I mentioned last week that we made a Baltimore run (ok, never really got near the city itself, but I count anything past Timonium as “Baltimore”). The plan was to, on the way home, hit the old Hunt Valley Mall (dunno what they’re calling the yuppy little village now) for dinner, and hit the Krispy Kreme donut shop on York Road in Timonium, hopefully when the hot light is on, for a dozen of the finest donuts known to man, bar none. We routinely hit the place whenever we make a run that direction, usually headed to Best Buy or CompUSA, also on York Rd.

The SOBs closed the York Road store.

You simply cannot imagine my horror…now the closest Krispy Kreme requires a trip partially around the beltway. And the kicker is, they closed this store down right at the time the shopping center behind it is undergoing a renaissance, with a new Staples store literally within spitting distance of the donut shop parking lot. So they closed the store right when traffic to it would dramatically increase.

You know, it’s no wonder their stock is taking such a beating making bone-headed decisions like that one. That it inconveniences me is, of course, only a sidelight.

I think what really makes me angry, though, is that I’ll probably make the trip to the Owings Mills store the next time I’m down that way anyway. We have a “local” donut outfit, Maple Donuts, and they beat up on the Krispy Kreme chain all the time. But let me tell you…a two-day-old Krispy Kreme beats a fresh Maple Donut any day of the week…not that you can find a fresh Maple Donut, since they are no longer made in-store and are trucked in from a central factory where they are made with all the personal attention of a rivet. Their idea of “fresh” is hours old and many bumpy miles on the road. When you get a Krispy made in-store pulled from the conveyor with that little plastic rod, with the glaze still dripping from the hot, soft, melt-in-your-mouth ring of light doughy perfection, anyone else’s is just a flavorless lardball - even if it doesn’t travel half-way across the county to sit in a box getting stale for most of the day.

So next time I’m down that way, I’ll probably drive the extra way around the beltway and pick up a few boxes…but just so you know, I ain’t gonna like it.

From USATODAY: Newly donated papers shed light on Murrow war broadcasts

Very, very cool. This should add a little more humanity to the newscasting icon.