Blue Martini Thursdays

Overslept this morning and because I did not sleep well lastnight, I decided to skip the gym this morning. I will hit it hard in the morning.

The chart here shows a graph of consumer confidence. Notice how it is plummetting lately? Unemployment, length of unemployment, rising fuel costs, credit card and loan payments late, and falling housing sales all contribute to the reduced consumer confidence. With reduced confidence, you can expect reduced spending.

It was mostly a quiet day at the office today. Only two or three orders all day. Right around lunchtime the phones got busy, but it was mostly quiet. I heated up my Lean Cuisine meal, ate in the Test Kitchen, and read parts of the Orlando Sentinel, then took my walk.

Because it was so quiet I had time to read the news on the Internet and browse some. Among the things I read today:

• The first gay slasher movie -- Hellbent. Out just intime for Halloween!
• Dubya's Master Nickname List. Does he nickname because he can't remember their real names?
• A 19-year paraplegic regains some sensation after stem cell treatment!
• Bees carefully "cook" their enemies to death! Helps keep the hive warm too.

I have to work on the Cannolli Kitchen drawings again this weekend. Craig told me not to knock myself out over it and not to sweat if I did not get it all done by Monday. He said they have no idea what is involved in making the CAD drawings. But, I got some discussion started about getting AutoCAD installed on my desktop.

Did not get out of the office until 6:40 pm because I stayed behind and talked with Craig for awhile. Was zipping down the Turnpike until I was just past the OBT exit, then traffic stopped and backed up. There was a wreck 10 miles down the road at the Osceola Parkway that had traffic stopped in both directions !

Eventually I turned around, went north to the OBT exit and came home down the Trail. It was after 8 pm when I finally got home. I have steaks in the fridge that have been marinating for 4 days now. I have to get them fried soon!

"The care of human life and happiness and not their destruction is the first and only legitimate object of good government." -- Thomas Jefferson, 1809

Kissimmee, FL

Yesterday was back and bi's and it went easily enough. The entire day was kinda quiet at work. Nothing really to comment on. Lastnight it rained here. It rained really hard up in Orlando - Craig said there was hail at the office !

Today was shoulders, chest, and tri's. Out of there at 7:10 and at the office at 7:20. There was ONE purchase order on the fax machine. We are sucking for orders this week... only about $89k so far.

Fay got her car back from the repair shop this morning. Between returning the rental and picking up her old car she was out until 11. Then she had to go to the doctor at 1:30 for ultrasound! Just in long enough for me to go to lunch.

Tom Dickie is severely revising the Cannolli Kitchen project. I bet it will take me all of this weekend to get the drawings for him. This working on MY time is going to stop soon.

This evening we saw Craig Hodges for the first time in a week. He came back to the office and was there when I left at 5:45.

I got a tank of gas on the way home. Took $30.85 to fill it. I still have all of the receipts from using the company credit card. Hey, if they are going to pay for it, I can atleast keep track of how much I have used.

Now the wind is blowing and it is getting dark outside... I think it is going to storm again. I am glad I have a UPS for this computer. I wish we had one at work. Today the lights flickered and all of the computers and the copier went apeshit.

Kissimmee, FL

Just so The Mad Commenter knows -- I am a registered Republican -- always have been. Once upon a time I admired the fiscal discipline that Republicans displayed, not anymore. The criminals in office now spend like Democrats, are deliberately trying to bankrupt this country and make it the most-despised nation on earth.

So, Mad Commenter, quit getting your exercise from jumping to conclusions and get your facts straight before you try to lash out at me from your anonymous hole. If my post offends you, my simple advice to you is this: STOP READING IT!

Today was shoulders, chest, and tri's at the gym. Then I was off to the office to sweat for another 20 minutes. I get my fan set up quickly and put it on HIGH while I eat my breakfast of yogurt, fruit (a banana), and water. Then I started organizing the purchase orders and getting ready for the day. I had the orders placed by the time Fay drove up.

I could tell that Craig had not been in -- the lights were out and the newspapers were still on the sidewalk. Also, as soon as I walked in I could tell Fay had been in during the weekend -- she vacuumed the carpet.

It was steadily busy today, not as bad as I expected considering how quiet it was last week during NAFEM. Most of my time was spent helping Darden Facilities people correct their mistakes.

At lunch I went to Chik-Fil-A and used one of the coupons Craig gave us. It was for a free chicken salad sandwich. The sandwich was so poor I think they need to continue giving it away. I got some chicken nuggets with it. During lunch Diane at Sabal Palm apartments called me. She asked me if I was ready to come in. I asked her if she was ready to come down on the rent and throw in a washer and dryer. No deal.

I called Haydee at The Summit to see if I could walk down a one-bedroom tomorrow. Turns out the one-bedroom won't be available until Friday. I should call again on Thursday to be sure.

Stayed steadily busy all afternoon. More orders began to trickle in during the afternoon.

Left the office promptly at 5 pm. 42 minutes later I was home. Considering the traffic, that is not bad time. I look forward to the day when I will be home in 7 minutes !

Now I have to finish the drawings for Tom Dickie in south Florida. I faxed the plan view of the Cannolli Kitchen to him this morning, but I am still working on the elevations. Problem is, five (5) of the pieces he is specifying, do not have drawings available to download, so I have to draw those myself and it takes longer. I think I can have it done in two more hours.

TGIF

This morning I slept right up to the alarm going off and waking me. Up, light breakfast, vitamins, shower, out the door. Gym was not real busy this morning. Back and bi's today.

Fay was in early today... well, early for her. She came in at 7:45. I was surprised to see her. She said she came in early because of her doctor's appointment this afternoon. Yes, 15 minutes = 120 minutes.

Fortunately the phones were pretty quiet. Everyone in the industry is at NAFEM in California, so the office was quiet. I bet it will make up for it next week.

Browsing the Internet today. Saw lots... saw little worth remarking about. Found these two things though:

• Next time you fly, pick the best seat on the plane with this tool.
• World's smallest refrigerators.

That's about it. Rained this afternoon. I am about broke now. No going out for me. Anyway, I need to work on the AutoCAD drawings for my bosses this weekend.

First Day of Autumn

Today was shoulders, chest, and tri's at the gym. While I was running, I saw the story about this jetplane's emergency landing in Los Angeles yesterday. I could not hear it, but I knew what it was about. Looks like the pilot did a pretty good job of bringing the plane down safely.

Today was a very gloomy and cloudy day. Old Rita is sucking in all of the bad weather. She was a Catagory 5 catastrophic storm most of the day. By this evening she was downgraded to Cat 4. 1.3 Million have evacuated Texas coastal areas ahead of the storm. Residents of one town staying behind are being given magic markers and told to write their social security number and next of kin on their arms or abdomen!

Fay and I went to Ruby Tuesday for lunch. The service was not very good. Don't think we will be going back there soon.

I found some time to read the news and browse today:

• Some disturbing news about ice trucked to the Gulf Coast being sent by FEMA to Maine for storage.
• $1 Billion in trucking for $1 Million worth of ice. WTF ?
• US to burn food donated for Katrina victims. Are we really this stupid?
• FBI is going to start fighting porn instead of terror, interstate crimes, etc. This is Alberto Gonzalez's way of appeasing the religious right.
• Here is a good idea for busy professionals. Think I will recommend this to my boss.
• Who are these dumb bitches?
• Turns out ants use herbicide on their gardens too!
  

Got out of the office around 5:30 pm. Ate a Lean Cuisine meal for dinner and now I have the dishwasher running. No plans for this evening. This weekend I have to make the revisions Craig is requesting for Florida Hospital, and I have to get the Cannolli Kitchen drawings made.

Last Day of Summer

I was tired lastnight. This morning the alarm woke me at 5 am. I was tired. Got to the gym before 6:10. Back and bi's day today. My skinny little friend was not there today! Went through my workout pretty quicky. I am pulling 120 pounds on the seated rower now.

It was very very humid today. Sweated all the way to the office. It was another quiet day today at work, but we both stayed steadily busy all day. I called The Summit apartments to find out when I could actually tour a one-bedroom unit before signing a lease and dropping the deposit. They will have one available next Tuesday. So, on Tuesday I am going to go over during lunch to look at it.

I stayed in and ate Lean Cuisine orange peel chicken, rice, and broccoli. Then I took my walk around the office park. Fay went out to the Chik-Fil-A to use the coupons Craig left for us. Craig left us $20 too. I guess we will go out to lunch on Friday.

Craig was in the office at 3 am trying to get stuff done before NAFEM. He flew out at 7 am thinking that if he left a day early he would be out there before everyone else. Hahaha... half the reps in our area were on his flight! Two minutes after he landed, a flight from Tampa came in and a bunch of dealers and reps were on that one too!

Frymaster is going to have trouble getting the ESPN order out the door now. Watch those orders get cancelled too. $103k worth of fryer orders. Damn.

Tom Dickie, one of the partners, in our south Florida office, faxed up crude drawing and a quote at 4:40 pm requesting an AutoCAD drawing for his customer - Cannolli Kitchen. I guess I know what I will be doing this weekend.

Now I need to get my laundry done so I have gym clothes for tomorrow.

Hurricane Rita is a Category 5 storm tonight. Everyone on the Texas coast is evacuating. Hope they do a better job of responding to this one than they did in New Orleans.

Kissimmee, FL

Up at 4:45 am, downed my vitamins, ate some yogurt, into the shower. Cleaned up, shaved, dried off, pulled my shorts, shirt, socks and shoes on, gathered up my fan, carried everything out to the truck and was on the road by 5:28. At the gym shortly before 6.

Today was shoulders, chest and tri's. There is a cute guy in his 20's working out in the mornings I have been watching. He is kinda skinny with a greyhound build, whereas I have more of a bulldog build. Today he changed his routine, and I could almost swear he was following me around! LOL !

Out of the gym shortly after 7 and right over to the office. Craig was at a restauranteurs convention today at Gaylord Palms Resort in Kissimmee. He called several times during the day for things. Only a few orders today. Infact, it was quiet enough for me to surf and view a few links:

• The timeless helical screw fastener is getting some updates and innovations.
• Flies in the Amsterdam airport urinals result in 80% less spillage!
• If I had one of these monitors, I could keep EVERYTHING on my desktop!
• Project Apollo on steroids -- NASA's plan to return to the moon.
• The first face transplant surgery to be performed in Cleveland.
• Bananas, as we know them, are in danger of extinction.

At lunch today I went to look at another apartment complex. This one was Eaglewood at the intersection of Conroy Road and John Young Parkway. The rent looks very attractive, but the apartments are older, you do not get a private balcony, and there are alot of blacks in there. Still, that complex is something that could work.

Most of the afternoon was quiet. On the way home I saw something interesting -- as I came down the turnpike off-ramp to Osceola Parkway I saw lots of flashing lights and someone directing traffic in the intersection. A tractor trailer had fallen over (don't ask me!) and they had police directing traffic around it while two big cranes were moved to either side trying to pick it back up again. The radio traffic reports are always full of crazy shit like that.

It rained a couple of times today. Bands of clouds were blowing east to west all day -- effects of Hurricane Rita. I never thought we'd get to Hurricane Vince... hell, the farthest we ever got was to "S". Well, after this storm, we have Scott, Tammy, and . . . . Vince ! After Vince comes Wilma... after Wilma we run out of names for this year. THAT hasn't happened yet. Looks like Rita is going to whallop Texas.

Kissimmee, FL

Friday night I stayed in... I showered and started to get ready, but then began to tire out as I was deciding what to wear.

Saturday morning I went to the grocery store. Spent $111 on groceries. Came home and put those away. Did my laundry and folded it. Took a nap in the afternoon. In the evening I saw a big, full, harvest moon and decided that The Full Moon Saloon would be appropriate. I just wore tennis shoes, shorts, and tank top. It seemed a little slow, even after 11 pm, and I was bored. I went to Studz and same thing - kinda slow. I was back home around 1am.

The Harvest Moon is the full moon closest to the fall equinox. Equinox is on Thursday.

As I was flying down the turnpike, I was trying to keep up with a little Mazda Miata sports car. I was probably going 90 MPH and the little car was passing another car on the right. Just then the car lit up with flashing blue lights ! The Mazda slowed right down and the sherriff turned his lights off -- just a warning !

On Sunday I ran the vacuum cleaner and pressed three shirts. Just hung around the house all day. It's cheaper to just stay home.

This morning was back and bi's at the gym. It was a good workout. But I forgot my towel - the Navy bootcamp towel, that I take with me to mop the sweat off of my head and lay on the machines. I had to use the thick and fluffy bathtowel for everything. It was not good, but I made it work. I continued to sweat after leaving the gym, for probably another half hour.

The guy who ordered all of the equipment for ESPN Zone cancelled his Cleveland and Garland orders today. Probably $30k worth of orders. Atleast we still have the $103k in fryer orders.

At lunch Fay went out so I ate a Lean Cuisine fish dinner at my desk. When she returned I went for my walk around the complex.

I had a busy afternoon mostly on the phone with the factories and customers. Had to print several manuals and a catalog out from online. I learned how to print just the odd-numbered pages, put that paper back into the printer, then print the even-numbered pages in reverse order to make two-sided copy.

After work I went to The Villages and Ridge Club Apartments. Villages is way too expensive. Ridge Club was affordable, but then I found out that they have income restrictions -- single person cannot gross more than $24k. Incredible. I may as well get the deposit ready and fill out the application for The Summit.

Bill Maher's Letter to President Bush

As you can see from reading my blog, I usually just provide a link to things I find interesting. However, this little piece is so good that I think it merits being copied here. Enjoy.

Mr. President, this job can't be fun for you any more. There's no more
money to spend--you used up all of that. You can't start another war
because you used up the army. And now, darn the luck, the rest of your
term has become the Bush family nightmare: helping poor people. Listen to
your Mom. The cupboard's bare, the credit cards maxed out. No one's
speaking to you. Mission accomplished.

Now it's time to do what you've always done best: lose interest and walk away. Like you did with your military service and the oil company and the baseball team. It's
time. Time to move on and try the next fantasy job. How about cowboy or space man? Now I know what you're saying: there's so many other things that you as President could involve yourself in. Please don't. I know, I know. There's a lot left to do. There's a war with Venezuela. Eliminating the sales tax on yachts. Turning
the space program over to the church. And Social Security to Fannie Mae. Giving embryos the vote.

But, Sir, none of that is going to happen now. Why? Because you govern like Billy Joel drives. You've performed so poorly I'm surprised that you haven't given yourself a medal. You're a catastrophe that walks like a man. Herbert Hoover was a shitty president, but even he never conceded an entire city to rising water and
snakes. On your watch, we've lost almost all of our allies, the surplus, four airliners, two trade centers, a piece of the Pentagon and the City of New Orleans. Maybe you're just not lucky. I'm not saying you don't love this country. I'm just wondering how much worse it could be if you were on the other side.

So, yes, God does speak to you. What he is saying is: 'Take a hint.'

Kissimmee, FL

Woke up early this morning - 4:30 am and could not sleep. So, I got up and showered, ate a piece of cheese, some yogurt, and some oatmeal, and hopped into the shower. I was out the door by 5:15... got to the gym at 5:45. Even then there were 20 people in there when I arrived.

Today was back and bi's. Cardio, lat pull down, bicep curls with 15 pound dumbells, crunches, seated rower, bicep curl machine, more cardio, shower, dress and out the door by 6:55.

Got to the office by 7:10, the lights were on, but Craig was already gone. There were only two orders on the fax machine. I quickly did those and then we sat around and twiddled our thumbs.

It was abnormally quiet today. The phones were quiet and the fax was quiet. Strange. Fay let me go to lunch first. I went to Chik-Fil-A and got a salad. Then I went to the Free Apartment Finders office . They were not very useful today, but they said they would call me on Sept 30 because they would know what is available for December then.

Back in the office it was quiet all afternoon, until the last hour. Then hell broke loose with the phones and fax. All of the orders I was waiting for from ESPN Zone started to arrive. About $100k in orders ! I will have to place those tomorrow.

This evening I made a simple chili with hamburger, onions, diced tomatoes, chili beans and black beans. It tastes okay. I have enough left to take a container for lunch tomorrow.

Kissimmee, FL

Today was a shoulders, chest, and tri's morning at the gym. It was another dry day and it felt good.

There were just a few orders today, but they added up to $31k. Found out that all of the equipment I quoted for ESPN was sent to our competitor ! Cindy at DLR called to let me know.. she is cancelling those orders and redirecting them to the vendors.

At lunch today I went to see Sabal Palm apartments in MetroWest. Oh dear God was it expensive ! Like $915 for a one-bedroom apartment. We went and looked at it. The have a space for washer and dryer, but you have to rent the washer and dryer from them for $30 a month. They require you to have renters insurance -- $50k coverage. It went on and on... I could not wait to get out of there !

The afternoon was spent troubleshooting problem orders, quoting a drop-in salad bar, and getting the Disney/ESPN orders unfucked.

I took off at 5:15 to look at another apartment. This time it was the Windsor at MetroWest... and it was obscenely expensive too. I will keep looking... but that first apartment at The Summit is starting to look mighty attractive now !

I think I will tour two apartments a day until Saturday... then I will hit 4 or 5. I will make a decision soon. Then I have to get this place ready to move, which will not be hard. Hardest part will be packing up the kitchen and cleaning stuff.

"...the definition of a gaffe in Washington is somebody who tells the truth but shouldn't have." -- Howard Dean

Kissimmee, FL

It was another cool and dry morning. I think it was 75° F this morning. Radio said that Hurricane Ophelia is blowing northerly winds down to us. Hope she keeps it up ! Problem is she is projected to come ashore near Becky and Bill ! Mom said it has been windy there the past couple of days and it was raining lightly this morning.

This morning was a back and bi's morning. At the end of my routine I was showering and the guy the usually take a locker near me came in -- the guy I jokingly call "Hercules". He commented that I was late this morning (I was, but only about 15 minutes late). We chatted about working out, results, etc. Found out his name is Dave and he lives in Winter Garden.

Relatively light day on the phones today. There were a few orders to process. At lunch today I went to the Summit Apartments in MetroWest. I was pleased to discover that I can get a one-bedroom apartment there for less than what my rent here is increasing to. The will have a one-bedroom available December 7, and it is a second-floor unit. All units have washer and dryer and the whole place looks pretty nice. If I decide to rent there I have to complete the application and get it in with the deposits by the first week of October. No problem, I have to let Heron Lake know I am leaving then too.

Tomorrow I am going to tour Sabal Palm Apartments on Raleigh Street in MetroWest. I want to check out a few of the complexes along Conroy Road too. I was planning on moving anyway, but Heron Lakes is really overshooting the mark with this rent increase.

The afternoon was not too bad... I stayed steadily busy.

This evening I took my first tank of gas at Exxon-Mobil using the company card. I am going to keep the receipts just incase. The fuel was $2.94 a gallon, so it is already coming back down. The gas card will probably save me $100 to $120 each month. Craig offered me use of the storage unit our office uses across the road... I will have to see what I need to store after I move. If it is just a few large boxes, I might take him up on it.

Now I am doing a load of towels and gym clothes. Some guys wear the same gear everyday, but I cannot do that because my stuff ends up soaked and then sits in a hot truck all day. I would reek.

Kissimmee, FL

This weekend I did not leave the house Saturday. I stayed in, did laundry, cleaned kitchen and bathroom. On Sunday morning I went out and changed the oil in my truck, then I went to SuperTarget and got groceries. When I came home I checked the mail.

There was a letter from my landlord in the mail. They want to know whether I am renewing my lease by October 3. They are raising the rent another $100 to $725 a month. I am sorry, I was planning on moving anyway, but this place is not worth $725 a month. Apartments in MetroWest go for that. And that is where I am looking.

Today was a shoulders, chest, and tri's day at the gym. It was good. I pushed myself a little too.

There were a few orders on the fax machine when I came in... unfortunately we forgot to put the new toner cartridge in on Friday. It ran out of toner this weekend and I had to call the buyers at Darden to refax their orders over.

I made progress on my serial number project for Darden today, and I got a lot of put off filing done. Overall I think it was a very productive day.

At lunch Fay went out. I heated up a Lean Cuisine meal while filing. After Fay came back I went out for my walk. It was pretty hot today.

Around 4:30 Craig came back in. He was in for an hour. We talked a little. He gave me $5 for the parking at the Convention Center. I like working for him.

This evening I made pizzas out of the flatbread I bought at SuperTarget. Craig liked the Florida Hospital drawing I made for me, but he asked me to dimension each of the pieces of equipment. No problem, but I wish I could just do it at my desk instead of having to bring it home.

"Most Americans are a lot dumber than we give them credit for" -- George Carlin 2004

Kobe Thigpen's Birthday

This graph illustrates how our economy is transitioning from a manufacturing economy to a service economy.

Woke up with a sharp pain in my back. I think I pulled something. It stabs when I inhale deeply.

This morning was terribly hectic. There were only a couple of orders to process, but I needed to get the weekly report out, finish quoting for ESPN, and handle a bunch of little issues. Then the phone calls started... Gabe was upset because I did not follow up with the Delfield salad bar in Puerto Rico -- like when did I have time? Then Debbie called demanding to know when I was going to get to the Convention Center. I told her, "I do not know, Debbie. The work here has to be done first!" She wanted me to bring 1/4 sheet pans with me because they did not plan well when they decided to show the Merrychef oven. Well, she cried to Fay that I was too harsh with her. Then Fay had to counsel me about my "attitude".

Eventually I got to the convention center. They charged me $5 just to park ! I had to dig through the ashtray to find the full amount. I met Gabe Puerto and Tom Dickie and William Trabazo and Dan Wood today. Nancy and Nick were there, so was Debbie, Mike Hovey from Lincoln, and a guy named Dan from Blendtec. I walked the show and ran into Paul Moneuse. Several of our customers came by that I recognized.

Mike was actually showing me all of the Lincoln products and explaining them to me. Then Nick came up to me with a list and said, "When you go back to the office, Gabe wants you to make price stickers for all of this equipment." Mike asked me if I was going back to the office. I said, "I wasn't, but I guess I am now. If I go back to the office, I'm not coming back here." Got back to the office around 4 pm.

Fay had a bunch of phone messages stuck to my phone... and Gary at ESPN called again wanting more stuff quoted. Fay was helpless to get into my computer and open AutoQuotes so it had to wait for me to return. Plus I had to get labels and make Gabe's price tags. Did that first.

I was in the office until 7:30 this evening. Atleast there is nothing put off for Monday now. I am tired. It has been a long day.

Tomorrow I want to change the oil in the truck, do some laundry, maybe buy some food, and work on an AutoCAD drawing of kitchen equipment for Florida Hospital. I downloaded the Enodis drawings - elevations and plan views. Now I have to put it together. Craig did not ask me to do it, but he will be surprised on Monday.

Keep an open mind, but don't let your brains fall out.

Batson's 4th Anniversary

Today was back and bi's at the gym. Seems like the back and bi days go faster because there are fewer exercises to do, but when I look at the watch, I see that the session lasts about the same amount of time.

I started by running on the elliptical runner for 8 minutes. Then upstairs to the machines. First stop - lat pulldown, 105 pounds, 2 sets of 15 reps. Next stop - free weight bicep curls, 15 pounds, 2 sets of 15 reps. Over to the corner to do crunches - 2 sets of 45. Back on my feet and over to the bicep curl machine - 50 pounds, 2 sets of 15 reps. Last machine - seated rower, 105 pounds, 2 sets of 15 reps. Then I went back downstairs to the elliptical trainer to run for 8 more minutes. Stepped off of the elliptical and onto the treadmill to cool off. Total time: about 50 minutes.

Tried to clean the bugs off of the truck with Bug and Tar Remover right before going into the carwash. It was mostly ineffective. Now I will need to use Windex, papertowels, and elbow grease.

Today was another busy busy day in the office. Hardly time to go to the bathroom let alone do anything else. A bunch of orders, some quoting to do for Disney end-of-year spending, and miscellaneous other little tasks. A bright spot today was when the mail man brought my Mobil gasoline card !

This evening I had to press my monogrammed FER shirt for the FRA show tomorrow. I am still going to the gym because I do not have to be at the convention center until around 10 am. Shoot, I can place orders, run the reports, and maybe even get the trash out before then !

... amid all the forms of life that surround us, not one, excepting the dog, has made an alliance with us.

Kissimmee, FL

Up at 5 and out the door at 5:30. It was a cooler morning... high of 87° F today with a good chance of showers. There is a tropical storm -- Ophelia, churning in the Atlantic off of Cape Canaveral and the rain bands are showering us here. Ophelia, dang, I haven't seen us use this many storm names in a long time.

Today was shoulders, chest, and tri's at the gym.

Today is Betsy Hummel's 49th birthday. I called her at 7:30 am to wish her a Happy Birthday. I guess everyone in the world knows about her birthday.

There were a few orders on the fax machine when I came in. Through the day more and more orders trickled in... some of them were big too. I faxed over $150k in orders out this afternoon.

At lunch I went to the Chik-Fil-A and got a salad. I got one to go to bring back for Fay. In that same shopping center I stopped at GNC to get more SAMe and Q-10. Spent $60 at GNC.

Craig got some interesting news from Darden today... Kelly Hill is being laterally transferred. "Ding dong the wicked witch is deeeaaaaad!" I told Craig that she would be removed someday, that they might even make it look like a promotion, but nothing in this world is forever.

Took off a little early so that I could have a chance of getting a haircut. When I got to Hair Razors at 5:15 pm, I was shown right to a chair ! Very fast ! Was given a careful haircut and trim. Now I am almost ready for the FRA Show.

Stopped on the way to the house to fill my gas tank and then went to Target to get some Navy blue slacks to wear to the show. It is still the first week of the month and I am down to $175. I hate to dig any deeper into my savings. Atleast I will be getting the gasoline credit card soon.

When Jesus said love your enemies, I'm pretty sure he meant don't kill them.

Long Weekend Over

Friday I took off from work at 2 pm for my long holiday weekend. Up the turnpike to I-75. Thought about Linda and Roger's house in Dunnellon as I passed the Automobile Museum at the Dunnellon exit. Up, north, past Ocala, past Gainesville, to I-10. I passed a lot of bucket trucks from utilities going my way... going to help Louisiana and Mississippi.

Up on I-10 they had flashing signs that read "Fuel scarce west of Tallahassee". Well, that just makes you want to top your tank off ! Out past Tallahassee, there is not much except forest and fields. No wonder gas is scarce.

Out highway 10 to State Road 231. 231 runs south to Panama City. Lots and lots of Georgia and Alabama license plates headed down to the beach. Alot of Georgians and Alabamians keep weekend houses at Panama City Beach.

Spent the weekend with my friend, Roger, in Panama City. Watched movies and just hung around. On Sunday we went to see his friend from work, Colleen. She has a pool and we swam and had a barbecue. We were there until around 10 pm. I had a really good weekend - I did not have to worry about anything really.

On Monday morning I started back. Lots of gas stations running out of fuel. But I got back in about 5.5 hours. It was cool in the morning and started to heat up around noon. Heavy traffic on I-75 and the Turnpike... then as I got to the Turnpike it began to rain heavily. Rained off and on.

When I got off the Turnpike at Osceola Parkway, I immediately turned into the Wal-Mart to get groceries. I spent $115, but I need about another $100 worth. Came home and put those away, started laundry, started dishwasher. Smoked pork ribs for dinner and today's lunch.

This morning was a back and bi's day. I could not remember what I was supposed to do and had to look it up on this blog ! I stepped on the scale too. As I suspected, it was discouraging... it says only 4 pounds gone. I don't care, my gut is getting smaller.

Did not see Craig all day today. He was in Tampa today, but he called us a couple of times from the road. The day went quickly enough. Fay finished the Borgata quotation. That quote fills a 4-inch, 3-ring binder ! I hope we get some orders from that job.

Tomorrow Fay is going to let me leave early - 4:30 so that I can get my haircut before the FRA Show on Friday. Also, I need to remember that tomorrow is Betsy's birthday. I will call her early.

"In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock." --Thomas Jefferson