If you think this is "food mecca", then I'd hate to see the desert you live in!

I'm worried that JK Sweets is no more. Last Wednesday, I stopped by to find a "Sorry Closed Today" sign on the door. So I came back the day after--to find the same sign. And now again today. The display cases up front are cleaned out and there's a puddle of dirty water on the floor. At first that gave me hope--I wondered if it could be just a temporary closing until they took care of some plumbing problem--but it doesn't look good. I've considered calling, but if Jay is dodging creditors or something then my voice mail would only get lost in the pile-up.

I vaguely remembered a new storefront that had attracted my curiosity around the corner, so peeped and found that it was Chicken Bar. It's never a good sign when you're outnumbered two-to-one by employees and it's still the tail end of the lunch rush. But I can't really complain about the "Thai chicken sliders" I ordered. (Ironically, I picked them because they appeared to be one of the milder choices but the peanut sauce really packs a wallop.) At best, an occasional spot.

I'm beginning to feel there's a galactic conspiracy afoot to get me to bring my lunch. If, say, Pomegranate goes under, I'll consider that proof positive.

WotD: curtain rod

1. die Vorhangstange
2. de gordijnroede
3. la barra de cortinas
4. la guia de cortines
5. le tringle à rideau
6. y polyn llenni
7. an maide cuirtíní
8. pręt do zasłon
9. 커튼을 (거는) 막대
10. 擗帘竿 pǐliángān

Notes: I'm still not sure what the load-bearing capacity of the shower rod in the upstairs bathroom is, but now I know it's somewhere less than six wet linen shirts. monshu finally made it to Clark-Devon for a cheap plastic replacement on Saturday morning and I was stymied on how to fit it into place until I finally read the package instructions and discovered that you had to twist it to adjust the length first. So I went and picked up the old metal one--which both of us had wrestled with for considerable time earlier in the week before giving up for ruined--and realised the same trick worked. Anyone need a cheap extendable curtain rod?

(N.B.: I originally wanted to make this entry "tension rod", which is what I thought was the proper name for a curtain rod that was held in place by an internal spring rather than being screwed into the wall. But I had no luck at all finding translations.)