Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Good morning crew,

After the near disastrous chicken wing episode on Saturday I was looking forward to somebody else doing the cooking on Sunday, and my wish was answered by the Taste of Orland Park out here in the suburbs.

Orland Park is what we like to refer to as an "upper income" community, consequently they have a pretty nice selection of restaurants, most of which were represented at the taste. They had everything from cheese pizza to beef bourguignon. There was even a microbrewer there, so when I got tired of lite beer I could mix it up with a wheat or an IPA. Plus, the Mexican restaurant was serving margaritas.

And the capper to the entire afternoon was a performance by a band called American English. They are a very popular tribute band to the Beatles, and boy, did they deliver. I had never heard them before and I was duly impressed.

But the real excitement came with the thunderstorm. When I checked the national weather service early in the afternoon they were only predicting a thirty percent chance of thunder storms, so I talked the girlfriend into taking a chance with the motorcycle. Of course, by six o'clock there was a wall of black clouds covering half the horizon and rolling straight for us.

It was like watching a disaster in slow motion. I had visions of riding home in pitch black conditions with the street lights out and torrential rain lashing me in the bare face as thirty mile-per-hour winds try to blow me off the road.

Amazingly enough the storm front passed by a scant few miles from us. We could see the lightning flashing and the rain coming down in long, grey, angular swaths (or 'God-strokes' as they are sometimes called), drenching the next town over. But we didn't get much more than a sprinkle.

It's nice when a bit of good luck lights upon you, no matter how insignificant. It always makes the day seem better.

Laugh it up,

Joe

joe@gophercentral.com

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"Critics are calling 'Jersey Shore' the most offensive thing the United States has done to Italy since the opening of Olive Garden." -Jay Leno

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"A new study found that eating healthy adds $380 to your grocery bill every year. Or as Americans put it, 'Cool, I saved $380 this year!'" -Jimmy Fallon

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"The stock market had its biggest one-day drop since 2008. Remember how the experts said we had to raise the debt ceiling or the market would crash? That's why I don't listen to experts. All my money is tied up in Skee ball tickets." -Jimmy Kimmel

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In a grocery store a cashier held up a small dairy carton and yelled to a co-worker, "How much is half-and-half?"

Without a moment's hesitation the other cashier replied, "One."


*-------------- Guaranteed to Roll Your Eyes --------------*
In honor of Memorial Day, the teacher I worked with read the Constitution to her third-grade class. After reading "We the people," she paused to ask the children what they thought that meant.

One boy raised his hand and asked, "Is that like 'We da bomb?'"