This weekend there is a Goldwing Road Riders Association convention in town. It happens once a year. Yesterday they had a police escort through town. The bikes just kept coming and coming. There were easily over one hundred of them. But there are more showing up all day until they’ll out-number the cars in town. Even parked three to a parking space there will hardly be any open spaces around town to park. The GRRA is good for the local businesses, but you have to be especially careful driving when you’re surrounded by motorcycles. I hope that one day I’ll have enough money to buy a motorcycle that costs as much as a house.
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One of my coworkers had to be out this week due to a sick relative, so that meant that I worked everyday, and double shifts on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Luckily, though, she’s back. That means that I don’t work today! It’s so nice to have a Saturday off, but Michelle has to work, so I’m just sitting around until she gets off work.
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Yesterday a young couple came in and were waiting in line when I heard someone say, “Who’s this singing?” (Since I was working I had Angie playing) Before I could answer the couple said, “Angie Aparo.” I was so amazed that someone else actually knew of him. We talked about him for a little bit while I made their drinks. It made my day.

We have several free newspapers here in the shop that are mostly advertisements, but also have some great stories in them. Here’s something that made me laugh out loud:

Things I’ve learned from my Children (honest and no kidding):
The following came from an anonymous Mother in Austin, Texas:

1. A king size water bed holds enough water to fill a 2000 sq. ft. house 4 inches deep.
2. If you spray hair spray on dust bunnies and run over them with roller blades, they can ignite.
3. A 3-year old voice is louder than 200 adults in a crowded restaurant.
4. If you hook a dog leash over a ceiling fan, the motor is not strong enough to rotate a 42 pound boy wearing Batman underwear and a Superman cape. It is strong enough, however, if tied to a paint can, to spread paint on all four walls of a 20×20 ft. room.
5. You should not throw baseballs up when the ceiling fan is on. When using a ceiling fan as a bat, you have to throw the ball up a few times before you get a hit. A ceiling fan can hit a baseball a long way.
6. The glass in windows (even double-pane) doesn’t stop a baseball hit by a ceiling fan.
7. When you hear the toilet flush and the words “uh-oh,” it’s already too late.
8. Brake fluid mixed with Clorox makes smoke, and lots of it.
9. A six-year old can start a fire with a flint rock even though a 36-year old man says they can only do it in the movies.
10. Certain Lego’s will pass through the digestive tract of a 4-year old.
11. Play dough and microwave should not be used in the same sentence.
12. Super glue is forever.
13. No matter how much Jell-O you put in a swimming pool you still can’t walk on water.
14. Pool filters do not like Jell-O.
15. VCR’s do not eject PB&J sandwiches even though TV commercials show they do.
16. Garbage bags do not make good parachutes.
17. Marbles in gas tanks make lots of noise when driving.
18. You probably do not want to know what that odor is.
19. Always look in the oven before you turn it on; plastic toys do not like ovens.
20. The fire department in Austin, TX has a 5-minute response time.
21. The spin cycle on the washing machine does not make earthworms dizzy. It will, however, make cats dizzy.
22. Cats throw up twice their body weight when dizzy

What an unexpectedly busy day! I’m taking a quick break before someone else comes in wanting a drink. On hot days like today we sell a lot of our smoothies and frappes, which bring in the most money. Normally Saturdays are very slow, but today’s been crazily busy. It’s good that we’ve had a busy day, but bad that I’m the only person working today. We ran out of 2% and skim milk, along with whipped cream. Luckily I was able to talk someone into going to the store for me. I hope this break lasts just a little bit longer.

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So… the Angie Aparo concert at the Coca-Cola Roxy Theatre in Atlanta was fantabulous and fantastical! He’s not only a great singer, but he’s an amazing performer as well. The guy that opened for Angie, Willy Porter was equally amazing, but in his own way. He played the guitar like no other person I’ve ever seen. At one point during his set he asked for the crowd to yell out four things. From amongst the masses came: “Waffle House,” “Bigfoot,” “Road Rage,” and “Grilled Cheese.” From these four random things he created such a great song that you would have thought he’d been working on it for a month. I was very impressed.
During Angie’s set, he asked Willy Porter to come onto the stage so they could do a song together. They decided to do “Rocketman” by Elton John. It was great. I got a couple of pictures of them performing together. Angie announced later that Faith Hill would be singing three more of his songs, and he would be singing with her on the album. He played one of the songs, “Blue Sky,” but I just can’t imagine Faith Hill singing it. He also said that her producer would like to produce him too. That’s really good news for all of those Angie Aparo fans out there.

I decided at the concert that Angie has a cult following. I recognized many people there from the concert in Athens in March.

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Yesterday after I locked up the coffeehouse I got in my car and turned the key… but nothing happened. It didn’t even try to turn over. But since my car is a manual, I just rolled down the hill enough so I could pop the clutch, and off I went. This morning, the car did the same thing. I knew it wasn’t the battery, because all of the electric stuff like my radio worked fine. I looked under the hood to see what was up, and found that the piece connecting the starter to the battery was completely corroded through. So, I just popped the clutch again, and I was off to work. I should probably get that fixed. Not everywhere I go has a hill that I can roll down.

I’m updating two days in a row!
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I almost didn’t make it to work in time this morning to open. I was supposed to be there at seven, and that’s when I woke up. Luckily, I only live one minute from the coffeehouse. I got there before anybody else and there was no harm done.
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The entire right side of my face is numb. I can’t even smile – I can, but I might scare children with the crookedness of my smile. I haven’t had a cavity in years, but I had to get one filled today. The dentist was training a new dental hygienist today, so that troubled me a little. She did well though.
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I’m sitting the in coffeehouse right now enjoying the smells, sounds, and the boss’s three year old son sleeping on my arm. Ever since I started working here, Jarin has completely ignored everyone but me. He’s a lot of fun to play with, but sometimes he’s too much for me. It’s nice when he calms down and takes a nap.

There’s three kittens that are hanging out behind the building. I really want to take them home, but I don’t think it’d be a good idea.

Congratulations to Dave Rodgers, the winner of my contest!* Dave, your check is in the mail.* * * *
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The last remaining Confederate Civil War Veteran widow died yesterday at the age of 97. The war ended 140 years ago… When she was 21 she married a Civil War Vet who was 81. Something seems wrong with that. She was still receiving his 50 dollar-a-month Civil War pension. The last remaining Union Civil War Veteran widow died last year. I just thought I’d share that with you all.
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I had so much fun yesterday. Michelle and I had a cookout with our friends at her house. I ran the grill; which I did for the first time, but I still did a good job. I’ve seen mom do it enough times to know what I’m doing. After that we went to Helen, GA and went tubing down the Chattahoochee for a couple of hours. It was nice and relaxing. Once we dried off we walked around Helen and went into the many shops. I brought home some great fudge (which I think I’ll go eat when I’m done with this).
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Even though I wasn’t home a whole lot, I enjoyed having most of the family home. Grammy came home on Saturday, and it’s so nice to have her around again.

* No purchase necessary. For official game rules look under the wrapper on a Coke bottle.* *

* * This contest is not in any way affiliated with Coke.***

* * * In fact, this isn’t a real contest at all.

* * * * No it’s not.