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Thursday, July 28, 2022

First Bite: BBQ Barn

Drove straight to Lavonia this morning, with a stop at Hardees for an omelet biscuit, cinnamon roll, and diet Dr. Pepper. Arrived at the same time team member Alex drove up. Since we bought Fanello Industries, their employees are now fellow coworkers as well, subject to the same difficulties as us Norcross employees. I’ve been working with Jamie for years, but have only met her in person like two times. Got to see Todd and Don and Todd and met Vickie and Kim for the first time. Todd and I were laughing about him finally getting me out of the office for a visit, which I appreciated. Fanello is good people. I finally hit him up for a nice Fanello vest, so Jamie and Patty dug one out for me – and a nice long sleeve t-shirt as well.

Omar directed Alex and me to lunch at the BBQ Barn, an old moss-covered shack behind the old Lavonia railroad station in Lavonia’s charming downtown, under the big oak tree. BBQ plate, Brunswick Stew, potato salad. After we sat at the cleanest of the two picnic tables the smoke from the cooker started blowing on us. The smell was heavenly, but the smoke bothersome (hours later my shirt still smells of the smoke). Eventually we moved to the dirtier table.

https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-bbq-barn-lavonia

Alex told me details and secrets about how he lost 60-something pounds – mostly from only eating one meal a day. I told him I’ve been trying to follow his plan, with decent success. He said that when he hit a plateau, he had to buckle down and get stricter with the diet, fasting, and exercising. Good advice. Two of Alex’s secrets: the Renpho Smart Scale, and the Life Fasting app. I was actually taking notes.

Despite all the diet talk, on the drive back I stopped by the Baskin Robbin in Commerce for a pint, since I was on a company sanctioned trip. Half blueberry cheesecake and half pralines ’n cream. Great, even though they didn’t have my favorite: chocolate peanut butter.

Not much from last night. Supper was a chicken in a sauce over rice (above). Ceil baked up some beets, sweet potatoes, and other vegetables. That was all I ate yesterday, save for the ten ounce protein shake at lunch. I’d been at the same low weight all week – until today’s feasts. Tonight Ceil goes out with Regina, so I can skip supper.

Watched the new episode of Extraordinary Attorney Woo. That show just gets better and better. Tonight I watched “The Tree Man” documentary on Amazon Prime, about Maconite Chuck Leavell. He who played with the Allman Brothers and Rolling Stones. Chuck still lives a quiet existence outside Flag City. Coworker Josh tipped me off on the show. Josh attends Westside Presbyterian Church with the guys who started Matthew’s Monday Night Garage – named after their small group Bible study locale. Here's the setup at MNG, with M in white.

I am listening to The Andy Cohen Diaries, read by the author. I think it will help improve my writing, especially on the mundane day to day experiences I so often bore you with. Andy recaps his day, but adds semi-interesting quips, stories, or observations. Probably some are from him and others from his assistant who compiled the data. While I am not super knowledgeable about Cohen (I had to look him up on line), Andy is/was super-involved in pop culture. Also a fan of his hometown St. Louis Cardinals, so he can’t be all bad. He named his dog after former Cardinal hurler Michael Wacha. Friends with several of my favorites: Jerry Seinfeld, Sarah Jessica Parker (aka SJP), her husband Matthew Boderick, Jimmy Fallon, former Cardinal Jim Edmunds, and acquaintance John McEnroe – who wears Bjorn Borg underwear.  Cohen and I live in two vastly different worlds.

TY COBB  [SABR Bio] was Charlie Gehringer’s first manager in the majors. Charlie joined the Tigers in 1924 where Cobb had been managing since 1921. Cobb played spring training games with lead insoles so his shoes would feel light during the season. He is reputed to be the first to swing multiple bats while on deck during games. He needed the fewest games to join the 3,000 hit club, in his 2,135th game.

Saturday night we're babysitting this little angel.

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