Last October (2013), I made a trip down to the Clearwater, St. Petersburg, Tampa area of Florida.  I had never been there before.  I was coming in on Hwy. 19 (I think.) which is the old route.  At some point in Florida, I started to have an upset stomach.  I passed by a Hardees Restaurant, and turned around a short distance and came back.  I figured that I could use the bathroom, and even though I wasn’t really hungry, I could order a couple of hamburgers.

I went to the bathroom and then headed back up to the counter to place my order.

There was a young man, probably in his late teens or twenties behind the counter.  He asked me how he could assist me, and I said, “I would like a couple of hamburgers.”  His reply, “Will that be two or three sir?”

I stood there dumbfounded for a few seconds, and probably cocked my head to one side as I pondered my reply.  I probably said, “A couple.”  I’m not sure how our communication completed successfully, because I did not expound further upon what a “couple” meant, but I did get the two hamburgers.  I went outside, and around back, where I had parked, and ate the two hamburgers.  They were good.

What an odd reply to my request.  Who doesn’t know what a couple of anything means?  I didn’t ask for a few, or some hamburgers, I asked for a couple.  In the world from which I come, a couple means two.

Part of my job involves help desk type activities and support.  A user wants to know how to perform a certain function or task.  So, if I have experienced the problem they are having, or know the steps they need to complete the task, I tell them.  But, I just remembered that through the years there appear those “odd” persons who place a higher value on knowing why they need to do something, rather than going ahead and doing it and completing the task more quickly.  When it dawns on me that I am speaking with one of those persons, I have to go into a different mode.  *Another thought.  In times past, I actually came to believe that these people wanted me to spend a certain amount of time helping them solve their problem.  It might not matter what I said to them.  I could read them a nursery rhyme, or some other story, totally unrelated to the sequential steps they needed to complete the desired task.  Once I had spent 20 minutes or more, sometimes repeating the solution more than once, or even twice, and in more than one way, then they were satisfied and could go do what I had suggested in the first 5 minutes of our intercourse.  Perhaps their egos couldn’t handle that someone could solve their problem in a few minutes rather than taking an extended amount of time and effort.

I haven’t encountered one of these types in quite a while, but as I recall, they usually visit when my time is at a premium, where I have other people and tasks to perform.

 

Even though Harry Brown was not my State representative at the time, I contacted him, via email, to ask that he continue to stand against the State Lottery.  You would think that a grown man, a used car dealer would be more street-wise and when the Legislature did not adjourn immediately after passing the State Budget “that year,” that something was up.  But, apparently not.  Harry managed to take that weekend (how did he know that the budget would be passed by that weekend?) to get married, and be unavailable, or unwilling to vote against the State Lottery.  But, there was another crippled (injured?) Republican representative from elsewhere in the State that didn’t vote against the State Lottery.   Because these two Republican representatives chose not to vote against the State Lottery, it passed.  I am told that they could have voted by proxy (remotely) if they had desired to.

I think that “no good” will ever come from the NC State Lottery.  A bunch of money leaves our citizens, and the State, and only a minimal amount goes toward Education.  And, society teaches our children that gambling is an okay activity, even a worthy act because a dribble of the funds goes toward educating our children.  If educating our children was a worthy activity, the citizens of NC would stop gambling and put more of their tax money toward education.

Addendum:  I’ve probably heard this before, but it does ring true, ‘the State has found a way to tax its poorest citizens.’  Apparently, a large number of the poorer NC citizens spend money on the Lottery.  Pie in the sky.

Article on WRAL.com web site: http://www.wral.com/cumberland-school-district-to-address-student-gender-identity/13295892/

One of the commenters on this article suggested that this was ‘a little deviation from what most might consider “normal”‘.   Many that still think that if you have male genitalia you should be considered a male.   Just because I start wearing dresses and high heels and painting my lips with red lipstick isn’t going to make me female.  If I go through surgery and have my genitalia altered so that I have some remote resemblance to that of a woman, heck, I still have a problem with calling myself a woman.

It was interesting to read this article and realize that nowhere did the reporter (Gilbert Baez) refer to the feminine dressing child as a boy.  What a sell out.  They could have at least alternated the sex each time the child was mentioned… She wears dresses but he uses the Girls bathroom.  Her parents are listening to the psychologist and I am sure they hope this will be the best for him.

So, if I had a son, who embraced his masculinity (at age 6 or 7) and he comes home and tells me he has a girlfriend at school and wants to give her a Valentines Day card.  Would I have a problem, unless I find out later that the little girl has masculine genitalia?  And, would I even know until the girl was much older and started sporting a distinct Adam’s Apple?

I visited “Down on Mainstreet” in Washington, NC again today. This was my second visit. The first time I had a really good spaghetti sauce. This time I tried the “Cajun Dream” pasta. It was a large bowtie pasta (whole wheat, tomato and spinach), with mushrooms in a cream sauce and (chicken). I’m not sure of the seasoning, but the flavor was good. I also had a house salad with honey mustard dressing. A little strong, but with some sweetner, it rounded it out nicely.

Not sure how some salads can seem so good, while others, with apparently the same ingredients are bland or non-descript.

I tried the Texas Roadhouse in Fayetteville yesterday afternoon. I had the rack of ribs. They were good, but a litle dry and there was a slight aftertaste, perhaps in the Roadhouse Sauce. It reminded me of motor oil. Not really, but that is the closest thing I could think of.

As a first time visitor, they brought me a sampler dish of four sides: corn, green beans, baked beans/chili, and a mashed potato sample. I thought this was a nice gesture, but since none of them had a flavor worth ordering, it was counterproductive.

I ordered a side salad with honey mustard dressing. I only used one cup of the dressing. This salad was disappointing. Fake cheddar cheese that was almost flavorless.  The fake cheddar cheese was also on the baked potato.  I didn’t eat much of the potato.

I wouldn’t go back to Texas Roadhouse if I am making the decision of where to go.  Gosh, all that food, and such a disappointment.

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I just re-watched the Detective Zen trilogy on Amazon Prime. It is a British production, that has a present day Italian detective as it’s hero. It was filmed in Italy, but with mostly British actors. One very welcome exception was the actress, Caterina Murino.

I see that the 2011 production was not renewed, and I do not see that anything is in the works for further episodes. I like Rufus Sewell, Zen, and the writing is very entertaining.

This is a test post which should appear in the Announcements section of my Canvas course. Pushing it via RSS.