and I know and love people from here too

This is a true story, only, and I repeat only, the name has been changed ! A young man for the sake of this story, lets call him Elbert -this is the changed name- entered this very Mal-Wart in a town very near my hometown. My brother took me to this store to examine personally the location and to ascertain the likelihood of the events to be retold here.

It seems that midmorning one very recent day, Elbert entered this establishment. I am going to make a judgement here, in an impaired state, or possessing at least less than normal of what would pass for normal judgement.

Now once inside, Elbert, while his exact path is unknown, did indeed pass down this very isle where alcoholic beverages are offered for sale. Here apparently Elbert's thirst? judgement? class? inspiration? took hold.
One can not help but smile thinking of Elbert's delight upon recognizing a favorite beverage. He did take hold of a six pack and proceed to begin to drink--- and imagine if you will the pure enjoyment he must have had when drinking that first moderately cool bottle of Miller Lite probably very close to this very display.

Can you imagine Elbert saying to his friends, "come on guys, lets go to Mal-Wart, grab us a couple of moderately cool ones, stroll down to the TV's and catch some movie or sumpin' ---- now this is in the town that used to look down on my home town as not being very "cool" or "classy" --- So now I offer them their very own Elbert. Well perhaps all this would have been acceptable in this classy upper-crust town that has a tendency to put on "airs" when comparing themselves to their neighboring towns. However, as do many in this town, Elbert proved unable to know when to stop. He proceeded to drink the entire six pack ....
apparently somewhat completely impaired by now and perhaps even attracting attention of an employee - anyone notice anything strange going on in TV's or the grocery isles? - as Elbert finishes beer after beer. Well apparently somewhere our friend Elbert passed that magic point where his ability to "hold his beer" was exceeded. (hence my earlier observation about his being impaired upon his arrival- I am thinking a man of Elbert's class and style probably can normally hold more than a mere 6 before noon)

Our friend proceeded to become somewhat disorderly (surprise, surprise) drive a little impaired, commit a few traffic violations, and upon being apprehended and placed in a police car, using his head and feet did bend and dent the squad car door, emitted bodily fluid on police officers, resisted arrest (you probably figured that one already) and a incurred a couple more charges.
His exact rap sheet, to quote the newspaper did read "misdemeanor larceny, consuming malt beverage on city/county property, malicious conduct by a prisoner, resisting a public officer, three counts of injury to personal property, three counts of assaulting government officials, failing to stop at a stop sign, driving while impaired, open container violation after consuming, damage to city property, intoxicated, and disruptive" ------- ya think ?

It was a dark and stormy night

It was indeed a dark and stormy night and day too as Mark and I entered the Greensboro Coliseum grandly calling itself Tournament Town this recent Friday on the occasion of the second day of the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament. Mark and Marie had gone on Thursday to see the pride of the Deacons 09-10 edition which continued a lengthening tradition of losing badly in the ACC early in the Tournament. Hence the foreboding nature and gloomy atmosphere - might as well have titled this "no joy in Mudville either. Anyway, there was no need for me to be wearing my lucky WF garb - which btw, I was NOT. The clouds are hanging heavy over the Deacon faithful

These are our seats, and as seats go they were just fine, they were inside the building, kept us off the floor, did not have pepsi or other spilled beverage on them, and were not wobbly. They were however, not "front row", as the saying goes, and so we did a little improving during the afternoon and evening sessions, hence the opportunity for different views. They were row Q upper deck and far more rows were between those seats and the floor than between the seats and back wall. But I believe I did mention that they were inside the building- a very important fact and should definitely kept in mind.

That team taking the ball up court against Duke was Miami, yes lowly Miami and not Wake Forest as was intended. The Deacs were supposed to have this shot at the hated devils and though Miami did very well, ahead at halftime and only lost by three (you know who talked to the refs at halftime) the Deacs could have, should have, would have, well fact is they didn't and I was disappointed with that fact-
as you can see from my "encounter" with what would be the closest thing I could find to a Deacon was below and he appears as befuddled as I am, and we both certainly are.
It was quite a view that Eric and I had for the State vs Georgia Tech game on Saturday afternoon, (I think I mentioned that we moved on occasion in order to improve seat location or in this case, to improve seat location and be located closer to the exit. Also gives you and idea of just how big this place is. Big- very Big

As you can see from below, we appreciated taking short cuts when possible. This was our transportation from one side of the parking lot to a BBQ restaurant on the other side of the lot -- all you had to do was ask. I am thinking of asking that the Deacons start winning a game in March.

Into the Valley of Frunitureland Rode the Six Hundred

Well, perhaps not 600 were with me a fateful recent Saturday morning, but all else was in place and accurate and not hyperbole - advertised one million square feet - walkways between buildings. Hotdiggitydog!

Into the Valley of ....... was there ever a more ominous sign? "Showroom"? Portends horrible potentials -- and did I mention their million square feet and moniker of Furnitureland (I mean just think of a preposterous name- what do they think they are Disneyland or something?)
and check out below JUST WHAT I HAD IN MIND -- I mean isn't this just darling? probably weighs several tons and causing deforestation and global warming too with all the timber in the thing. There were other equally "attractive" offerings, some with upwards of 15 little pillows.
and tables, yes we have tables
and more tables, often set ever so tastefully -- none had stacks of mail or similar stuff on them

and I had a happy wife who owes me. (or perhaps I am moving towards breaking even?)

James basketball playing

A couple of weeks ago, Patt and I stopped in Durham to watch James play a basketball game. And no this first picture is not his team. As is the custom girls games precede boys games and so it was this particular evening and we got to enjoy the last few minutes of the game. Actually the last quarter, well perhaps it was most of the second half. Anyway, I had not seen a girls game in quite a while. Hence you get a photo of the Elon School girls team in action.

James' team is - how do I say this delicately - not one of the best in North Carolina - how was that? and this particular evening they were in a close hard fought contest. Their claim to fame is that they have been dunked on by some of the best players in the state. Anyway as you can see in the photo below, James who is taller than me, is not really all that big on the basketball court.
James, also is not all that fast, but he does bang and as they say "mix it up". We enjoyed watching the game, though ultimately his team lost by two points. Later in the season they lost in the state tournament to the team that would later play against the famous team from Raleigh that has many "D-1" players on the squad-- Word of God private school where John Wall (now at UK and of Sports Illustrated cover fame) attended.
The crowd was loud, no check that, shrill and enthusiastic. Admission was not free, by the way.