Under Construction.

I know I've been slacking, of late. I've had a lot on my plate, what with Thanksgiving and all (pun, as always, intended). I'll try to get up and running shortly.

Happy Thanksgiving!

It's about quarter 'til three on Thanksgiving Day, and I'm bushed. My brother, the Amazing AndyMan, came up from Cigar City to spend the Holiday in the Boro. He and I ran for about an hour this morning, then we volunteered at my Church, St. Jude's Episcopal, to prepare and serve free Thanksgiving meals to folks who didn't already have plans. See how eager I am to get started? Andy'd already done this gig in Tampa just yesterday. He saw the multitude ready to help and beat it to the Manor to watch Kill Bill Vol. One for perhaps the fifth time. I carved a couple of hams, then started working the serving line. Yams were my item. Yams are very popular at Thanksgiving, and I only one or two of the seven hundred folks we served didn't want some.
http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifLinda Kelly was on ham detail. She's and the rest of the line get ready to open business.
I wouldn't've been there if not for my gal, Diane. Among her duties as director of the Area Health Education Commission (or Company. It starts with a "C", anyway) are youth education programs designed to get young folks into the healthcare field. These are motivated kids. She managed to get this good-looking crew to take a few hours from their own Thanksgiving to volunteer at St. Jude's. Don't ever give up on the kids. The kids are alright!

Give 'em the Slip.

I'm selling the Manor, so I need to spiffy things up a bit. Some of my furniture was owned, for a time, by cats of the past, and needs to be properly removed. Sadly, I can't do without it for the time being, so I need to cover it. I know next to nothing about slipcovers. Amazingly, neither does my most-knowledgeable fiance, so we called in the big gun: friend Gilda makes Bob Vila look like a piker. Gilda informs me that home improvement, done correctly, always involves at least a small dose of some adult beverage. Wine was the order of the day. This is the bottle of wine that the gals brought. Turned out that my excitement was totally unnecessary. Truly, it was all about slipcovers. Sigh. So much for life in the fast-lane.

My Old School, Redux.

I don't know any of these kids, but they are dressed in Leto High School football practice T-shirts, just like I was a little more than thirty years ago. I was nominated for most school-spirited (ended up with Class Clown. Go figure. Jose Pedreira got most school-spirited. Hope he and Furison are doing okay), so I'd better know the Alma Mater. Here it is:



"Voices proud in Praises sing,
Hail to Leto High.
Through the Hallowed halls now ring,
The Mighty Falcons' cry.
In our work and in our pleasure,
To thy honor and thy might.
To our colors ever true:
Hail to the Red, Gold and White!"

Leto is smaller now than it was back in the day. I was one of about 750 graduates of the Class of '78. The school had about 3500 students. Looks like they have about half that now. I loved my old school, but, apparently, it isn't the fast-lane to success.

Leto High School in Tampa tries to transcend image with AP classes - St. Petersburg Times

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I note that Leto's notable alumni are listed as Atlanta Falcon's wide-receiver Michael Jenkins (once a Falcon, always a Falcon, I guess), and- get this- Public Defender Julianne Holt. Hey! I'm a Public Defender. Wonder how come I'm not listed?

I Scream, You Scream...

...we all scream for ice-cream. I want to eat healthy, really, I do; but the grocery store is making me eat badly. I picked up a few items from Bi-Lo the other day. Milk, cereal, Pop-Tarts, four apples and, yes, a couple of cartons of ice-cream. Breyer's was on sale, two for the five dollar and twenty-nine cent price you'd usually pay for one. A couple of Honeycrisp and a couple of Fuji apples? Six dollars and sixteen cents. That's a buck and a half an apple. I like apples. I love ice-cream. If six bucks is all I had to spend, guess what I'd buy?

My Old School(mates)

Looky here: My buddy, semi-famous alligator hunter Captain Phil Walters (and fellow graduate of Tampa Leto High School class of 1978) and Terrie Bradley Bruce (Leto class of a more recent vintage) stopped by the Boro in a tour of the South. They spent the day in Savannah, and hope to tour Charleston in the next day or so. The Boro is conveniently right in the middle of those two old Southern towns, so they graced me with a visit. We grabbed an adult beverage at The Blarney Stone, and they bid me adieu. I'd've posted the Alma Mater, but, well, um, can anyone out there give me the first line? Anyway, Steely Dan's "My Old School" will have to do:



(and I actually do know the Alma Mater, I just wanted to see if there are any Falcons out there...).

Before they Make Me Run.

I'm having a pretty easy term of General Sessions (criminal) Court this week. A private attorney is trying a murder case, so I've only had a few pleas and probation violations. I've even had time to work on my mid-week running. I'm running a few in the morning, and a few after work. I hope to cover about 40 miles for the week. The Kiawah Marathon is less than a month from now, so I've got to be diligent. Trials and running? Hmmm. Seems like Keith Richards had a song about that on the Rolling Stones' "Some Girls" album:



Here are the rest of the Lyrics in case, you know, you're into lyrics.

RIP David LLoyd.

Noted television writer David Lloyd died last week. I didn't know the man, but, like a lot of trailing edge baby boomers, I knew his work. He wrote for a number of popular television series, including Frasier, Cheers, and Taxi, but in the various mini-eulogies tossed about for him, his "Chuckles Bites the Dust" episode on The Mary Tyler Moore Show gets the most attention. YouTube it, if you get the chance. It really is a classic. Television was very important to me and lots of baby boomers. Mary Tyler Moore was a regular part of my life for several years. Mary, Lou, Ted, Murray and the rest were a regular part of my life. Writers like David Lloyd, at least as much as the actors, gave them their lives.

Life During Wartime.

Afghanistan. Iraq. Walterboro. You knew about the first two warzones. Better add the Boro as a third. Walterboro has about 5 thousand people. Over the last week, at least ten people have been shot here, three fatally. The Boro is abuzz with the latest round of shooting. The Charleston Post and Courier reports that in addition to the efforts of the Walterboro Police Department and the Colleton County Sheriff's Office, that the State Law Enforcement Division (SLED), police from Charleston and Richland (home of Columbia, the Capital of S.C.) Counties, the SC Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services, the U.S. Department of Arms, Tobacco and Firearms, and the U.S. Marshal's Office have been participating in trying to get this mess straightened out. The recent spate of violence has put Walterboro in the news in Charleston, Palmetto State National Public Radio, and even the Savannah, Georgia, news. See? This video even features my daughter, Caroline, and her friend, Quentin:



There are a lot of note-worthy things about my Town: it's a pretty place with a lot of nice amenities for such a small town; a lot of the people are really great; the weather is quite nice. I've commented on Walterboro's fascination with guns before, but, really, guys, can't we all just get along?



'Course, Gandhi, MLK, Jr., and even John Lennon all got shot, too, didn't they?

Warm Leatherette.

I'm not sure why I just had to hear this song. I'm even less sure why I felt the need to post it.



Here's a newer version by several folks, including Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails. I like it pretty much because its denser, richer sound does violence to the spare, thin sound of the original.

Going, Boeing, Gone!

Looks like North Charleston is getting aeronautical juggernaut (juggernautical?) Boeing's new plant. It's about time the Palmetto State got some good news, as Mark Sanford, Joe Wilson, a huge unemployment rate, tawdry horse lovers, not especially bright representatives at beauty pageants, and various and sundry other issues have given South Carolina a lot to lament of late. It does not appear that the State of Washington is taking the news particularly well, based on the cartoon at left.

Slow Adults Running.

I covered 20 miles today. I's gonna say "ran", but that would be grossly misleading. Since my last 20 miler about a month ago, I've done precious little to maintain the base I've built up over the past few months. Today, it showed. It was painful, slow and cold. Went out about 6 this morning, and the bank clock showed 38 degrees. I'd had an extra T-shirt over my long-sleeved running shirt, but neglected my hands. The ball cap I selected to shield me from the sun was less appropriate than a wool beanie would've been. Oh, well, the cold probably enabled me to finish the run. Oh a hot, humid day, I doubt I coulda knocked out ten miles, but my legs started cramping up at 18.5 miles. Gotta remember to pay my mid-week dues, too.

Yikes!

Twin Tyler's hair has always trended toward long. Lately it has been, uh, leonine? (In the mane, anyway). Some buds got him hooked up with some hair glue and the result is evident. The good news is that he got said bud to clip his hair. Dude did a pretty good job, and Tyler's hair is a bit more civilized.

Notorious, again.

I've been a notary pretty much since I've been a lawyer. It helps mostly for formalizing documents, such as affidavits, to have a notary commission myself without having to hunt down someone else to witness stuff. As long as you don't have a criminal record, they're pretty easy to get. Drop off an application to your state's legislative delegation with a nominal check for processing, and - viola! - you're all set to get people married or formalize a will. I've been kinda busy, of late, so I managed to let my commission lapse. Anyway, just last week I reapplied. Got my appointment back yesterday. Huzzah to Senator Matthews (no relation, except through Adam and Eve) and Representative Bowers for the very quick turnaround.

Been Workin' Out, Too.

All right, it's a costume. Anyway, the Halloween season has been fun. Nice "Good Fridays" party a week or so ago. The Lads carved a couple of pumpkins (they know Jack-O-Lanterns). Diane and I handed out candy to about 200 kids at her house. Lots of little Batmen and princesses. Good times.