Watching other people work!
That's what Cathy and I did today for almost two hours at the Jelly Belly Factory out in Fairfield.
Oh, here's a fun fact: By the time we left there in early afternoon, the temperature was 83 F.
Twenty-five minutes later, and due westward, the temperature was 69 F.
Seriously, I had not dressed for weather affected by the marine layer coming off the Pacific Ocean, as I ran around in shorts and lightweight tops most of my time out here in California.
Note to self: check the forecast before travel!
Anyway, where was I?
Oh, yeah, watching people work!
That's why we were here on a Monday instead of our trial run on Saturday, when even the robots were off.
Indeed I did!
Here's one of those fine fellows right here, doing the heavy, repetitive, lifting and shifting, again and again, of those ungainly 25-pound bins of jellybeans.
We stood and watched him for at least five minutes!
We stood around and watched these guys for a while, too.
That man on the upper level was quite friendly, even waving back when he saw me waving at him!
We weren't actually on the factory floor, of course.
I'm sure that even if this wasn't the tail end - hopefully - of the pandemic, the folks wouldn't want the public traipsing around and possibly touching the foodstuffs.
How cool it would have been to get a selfie with this one, of my Great-great-great-great-and a few more-Uncle, Ben Franklin!
I don't think I would have cared so much for posing with the any of the ones of Ronald Reagan, but I admit it was very cool that he sent some of the jellybeans up to the space station in 1983!
I'm sure the astronauts appreciated that!
well, that would be Elvis, of course!
Such a pity that Marilyn Monroe gets to hang around with him -
get my little joke? -
but I'm on the tour route, separated by glass walls and yards of empty space from the King of Rock'n'Roll.
I wonder...
how much would that piece of art cost?
And how much would it be to fly him home with me?
I guess I'll have to let the Jelly Belly version be!
Not that I left there empty-handed, of course.
I had to buy some of that candy, right?
The popcorn flavor sounded intriguing, as did the multi-pack of five different mixtures... plus the Scotty black licorice!
The two paper hats we wore for the tour, as well as the two bags of 'beans they gifted us with our tour ticket, will find their way into the hands of my nephews in Alabama.
My niece out there, as well as my four blonde great-nieces and CJ, will receive metal candy tins with assorted flavors - something to savor and something to save!
Cathy knew exactly where to take me, too: Berkeley Bowl!
Apparently, it's a lot like the Dekalb Farmers Market that Sam took me to in Atlanta, except for one thing: California has been much stricter with its COVID precautions.
That meant the cafeteria area of the Bowl was still closed, so there would be no dining-in on this trip.
That was fine, though, as she needed to pick up a few things.
I was amazed at the variety of apricots!
This piroshki, for instance, turned out to be a Russian version of a Japanese steamed bun, but with beef inside instead of pork.
That was quite tasty!
The tabouleh was good, too, though it would have been good to have a bit more garlic and parsley.
Those both made a nice late lunch when we got back home about an hour ago.
I'm so glad to have had Cathy all to myself today!
Even better: she didn't have to use a vacation day after all, because the university gave her the day off!
They were a little slow to adopt Juneteenth, but this certainly worked out for us!
(smile!)
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