Fast Food: 4 Strikes

Thursday: worked past 6:15. Had a bunch of orders to put in. C was gone and M was working so I stopped by Moes on the way home. Watched a PBS special on Bobby Jones. Also Seinfeld, Big Bang Theory, some Seahawks/Cardinals, and Young Sheldon. Shouldn’t have been surprised at how they negatively portrayed praying and Christianity.

Had leftover spaghetti for lunch. Ceil put in sausage instead of ground beef or turkey. We’re taking another inventory at work so we had Chickfila chicken biscuits for breakfast and Mellow Mushroom pizza for lunch. 

Friday night Anna and I went out to Moxie Burger. Very crowded, but the line wasn’t too long until after we ordered. Found a little table inside, so we didn’t have to eat outside. Gassed up her Jeep, then we went home and both watched a good movie: Arrival, with Amy Adams.

Cleaned upstairs, then went downstairs to watch ESPN College Gameday. David Pollock jumped off a high dive down in Miami. Watched GT/VT, GA/Auburn, Miami/Notre Dame, and a little Clemson/FSU and Oklahoma/TCU. Heard a rumor GT is trying to add a game on Dec 2.

After the Miami win Mark Richt was interviewed. He said all the right things, then added “Praise God” at the end. Nice touch. How come you never hear Notre Dame’s head coach say that?

Cleaned up Matthew’s room and washed and folded a bunch of laundry. At 11:30 I was working on a project on my laptop so I turned on Saturday Night Live. Pretty much unwatchable. Changed the channel. Couldn’t find GT/UCLA. Stayed up till almost 1 am, so I was sleepy on Sunday.

Tried blowing leaves but my old 75 foot extension cord finally died. Maybe my new blower is too powerful. Since it rained on Sunday I didn’t need to go shopping for a new one. Raked the driveway so I could see it. Was sore from the busy weekend.

Watched a few movies, including Andy Garcia and Meg Ryan in When a Man Loves a Woman. Falcons and NBC’s Football Night in America. C came home and then went to the grocery. All weekend I’d eaten leftovers and things from the freezer: turkey burgers, a quesadilla, meat sauce, etc. C grilled chicken and Chinese rice.  

Been a long week already for me. Monday night I worked past seven. Stopped by Taco Bell then made good time to Macon. Drank a large Diet Mountain Dew to keep me awake, but not only did I sleep all the way through the night without waking up in the middle of the night, I didn’t wake up until ten minutes before it was time to go to the hospital.

Made it to the hospital by 6:35. They took my mom in immediately and surgery started at 8:45. Took almost two hours, then she was in recovery shortly after 11 am. Sat with my dad, sister, and brother in law. Passed the time people-watching and car watching. Kept up with work on my phone and also cleaned out all my junk emails. Late breakfast from McDonalds.

When in Macon on Monday I tried to meet up with two old high school buddies. We had talked about dining at Nu-Way Weiners, a famous Macon hot dog place. In truth I’ve never been. It didn’t work out, but there will be other opportunities.

My dad was cold. I wore my jacket. Since my mom would be groggy the rest of the evening I took him home at 4 pm. Seemed like everything was in order with my mom, so I headed back to Atlanta after dropping my dad off. I never know if I’m making the right decision on things like that, and I probably should’ve stuck around a few more hours.

Since I hadn’t had lunch a grabbed a Chickfila sandwich, and later treated myself to a Wendy’s frosty. That made four straight fast food stops (and Wednesday morning I grabbed a McDonalds biscuit on the way to work). On the drive north I had time to reflect on my experience at the restaurants. I try not to be Mr. Negative, but usually when I stop for fast food the experience is bad (exception = Chickfila). I know, I don’t have to stop there, and I really shouldn’t. Let me count the ways:

MON PM Taco Bell: the drive thru was moving slowly. The menu board was out of date: the specials and the prices were wrong. I asked for no ice, but I got ice. That’s at least three strikes right there. Grade: D

TUE AM McDonalds: took a minute for someone to take my order, but it was delivered quickly. The cup advertised a deal not available at that McDonalds (or many McDonalds that I know of. Grade: B.

TUE PM Chickfila: long line at the drive thru, because CFA is so good. I had planned on going inside since I had a coupon. Ordering was quick and easy, even with the coupon. The inside wasn’t too crowded. Behind the counter employees were busy filling orders. Dive thru orders, I guess. All I had ordered was one CFA sandwich to go. Took 3 or 4 minutes. 180-240 seconds. Grade: C.

TUE PM Wendy’s: not crowded. Couldn’t complain about the service time. I ordered the largest size possible. What I got wasn’t as large as I used to get. Not sure if it was a mistake or a downsize. Grade: D.

WED AM McDonalds: I hate stopping off on the way to work, but I did. Might’ve been running 5 or 10 minutes later than usual, and the drive thru line as LONG. I immediately pulled into a parking space and walked inside, making note of the car that took my place in line. The lady took my order immediately. I happened to notice the lady in the back assembling biscuits, putting them in a bag, and calling my number. Super-fast. Walked out and drove away before I would’ve been able to even order had I gone thru the drive thru. Grade: A.

Wednesday work was super busy, catching up on emails and entering orders. Early team meeting as well as a lunch meeting, with Willy’s brought in. Had to update my 2018 insurance, so it was after 7 pm before I get the office. Neither of us were hungry so we just had oatmeal. My mom came home from the hospital, but Ceil’s mom went back in. She’s pretty weak

Watched some of the Lakers game. They were wearing their nice blue MLPS uniforms, so I did a double take when I first was them.

Charlie Brooks’ father passed away. Charlie’s uncle married my aunt Harriet.

Drew Kelly shares the same birthday as Michael Jordan and comedian Larry the Cable Guy. I told him he plays basketball like one of them and is as funny as the other.