I hate it when people refer to Chicago as "Chi-town". I'm not from there or anything, it just bugs me.

Over the weekend I contemplated driving up north to a winery to buy some wine. I needed some for a chicken soup recipe I wanted to make, but also to me, fall is 'wine season'. But then I remembered that most of my belongings are still packed away. This includes the non-essentials like my corkscrew and the vacuum sealer I use to help the wine last longer since I'm not a raging alcoholic who downs the whole bottle in one sitting. So now I don't want to buy a bunch of wine, but still want some to cook with. I go down to my local liquor depot and grab a bottle of dry white wine and ask at the counter for a corkscrew. I buy a cheap little plastic one that I figure should do me fine for this one bottle. And I'll just use the cork to seal it back up and either drink it all during the week or toss it.

That evening I go to open the bottle only to find that the cheap corkscrew is no match for the mighty cork that has been used to seal this bottle. I even tried wedging the thing in a doorway to get some good leverage, but the little corkscrew wasn't made for that kind of torture. I ended up getting out my toolbox and screwing a good-sized screw into the cork and then used a hammer to pry the screw (with cork attached) out of the bottle. Why yes, I AM amazing. Thanks.