Friday, October 28, 2011

Tale of the Griddle

When I first helped out at our church's pancake breakfast I got lucky and was able to get in on the ground floor. I was placed next to Jack who was the person who actually built the griddle I was cooking on.

As I flipped pancakes, Jack relayed the story of how he made the griddle. How he took a half inch piece of solid steel for the griddle surface. How, that steel was way too heavy and he had to grind down an eighth of an inch off of the top so that it could be picked up easier.


If you like pancakes, or if you want to see the griddle that Jack built, the Ravenswood Fellowship United Methodist Church will be hosting their annual pancake breakfast. I will be flipping pancakes on our custom made griddle. I am including the information on how to get there so you can see the griddle, or see me flip pancakes:

Saturday, November 5, 2011

9:00 am - 2:00 pm

All you can eat.

Adults $7.00

Children $3.00

Ravenswood Fellowship United Methodist Church


I look forward to seeing you there.

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Spin Cycle: Spooky Stories

This week's Spin Cycle Assignment: Ghost Stories. Rather than spinning a yarn (or web) of my own, I thought I would review a few movies instead.

My wife usually likes to pick out movies that embody the season. When fall rolls around she picks some really great classics. Here are the two she loves to watch and why:

Meet Me in St. Louis
Even thought this movie goes through the entire year, the scenes during Halloween make it worth watching. The Victorian house in the opening shot truly sets the scene with the shadows and eery lights. It's an honest look at how a child experiences Halloween. The dialog that the children use is very typical. Phrases like "Tootie killed the Braukoffs single-handed. She's the bravest of them all!" seem to show the sophisticated play that the children have. Traditions such as burning trash in the middle of the street, going up to the spooky house and throwing flower in people's faces to kill them make the scene worth watching.
The Nightmare Before Christmas
A great transitional movie that gets you ready for Christmas. The characters in Halloween land stumble upon Christmas land and the main character Jack the Pumpkin King decides to give "Sandy Claus" a break and do Christmas himself. The dedication that Jack has towards wanting to do it right is very touching. Unfortunately, he does not get it entirely right and things go terribly wrong. Will Christmas be spoiled? You'll have to watch the rest of the movie to find out.
So, put that DVD in the player and give it a spin and enjoy the season.

small cycle

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Spin Cycle: Firsts

This week's Spin Cycle is on Firsts. Rather than telling the story of my first kiss or my first date (I suspect that everyone may do that as well)— I thought I would write about first impressions. But then I realized that I haven't pondered that concept very much and would only struggle and feel rushed trying to get a post out. This post may not actually be of my first time in an airplane… nor would it be the first time I posted this story, but it is probably one of my first attempts at story telling.

Author's Note: Please bear in mind that this was written when I was about 14 years old and my not be constructed very well. All the same— enjoy…


Here I'm sitting on a might be couch (actually) a couple of foam polyurethane with nylon covers sitting on bricks (it looks good though) waiting for a plane to come in about 4:40.

I might as well start from the beginning.

It all started when I stayed up and read The Stand. So far it was a good book even though I only read about "80" pages. Then we all went to the airport. "Wait" go back just a little. Before we started off my dad wouldn't find the checkbook. He looked everywhere, sure he looked right where he found it. He blamed it on the dental things or insurance papers which they were under. When we got there mom and dad were worried about getting to the right place or elevator to the right terminal.

Then we were inside carrying my back-pack got to be tiresome my dad said to carry it on both arms, I refused. Then he told me that it would put more pressure on one strap and it might break, it didn't. At the ticket booth or terminal well my way to the place— I got it the ticket check in. That's it. When we were there my dad was supposed to get a stand-by basis ticket— that is you would get on only if they had the room. Well stand-by tickets weren't working or doing it for five years. My dad had to pay full fare instead of half. He blamed it on one of his bridge partners who so I hear has a problem with her husband or something like that. Well anyway he always has to pass the buck to somebody anyway.

When we got to the terminal gate which was as so written on the ticket holder H-7 his handwriting was fast but we could figure it out well anyway I could because I had the ticket in my hot little hands. On the way to the terminal mom was talking about something it's on the tip of my tongue but I forgot it actually it's about a price slash on round trips dad said only on round trips but mom said he checked it first. Actually the slash is made from a reserved ticketed rather than being it at the luggage check in area.

Well when we were at the terminal gate and we waited for the plane and learned that it was delayed by the rain and thorms in the area from 11:30-11:50. We also had to check in at gate 9 instead of 7 because that's where the plane came in. When I finally got on the plane and we were ready to take off. But the plane was delayed by the thunder storm and we didn't take off until about 12:10. The people in back of me were very rude as you might say in fact they didn't know they talked a lot.

I was alone in the two seats and so was the person in front of me. Well things got worse. I wanted to get some air on me and I saw a button to pull so I pulled it and the waitress came and asked if I needed anything. I said no I don't think so and was very startled until she told me that I pulled the call button. I felt stupid. She left then I wondered when they were going to serve lunch they did in a few moments. They had turkey sandwiches and potato salad with mustard salt and pepper and a tomato. I ate it all. "The potato salad was good" I said to myself even though I hated potato salad. When the stewardess served the drink I had a Sprite she spilled it on my pants and had to go all the way to the front to get an extra napkin. I tried to read the book The Black Marble but it was too distract-full on the plane. I saw what I think was Cairo ILL and the Mississippi river and I knew we were getting close to our destination. When we landed I got up and looked in back of me to see that lady she might be good looking she wasn't at all!

Then I got off the plane and out into the lobby and out of the gate at Memphis airport was pretty good looking I could say and it was small too so I got around it pretty easily but it had it's problems too. I had to find the place where my next flight was to take off at. It was pretty hard. First I saw where the small planes took off and it said restricted do not enter. So I was baffled so I sat down and waited for 4:40 to roll around and I didn't understand anything. So I asked one of the ground crew where the small planes took off and while explaining the situation at the same time. He told me to go to the luggage check in under United Airlines the one the ticket was under and ask about it. So I did and they told me to go downstairs.

Oh yes I almost forgot to tell you about my luggage pickup. I did and from that the fishing pole case was broken in one spot nothing much but the chain.

Well going down there he said to get someone and call this one place, well nobody there I was confused. Disgusted I went back up and asked again. He said to call Memphis Aero and I did, well I tried. I put a dime in the phone and it said that the number was not in service. OK I tried again same response. Then I found out what I was doing wrong. I then dialed the right number and it finally rang about 12 times then a lady answered the phone and I explained and she said they'd send transportation over.

Excellent. So I waited for about 10 minutes and was thinking of calling back but it came and I got in and we went over there and when we did the driver asked some questions about going over there to Mountain Home. I thought he was talking to me but he wasn't he was talking to someone else.

When I finally got inside and I tried to get my ticket checked.


Fortunately/unfortunately that is where it ends. I thought I had more on how I flew in a small plane, but I didn't. I think that getting to where you started is good enough.


small cycle

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Many happy returns of the day

I rather like the British phrase Many happy returns of the day. For those who are unfamiliar with the phrase and what it means, I'll give you a clue— Today is the return of the day. If you still don't get it, you can see what happened today on this date….

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Spin Cycle: My Ultimate Date

This week's spin cycle topic is fantasy dates, so I'll put my hat in the ring, put my head in that, and do my best hip-hop head spin for you.


When I was young and was first dating, I came up with what I considered the ultimate date:

  1. First I would go out to eat at a fancy restaurant.
  2. Then I would go to see an opera, or professional theater performance
  3. After that, I would go out for a nightcap.

If you look at it, it doesn't seem all that ultimate. What made it ultimate for me is that it is supposed to be what I considered to be high class dating. These are the kinds of things that people you see in classic movies doing. Perhaps I'm a person who likes the 1930's and 40's and the kinds of things that people did in that era seemed high class to me.

Nowadays I wonder if what I considered the ultimate date is more of a fantasy. Let's not get into what constitutes a date, but rather consider the fact that all of these activities are quite expensive individually and even more so combined. Not only that, but considering how much time and energy goes into planning and executing them makes me tired just thinking about it (I guess my age is showing more every day).


small cycle
Web Analytics