The price of bananas

Many moons ago (and not an insignificant number of years), we lived in Galveston, Texas. We were half a block from the Gulf and could practically see the ships as they unloaded. Well, okay, that's a bit of an exaggeration, but it wouldn't have been a problem to do it. Nonetheless, the price of bananas in the Galveston grocery stores was the same as what my mother was paying 350 miles to the north: 19 cents per pound.

This always irritated me. Why shouldn't I pay a lot less since all they were doing was, metaphorically, rolling a crate across the street and putting it on the shelves?

No one asked me and the price, no matter where we lived or visited, stayed consistent.

Then over the last few years, it rose. 25, 30, 35--3 pounds for a dollar. It had finally settled in the mid-40s when gasoline prices shot up. The first commodity victim I noticed was the price of bananas. They immediately--overnight, if not quicker!--went to 59-64 cents a pound.

It's not like you can buy and store them. Nor is it possible to grow them here. No pick-ur-own banana farms in this neck of the woods. Want bananas--pay up!

It does make me wonder what they're going for in Galveston. If I knew anyone who lived there, I'd call.

To catch up:

No sooner do I get so disgusted with the number of Viagra spams I'm receiving and decide to start counting, than the well dries up. (This is not a complaint.) Must have been a lot of rush orders at the end of May.

June 1: 28 spam emails
June 2: 0 (not a typo and probably a first)
June 3: 3

On another front:

The fourth season of Meerkat Manor begins Friday night on Animal Planet at 8 pm CDT. Now that matriarch Flower is gone, the Whiskers have divided in two, with rival sisters at the helms. It doesn't get more human than this, does it?

Thank goodness they don't eat bananas. They'd starve.

Flower: Queen of the Desert

Last night on Animal Planet there was a movie about the beginning of Flower the Meerkat's reign. Entitled Meerkat Manor: The Story Begins, it was a careful reconstruction of Flower's early life and rise to power. Since we've been fond of the series since its beginning, were shocked at Flower's demise, and it was the subject of my early blogs, I was determined to watch it.

Of course, I recorded it and should have watched it after the initial 90-minute run because the number and length of commercials was almost staggering. We finally started timing them. An eight minute segment was followed by four minutes of ads, then only five more minutes of show before another one! The DVD comes out on June 3 and, while I applaud that quick turnaround, it can't be an hour long.

At least they didn't release it commercially. I'd have really felt ripped off then. But I now understand Flower better and look forward to the series beginning again on June 6.

I'll be there and the VCR will be programmed.