We’ve got a mouse. A little furry brown mouse. Katie saw it scurry away two nights ago when she turned the bedroom light on and we both saw it last night when he decided to come make a cameo appearance in the living room for about 5 seconds.

Our landlord shows no reaction to anything – I don’t think he actual feels feelings. Usually our conversations involve a lot of me talking and him blankly staring back making for some awkward silences. In addition to being our landlord, he also owns and runs the pharmacy on the first floor of our building which looks like it hasn’t changed in 50 years (including some of the products for sale!). He’s a pretty weird dude, usually wears a light blue pharmacy guy jacket, and still uses a manual typewriter to put up little notes for the tenants.

Today I walked in to the pharmacy, greeted him, and told him we have a mouse. He said nothing but did immediately walk past me and behind one of the display counters in the store. Out of a cabinet he gave me two boxes, one with mouse traps, and one with mouse poison, still saying nothing. “Thanks, hopefully this does the trick”, I said to which he replied, “I think you have a package here” and pointed towards a box containing a mail-order cake which I had been waiting for. How long it had been there I’m not sure since I received no notice of a package arriving.

Anyways, I set up the poison and traps so now we’ll just wait and see. I learned a new word from the back of the poison box: rodenticide.

Last night some friend’s had us over to their apartment in West Philadelphia for dinner/drinks along with some of Katie’s classmates. After hanging out for a bit I noticed some light coming in through the blinds of the front window… we could also hear a helicopter. About ten minutes (ish) later someone noticed police cars outside so we decided to see what was a-flutter!

We went outside and saw this car on the sidewalk. As soon as we got outside a police officer approached us – would he tell us to get back inside because a bad guy was on the loose? Would he ask for details of what we saw? Would he reassure us that the situation was under control? NO! He just asked if he could use the bathroom. I guess he didn’t get a chance to take a piss during the chase.

Apparently, the driver was running from the police and turned up South Farragut Street (where we were) but there was a FedEx truck parked on his narrow escape route! Instead, it appears the driver decided to use the sidewalk driving past five or six row houses before avoiding a tree, hitting a few cement steps, flattening a tire, and rendering the car immobile.  A neighbor said she saw two people escape on foot, apparently successfully.

I haven’t found any news articles about the incident, but I’ll post anything I find. Maybe this isn’t really news for Philly?

I found a few articles (which are almost identical):

• ABC Coverage
  
• MSNBC Coverage
  
• Fox Coverage
  
• CBS Coverage
  

Oh, and happy Valentines Day. Katie and I had our traditional date at Five Guys.

What the blog!? The btjones.com staff are a lazy bunch…

A couple weeks ago I found what I thought was a bug in my bag of Utz potato chips. I took some photos and promptly sent an email to Utz:

Subject: I found a bug in my chips

To whom it may concern,
I am writing to make a complaint about something I found today in a family size bag of Utz Ripples (purchased at a Super Fresh grocery store in Philadelphia, PA). At first I thought it was a burnt potato chip, but then I realized it had legs. I believe it is a deep fried bug of some sort. This is no joke, please follow the link below to view the photos I took of it.

http://www.flickr.com/gp/57543543@N00/Fy63Cb

Is this a normal occurrence? If so, can you tell me what type of bug this is? I think it is quite disgusting, whether or not it is actually harmful. Is there anything you might suggest to rectify this potato chip tragedy?

The very next day I heard back:

Subject: Utz Ripple Potato Chips

Thank you for your email w/pictures of the foreign matter you found in the bag of Utz Ripple Potato Chips. We share your concern about this problem because it is very disconcerting to find something in an Utz package besides fresh chips.

The material you found is an accumulation of solidified potato chip starch, cooking oil and salt. A film of cooking oil sometimes mixed with bits of potato, builds up on the surfaces of the conveyors and frying equipment during the day. This deposit of oil normally doesn’t become thick enough to solidify. We inspect and wipe down all product contact surfaces at the end of each day. Some parts are even disassembled for a thorough cleaning and inspection on a weekly basis. In your case, a deposit of oil evidently built up, hardened and eventually broke away and was mixed with the chips to be packaged. This material is not harmful if ingested. However, we realize it looks very unappetizing and can understand your concern.

When we receive a complaint, we take it very seriously. We appreciate the time you took to alert us because we want to eliminate any possible source of problem.

We apologize for this inconvenience. We are happy to have you as a loyal Utz customer. If you still have the bag, can you please tell us the price/letter-number/expiration date from the front of the package? Also, if you will give us your mailing address we will send you some coupons you may use toward future purchases of Utz products.

The more I looked at my photos, the more I could see that it probably wasn’t a bug. Those legs are too big…and they were probably made when this gooey thing got pulled off of a conveyor belt (or whatever). I replied with the information they requested from the bag and my address and in a couple days I received my coupons… four separate $1 off coupons (limit one per purchase). Not exactly what I was expecting… but it’s not like there was actually a bug in my chips.

Did anyone else watch President Obama on the teletube? I thought he sounded good for the most part…but man was he long winded.