Jasper Jones

Thanks to my girlfriend for sending me this MeMe. Not sure how these MeMe things are supposed to work, but here’s my answers.

This morning:

1. What day is this?

Sunday

2. What time did your alarm go off (the first time!)

7:00 am - every day

3. Snooze button or actually got up?

Actually got up - if I snooze I lose

4. Did you wake up anyone else before leaving the house?

Nope - I wouldn’t DARE

5. Coffee or tea or ________?

Coffee - black and strong

6. Did you make breakfast?

Yes, kinda. Took a slice of leftover banana nut bread and spread butter on it to eat with my coffee.

7. Where were you sitting when you ate breakfast?

At my computer, of course!

8. Did you do any household chores before leaving the house?

Unloaded the dishwasher while the coffee was brewing. Hey, I don’t mind helping out, and what else are you supposed to do for those 3 agonizing minutes while the coffee drips?

9. If you tended to any animals before leaving the house, what did you do?

Took the dogs out for their morning walk and gave them treats when they came back inside.

10. Was the TV on at all this morning? What channel?

The TV stays on Channel 5, which is CBS, 24/7 except for hockey games and the “Ice Road Truckers” Sunday nights at 8:00.

11. Did you pack a lunch?

No - I don’t like packed lunches. They never taste as good as something fresh and hot from a drive-thru.

12. Did you make the bed or leave it rumpled?

I pull the sheets and covers up and fluff the pillows, but it’s still rumpled.

13. Did you read a newspaper? Which one(s)?

Glanced at “The Tennessean” front page but I’ll read it later. Maybe tomorrow.

14. When you first stepped outside, what was the weather?

Sunny and hot - it’s summer!

15. What shoes were you wearing?

Flip flops - let me repeat - it’s summer!

Stopped by to check on Aaron and his mom today and glad to see that they are doing OK. They were just hanging out at the house - all the other relatives left this morning and they were finally having the house to themselves, but they didn’t really want to be alone, either. So they invited me to stay and watch the Cardinals game on TV this afternoon.

The game got us to talking trash about our own ball playing abilities, and by the end of the game - 13 innings, by the way - we had a challenge between us to play a softball game. Aaron will grab enough of his friends home for the summer and I’ll round up enough of my guys and we’ll meet at the local high school field on the Saturday after July 4th fireworks for a game.

I’m going to get tee shirts printed for each team if this shakes out. I gave him until Wednesday to make the calls and firm up his team roster. If this is really going to happen, I want team names, a cheerleader squad, custom t-shirts, the whole monty.

Got online and found a web site called “Design A Shirt” that does custom printing on t-shirts and other things like sweatshirts, jackets, caps, etc. I think I can get my girlfriend to draw something special to print on the shirts. She’s very artistic and I bet she can come up with some good ideas. The web site has lots of examples of designs and shirts they’ve already done for other people and organizations so you can look through those and get good ideas.

Haven’t figured out the team names yet and not even sure that Aaron can scrape together 10 guys to do this. I guess if we get desperate we can let girls play - I know some pretty good girl players. But I think I can gather up 10 buddies who will be looking for something fun to do on a long holiday weekend, especially if I’m buying the beer!

Great place to find gas prices anywhere in the U.S. or Canada is a website called Gas Buddy. I found it reading an article in the San Francisco Chronicle about a map showing the price of gas at all the stations in the Bay area.

It is outrageously high in San Francisco. The map shows most stations charging $4.59 a gallon. Around here it is mostly $3.89, although when you head south to the Land of the Well-to-Do they are charging $4.04.

Turns out the web site has information on local gas prices all over the country, with lists and maps. So if you need to know where the cheap gas is in your area, check out Gas Buddy.

The news has bee full of stories about flooding this past week all along the Mississippi River. The flooding took out millions of acres of farmland and crops. Iowas and Missouri have been the worst hit.

My buddy in St. Louis called this morning to ask if I’m interested in coming up there to work with him the rest of this summer. He has a great job installing carpet and flooring, and with all the damage to homes in businesses from the flooding, there will be a lot of work to do. He’s been in touch with a disaster cleanup company called “Water Restoration 911″ and they are going to be really busy over the next 2-3 months in Missouri.

Water Restoration 911 can respond to emergencies nationwide, 24/7. Their website has a toll free hotline people can call for help, and their team of technicians can be on the scene, often within 30 minutes of the call. There’s going to be a lot of carpet and flooring that needs to be replaced, so there’s lots of work, with almost unlimited overtime, for contractors in the flooded areas. Not sure I want to leave here to go do that, but the money might change my mind.

One of the few places to get breakfast around here is Shoneys. There aren’t very many of them anymore - lots of them have shut down and the ones left are all owned by the same guy who just bought the whole company a year or two ago. He’s from Atlanta where he ran another chain of QSR’s - that Quick Service Restaurants, for those of you not in the biz.

I go to Shoney’s because they have a buffet and you can take what you want, whether it is breakfast stuff or fresh fruit or salad fixin’s, and you can eat all you want. Their lunch and dinner buffet is usually jut one or two meats, like fried chicken or meat loaf, but lots of good vegetables. Or you can order off the menu. But the buffet is the better deal as far as food for the dollar.