As I discovered while surfing the net, Wegmans has been in business since 1916 and is still a family-owned business. This fact may at least partially account for its generally excellent business rating. It has appeared on Fortune magazine's list of "100 Best Companies to Work For" since the list's inception. In 2007, it received an award for "Best Grocery Store" in 2007 from the Food Network. In 2012, Consumer Reports ranked it as the top large US grocery chain.
In size and offerings, it was impressive, with an excellent selection of seafood, wonderful imported cheeses and organic products. There was a multi-faceted food court. One could either order from one of many counters and take one's purchases upstairs to eat or could be seated at a counter, as we decided, and order there. On the menus, we were specifically directed not to leave a tip for the server. This got me to hoping that this meant that the staff were actually receiving decent hourly wages and benefits. After learning that the company is considered an excellent place to work, it appears that may indeed be the case. I'm due to prepare dinner tonight and I'll be utilizing some of our purchases.
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Most businesses and households in the area are now connected and functional, thank heavens, and most roads have also been cleared of debris. Crews have been working nonstop since Friday night's storm and high winds struck. Just before my return, our neighbor's teen-age daughter had been involved in a serious fender bender when the car in front of her braked suddenly to avoid a large fallen branch and her reaction time was just too slow to avoid a collision. Although the car was impressively damaged, it appears that no one was hurt - which is the most important concern. And during our visit to Wegmans, we ran into one of HWMBO's fellow voyagers from his trip to China who shared with us that her household had been without electricity for three days. She was very relieved to be re-connected.Today's online Washington Post has an interesting interactive here, showing the before and after images from last Friday night as viewed from space. Click on the link and drag the slider shown there to the right for the "before" image and left for the "after" image.
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This being a Presidential election year, there is a lot in the news about the doings of the two major candidates. President Obama, as the incumbent, has the "bully pulpit" advantage and is making excellent use of it. Mitt Romney, the GOP candidate, appears less and less knowledgeable about anything that would actually help move the country forward every time he opens his mouth. Perhaps someone should do him a favor and tell him just to zip it. Another real problem for him even though he has oodles of cash: his own party apparently finds him "boring." Here's hoping that things stay that way for him and that the President wins a second term. I personally believe that anything else would be devastating, not only for the US, but for the world that must live with us.
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Courtesy of one of the online groups I follow, I have found a very interesting website for anyone who, like me, loves to read and also loves to imagine the geographic locations of where the action in a novel takes place: Maps of the Classics. Take some armchair journeys and enjoy! After all, journeys of the mind can often be the most satisfying of all.
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