Since January I've been working a swing shift, which means I have to squeeze dinner into a 30-minute break. My only options are to bring along a TV dinner or hit one of the fast food restaurants near Cedar Hills Crossing. There's not enough time to get in and out of I Love Sushi and I can't stand burger joints so I wind up eating at Taco Bell two nights a week.

Tonight as I pulled up to the drive through in my rust-bucket Toyota van, the eyes of the teen at the window lit up. "WOAH! You're driving a Double Slug Bug! I haven't seen one of these in a long time." As I passed him my cash, he explained. Growing up in the early '90s, vans like this were all over the place. When he and his friends played "Slug Bug," the old children's game where players point out Volkswagen Beetles, Toyota vans apparently counted for double points.

I asked if Volkswagen vans or vans in general counted. "Nope, just this type." Strange. I always thought my vehicle looked more like a metallic potato bug than a slug.

The Toyota has been in my family for over 20 years. I inherited it from my parents in the '90s. There's no telling how many times the van's mere existence has inadvertently aided bored children on road trips. Or maybe this variation of the game didn't make it past the Taco Bell teen and his friends. When I played "Slug Bug" back in the day, only Beetles counted for points.

-------

OK, another quick, pointless Beaverton anecdote.

On Thursday night I went to Winco, the ultra-cheap food warehouse, to pick up a few odds and ends. I approached the register with four boxes of cereal and a bottle of Carlo Rossi. The clerk looked over my purchase and with upturned eyebrow said, "You know it's not good to mix these." "Well, have you ever tried it?" was my response, in my best deadpan voice. He rung up my stuff and told me try it with a Caesar salad sometime.

I doubt he believed me but I'm still hoping this encounter is on a "Tales From Winco" blog somewhere. I'd like to think I'm associated with a post titled "The Customer Who Pours Cheap Wine Over Frosted Flakes."