The Prestigious Palm Springs Savant and Co.

Coffeesister just reminded me that we have to go to “SweatCo” and pick up some cat food.  I know “SweatCo” is an odd name for a pet food retailer, but it’s actually a pseudonym I’m using to be discreet because this post is about my old blogging pal, Rick Rockhill, who is a bigshot executive with “SweatCo,” and he (wisely) doesn’t mention the company on his blog, PALM SPRINGS SAVANT, so I figure I won’t mention it here either.

Actually, I wouldn’t bring it up at all – I’d just tell about how I ran into Rick downtown the other day and we had a brief yet exhilarating chat – but what made me think of it was the need for cat food and the hungry kitty rubbing up against my leg as she screams at me, “DADDY!  I HUNGEEE!!” and I tell her, “I know sweetie, but let me post about uncle Rick first, because my blog is more important than your well-being.”  Yes, I take very good care of my pets, Shadow AND coffeesister.

Okay, so I ran into Rick the other day as he was walking downtown with his partner, John or Steve, or something, and we stopped to talk for a few minutes because I’d met him once before and I thought, “Hey, he’s pretty cool for a guy who lives a lifestyle that’s so entirely different from mine that it would take the light from MY lifestyle over a thousand years to reach HIS lifestyle.”  (NOTE to John or Steve, or something.. I’m TERRIBLE with names.  It’s nothing personal, k?  I liked you, I really did.. you rock..  your name doesn’t.)

We talked for a few minutes and I got to meet Rick’s new dog, Shelby or Sheldon, or something, and we all marvelled at what a wonderful small town atmosphere we have here in Palm Springs when you can just walk down the street and meet up with fellow bloggers, their partners and their dogs.  We didn’t get to talk very long, because I had to catch a bus, so I excused myself and said, “I have to go catch a bus” and Rick looked like he wasn’t sure what a “bus” was, but he smiled and said it was nice seeing me again.  I once read on his blog, “PALM SPRINGS SAVANT,” that I was the ONLY BLOGGER Rick has met in person.  Can you imagine that?  Being this world-renowned blogger whom people love and adore, and the only blogger YOU’VE ever met is RHODESTER?

HAHAHAHA!!!  Geez..

As previously mentioned, Rick is a bigshot pet supply executive.  He has several cars and a nice home in Palm Springs (according to his BLOG). To give you an idea of his level of bigshotness, I’ll let you in on a conversation that took place during my first visit to the new “SweatCo” which recently opened next door..

I was talking to no-one. The young assistant manager had excused himself to scurry off and polish the brass nameplate on the store manager’s door.  I walked out of the cleanest, sparkliest “SweatCo” I’d ever been in – you could have eaten eggs off that floor.

I first encountered Rick when we’d moved to this area last year and I did a search for bloggers in Palm Springs.  Google served up “Palm Springs Savant,” and I thought, “Well, that’s interesting.. he’s a SAVANT and he LIVES HERE, and he writes about it!”  So I started reading it back then and haven’t stopped.

Palm Springs Savant is written from Rick’s POV (Point Of Vanity), meaning that it’s all about the fine restaurants around here, and the art museums and social gatherings, all of which I don’t get to attend due to poverty, lack of
social standing and the fact that I’m a peasant toiling with the unwashed masses – so I live vicariously through his deep, brown eyes.  At least, I THINK they’re brown.. Steve or John would know, I’m sure.

But I don’t think Rick has ever ordered a taco at a drive-up window and had to dig around for extra sauce packs between the seats or in the glove box.  I have absolutely NO DOUBT that he actually keeps GLOVES in his glove box – right next to the extra scarf and fedora.

Rick is very prestigious, which is a big word that means “can afford to dine out EVERY night.” But he’s not without his quirks, mostly which come in the form of a little betta fish called Dr. Sidney Wang who uses Rick’s blog to dispense wisdom and advice to the minions (not minnows) every Wednesday.  I don’t know what that has to do with Rick, except that Dr. Wang lives in his house and I think he uses Rick’s computer.  Rick said something about coming home to a wet keyboard on those nights.  I’ve been thinking of writing Dr. Wang to ask, “How can I become prestigious too?”  Not that I really want to, but I’ve never asked a fish anything so I might as well ask it how to be successful.

If you’re looking for a new blog to read, because lord only knows there aren’t enough of them out there, I highly recommend “Palm Springs Savant.”  You don’t even have to live in Palm Springs. Rick writes about all kinds of places, such as London, Paris and Rome. That’s because he’s often in those cities, like when he opened a new pet supply store at the Vatican – now the Swiss Guard need only WALK a block or two to get feed for the Pope’s parakeet.

Speaking of feed, the hungry kitty has just gnawed my toe off, so I best limp over to SweatCo and grab some cat food before they close.  I’m sure I won’t miss it – it’s the bright, gleaming structure at the end of the parking lot – you know, the one with the rainbow arching over the top and the dancing elves singing merry songs as customers bound out the door laden with pet supplies.

I think I’ll do a little name-dropping to see if the elves dance any faster

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Tagged as: blogging, Google, Palm Springs Savant, Pet food, Petco