Once we finally got out of the house yesterday things went (fairly) well. Before lunch I took my mom up to the bank and then we drove around a bit mostly so I could see how much has changed over the last few years.
This Skyline Was Not All That And A Bag Of Chips
Finding stores along US-19 has always been a challenge made more difficult by the addition of overpasses installed since my full-time departure from this area in the late 1980s. So it was no surprise that it took me two attempts to find Skyline Chili tucked away in a small shopping center set back off the road. Once inside I was excited to try this food that you all have raved about, and pleased to be served by the restaurant’s stunningly beautiful and sweet (and young) waitress.
From the way she orders food I sometimes believe that my mother was the inspiration for Meg Ryan’s portrayal of Sally in “When Harry Met Sally.” While we each ordered chili dogs my mother’s had to have no onions (I am guilty of this too), only a little bit of cheese — if the cheese is not melted, and on a bun that is not steamed. What my mother failed to specify was that she also wanted the hot dog to be piping hot, was critical of the temperature at which hers arrived and underwhelmed by the flavor of the chili because she didn’t deem it to be “traditional”. I agree that the dogs we ordered could have (and probably should have) been hotter, but I enjoyed taste of the meal.
ITP Flickr Pic
“I’m Looking For Some Action Tonight”
Taken before the start of bingo on Sunday night. At this time I thought the only “action” I’d see that night was being looked at as “fresh meat” in the bingo hall.
She Does It Her Way
The original plan was to take my mother out for dinner at her favorite restaurant in town. On a normal trip here I eat at this restaurant once, if not twice. That plan changed when she decided that she’d rather have her sisters and brother come over for pizza and a card game, which is not an unusual occurrence in this family (and frankly I am saddened that activities like this never materialized in my life).
After making a driving trip down to Clearwater Beach, which I almost couldn’t do since they have built a new causeway bridge that I had to figure out how to get onto, we found our way to Publix to pick up a few things for the card game. I used the opportunity to secure a couple more locally produced beers to bring back ITP with me today (from what you’ll read next I am going to need a couple when I return home later today).
About 45 minutes before the relatives were to arrive I was dispatched to Hungry Howie’s to pick up the pizzas and pizza subs (about which I hear all day as we drove around).
The card game was fun and eventually broke up around 9:30pm.
Hitting The Open Road Of Business
I knew my work shit would be hitting the fan when I return tomorrow, and from previous encounters I shouldn’t have been surprised that it reached me all the way in Florida on vacation. Last night I had to log in to my work email, today I will be participating in a conference call (hopefully hands-free if I can figure out the rental’s Bluetooth) sometime during my return trip.
Today’s Personal Project
Get back home.
Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – peeved
Current Music – silence at the moment
Website Of The Day – Yesterday I forgot to mention that the Five Guys near my office has closed. Last week Mental Floss posted an article about the “Original Locations Of Fifteen Fast Food Chains”. Skyline Chili didn’t make the list, surprisingly Waffle House did, and more surprisingly Chic-Fil-A didn’t make the list either.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – nothing
Morning Weigh-In – Checking tomorrow morning, won’t like what I see.
Monthly
Foot Mileage – 0.0 miles
Wheel Mileage – 0.0 miles
Gym Visits – 3 (3 cardio)
Marta Rides To Work – 0
Bike Rides To Work – 0
February Goals
– have European trip plans in place, if not carved in stone
– clean my basement to the point where I could have people over
– hire a plumber to fix all of the sinks at the ITP Estate
– walk no fewer than 75 miles
– publish an app to the iOS AppStore (new)
2014 Goals: Measurable
– Get my weight down to 190 pounds so that I can wear a 36″ waist pants comfortably
– Completely read ten books, audio books permissible
– Save $500 for the sole purpose of donating to charitable organizations of my choice
– Completely run at least one 10k
– Fix all (or at least most) of the things which are wrong with the ITP Estate
– Sell the ITP Estate (tentative)
2014 Goals: Unmeasurable
– Continue to Simplify, simplify, simplify
– Continue backing up all data, including the off-site storage
– Do not create a solution for something which is not a problem
– Eat smaller portions
– Start, and continue, to make my own bread using my bread machine as well as using the technique outlined in Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking
– Read and discard magazines during the month in which they arrive (even digitally)
Books I’ve Read/Heard In 2014
- “Johnny Carson” by Henry Bushkin
- “Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative” by Austin Kleon
Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]
Skyline should not be considered “gourmet” or any such thing, but more a leftover from my childhood. When we went “up home” on vacations, Skyline was a treat- certainly once, if not twice.
Since Debbie didn’t get on to tell the tale of the new ponies yesterday, I’ll try and catch everyone up. Saintly was picked up in Maryland Saturday evening, by a jerk who oversold himself and his abilities. He then drove 14 miles (Debbie, the stalker, was tracking him on FB) to the truck stop/casino, where he spent the balance of the night, with our horse who just completed 2 months of stall rest left standing in the trailer, unable to lie down. Without water. Debbie drove to Griffin to meet said jerk, and wouldn’t let me join her for fear I would go off on him, and I would have.
Just before Debbie left to go meet the jerk, our friend Megan delivered 2 Connemera ponies she just picked up in WVA- an apparent rescue situation. They will just be around for a little bit while Megan rearranges her horse quarters.
And we have sad news on the farm- we believe Satchmo might have cancer. He has had a growth on his throat and the vet did a biopsy on it yesterday, but she wasn’t hopeful. He doesn’t appear to be in pain, but if it is what the vet says, it won’t be too long. He’s 10, and that is about right for a Corgi, but this will certainly be hard.
-FP
Dang Steve – you had quite the day – sorry to hear abuot Satchmo.
Paulie – we make Skyline seems so great, but really, to me, its just a different type of spaghetti sauce. It is tasty, probably because it is a little different. I’m not a huge fan of the chili dog, just too messy for me. Allan loves it, because like Steve, its a food from his childhood & was considered a treat.
I took the afternoon off to go to the eye doc, and, wow, changes have been made to the area at Hammond & Peachtree Dunwoody. Dr. Woodham’s one story building looks so little with all the taller buildings around now. They told me I can’t do any more lasik type of procesdures (corneas are too thin now) and I’m not old enough for the lens implants, those are more for cateracts & I would definitely need reading glasses if I did that. So, I’m going to try some progressive lens glasses, see what happens. I guess I’m just getting old.
Progressives are pretty good- I’ve found that you need a bigger lens to get the most out of them, despite what the eyeglass people say. And since I’m on the computer at work most of the day, I have one set of glasses for that distance- to my monitors. It’s kind of a pain if I’m working from a printed document, but if it’s just work on the monitor, those are perfect.
You are WAY over thinking Skyline…it is what it is, I think the standard deviation between the BEST Skyline and the WORST Skyline is close to zero 🙂
Steve good thoughts coming to you and Satchmo. Been there too many times, let me know if there is anything I can do.
Go Debbie!!!
here’s my eye issue – I’m pretty good for the monitor distance, I just can’t read small print & I can’t read way far away, like street signs, especially at night. We will see…….
Good answer Martha on the Skyline. don’t tell that to those Ohio boys though, they won’t agree.
My eyes are about the same, the only thing I’m noticing is resturants seem darker these days, making it hard to read the menu. Pretty soon I’ll be bringing a flashlight with me so I’ll know what I’m ordering.
I agree about the Skyline.. the variance is insignificant because IT’S ALL GOOD! 🙂
Barb, as soon as we can fit Farley with a harness, he can be your seeing-eye dog, just hold on tight if he sees a squirrel!
I have never had skyline but I’m really craving a chili dog now!
I have progressive lenses, I hate them! Their only good use is at work. Working on the house it is almost impossible to cut a straight line, riding the bike I will get dizzy sometimes with all the refocusing. I am due for a checkup and my VSP will pay for another set of frames so I will be getting a standard pair of lenses shortly.
And Steve, so sorry to hear about Satchmo! I know we only have another 5 or so years out of Snoop, I will be a basket case when I have to deal with that.
Started Satchmo on steroids this morning. Hopefully that will perk up his appetite and attitude. Sad to see him so gloomy and listless. I fed him some of Steve’s sliced turkey for breakfast which earned the equivalent of a smile from the little guy.
It’s fun to have a farm full of horses! I didn’t read the shipper jerk the riot act because I met him at a closed gas station at 10:30 at night with no one around. Not a good time to get confrontational and the horse was in better shape than rumored. The guy did drive like a bat out of hell, his truck broke down 2x on the trip and it was a different truck and trailer than that pictured on his page – not an upgrade either.
I now know to NEVER use him again and the horse seems none the worse for the 24-hour long 12-hour drive.
Martha, the house pictures look amazing! Can’t wait to see it in person! I’m sure you’ll be glad when all the picking of fixtures/colors/materials is complete. I did all that when my old company built a new office building – the fun wears off pretty quickly.
It’s fortunate that I like Skyline or Steve might not have married me! 😉 I will say I don’t find a discernable difference between the frozen and the canned. But that does not diminish the fun of badgering TJ & Mary for some of their stash!
Barb, as a life-long blind person I can tell you you’re actually having two issues. The first, not being able to read small print, is a feature of growing old. My eye doctor says every year over 40 that you don’t have this problem is a gift. If you can’t see far away, that’s near-sightedness (which I have) and can only be corrected with prescription glasses. My advice (and I’m not an eye doctor) is to get a pair of prescription bifocals. Or two pair, if you can swing it, since you won’t wear them all the time and will inevitably leave one pair at work.
Martha: if you didn’t have that dumb Blackberry you could get the very handy flashlight app. 🙂
At the Florida Georgia state line. Kind of sucks that I not able to keep up more readily on this long drive.
No texting and driving… or even reading and driving!!
I think we’ll give Satchmo some quality time tonight.