Monday Musings

Thirty years ago tonight (a Friday in 1982), I was sitting on my friend Renee's couch with a cigarette in one hand and a glass of wine in the other waiting for her boyfriend Fritz's friend to arrive. A blind date. She had been trying to set us up for a few months and finally, after an especially difficult time in my life, I agreed. I needed some fun. I told her to make sure he knew that I wasn't interested in a relationship, just to go out and have fun. And we did. We went out for fish and chips (a staple for Jim as I would find out) and went with friends to see a band and have a couple of drinks and dance and just have a good time.

And while we were slow dancing during a fast song, we shared our first kiss.

And my life was forever changed.

December 1982

July 2012

His kisses still wow me.

Blessings...

Date Night Adventures

Otherwise known as - "Let's move the well driller!"

I am not kidding when I say that there is rarely a time when Jim and I go out that does not involve the business in one way or another. It could be something as insignificant as picking up some oddball fitting at Lowe's to...you guessed it - moving the well driller (rig).

Recently we had a job about an hour from home. A little further than we like to travel...but it happens. The rig was moved out there, the well was drilled, and it was time to bring 'er home.

Date night!

We left late in the afternoon and headed out. As we drove along, Jim spotted an antique store that we had not seen before. But then this antique-ing thing is fairly new to me so Jim may have seen it before, just never bothered to suggest a stop, thinking that it wouldn't interest me. Now it does. And boy does it! This was a nice shop with lots of fairly priced interesting items. And we both picked out a couple of things and didn't spend a whole lot of money.

One of the treasures that we found. It's very old and hand-made. And it cost $1.50!

We continued on our way. It does get more and more rural as we get further out. The farmers are all working in the fields making up for all of the planting time that they lost because of our incredibly wet and rainy spring. I really love this area.

We decided to stop for dinner in the town that is nearest by where our rig is waiting for us. I've always liked this little town and I tell Jim, "If I were to pick a place to move to, I would like to live in Croswell." Locals might think I'm crazy because there isn't much in Croswell, but that's why I like it. We pass a little local restaurant and decide to turn around to have dinner there (shout out to the Riverside Family Restaurant). It's pretty much the only place to eat, although Croswell does have a McDonald's, so there's that. We enjoy these little local places though. They're some of the best places to eat and, if you see the locals hanging out there, you can usually bet that the food's pretty good.

But...just before we turn around to head back to the little restaurant we see this:

Okay...we didn't actually see KISS. It was a group of about six or so teenagers and all but one had black and white goth make-up on.

And I said to Jim, "Um...I changed my mind about wanting to live here."

We turned around and pulled into the parking lot next to the restaurant and, well frankly, I was afraid to get out of the car! Other people didn't seem to take notice of this group of kids. A police car drove by and didn't even slow down. So, either they're a common sight and quite harmless or there's some event going on that requires the wearing of gothic black and white make-up. Anyhow, these kids stopped in front of a nearby church, posed while the non-made-up member of the group took pictures, and were on their way.

We went into the restaurant, which had friendly waitresses, groups of locals having dinner, and a pretty darn good fish sandwich and fries. Please! If you know the area and know any bad things about this place - don't tell me!

It was time to get the rig, which was just a few miles outside of town. We left the job with the satisfaction of having provided this customer with a good supply of water for the house that they will be building on their beautiful piece of property.

The ride home couldn't have been more pleasant, as far as "following the rig" rides go. There was hardly any traffic for the whole way home. The cars that did come upon us didn't ride my rear. The route we took was one of the more scenic ways to come back home. It was just simply a good ride!

We dropped the rig at the next job and headed home.

Another enjoyable "date night"!

On why I don't like Burger King...

This morning, before I was even brushed, washed and dressed, Jim asked if I wanted to run up to Marysville (our nearest city) because he needed to pick something up that he needed for his first service call today. He threw in the offer of a breakfast out and I was getting dressed before he could finish getting the words out.

There's a local restaurant that we enjoy and we would normally do breakfast there, and we do fast food less often as I don't tolerate those foods as well, but this morning we were in a rush, so...

Usually a quick breakfast out consists of McDonald's hotcakes, but I really wasn't prepared for being out amongst the people yet, so Burger King's drive-thru was where we headed to today. We don't often go to Burger King, our local one or any other. The service is usually poor and slow. You can always tell when the owner is working at ours because everyone is more polite and the line is moving much quicker than usual. If we have to do drive-thru though, Jim prefers Burger King because he likes their croissanwich better than McDonald's breakfast sandwiches...and it's nearly impossible to eat hotcakes behind the wheel.

We're at the Burger King drive-thru and  -
Jim orders: "I'd like a number 2 with a large coffee and two number 8's, one with a large coffee w/two creams and the other one with a milk to drink." He says it slowly and clearly.
BK drive-thru: "Pull forward to the second window." I hate when they don't read back the order, or put it on the screen, or at least give your total since that sometimes is a good indication that they screwed up.
We get to the second window and are informed that they only have enough coffee for one cup, "would we like to wait?". Jim should have said no but he said yes. Two things: 1) we ordered two coffees and two would be nice. 2) you run out of coffee at 8am?
She then gives us our total: $6.03. For three meals? I say, "That's waaay not right." Jim says to me, "Forget it. We'll go to the other place." and he pays. When Jim gets annoyed at service (and isn't getting cheated), he would rather just patronize the competition. Believe me, we have complained to them or had to correct how they took our order on more than one occasion. So, we pay, get our food and drive forward to wait for that coffee.

I told you what we ordered. Here's what they gave us:

Okay...how did they get the drinks right, but only got one meal out of all of that?

Once we got our coffee, we headed to McDonald's and gave them our business. They rarely screw up and are usually quite nice. They just need to have something similar to a croissanwich and Jim would be happy.
Oh, and see that website on the receipt where they ask me to visit and give "my thoughts"? I did visit and I did give them "my thoughts". ☺

A Ride in the Country

A couple of nights ago, Jim had to go check on a well and asked if I wanted to go to keep him company. I said, "Sure!" and grabbed a book so that I'd have something to do while he worked.

These things never quite work out that way.

We found the place, a vacant piece of land save a pole barn that's seen better days. There had been a house there at one time, but it was long gone, the only evidence of its existence being a dip in the ground a little ways back from where we found the well.

Since there was no house and no electricity, Jim needed to hook his generator up to the pump and get it pumping because the customer wanted to see if the well was still usable. It's an older well with steel casing which meant that there would be a build up of rust and that, in turn, meant that it would be difficult to pull the pipe (inside the well that leads to the pump that is down in the well) up the five or so feet that he needed. Don't want to bore you with details, but let's just say that pulling up, by hand, even five feet of 100' of pipe that has been sitting in a well for a good many years is made very difficult by the build up of rust.

I started getting out of the truck about the time Jim was motioning me to come help him. He said, "I'll probably have to come back with the service truck to pull it up." The service truck has a hoist which makes pulling pipe and pump out of a well much easier than using your brute strength. We're getting older and using our brute strength is getting a little more difficult. ☺ We decided to give it a go though, the two of us working together. And we did it. With each of us manning a pipe wrench holding onto that inside pipe in the well, we pulled it up a little at a time. Then Jim would hold it up while I moved my wrench down and then he would grab that then I would put the upper wrench that he had below it and we would pull again. Confused yet? We did this over a few times until we pulled up five feet of this 100' feet of pipe. We then hooked it up to the generator and got it pumping and then we watched it until the water ran clear. Then, working together again, we lowered the pipe back down and put the cap back on the well. Success! Jim could now call his customer and let him know that he had a working well on his property, which would save him a good chunk of change!

I love working in partnership!

I had taken notice of this beautiful rosebush which, I'm sure, had once been the pride of the lady of the house that no longer exists. It sits at the end of what had once been their driveway. With no special care all these years, it continues to thrive. On our way out Jim cut me off a few blooms and put them in a vase after we got home. They smell glorious!

I love the way my husband thanks me for helping!

The reckless side of me!

I like to plan ahead. I have never really been fond of doing things spur of the moment. Over time I have accepted that, if I wanted to spend a rainy day "down in the city" with Jim, I needed to accept that I could just drop everything and go. That is now...without kids to shuttle and so many volunteer commitments.

So begins the story of my reckless spontaneous decision yesterday...

I saw Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band in 1977 at (what was then) Pine Knob (now called DTE Energy Music Theatre) in Clarkston, MI. It's an outdoor venue with a covered pavilion where the stage and the prime seats are and the "Hill" where it was general seating. We had tickets on the hill. I was 16 and it didn't matter that it had rained earlier. It was a great show.

A Bob Seger concert in 1977

A few months ago, I heard that Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band would be appearing at The Palace of Auburn Hills in May. I really wanted to go. I shoved it to the back of my mind though. "Shouldn't be spending money on such silliness," I told myself.

Of course as the time got closer, I started kicking myself for not buying tickets. "Too late now," I told myself. "Still don't have the extra money to spend," I reminded myself. Jim told me several times to go ahead and get tickets, but I just couldn't justify spending the money. *sigh*

Darn it though! It was Bob Seger. Michigan born and still a Michigan man! At 66, this could be his last tour. He'll have to retire sometime. It just seemed like we shouldn't miss it...

And then he played his first show on Tuesday night. I heard that the first song he sang was "Roll Me Away" which is my favorite of his. And I heard that he played for over two hours and it was a good, really good, show. I may have whined a little at this point.

Yesterday (Thursday) was his second show and in the morning I said to Jim that I soooo wish I would have gotten tickets and I soooo wish that we were going. Jim told me that he had heard there were still tickets and that I should check it out. And I did. Then I decided that we just couldn't spend the money. Then I whined to Jim again. Again he told me to GO SEE IF THERE WERE STILL TICKETS! And I did. And there were.

Not good tickets, mind you, but there were tickets. I called Jim. Twice. He told me to BUY THE TICKETS. And I did. I think it was hitting 2pm and the concert started at 7:30 and we live about an hour away. If you know me well, you know that I like to be early to these types of things. Really early. There's really no sense to it, but it's just one of my lovely quirks.

Not this time. We left with plenty of time, but stopped to eat and let our GPS mess up our route when we pretty much knew how to get there. So, we got to The Palace less than an hour before the start of the show. I am bordering on reckless here now! Less than an hour before the start of the show? Not like me at all!

We were lucky we had that little bit of time though, as I had to recover from the many stairs we ascended up to the next to the last row of seats. That didn't bother me once I caught my breath (but there was no way I was going back down ☺). We were there. We were going to see and listen to Bob Seger and The Silver Bullet Band put on an awesome show. AND THEY DID!

A bad photo with my cell phone zoomed in. Yes, zoomed in. But you know what? It just didn't matter. We were there and it was an awesome show!

Can you think of a Bob Seger song that you would have liked to hear? We heard it! He sang his hits and he sang newer songs. He sounds great. He is Bob Seger. AND WE SAW HIM!!!

I don't want to end this on a negative note, but I have some concert pet peeves:
*Pot Smokers. Seriously? I don't want to inhale it.
*Standers. I came to see Bob Seger, not your back.
*Singers. I came to hear Bob Seger, not you.
*Farters. Please visit the restroom! :-)

That said, we're not spoil sports. Sing (sometimes), stand (not through the whole show) and fart (once in a while, if you absolutely have to). But please leave your pot at home! Although, it was slightly entertaining. I saw them all leave. Then the next time I looked over at them...they were eating... and I mean really eating! ☺

Does every concert have the "enthusiastic dancer"? Our section had one. She danced through almost the whole show (and I saw her turn and ask the people behind her if she was in their way, they didn't seem to mind). She really danced...badly. But she was so darn happy and enthusiastic about it that it was fun to watch her!

Great day. Great concert. Sometimes we have to be reckless and spontaneous and just have fun!

1977

2011

 He's changed a little bit since the last time I saw him, but then...so have I.

1977. No, this was not my date for the concert back then. :-)

2011. I had a much better date for this concert and we had a great time!

And thanks to the great waitress at the Big Boy on Hall Road in Clinton Township who let us in after they had closed when we assured her that we just wanted dessert. It was after midnight. She was at the end of her shift and was just super nice.

I-ce Cream

These are a few of my favorite things:

I for Ice Cream.

It was kind of a tough one to come up with! I do like ice cream, but I can survive without it. But I do like it.

In my old age, I can't always eat ice cream and that's a bummer. But then, I shouldn't eat much ice cream either. So not being able to (much) is probably a good thing.

Confused yet?

There are a couple of place that we like to visit, in the summer, when we feel like ice cream. I don't usually keep it in the house anymore unless there's a birthday cake to pair it up with.

So we go here:

Jimmy's Frozen Custard. Not ice cream but real frozen custard. It's good. But not every day. Well it would be good every day, but you really shouldn't have it every day.

When Jim and I go off on our own, we usually go here:

Vantage Point along the beautiful St. Clair River. If you look closely, you will see a little trailer on the right side of the picture. They sell ice cream there during the summer. Good, simple, hand-dipped ice cream. You can get a cone or a bowl. You can get a sundae or a Boston Cooler. We usually get a bowl (orange pineapple for me) and sit on a bench to watch the boats, freighters or fisherpeople. And then we might take a walk along the river. One of our favorite places to go on a summer evening to feel the cool breeze after a long hot day.