Bull In A China Shop?

Rare political post, but I just couldn't resist...

It is interesting to see where Trump's presidency is going. He is like a bull in a china shop bumbling his way through the hallowed halls of the White House. I voted for Bernie this time. He seemed like the best choice, socialism or not. Socialism is not communism. Regarding Hillary? We won't go there.

I am personally a moderate politically wishing we could all just meet in the middle and compromise and give each other concessions to certain issues. Why do all these parties have to be so extreme in their ideologies? I find fault in them all. United, we shall conquer. Divided, we shall fall.

Blessings Be to the Good Neighbors of the World...

There was a knock on the door very early this morning.  Who could that be so early? I pulled on some pants and headed to the den where the front door resides.

"Now if these are Jehovah Witnesses then there are going to be harsh words," I remember telling myself.

It was my good neighbor, George.

"Your brakes lights are stuck on," George said. "I hope it didn't run down your battery."

"Thank you!" I said profusely.

George shook my hand and headed back to his house -- his good deed for the day done

I walked out and wiggled my brake peddle until they went off. This has been happening a lot lately. I just forgot to check when I unloaded my groceries last night.

I will be glad when I get my newer car. Bless mom's soul, she wouldn't want it any other way.

Trepidatiously, I turned the car key and my car very reluctantly cranked -- the battery almost on empty. I drove around for about 30 minutes to charge the battery. I then made sure it would crank again when I made it home.

Master Mephisto...

I am feeling oddly strange tonight. I know something is up in that music is getting on my nerves which I normally love to hear. So are bright lights. I feel blinded by the harsh light of this computer monitor. I've had a busy night so that most likely explains it. It can also be signs my mental illness is starting to act up. It has been hours since I took my medications.

Ah, now it is raining and I can hear the raindrops tap tapping on my roof -- a sound to soothe the sundered soul. I will sleep well serenaded by nature's music.

From the Horses Mouth...

Jermaine matter of factly told me tonight from his hov-a-round that I need to drink tea instead of the four gallons of whole milk I drink every week.

"That's why your gaining weight," he said perfunctorily weighing probably 300 pounds himself.

Dad came walking around the corner as Jermaine and I stood by the cold cuts talking.

"Shit!" dad said rather venomously. "We are in a race against the clock and you got caught by Jermaine."

We were trying to get all my groceries before 10:00 PM and the regular lanes with cashiers closed. Our only option to check out then would be the self-checkout lanes.

My only impulse buy was a quart of Promised Land chocolate milk. That stuff is heavenly if you love chocolate and milk like I do.

"You didn't get any frozen meals," my father alarmingly exclaimed as we were checking out.

"It's a sandwich-themed week," I told him. "I got over ten dollars in cold cuts and sandwich bread."

As we were leaving, dad helped me put the groceries in the back of my car.

"Head on home," he said. "I am going back inside to get you some beefaroni and frozen meals. I will see you at your house."

May Pleasant Days Bless You...

I woke up at 2:30 PM thoroughly rested. I went to bed around 4:30 AM this early morning. Maggie fussed as she didn't want us to get up just yet. I call her old fuss and feathers when she does that. It reminds me of the time a snake got in the chicken coop at my grandmother's farm and the hens put up one hell of a fuss. It was my job to catch the snake and get it out of the coop. I never was afraid of snakes.

Grocery Night?

"Is Kroger even open on Memorial day?" I asked my father over the phone a moment ago worried about grocery night. "What if they are closed? Are we going to Walmart?"

"Settle down now, Martha! Kroger only closes for Thanksgiving and Christmas day," my father replied with a laugh.

That made me feel better. My house is now officially bereft of food after breakfast again for lunch.

Dad was in an extremely jovial mood joking and cutting up. He said he had been cleaning the gutters of his house when a big thunderstorm blew over. He is real scary of lightning so he quickly got off the roof. He told me he was going to be sore or stove up in the morning.

"Come get your Cokes!" my father exclaimed to me. "You can have yesterday's as well!"

My father then decided he was going to get a shower and he would call me once he got dressed.

"I would give you your meds early, but we need to stay on schedule," he told me before we got off the phone. "Well take them before we go to Kroger around 9 PM."

Breakfast and Beyond...

Can you tell I am cycling again? The cycling makes it well past midnight until I retire. I couldn't sleep so I decided to just get out of the bed and fix breakfast just a tad bit early.

Don't forget Maggie. She is underfoot until the last sausage pattie has been fried.

Sausage such as this that comes in a roll tastes delicious, but it also takes forever to cook. I like my sausage well done and crispy around the edges.

I also got the "hot" and spicy sausage, but they always taste mild to me. I guess I need to get the Inferno version.

In a moment, I will grate some cheddar and get some scrambled cheese eggs going. Lastly, there shall be buttery toast to round out the meal. The smell of that frying sausage is already driving poor Maggie crazy and smells delicious to me as well.

Regarding Medications...

We, my father and I, have been trying so very hard to take my medications around 9 to 9:30 PM. Life has a tendency to get in the way, though, as it often does.

It is now 9 PM and I haven't heard hide nor hair out of my father. It looks like it is going to be one of those nights that my father will be very late.

I can feel it in my bones -- the withdrawal that sets in late in the day. I feel fatigued and often not able to concentrate very well. Writing is slow and troublesome. I also get the butterflies in my stomach. It is a disconcerting feeling to say the least.

Here is the point in which I evoke my Auschwitz Mantra. Things could be a whole helluva lot worse than having to take my medications a couple of hours late. I could be transported back to 2001, my divorce, and the life I had that was in shambles in every way.

Addendum: Charlie arrived at 9:45 with my medications and all kinds of treats and goodies so all is well in my world.

Peace of Mind and an Adulated Friend...

No more worries for the evening...

"I brought Maggie a big bag of ribeye scraps and I brought you two steaks as well," Charlie told me as he began to wipe off my kitchen counters. "Today was Janice's birthday."

"I know," I replied. "I messaged her on Facebook."

Charlie also brought a green salad with Ranch dressing, a baked potato, and some toasted barbecue bread. There was also a piece of Charlie's chocolate pie.

You should've seen the grin that formed on my face. I was a happy little pea in my pod.

Charlie also brought all kinds of assorted sodas which thrilled me to death. I love variety when it comes to my sodas. I got 3 regular "leaded" Cokes, two Sprites, two Sunkist, and two diet Cokes. They were all in a cooler in the back of Charlie's car so they were already ice cold.

"Thank you for the occasional orange juice," I told Charlie of this morning's breakfast from McDonald's.

I would have gathered all my household trash but I wasn't expecting Charlie tonight. He went about gathering all my trash and taking it out to the road.

The PIN Code to Family -- Access Denied...

My father went to my sister's house in Alex City this afternoon. The introvert in me remained introverted today despite being invited to come. They were going to take the boat out on the lake which the kids just love. My father says my brother-in-law's boat is very nice and a real speed demon. He said they may even do some water skiing -- something I could never master.

"Is Charlie bringing my medications?" I asked my father over the phone this afternoon on a hope and a prayer.

Please god? Jesus? That can even get this old staunch secular humanist praying.

"I am bringing them and I am bringing you something to eat as well," my father told me.

My head sunk into my chest just like Admiral Akbar in Star Wars when they destroyed the super star destroyer except Akbar's was out of relief and mine is out of consternation. This usually means I will get my medications around 11 PM. I just hope my father doesn't drink and drive. My sister and brother both will have enough sense to keep that from happening.

My father asked me the other day how I knew he had been drinking even though he wasn't slurring his words. He got really defensive about it.

"You can smell it on you!" I exclaimed very excitably. "You smell like a brewery. It comes out of your pores and with your breath."

Comment Replies...

Blogger Amelia said...

Do you get troubled by mosquitoes where you live? They and black flies are just brutal here.
I was thinking about your train watching and if they made it uncomfortable for you.

May 27, 2017, at 8:13 AM

Amelia, I've heard horror tales of the biting black flies up north. The mosquitoes here usually only come out at dusk and twilight. There is nothing else that bites us this far South. My main worry when watching trains is getting badly sunburned. I am very fair skinned and will get burned to a crisp if I don't apply sunscreen.

Eerily Quiet Tonight the Papas Be...

Dad pulled up in front of the house about 9 PM and I walked out to help him carry everything inside. As I had expected, his hands were full. He had a Big Mac value meal, a Mickey D's Coke, my 6 nightly sodas, and my MedPAC of medications.

"How is my son doing?" he asked me as we walked across my yard now with both of our hands full.

"You know? I really can't complain," I replied. "It's been a pretty good day."

"Now, Y'all get your butts in here. In Home! I've been worried all day about you Papa," Maggie seemed to be imparting with her urgent barking and busily wagging tail.

"Are you okay?" I asked my father as we then sat on the couch taking my medications.

I usually get uneasy when my father is so quiet. It usually means I have committed some form of faux pas upon him or us. He just sat there patting me on my knee. He is usually a very, very talkative fellow.

"Oh, I am fine," my father said with a goodhearted tone to his voice. "I am just getting too old to orchestrate those grand cookouts any longer. It just wears me out. I slept all afternoon after the grand-kids left."

Time For Papa...

Maggie is already in the window watching out for my father's arrival as darkness approaches. Dad told me he was craving a fast food burger tonight and he is going to bring me a Big Mac combo meal as well. I am still bloated from lunch but graciously accepted. 

Surprise! Uncle Andrew's Here! Yikes!

Skyrim

I usually don't go to family holiday functions because they make my nerves bad and I get afflicted with my omnipresent anxiety attacks. That said, the riverboat gambler gambled.

Dad was grilling outside and my brother and my sister's families were here. I put on my best smelling clothes (adding some Irish Spring deodorant)  and headed over for a little while.

"You smell good," my father said as I stood next to him at the grill.

I passed my first test. I then failed the second test when my father noticed I wore these clothes yesterday. Sigh! The downtrodden are trodden all over again.

The ribeyes, grilled vegetables and toasted buttery barbecue bread were delicious. Dad has a true flair for grilling steaks or just about anything. He learned it from Charlie, the grill master.

"Let us go play games at Uncle Andrew's house!" my nephew, Grant, exclaimed after lunch.

"Can you handle all of them?" my sister asked apprehensively. "I better come with you."

I told my sister that I thought that was a good idea. You would never know my sister is an oncologist as she seems so down to earth and is so unassuming. We all piled in her Honda Odyssey and headed to Andrew's house.

The kids marveled that I had built all these computers. I booted up The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim on my PC gaming computer for my nephew and he said aloud, "WOW!" It did my heart good.  It is the most graphically intensive game I own. A kid could get lost in the world of Skyrim for days.

Handel - Messiah - by London Philharmonic (Complete Concerto/Full)

Charlie Brings Sustenance...

I was just over at my father's house. We were listening to Handel's Messiah in the library. He manically wrote it in 11 days dad said.

Dad's an atheist, but he loves the music and art inspired by churches and religions everywhere.

Well, here comes Charlie down the driveway. He had just gotten off of work and made the arduous drive back to the Valley.

"John, I've got you two Chic-fil-a sandwiches and Andrew I bought two for you as well," Charlie told us. "I was just fixing to head to your house, Andrew."

Dad immediately ate his sandwiches saying how delicious they were. I had to wait to eat mine since I just took my medications moments before Charlie arrived.

Train Watching Extraordinaire...

CSX SD70AC number 4720

It was too beautiful to sit inside today. I said farewell to Maggie and headed to the railroad tracks to watch some trains.

I made some bologna sandwiches and carried some "fishing" food for snacks. In a thermos was some cold whole milk -- all I had to drink at the house except water. I didn't see many trains, but I had a pleasing time of just reading my Model Railroaders on the bench behind the bank -- scheming about my model railroad empire coming to fruition in what will soon be my train room.

One train slowed down for the signal downtown and they had trouble getting started again with the heavy drag of ballast gondolas behind them. I marveled at the amounts of sand the locomotives were spitting on the tracks to get traction and to get moving again.

Sufjan Stevens - The Predatory Wasp Of The Palisades Is Out To Get Us!

Sufjan can be avant-garde, but he is pleasing aurally.

Happy as a Clam in its Shell...

I sheepishly asked my father for some more computer parts last night and he agreed. He balked at first asking me just how many computers would make me happy.

"You've been doing so well lately that I am going to treat you," he said last night. "Email the parts to Matt at the pharmacy."

He told me tonight that the parts were ordered and Matt also sent me an email with the tracking numbers.

It wasn't anything outrageously expensive. I ordered a $19.99 DVD rewritable drive and another motherboard which cost about $149 dollars (half price open box special). My only other item was a $49.99 "Challenger" computer case to put it all in. I own one of these Rosewill cases and they are a steal at $49.99. Highly functional.

The motherboard has integrated graphics, wireless and Ethernet internet connections, and integrated sound which will defray the cost of having to buy all those extra parts.

Little does my father know, but I am building this computer for him. He was complaining of how slow his Dell was last night as he often does. He is going to be stunned and shocked at the speed of this new budget build.

The processor is going to be a Core i5 3.2 GHz with Intel 4600 graphics and 16 megabytes of Corsair 1600 MHz RAM I both had on hand.

Take the Express Train...

A psychedelic express train...

7:00 PM arrives and that means the pharmacy closes. I bet dad is already in his car headed home. He will fiddle fart around some at the house -- maybe eat a little supper before he comes over here. The quintessential television must be turned on to display its skewed view of the world.

I am not feeling my oats right now. This late in the day is usually my downhill slide until I get my medications -- my medications quickly dropping to almost nothing. Once I take them, I will be reinvigorated till about midnight to three in the morning.

I am still incredibly craving beer tonight. I keep fantasizing about driving to the Circle K and getting a six pack of Natural Ice beer. "Just a six pack won't hurt," I keep telling myself. Dad reeked of alcohol last night as well and that just put fuel on the fire so to speak. Why can he and I can't?

I was trying to think the last time I took a drink and it must be at least 5 or 6 years ago -- just about the last few times I saw George, but my memory is cloudy.

What Are We Going to Do With the Old Fella?

Dad noticed last night that George had put another one of his walkers out by the road. It was gone this morning when I woke up. Someone picked it up and took it home.

"Medicare had to pay for that damn thing," my father negatively said when he saw it at the road.

"Maybe someone will get it that actually needs it," I told my father rather optimistically.

Well, the weather is just absolutely fantabulously gorgeous here today and Maggie I were sitting on my screened-in side porch as I browsed the internet and listened to music in the swing with my trusty iPad. George came walking out his side door of his house, waved to me, and just totally busted his ass on the carport step down. I hurriedly ran over as quick as I could.

"Do you need to go to the emergency room?" I asked George urgently. "Is anything broken? It won't take but a moment to call the paramedics."

I noticed one of his hands was skint and bleeding -- the hand he caught himself with.

"I am fine," George told me with the extremely heavy smell of alcohol on his breath. "I am glad you were out on your porch, though."

He almost couldn't talk he was so drunk. I got him up and standing and I walked into his house to make sure he got situated in his recliner.

"Do you want me to go get you something to eat or drink?" was the last thing I asked him before I left him alone. He assured me he was fine. He sure is going to be stoved up in the morning, though, as we say in the South.

Across Town We Go -- A Mission of Mercy...

"Oh shit! I forgot your cokes!"

Not something you want to hear when you are craving your daily caffeine fix. The cokes are a true treat for me at the end of the day. I will drink my last one about midnight and go to bed.

"Come on," my father said. "Let's get in the car and go get them. It won't take but a minute."

I sighed.

"I promise you I will be okay if we don't go get them," I told my father not wanting to take the trip.

My night time lethargy and laziness had set in. I just wanted to take my crazy meds and get on the computer.

"No," dad said. "It is going to worry the shit out of me until we get your cokes. Your mother would never let that happen."

He was right on the money about my mother. She would never forget an obligation like that.

We arrived back at my house and Maggie was stymied about what was going on. She seemed befuddled. She thought we had left her alone for the night. She yelped with joy when we walked back into the house.

I had some hires pictures of Queen Victoria I wanted to show my father which enthralled him. We then looked at the weather radar and my father headed home.

Vegetable Beef Soup and Cornbread...

I have to wait until my medications soak in, but I am going to be chowing down in about an hour. I will crumble up the cornbread in the soup and add some hot sauce. Dad said he was giving me a whole "pone" of cornbread and I hadn't heard that word in years and it intrigued me. 

Supper Sales Soupy...

Tonight we are having my father's soup -- an adapted recipe from Charlie's wife's soup. It is something to be savored. Even more so on a cold winter's day. It is most delicious with a hot pan of cornbread and some dollops of spicy hot sauce. I told dad to put some macaroni noodles in it to kick it up a notch as Emeril would say. Mom always liked it when he did that as well.

"I will be over in just a little bit," my father told me as we were getting off the phone.

An Emeril Tale...

One time, in the throes of my madness, I got it in my head that Emeril Lagasse was flying me to New York to eat at one of his posh restaurants.  I had just gotten out of homelessness and was living in my deceased grandmother's house behind my parent's house.

Well, I got dressed to the nines and walked to my parent's house in the middle of the night to wait for Emeril's limousine to pick me up.

"Dear god, son, You've got yourself in a mess" dad told me.

Dad got me in my mother's bed with her and I finally went to sleep. This was before I was on any medications. I was getting them at the health clinic but wasn't taking them.

Like a Blustery Fall Day After a Cold Front...

This is exactly how Roger's Brunswick stew looks.

It is really exceptionally windy today. The trees are getting all blown about like crazy. It is like a late fall today and it is cool outside as well. We should be in the upper eighties with popup thunderstorms this time of the year. They say we have an 80 percent chance of rain today, but I don't believe it. The sun is shining very brightly today with few clouds in the skies.

Papa just stopped by with a barbecue plate from Roger's Barbecue. I was elated as it was a surprise, I was very hungry, and I hadn't eaten yet. I sat in the kitchen with my kitchen computer eating lunch as Maggie vied for my attention. I gave Maggie little morsels of barbecued pork that she basically inhaled.

"You are going to get choked," I told her warily.

The plates are very expensive, but they put a lot of food on them to make up for it -- I almost couldn't eat it all. The Brunswick stew was exquisite with barbecued pork, chicken, and corn in a thick, smoky and zesty tomato based sauce.

Experimentation...

I used a thirty party program to measure how much traffic the blog was receiving every day. Blogger was reporting I was getting over a hundred people a day and it is actually around 20 people a day. I was disappointed, but that's how the ball bounces some days. I am getting paid back from my indiscretions from my previous blog. Karma is a bitch some days.

Pill Popping Fool... Wait! Stop the Presses!

"If I drink this big glass of cold milk then my father will show up," I said to myself jokingly knowing it will slow the intake of my medications much to my dismay.

I was somewhat jesting with myself. It was gambling the riverboat gambler I am. I had hoped he would hold off until 9 PM which is normal, but he was ready to get home from a long day at work.

Well, here comes Papa in his black Honda driving up the street as soon as I wiped off my milkstache. I sighed and shook my head as I said an ugly word, son of a biscuit eater. I should have known better. There must be some kind of universal law of the universe that controls these kinds of things. Murphy's?

I Really Am A Kid At Heart...

The ice cream truck just stopped by the house and I gleefully scrounged up enough dollars and cents to buy an orange slushie from our sophisticated ice cream man. I ran out to the road just as he was passing and he slammed on the brakes. Maggie got a vanilla ice cream sandwich and almost made a mess on the computer room rug. She cleaned up after herself, though.

LOL!

Wee Little Doggies! You Keep On Rollin' Home!

I am so ready to see Johnny Otis tonight! I have 2 and a half hours to go before he graces us with his presence, He gets off at seven and fiddle farts around at home some and then comes and brings my medications. I am going to take my medications and just seriously chill and relax for a few hours before bed. I miss the old codger something fierce this afternoon.

Toast On Tuesday...

It was raining heavily when I woke up at high noon. It was music to my ears. We really need the rain and we really need the NWS to stop harping on about it.

I ambled into the kitchen to scramble some cheese eggs and make some toast. Maggie was underfoot throughout the whole venture. She is certainly one proud pup that I am cooking breakfast again when we wake up.

"Maggie? You'd eat anything even if it was still moving!" I said jokingly to my furry little friend.

It reminded me of the time Maggie brought in a live bat! Oh, the rigors of a dog door!

I am at a loss as to what to do with myself these days. I've decided once again I don't particularly enjoy Facebook much. It is like everybody is vying for your attention and trying to outdo everybody else. And there is a whole heluva lot of people graduating from high school that I have no idea who they are.

I am certainly running out of steam as far as this blog is concerned as well and I have no desire to play video games these days. I find myself a lot of the time posting to my blog out of boredom and I spend most of my spare online time at Wikipedia reading in a noisy room as Maggie makes all sorts of noises. Grunting, whining, snorting, sniffing, farting.

It is days like today that I really miss downing a dozen beers. The day would just fly by if I had a 12 or 18 pack and I wouldn't have a care in the world. It would be like looking at the world through rose-colored glasses. Oh, but the hangover would be hell I haven't had a drink in so long.

Holy Monetary Totals Batman!

"That can't be right," my father said scratching his head as we walked to our respective cars after grocery shopping. "For $66 dollars you got a shitload of groceries. I thought it was going to be a hundred bucks."

"I thought the same thing myself," I replied. "I was worried she didn't scan a few items."

It took me a long time to load my groceries into my car as my father stood to the side of me with the gift of the gab.

I also managed to get an Edwards lemon meringue pie (swoon) for the first time in weeks. It was hiding behind the rather unpopular Edwards cookies and cream pies.

"Y'all never have the pie he wants," dad had complained to the cashier to no avail.

She said two people had also asked tonight if we were going to get them in stock and how soon.

"The Key lime pie is very popular as well," she told us. "It always sells out."

YUM!

The Risperdal Consta Experience

Don't Say the K Word...

Rejoining My Facebook Friends...

I haven't even visited Facebook very much in about 2 or 3 years. I visited yesterday when my father wanted to check out what my mother's siblings were doing and I now understand its appeal. On my blog, I would be lucky to get maybe one to a few reactions to a post. I just posted a picture of my little girl, Maggie, and had an almost instant 10 likes and many comments. It is almost instant and addictive gratification and attention.

I am not going to quit blogging, though. Facebook is for what I call fluff. Blogging is long form style writing that takes some thought, finesse, and skill. We will post goofy fluff on Facebook and write about more serious issues and my life on ye olde blog where I am mostly anonymous.

Grocery Day! Blessed Grocery Day!

I am hungry and I am ready to go shopping! I have a leftover KFC biscuit and some leftover KFC mashed potatoes to last me until tonight. I am going to stick to my usual plan which suits me pretty fine. I am ready for some more milk and cereal.

Dad commented on my protruding belly yesterday saying a diet is in order.

"It's all that cereal and whole milk you eat and drink," he told me. "It's what you call your Dun-lop."

I know I need to quit eating it, but I am addicted. Eating two pies a week or a half-gallon of ice cream doesn't help as well.

Edit: I just found a package of Micheal Angelo's manicotti and sauce in the fridge. Woo Hoo! It was hiding behind an almost empty carton of milk which was drained of its contents to the very last drop..

And Let There Be Rain...

I woke up this morning about noon and it was raining pretty heavily outside my bedroom windows. YES! We need the rain to get the National Weather Service to quit harping on and on about our drought in central Alabama.

This Portends Awesome...

Dad just called me as I was writing this post.

"Don't eat too much today," my father just told me over the phone "I am grilling filet mignons and cooking green beans and baked potatoes."

Karma has a way of kicking my ass and sometimes it lets magical things like this happen as well.

And He Scrubbed and He Scrubbed...

Dad was on Facebook in the den with my laptop and Charlie was busy scrubbing my sink in the kitchen. I had the Mötley Crüe busy tonight trying to get me busy as well. I was also having to police dad to make sure he wasn't posting anything under my Facebook account as he scrolled through all the postings. He loves to antagonize my mother's brothers and sisters.

"Charlie? You don't have to do all that," I shamefully told him of my dirty sink as he scrubbed and washed all my dishes. "Come on and let's feed and water Maggie so y'all can head on home."

I had already taken out all the trash to the bin at the curb. I thought I was way ahead of the curve.

"Now dammit!" Charlie said adamantly. "I was born to clean!"

"Do you ever look at porn on your computer?" my father then surprised me and asked me in a risque manner.

He garnered a Cheshire grin as I rolled my eyes.

"Good god, dad!" I exclaimed. "That is just gross. That is one surefire way of screwing up your computer. I guarantee you!"

No wonder dad has so many problems with his computer that I have to fix. He is the malicious browser toolbar king.

"You mean you've never looked before? Surely curiosity has gotten the best of you," he said.

"I've looked before, but all those porn actresses look fake and out of my league," I said modestly.

"Do you remember what I told you and your brother in high school?" dad asked. "Your hand is your best friend."

"I am ready, John," Charlie said walking into the den with two more trash bags full of trash.

Helen Fried Chicken...

Damn, that was some good fried chicken and I always loved Helen's meatloaf and her superbly divine mac and cheese as well. Helen was a fine cook with regards to Southern soul food. I miss her dearly and I haven't heard from Helen in months. If I didn't have this damnable phone phobia, then I would call her and let you all know what she is doing these days. She called me pretty regularly a while back when I would answer the phone most of the time.

Papa and Charlie have headed out for our Sunday night chicken menagerie or Sunday night fried chicken as I call it. Dad just called me and asked me what I wanted tonight. I wanted the chicken strips meal like Horsefly has to get every Sunday night (every night as well) from KFC. I really wanted the zinger chicken sandwich but that would compliment matters too much. "What kind of sandwich?" my father would say with furrows in his brow.

Helen's Fried Pork Chops and Mac and Cheese

What A Nice Salad You Have There!

Charlie ran by breakfast this morning which is our routine. Sunday mornings are always looked forward to and cherished. He was running a little later than usual. Maggie was first to alert me to his arrival. I got very excited and was so very glad to see him. I was holding out on the hopes that he would arrive soon.

"I am in a hurry or I would visit with you folks," Charlie told me as he handed me and Maggie's sausage biscuits through the door. "Horsefly is acting antsy Janice said. Lord knows we don't want Horsefly to pitch a hissy fit."

Charlie told me he had to tear up Horsefly's sausage biscuit in small little bits or he will get sick at his stomach. I do the same for the Magster. She wolfs down her food and I always worry she will get choked.

"Thank you fella," I told him very affectionately as I gave him a man hug.

A few hours later, I was sitting at this computer browsing about electric cars when my father called. Did you know my brother's electric Tesla produces the equivalent of 400 horsepower? Also, the torque of an electric motor is almost instant, unlike a car whose engine has to build its torque as the engine rpm's rise.

Back to the matters at hand after that little segue.

"Janice is making chicken salad for lunch. Do you want to come and ride with me? I'll pick you up in a few moments."

"Give me time to throw on some decent clothes and I will be ready to go," I told my father.

I immediately went rummaging through my clothes dryer looking for a good shirt and pair of shorts that weren't too wrinkled.

After we arrived, Janice asked me if I wanted a chicken salad sandwich or if I wanted to eat my chicken salad with crackers. I opted for the crackers and they were absolutely delicious.

Sufjan Stevens - The Dress Looks Nice On You

A Barbecue Chicken Plate Bonus...

I went to pick up my pork chops and rice and got this bonus church barbecue chicken plate as well. I love these things and graciously accepted when my father offered it to me.