Let's Play Ball! in February?????

Made a sale of two of my ice chest cooler boxes to a new friend, Teresa Matthews in Starkvegas, courtesy of my friend Jan.  Teresa needed them mid March.  MSU had a baseball double header, so I figured I'd kill two birds with one stone, weather permitting, of course.  After all, its still February!

Plans were made, and the trip was set.    I got up this morning with a promise of a high for the day of 62 degrees.  The early morning temperature was a mere 34 degrees with frost on the window.  The coolers were already in the back of the big ass Dodge Hemi, so all I had to do was defrost and go!  Man cub's girly friend even gave him permission to spend some quality time with dear ole Dad.  The closer I got to Starkvegas, the more excited I got.  Once I passed through Louisville, I sent Teresa a text, telling her I'd be there soon with the delivery of her two cooler boxes.

The GPS is a funny thing.  For fun, I followed its instructions to a T.  It had me turn right off of Hwy 25, right before you get to HWY 82, on Reed Road, which turns into Garrard, then to Old West Point Road.  I saw stuff I'd never seen before.  I even crossed North Montgomery, a mile north of our Condo.  I ended up on a gravel road, then made the insurance call to make sure I was in the right place for the delivery.  Confirmed!

After meeting Teresa and her husband Gerald, we discovered how small the world is.  Teresa's Aunt and Uncle were Pete and Cricket King, from my home town of Inverness.  Turns out we had several friends in common as well.  Delivery complete, it was time for some MSU baseball!

I picked up the man cub, then the search for a parking spot began.  MSU had tennis, basketball, and baseball going on at the same time.  I suggested a spot near the architecture school.  Man cub said "no way, too far to walk!  Go behind the Hump!"  Well!  around in circles we went!  All lots were preassigned, especially with both basketball and baseball happening at the same time.  Man cub looked over at me and said,"I hate it when you are right!" (most of the time :-) )

As we made our way to the ball park, an older gentleman was holding up two tickets.  I stopped and asked "basketball or baseball?"  He replied "baseball, two chairback seats and a double header, $20".  Well that was a no brainer, even if the man cub could get in free with his student ID.  Dad was gonna be a big spender today!  And wouldn't you know, the seats were right behind home plate, row 2, and seats on the end of the row.  Winner, winner chicken dinner!

It wasn't long before an older than me couple sat down in front of us.  They were loyal baseball fans that have been coming for years.  The guy even offered us two tickets for free for Sunday's game, which we politely declined, since we were there just for the double header, and man cub needed to study on Sunday.  I made it a day trip visit since with the live in girly friend, its hard to sleep triple in a queen size bed, if you know what I mean....

It wasn't hard to strike up a conversation with our neighbors.  I asked the man cub how his arts and crafts class projects were going.  The lady spun her head around, then commented "you're taking arts and crafts?  My granddaughter goes here and she takes arts and crafts.  Maybe ya'll are in the same class!"

One of the items that I brought with me was "the ring".  I asked him what his plans were with "the ring".  Before he could answer, the lady spun around and said, "you're giving your girl a ring?  I hope she says yes!  You seem like a nice boy!  Yep, She'll say yes!"  We just looked at each other and chuckled, wondering what other topics the lady might be interested in.....

The husband left to get some food.  He came back with a handful of food including two hot dogs.  I asked " did you dress hers like she likes it or the way you like it?"  He replied "her way, of course!"  The lady looks at me, said they like it the same and winked at me!  Lord!  For a second, I thought she was flirting with me!

Our seats were absolutely fantastic, except for one thing.  The whole time we were at the game, we were in the shade.  I asked the couple, does the sun ever shine on these seats????  The reply was "NEVER!", a good thing in late April and the month of May, but quite chilly on this late February afternoon!

After the first game was over, we stopped at concessions for a snack, then made our way over to the 3rd base bleachers for some warmth.  Within 30 minutes the sun was again already behind the home stands, making even more shade.  Since neither of us had ever been to the "Left Field Lounge", we decided to stretch our legs, find some more sun rays, and see what it was all about.  No sooner had we gotten around the MSU pull pen, one of the lounge lizards was offering us a taste of homemade brats and pig wings!  That was some fine eating!

As we worked our way over to the third base side, we were able to get a good look at the "Left Field Lounge Redneck Skyboxes"!  These contraptions have to be mobile so that once the baseball season is over, they all mist be removed.  Some of this will change with the renovations that are planned get underway.  It was really neat to see and smell the sights and hear the sounds of the game.  You can see and smell the charcoal smoke in the air and start guessing what might be cooking on the grills.  There was also the smell of recently boiled mudbugs in the air as well.  

Being a people watcher, the man cub noticed, jabbed me in the side, and said "Dad, you're supposed to be watching the game!"  Gals were there wearing every fashion available, with their high top Converse sneakers, boots, and flippers!  And as custom, all the young bucks were right behind with ice chests with locks in tow.  A fella can get awful thirsty, watching, at a baseball game, especially from the lizard lounge!

MSU won both games of the double header.  I came out a winner too!  Saw 2 games, plenty of bird watching, and best of all, quality time with the man cub, minus the lady with the sonar ears! Its always a good time to be had when you hear the words "play ball!" and this good time will be revisited, as we have tickets for two games when the spousal units Black Bears come to town in a month.

Time next time!  

Roadie Trip Like No Other-Gibbes Country Store

Well, this week, some of my Hotty Toddy friends decided it was time for a Roadie trip to Bolton, Mississippi and then on to Learned, MS for dinner at Gibbes Country Store.  This was kinda a spur of the moment trip, with not a lot of planning, but ended up with a party of eight.

In my work with HD, I travel to Vicksburg quite a bit, and I always see the exit sight for the town of Bolton.  I know several folks that live in the area, but I've never managed to exit right going in either direction.  Turns out that my friend Danny owns the Chevron station right off the exit.

We made it to town, half following my GPS lady Brenda and half listening to friend Janice on the back seat.   We make the final turn to Gina & Danny's place, and sitting in the driveway is a 1962 Cadillac  limousine!  Danny has restored it to working order, and this car was going to be our ride to dinner!

This car reminded me of the black Lincoln in the Animal House movie that John Belushi when nuts in during the parade scene.  I knew this was going to be a fun trip when I noticed the crescent wrench on the floor board of the front seat!  You have never so many cigarette lighters in one vehicle.It even has two pop up booster seats that come out from behind the front seats and the floor.  Danny had a special surprise for us.  He has a fire engine siren hooked up to this bad boy of a car, and once we got outta town he let it rip!

Our first stop was in Raymond to drop off  G&D's daughter with spend the night folks.  We were passed by two of Hinds County's finest along the way, and Danny did not realize that he had his bright lights on when they passed.  He kept looking in his rear view mirror checking to see if one of them was doing a u-turn!  That would have been fun, since there were seven in the car and not a single seat belt to be found.  Once we had delivered our precious cargo we were off again.

Danny looked at me and said "don't even try to figure out how we're getting to the restaurant, because the return trip home will be a different route!"  At this point you had to wonder what ole Danny Boy might have stashed in the trunk of that big old Caddie?!!!  Some of the roads were were travelling on had lost their stripes, and it was like, "where in the hell is he taking us????"  It was obvious where the lines were drawn between City, County and State funded road maintenance!

We finally made it to our destination, Learned, MS, and the Gibbes Country Store.  Your gotta look this town up on Google Maps.  I would love to heard the story of how the restaurant got started.  Learned is literally out in the middle of nowhere!

The restaurant is in an old dry goods store from days past.  There is still merchandise on the shelves, and lots of memorabilia up top.  The cook uses an old charcoal fire pit to do all the cooking.  The owners only accept cash and checks.  No point bringing a credit card, because there is no cell signal or wifi for miles in this neck of the woods.  They serve soft drinks, tea, watrer and beer.  Other than that its BYOB.   The menu is limited, and served on paper plates.  In spite of an overflow crowd on the front porch, our wait was fairly short.

Here are some pictures of the food that was consumed on this night.  And dang it! I forgot to take pics of dessert!

hamburger steak

Filet

tuna

lamb chop

With Great friends, good food, and a few bottles of wine, a great time was had by all.   The ride back to Bolton was as fun as the trip over!  I suggested we ride by my buddy Buster Trigg's house  and run the siren or honk the horn as we re-entered Bolton.  Danny looked at me and said "son, this ain't the big City, if you know what I mean"!

Can't wait for the next roadie trip with this motley crew!

Thank You for Your Service

My thanks to the men in women that work in our community with local law inforcement and the fire and rescue teams.

There was an accident yesterday.  I got a call to from one of these servants to come quick, they needed me to help calm down my wife, who was driving one of the cars involved in the accident.

Part of their job is to first determine who is injured, and how serious is it.  Next, they tend to the crash victim with the worst injuries.

My wife was an emotional wreck.  The EMT's asked her about her medical history.  They took her vital signs.  They examined her for any bodily injury she might have.  There were no signs of any external trama.  At their suggestion, out next stop was to be the local ER, just to be sure there were no internal injuries to be concerned about.

As we waited in the car, time and time again, officers and fire and rescue personnel approached  the driver side door, and reassured her that everything was going to be ok.  This was an accident, they said.  They handle lots of these on this stretch of Highway 25.  Even the Flowood Police Chief was there.  The injured was one of his officers.  Even he tried to reassure her that this was an accident and everything was going to be ok.

Once we were cleared, and given the ok to leave the scene, one of the Flowood Officers offered to transport her to my car.  I thanked him more than once.

Traffic was backed up because of the nature of the wreck.   The officers and medical personnel took their time to do things right.  Next time you come upon backed up traffic, please have the patience, and understanding that these events take time to assess and clean up.  You never know, it might involve someone you know or love.

Thankfully, everyone will eventually be ok, and will heal, both physically and emotionally.  The police chief was quoted as saying the officer's Guardian Angel was with him today.  It is my hope prayer that Guardian Angels are with these guys every day.

To these men and women, thank you for your service.

The Misadventures of Bill and Nick

Well what do you know, working at Home Depot I have found myself a brother of another mother of a different color, my buddy Nick.  It didn't take us very long to hit it off with conversation, and it has been nonstop ever since.

It took me a while to understand his lingo, since he is a transplant from Indiana.  He kept referring to "up in the PJ's", and I asked "what's PJ's?"  He fired back, "you know!  The Projects!  Housing man!"  Up north all us poor black folk live in PJ's like poor white people down here live in the TP's!"  I went, huh?  He said, "dude, like trailer parks!"

I had to pick him up for a road trip to Vicksburg one week.  Nick said he "stays" with his mom and step dad in south Jackson.  After picking him up, I made a quick stop at one of the Arab gas stations.  Four of these places had prices that were 20 cents apart so I picked the cheapest.  Ran my card, but the keypad didn't work to verify the zip code.  Nick says "man! Don't you know that down in my hood everybody goes inside and pays $20 cash for their gas!"  I said, yeah, and another $20 for ice down beer!"

Nick had his coffee cup with him that goes where ever he goes.  I asked him if he wanted to get a refill inside the station?  He fired off "black folk don't pay for coffee!  We get free refills in places like the HD employee breakroom!"

While at work, Nick sat down the wrong way and cracked his phone.  "Damn!  I hate it when this happens!   These damn Obama phones!"  Next day he had another one.  We compared rate plans, his is very similar to mine, except he is paying $30 a month vs my $100!

While on the job, I found a deal on a battery powered sawsall.  Nick says" white people pay full price for tools at HD and Lowes.  We get the same thing but cheaper at the pawn shop!  Nick was with me when I was paying for the saw.  He commented "wow!  You're the first white dude I've met that didn't pay for the extended warranty!

One day we took a lunch break and we ended up at McAllister's,  he had never been.  He looks at the menu board and says "what am I supposed to order?"  I suggested the club sandwich.  When seeing the prices, Nick commented "you know at Burger King you can get 4 for $5!"  His introduction to their sweet tea was hilarious!   He noticed that I paid for our food with my credit card.  He stated the only card he had was his EBT, you know grocery money!"

Our first day working together, I kept hearing strange voices coming out of him.  I finally figured out that he had his Bluetooth headset on, and he was singing along to his tunes.  It was a whole lotta Rap that I commented sounded like crap.  Nick fired back "what!?  Do you expect me to work to Earth Wind and Fire?"

Each day with Nick is a whole new adventure.  I can't wait to see what our next one brings!