Thanksgiving in Norfolk, VA

My lovely wife, Elaine, and I spent our Thanksgiving this year with my sister and her husband, Karen and Ron, in their turn-of-the-century home in downtown Norfolk. Also making the pilgrimage from Georgia to Virginia were my parents. Since they, unlike the aforementioned family members, did not request their names be specifically mentioned in my blog, I'll change them to protect the innocent. Let's just call them Tom and Barbara White. While I'm...

Read More

Click It or Ticket can stick it

Forcing motorists to wear seatbelts is one of the most innane laws ever concocted. It ranks up there with blue laws and profanity laws. It should not be the role of our government to tell us how to protect ourselves. If I'm not buckling in a child, that's one thing. I'd even go so far as to say if I fail to buckle myself up when I've got a kid in the car that's another thing. But if I as an adult make a conscious choice not to wear my seat belt, this should not infringe on any law. If I run a red light, I've created a traffic hazard. That merits...

Read More

Georgia native makes global plea to blog watchers

I sent out a bulk email last night inviting almost 500 people to check out my blog. After emailing these unsuspecting souls, I couldn't decide if having done so would be looked at by them as vain on my part or just plain desperate. A blog by its very nature does lend itself toward vanity. The author thinks that he has some unique take on life and that people actually care to hear it. But being conceited is of little worth if you don't also have blog...

Read More

The to-do list: one down and umptine million to go

On the side of our refrigerator is a house wish-list my wife composed a few years ago. It lists home improvements we aspire to have completed someday. When she first handed it to me, I read it and nodded at her approvingly the same way she does to me each time I tell her I'm going to lose weight. It doesn't bother me that we don't have a built-in shelving fixture under the bathroom counter or a nice piece of art hanging over our fireplace. It's not that the items on the list are financially undoable or that I don't think these would be worthy ways...

Read More

Burger King character or Satan's spawn?

Have you seen the new Burger King commercials? The Burger King guy with the gargantuan plastic head and crimson red eyes is pure evil incarnate. The creepy factor on this guy is way off the charts. If his looks alone weren't reason enough to make you question his motives then surely his reckless behavior would be. I'm talking about the commercial where they show him drilling bolts into a steel girder as he and another guy are standing God-only-knows...

Read More

Yummy treats and politesse abound at GA French Bakery in Duluth

On two occasions this week I visited the GA French Bakery (3512 Satellite Blvd., Suite 5, Duluth, GA 30096; 770-622-2682) near the corner of Satellite Boulevard and Pleasant Hill Road. My first visit was on Wednesday when two hours into a crumby work day I decided that the only thing that could sway the on-coming crabbiness was sweet sweet pastry. GA French Bakery was a place I had passed several times and even stopped at once before but for whatever reason I hadn't made it a regular stop on the periodic midday hunger run.Famished for something...

Read More

In utero pictures of baby

Some pictures paint a thousand words. These on the other hand leave me speechless. Proud and joyful, but speechless. Any guesses on whether it's a boy or a gi...

Read More

Waffle House patron needs drugs to stay alive

This past Sunday my wife and I went to the local Waffle House to dine out . . . in so far as feasting on greasy hashbrowns and gristle can be construed as dining out. Waffle House is a diner of the greasy spoon variety. Though it's a national chain each establishment attracts a local element of color particular to that vicinity.Sitting at the counter was a gentleman who had four prescription pill bottles lined up next to his plate. Four! Why anyone...

Read More