give readers a little taste of what hides inside those pages.

And yes, this also means that I'm the kind of person who has to read the back of the DVD case before I watch a movie.  That probably says something about me, but I don't feel like analyzing exactly what that might be.  My coffee hasn't kicked in enough yet.

So there you go, my two pet peeves for the day, missing grocery store items and books without synopses. 

P.S. We put grass seed down in our backyard last week, and now we are starting to see green!  Super excited!  I'll post about that some other time when I get some good pictures...