Tidbits

Ali and I went to Des Moines on Friday to visit Ian (it was sibling weekend at Drake). I would just like to state for the record as a caution to all drivers considering a jaunt into the flat beige expanse that can be found about four hours south of my house on I-35 that there are no gas stations in Iowa. Well, very few, anyway. Consider yourselves forewarned.

*

On the way to my new morning job, I drive past a prominent red and yellow sign identifying the location of "Merwin Liquors". A secondary panel below reads, "Checks Cashed. Drug Store." The building itself sits a few yards back from the road; its signs proclaim, "Merwin Drug. Family Restaurant. Prescriptions Filled. Liquor." Identity crisis, much?

*

So Liberty Tax has certainly put plenty of cash into its current publicity campaign. In towns as disparate as St. Paul to Sleepy Eye, workers have been dressing up in festive liberty-conveying costumes - you know, Uncle Sam, Lady Liberty, and the like - and parading up and down the streets in frigid weather on a daily basis bearing signs that declare, "It's tax time!" But here in St. Paul, Liberty is going a wee bit further in its effort to woo customers. A reliable source (i.e. roommate J) tells me that a couple of weeks ago, Uncle Sam was accompanied by a REAL LIVE LLAMA.

*

To recap the above: Iowa lacks topography and petrol. Merwin Liquors et al. lack a cohesive sense of identity. I lacked the opportunity to see the llama that was frolicking about within blocks of my house.