The fifth of the five Pepsi bottles from Ralphs was not a winner. After the four winners in a row, it was a distinct shock to read "PLEASE PLAY AGAIN" on the bottom of the cap.

Now, then, today's adventure resulted from me reading somewhere that Wal-Mart's regular price for 20-ounce Pepsis was 98 cents. So I made a special trip to the Wal-Mart in the Porter Ranch neighborhood of Los Angeles (which is way in the northwest part of the Valley, but it's the third-closest Wal-Mart to where I live, and it's all freeway from here to there).

Turns out the 98-cent price was either a limited-time promotion, or didn't apply in California, because this Wal-Mart was charging $1.28 for 20-ounce Pepsis. And I thought they always had low prices! That's 9 cents more than Ralphs. (I had also forgot to bring my "buy one, get one free" bottle caps.)

All was not lost, though, because I bought a Wal-Mart Edition of the 2005 Rand McNally Road Atlas, to replace the 1995 Rand McNally Road Atlas that I bought at the Wal-Mart in Carmi, Illinois, on Thanksgiving weekend in 1994. Wal-Mart's price has gone up: $3.96 in 1995, $4.97 in 2005 (but the "retail price" listed was $8.96 in 1995, $11.95 in 2005, so it seems like a better value). Anyway, the MapQuest road atlas is still better.

I also bought three Pepsis, since I made the trip anyway. Turns out Wal-Mart's evil reputation is deserved: it wasn't a winner, so I'm now 8 for 19 (6 songs, 2 free Pepsis).