The Last Day of July

   I don't have my office set up yet, so I've been writing out on our side porch.  At only sixteen square feet it's not as spacious as our front porch, but it is somewhat hidden from my neighbors and is big enough to fit a beach chair.  I have to use the railing as side table for my drink because the cup-holder in the arm of the chair is holding my iPod and phone.  I like this setup for writing though, I have fresh air, a drink and music. The air is seventy-four degrees, the drink is RC cola & Jim Beam on the rocks and the music is Genre > Rock > Shuffle.  The combination of the three is making me lazy. Take a sip, close my eyes and enjoy a little Cracker. I wonder, what will come on next, as I close my eyes and drift off, remembering when I used to listen to this album in the office of the Clay Theater while doing paperwork, probably payroll.  Oh, the Beatles? Good choice iPod.  Is the real Paul dead?  No matter, this one did some good work and went on to write a great song for a 007 movie.  Thin Lizzy, nice.  When I was a kid I thought they were some crazy hard rock band, like KISS.  I associated them with the axe murderer Lizzy Borden.  Turns out they were just a hard rockin' Irish blues band, apparently (if the internet is to be a trusted research source) named after a comic book robot, how cool is that?  The iPod thinks so, it's playing a two-fer.  Hmm... more Beatles, "Paperback Writer", well played iPod.  Okay, try to get back to writing.  Nope, the sun is sneaking around to this side of the house and is now hitting my back, making me warm and sleepy.  No work on the book today, but at least I managed to get some writing done today and that's better than nothing.

4:20, dude!

   Today's post is brought to you by a Coffee and Baileys.  No ice today, I had freshly brewed coffee.  It's not morning drinking if coffee is involved, right?  I'm pretty sure that if I was drinking that Bourbon and Ginger Ale I've been thinking about it might be a problem.

   Random thought of the day, I like Adele.  She has a great voice and the album '21' sounds like it could be from any of the last five decades.  Great album.

   Yesterday my wife and I went to a local deli to get sandwiches for dinner.  We had a 'Buy one, get one 1/2 off" coupon and thought, "Why the hell not?"  It has been a few years since the last time we had been there, mostly because it's a bit on the pricey side, not outrageous or anything, just more than I like to pay for a sandwich.  However, using the coupon would make it a decent deal. 

  We walked in, a few minutes past 4:00, and the place was packed.  College kids occupied all the tables and most of the standing room.  One gentleman, he looked to be in his sixties, stood near the cash register chatting with a woman, whom, I believe, is the owner.  The five people working the food line were cranking out the sandwiches, one every thirty seconds or so.  The gal wrapping them was an expert, she took five seconds to double wrap, tape on the order sheet and put them in an ever growing pile of sandwiches.  My wife and I look at each other, she says, "They must have a big phone order or something." Looking at the pile, I agree with her.  We each grab an order sheet and fill it out, put our names on them and place it in the 'Orders Here' basket and find an out of the way spot near the door.

   Both my wife and I have worked in the restaurant business, the wait was no big deal, seeing as how the crew was really pumping out a those sandwiches.  After we had been waiting ten minutes or so, some guy and his lady friend come in.  She stays near the door while he goes up to the counter where the order sheets are and says something to the workers, one of the crew answers whatever question his was.  He comes back to his lady friend, quietly says something to her and they walk out.  As they were leaving I heard him saying, "...they're gonna lose fifty percent of their business because..."  That's all I heard as the door closed behind them.  Time goes by and the crew keeps pumping out food and putting it in the pile.

   Just after 4:15 the lady at the register announced that there were only a couple of minutes to go.  This was met with woo hoo's and clapping.  My wife and I looked at each other questioningly and shrugged our shoulders.  

   At 4:20 she said, "Let's do this!" and started to call out the names on the order sheets taped to the finished sandwiches.  People started lining up to get their food and pay.  A couple of minutes more and she called out our name, so we joined the quick moving line.  When we got to the register I hand the woman my coupon.  She gives it a glance and says nicely, "Sorry, I can't give you any better deal than what I have going on right now."

   "Oh, okay," I reply. "How much are they?"

   "Four twenty plus tax and an extra fifty cents for stuff like the sprouts. Keep the coupon for a lunch some other time."

   She goes on to tell us that they use fresh bread and veggies every day and from 4:20 until they close at 5:30 she does this so she can use everything up so she doesn't have to throw anything out.  What a genius way to get the stoned college kids to spend their money at your place.

   Oh yeah, the sandwiches were as tasty as I remembered, we'll be back, 4:20 or not.

Nom Nom Nom

Something to help celebrate our 8th anniversary, a Pink Champagne cake.

Pig In a Blanket

   Yesterday's procrastination brought to you by warm, muggy weather and a couple Whiskey and Sours.  Today's post made possible by an iced Baileys & Coffee and Motörhead

   Pork Fillingsworth is a moderately successful investment banker.  Normally, at this time in the morning, he would be at work, sitting behind his desk making money for his clients and, in doing so, himself.  This morning, however, he was still in bed with a fever.  The curtains were drawn, cutting off the sights and sounds of the outside world.  The TV was on, tuned to the morning news with the sound muted.  On the nightstand next to his bed were the remains of his breakfast: a half full glass of orange juice (with the pulp strained), a piece of toast (minus one tiny bite) and an untouched egg (over-easy).  He knew he should get up, get dressed and go to see his doctor, but he also knew going outside into the bright sun would make his headache come back, negating the DayQuil he had taken earlier.  After debating with himself for the better part of an hour he decided to just stay in bed.  Anyway, he knew what the doctor would tell him; he had the flu, he should get plenty of rest and stay hydrated.  He turned off the TV, rolled over and burrowed as deep as he could into his blanket.

Gotta have a first post. This is that post.

   Welcome to the first post on a brand new, sub-par blog!  Just what the world needs, another "look-at-me!" page on the internet.  Even worse, it's a place where I'll be writing about whatever pops into my mind, e.g., is the shuffle on my iPod really random?  It seems to be on a Man or Astro-Man kick at the moment, having played three songs in the last twenty minutes

   Even worser (worstest? more worseier?), I'll be using this blog as a way to procrastinate.  What am I trying to avoid doing, you ask? Well, I've been writing a book for close to ten years and I'm maybe 1/3 done.  Granted, there has been periods of years where I haven't written a single word and then there has been weekends where I've done nothing else but produce pages and pages of usable material.  At this rate I'll be done by 2032, if I don't procrastinate.

   One last note, I find that a drink (or two or...) both helps and hinders the creative process.  I'll let you know what beverage is taking a part of the process, today it's a Whiskey Sour.