Weather relief,
diner mysteries, celebrimatic immunity, and more
--
Yesterday evening a semi-hellacious thunderstorm rolled through here,
and once all the flashing and banging was over, it felt like the
temperature had fallen a full twenty degrees.Man, I love that…It’s
been way too hot for far too long; a person can’t even dream of
Bourbon Season in that kind of weather.
But according to this, the high on Friday is only going to be 56.And that’s more like it; that’ll feel almost like seal-crackin’
time.
--I mentioned yesterday
that I was craving a club sandwich.I can’t explain it, I can only report the facts…So after I finished with the update, and did a few low-grade
household chores, I went to a nearby diner and took a seat at the
counter.
In the past I’d had what I remembered as an especially good club
sandwich at this place, and was looking forward to fully submitting to
another one.I told the
almost-unfriendly waitress what I wanted, and relaxed while the cook stacked
it up.
As usual, there was an abundance of old in this place.I’m 44, and felt like a toddler sucking a rattle in a
playpen.For whatever
reason, that joint is a full-on wrinkle-magnet.
Seated a few spots to my left was a man who probably fought in the
Spanish-American War, drinking coffee from a shaking cup.He kept joking around with another waitress (one that seemed a
lot nicer than mine), and finally asked if she had time for a story.
The woman said sure, and took a seat next to him.And just as he was beginning his tale, my sandwich was
delivered.I’d already
drained two-thirds of my root beer, and asked the waitress if she
could top it off for me.
“We don’t have free refills,” she spat.
What the?I thought
everybody offered free refills?It’s
the unwritten arrangement restaurants have with the public.We agree to pay $1.69 for a nickel’s worth of soda, and they
agree to let us have as much as we want.Am I wrong?
Grrrr…This irritated
me, and I started watching to see if she gave anybody else refills.Perhaps it was personal?Maybe
she was sticking it to me, for some unknown transgression?In any case, I forgot to listen to the old guy’s story.
But I sure saw the waitress’s reaction to it.As I was starting in on stack number two (this sandwich
wasn’t as good as the first one; the lettuce and tomatoes were warm) I glanced over and the woman had a look of disgust on her
face.Or was it horror?I’m not sure, but she was clearly appalled by something
she’d just heard.Her
once-friendly smile was drooping badly.
“Do you really think that’s funny?” she asked the man, who was
now laugh-coughing.Then
she added, “You know, if I’d done something like that, I
don’t think I’d go around telling people about it.”Then she got up and went back to work.
And I didn’t hear a word of it!Stupid no-refills rule…
--I saw on the Drudge
Report last night that Kiefer Sutherland has
agreed to serve thirty
days in jail, as blowback for his latest DUI adventure.
I thought Los Angelesgrants full-immunity to
celebrities, like WashingtonDCand their drunken diplomats and
Kennedys?Was I
mistaken about that?What’s
going on here?!Cats are
sleeping with dogs!
But, of course, he’ll never serve the thirty days.How long was Nicole Richie in the slammer?Twenty minutes?I
bet a deal has already been struck...
What do you think?Let’s
start a little poll here.How
much time do you believe Kiefer Sutherland will actually spend behind
bars as a result of this particular incident?
I say he’ll be out the next day; I think they’ll make him spend a
night there, and that’ll be that.Then he’ll be free to return to
Dimples, get blasted, and
pull his pants and underwear down again.
And order will be restored to the world.
--Speaking of Jack Bauer,
I’m currently in the middle of the fourth season of 24.A
terrorist is working undercover for a defense contractor, and causing
all sorts of problems.You
know, like forcing the meltdown of all 104 nuclear power plants inside
the United States…Pesky little things like that.
Anyway, the firm he works for is called McLennan-Forster.The first couple of times I heard that, it didn’t mean
anything to me.Then I
started thinking… where do I know those names from?Somewhere, but where?
Eventually it came to me, from deep beneath the scar tissue.McLennan and Forster were the two guys in the semi-obscure
1980s Australian band, The
Go-Betweens.
But it had to be a coincidence, right?How many people even know about the Go-Betweens?On the other hand, what are the odds that those two particular
names, spelled correctly and everything, would be used together, just
by chance?
I found myself getting mildly obsessed, and it wasn’t easy finding
an answer.In fact, I’m
still not sure I’m satisfied.After
an hour or so of trolling the internet, I found a small mention of it
at the bottom of this
page.But
is the guy who wrote it just guessing?Is he a big ol’ music nerd like me, and simply jumping to
conclusions?
I need closure, dammit.
--And finally, I have a
Question for you.This one
was suggested by Surf Reporter Bill in PA, and is very simple but
intriguing:have you, or
anyone you know, EVER bought something from a spammer?
If you’ve got anything to tell on this subject, or any other subject
for that matter, please use the comments link below.
