First Tuesday in May

Well, this has been an odd day. It started out with Cindy oversleeping because one of the electrical circuits is acting wonky. The alarm clock was on one of the circuits which is out. So, as I left for Barnesville and my hearing in the City Court of Barnesville, Cindy was trying to scramble to get it together to go in late.

Then at the hearing in Barnesville the judge denied my motion to reopen the case to allow us to try to work a deal where my client would keep his driving privileges in the state of Georgia. I really felt ambushed.

Then my role as the Dark Angel continued today. You know, where I drive all over the state selling peoples' houses on the courthouse steps. As I drove from Barnesville to Monroe, I utilized my gps to try to get a quick route through the country to the courthouse in Walton County. The Magellan sent me eastward toward Monticello, then back northwest toward Monroe. As I drove, I suddenly realized that I was traveling in the vicinity of the Tom Baynham Alternative Senior Trip, which took place in the Spring of my senior year in High School. Back then, a number of us had been scandalized by the cost of the Senior Trip to the Bahamas and vowed to come up with an alternative to same which would be much cheaper and equally fun.

Of course, as it turned out, there was very little fun out in the country in East Georgia for a bunch of city boys from Dunwoody. We drove out the Covington Highway past Covington, then took a right down Georgia 11 to Mansfield, Georgia, and a rough deer camp back in the woods on a pond. We stopped along the way at a little hamlet called Pony Express, Georgia, to buy beer for the weekend. The hamlet consisted of a crossroads and an old store and gas pumps. The significant plus was that they had a beer cooler which kept the beer perfectly cold for consumption.

It also turned out that at the next intersection, another little hamlet called Hub, had a drive inn. That night, we drove over to Hub and drove up to the office to pay for the night's entertainment. As we pulled up to the little house to pay for the triple feature scheduled for the evening, the attendant looked in the car, saw three of us, and said, "Three Dollars, please."

With that, the three of us reached into our pockets to pay our three bucks. I handed the attendant three dollars out of my pocket and she handed me three tickets. So for a total of three dollars, the three of us got in for the night's entertainment. The Hub Drive-Inn was cheap, to say the least.

It appears that the Hub Drive Inn is no more. However, the store in Pony Express is still going strong. Yesterday, I put some gas in my tank and bought a drink and reminisced with the clerk behind the counter. At least some things stay relatively the same. You can still buy relatively cheap gas and cold beer in Pony Express, Georgia. As I drove around North Georgia, it was comforting to see that some things remain roughly the same.

Heaven knows everything else seems to change on a daily basis.

The Fifth Day of May

Today is Cinco de Mayo [the fifth of May], the day on which the citizens of Mexico defeated the French Army at the Battle of Peubla. Apparently, this was an extreme upset, where the Mexican army was badly outnumbered. The holiday is celebrated as something like Mexican Independence Day. The problem with this is that apparently the French army was victorious later and it would take years before the Mexican people gained their independence from France. So, it is kind of like a fictitious Independence Day for Mexico. Of course, later the French got kicked out of Mexico and headed back to Europe. Come to think of it, France has been kicked out of just about everyplace they colonized. Think of it: North America, Canada, Louisiana, Haiti, Mexico, Algeria, Morocco, French Guiana, Viet Nam, Cambodia, Laos. There may be more. Its hard to keep up with every place out of which the French government has been kicked.

I think the Battle of San Jacinto is a better holiday than Cinco de Mayo, since that is the day upon which the Texicans defeated General Santana, in a major upset and route, and won their independence from Mexico. That independence actually stuck, although they lost their independence to the federal government in 1865. Perhaps we Norte Americanos should celebrate that day [April 21]. Kind of an alternative holiday. We could also celebrate Erastus "Deaf" Smith's birthday. He was Sam Houston's scout. He was also hearing impaired, which would give us a chance to celebrate the contribution of hearing impaired people in American history. His birthday is April 19. So we could split the difference and celebrate April 20th.

By the way. Sam Houston was born in Rockbridge County, Virginia, just north of Lexington, emigrated to Knox County, Tennessee, where he taught school, lived with the Cherokee for awhile, then after serving in government for Tennessee, moved to Texas. That's quite a span of living for one man to live. He was also President and Governor of Texas and didn't want to secede from the Union, after having joined it before the War Between the States.

Today is also the birthday of Karl Marx. Karl was not one of the Marx Brothers, although he may have had a brother or too. Personally, I like Harpo and Chico the best. Karl was one of those guys who apparently didn't work very hard in college or in his adult life, and tended to blame his troubles on the people around him. He was kicked out of Germany for his radical views on the actions of class struggles on society, then France, then Great Britain. He blamed his poverty on the actions of the middle class. Apparently, the doctors and lawyers and what not wanted to get paid for their services and he didn't have the wherewithal to do so. So rather than try to find a way to pay his bills, he tried to blame the bills on the creditors. So then we had the revolutions in Russia, China, Viet Nam, Cambodia, North Korea, and else where. And then we had the revolutions in Europe and America and Asia and the Carribean and Africa and South and Central America.

Thanks Karl. Oddly, the French were involved in a lot of places where communism and socialism sprung up and caused a revolution and a whole heard of death and destruction.

Once again, Thanks Karl. Oh, and thanks France.

Noises in the bathroom

Cindy and I had spent a few hours in the backyard watering the plants and enjoying the cool of the evening. At supper time, we returned inside and ultimately found our way into the bedroom to dress for bed. Cindy went into the bathroom and called for me to join her to identify a noise she was hearing in the bathroom.

I joined her in the bathroom to hear a sound which could be running water. As Cindy and I stood in the bathroom, I looked around and couldn't identify anything which could make the noise in the bathroom. So, I went back outside to the spigot outside our master bathroom. There, I could find no indication of a leak or running water from the area of the spigot.

I returned to the bedroom to inform Cindy that I could find no running water outside. She asked me if it could be under the house. I said yes, although, I really didn't want to crawl under the house to look around.

With that, I reentered the bathroom and in the quiet of the room, could hear the noise, and it seemed to be coming from the area around the lavatory. I stepped over to the right hand drawer and pulled open the drawer. I could suddenly see what was causing the noise.

I left the bathroom and walked over to Cindy. "I found out what was causing the noise in the bathroom."

Her back to me, Cindy answered, "What was that?"

"Here it is."

And with that, she turned around to face me. She then looked down in my hand, where her electric toothbrush continued to vibrate as it had when I found it in the drawer in the lavatory.

One week to go before the big graduation weekend

Well, the barbecued pigmeat is completed and frozen in gallon freezer bags in the freezer. I have the makings for pimento cheese and will go over to the grocery later this week in order to get the required carcasses to barbecue a few chickens. If we get some help on this soiree, we should be able to feed quite a few PC graduates and their families on Saturday afternoon.

I haven't attained the position yet where I have anxiety over having enough food for everybody. That will come later.

Kate has traveled down to Edisto Island and is probably burning her body as quickly to a crisp as is possible. As I said to someone the other day, we are not genetically manufactured for sunny climes. I don't expect Kate to take sufficient efforts to protect herself. Perhaps as she gets older and the weight of mortality hangs heavier over her head, she may come to the conclusion that taking care of her body is an important task.

On the other hand, I am sure she is having a good time at the beach.

I was watching the Today Show this morning and Matt Lauer was interviewing Larry Jones, the horse trainer from Hopkinsville who trained Eight Belles. Eight Belles, of course, is the horse which came in second in the Kentucky Derby, only to compound fracture both legs and require euthanization on the track. It was interesting to listen to Mr. Jones talk about the incident, and, of course, Matt Lauer, in conjunction with an editorial in the New York Times, was trying to get Mr. Jones to admit that there was something wrong with the training of the horse.

As I listened to Larry Jones, I found few similarities between his speech patterns and mine or my mother's or my aunt's or uncle's. The only expression he used which was common was the phrase "to be perfectly honest" which is an expression which I use all the time. Unfortunately, that is a phrase which sometimes has a tendency to make one consider that what is being said is the opposite of the truth. Not that I think he was lying to Matt, but, as with many interviews on television, you often get to a point where you feel like defending the interviewee.

I felt the same way with Hillary Clinton when Meredith Viera was interviewing her this morning. It seemed like every time Hillary Clinton attempted to answer a question, Meredith would interrupt her to ask her another question. No wonder some of these interviewees get upset with the interviewers. I would too.

Not that you ordinarily get a good head of sympathy up for politicians, but it does make you wonder how they keep their cool under the circumstances.

By the way, my hands still smell faintly like smoked pork.

Helpmate

Being married can be a helpful thing from time to time. Cindy read my blog yesterday afternoon and knew that I was having a bad day. I picked her up at Griffin Tech and we went home. As I took the dog out in the back to do his business, Cindy came out on the patio and sat down. I brought Tex back on to the patio and we sat down together. Cindy and I read and listened to the radio on the patio, and I ended up reading poetry to her under the darkening sky. By the time it came time for supper, I was much more relaxed than before. Later that night, I slept better than I had for several days. As I said, it is nice to have a wife who cares for you.

Yes, I have.

This has been a rather disappointing day. To give you an example, it took me three tries to spell the word 'disappointing.' I am expecting a big check at the office, which was supposedly sent yesterday afternoon. It did not arrive. Cindy's mother is experiencing heart problems and may need surgery. So we may be going to Knoxville on Saturday or Friday. Three of my friends are eating together out in Northern California, but I couldn't rally anyone here to eat with me. John is flying to Chicago. The Hawks lost last night in Boston. The Braves lost again. I sat in the courtroom for about an hour only to be told by the judge that he couldn't help me and that I should go back to my client and tell him I tried. I was unable to get home to let the dog out because the line at the drive-through at United Bank was unbearably long. Patti came in with a migraine and I feel very tired for lack of sleep. I woke up around 3:45 and couldn't get to sleep. Cindy is upset about her mother and I really can't do much about it to help her. Kate is almost through with exams and other stuff at school. I still haven't heard from the bank in Jackson about the loan to the church. I am awaiting completion of a closing this afternoon, but don't know the status. The weather outside is delightful, but I am stuck inside. I am still waiting payment of bills. I was awaiting documents from Missouri for a closing and just found out the notary in Missouri forgot to put her notary seal on the warranty deed. I thought I had some business from a client but two deals have fallen through and the third is on hold till Monday. I would like to go somewhere for leisure but the damn gas is out of sight and other trips are looming. I already have too many trips planned for the next few weeks. So much of my pay is going to gasoline it isn't even funny. I lost my ability to go fishing with a friend last Friday. The reason for the loss of fishing time was due to the fact that a lot of clients were looking for work, none of which resulted in any billable work. I get the impression that a lot of my outstanding billings are due to clients waiting to receive money to pay their bills. I've got a number who shouldn't have any problem with paying, but I keep sending bills. And the p.o. box is still empty. An endless cycle.

Had enough?

Cultural icons I have known

I was reading the Writer's Almanac this morning, as per usual practice. That is usually the first thing I read as my day begins. Today is the birthday of Bobby Ann Mason, born in Mayfield, Kentucky. She is one of my favorites and her autobiographical book really tells a tale very familiar to me, although I didn't really grow up in Western Kentucky. She and Carolyn Gordon and Robert Penn Warren are the bards of Western Kentucky, although Warren didn't always write about the region, like Mason does.

Today is also the birthday of Terry Southern, a Texas native, who wrote "The Magic Christian", which is a satire, later made into a movie starring Peter Sellers. He also wrote "Candy", a retelling of Voltaire's "Candide", and which book may bear the honor of having been one of the few books to have been made into legitimate movies and porn movies. With all of the porno movies that came out of the book, it may be up there with Treasure Island, Huckleberry Finn, The Three Musketeers and Robin Hood for having been turned into more movies than any other pieces of fiction. Southern also wrote the screenplay to "Dr. Strangelove."

Now you are sitting there wondering how I know so much about porno movies. Its just a part of modern pop culture about which I have some passing knowledge. Leave it at that.

Well, it appears that 'The Boz' won't be able to meet with me tonight to join with Flip, Willie and Connally for an intercontinental supper. He is flying to Chicago. He also won't make an appearance at graduation next Saturday. I assured him that the icon of the Boz would continue to come up in post-graduation Presbyterian College alumni conversation. He is considering whether he should pass out rubber bracelets for the faithful or provide tattoos. As he told me earlier today, "Rubber bracelets are too temporary."

Indeed.