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The Dude did a bit of traveling over the past week and discovered a gas station in a neighbouring state that sold ketchup chips. Like the good boy that he is, he picked up a few bags and won a few brownie points with the Canuck in the process.

This time, the maker of the chips was "Uncle Ray's" out of Detroit, Michigan. There was a big orange sticker on the front of the bag that read, "59¢" and "See Story on Back!". The story detailed "The Life and Times of Uncle Ray". Unfortunately, all four bags of chips featured the same story - "Chapter Ten: A Hard Day's Work for a Good Day's Pay", which outlined Uncle Ray's time working at the Great Lakes Grey Iron Foundry and his stint in the US Navy. I was disappointed that I had jumped into the story right at chapter ten and was in the dark about the previous nine chapters of Uncle Ray's chip bag biography. Thankfully, I discovered chapters 1, 4, 3, and 10 (in that order) on the official Uncle Ray's website, which helped to fill in some of the gaps in the story.

Prior to opening the bag, I meditated in an effort to cleanse my mind's palette of the delights of Old Dutch ketchup chips. Over the course of living abroad, I have learned that American chips, try as they might, just can not compete with Old Dutch. Now prepared for this gastronomic journey, I opened the bag.

A pop of the bag and the air rushed out. I inhaled expecting to smell the delicious scent of artificial ketchup seasoning. There was nothing. I peered into the bag and gasped! The chips were naked! The predominant colour in the bag was white and the predominant flavour was potato. Were these really ketchup chips? Finishing the last chips in the bag and reaching the bottom, I discovered the answer - a deep layer of red powder covered the bottom of the bag and stained my fingers with its ketchupy delight.

Next time, I will remember to shake the bag beforehand and see if that makes a difference in the sticking ability of the seasoning to the chips. If so, perhaps Uncle Ray should add directions on how to properly prepare the chips for consumption to the preface of his chip bag biography. At any rate, 59¢ for a naked chip peep show and a story is a steal of a deal! Thanks Uncle Ray!