I've been looking at the middle of our country, waiting for a place to jump out to me for a possible family reunion this Summer.
It needs to be large enough to have an airport, attractions, restaurants, but not too big, no freeways, flat, quaint.
Omaha, NB checks all those boxes, and is close to the geographic center of the 48 contiguous states, in Lebanon, KS.
I have just set up a new Facebook Group, private and by invite only. It's for me and my fourteen grand-children, and their children, to communicate and ultimatly connect.
It would be wonderful if our families could come together now. I'm proposing a place in the middle of the country, this Summer.
The idea is that my group admins, Shelby and Shannon, could get all of my other grand-children involved, and talking with each other.
I've been watching my duplex neighbor get food delivered via DoorDash for years now. You would think that a computer genius like me would have signed up with these guys long ago, but I just did now. Hungry, and not able to drive.
I got me some catfish, baked beans, potato salad and toast from Legends Express. Kinda pricey, DoorDash takes their cut, the driver gets an automatic tip, and I quite frankly don't get it yet.
Ahh, but now I do! I'm watching the amazing app that shows where your food is in-route, and as a coder I'm blown away.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw it turning on to my street so I went outside and greeted the car as it pulled up. A young lady with a big smile jumped out and handed me a bag, with no expectations for an additional tip.
So, the cost to get that meal DoorDashed here was a bit under twice as much as it cost. In this case, $16 something total. Was it worth it today? Hell yea! I was going to split it in half for later, but ate the whole thing standing at my kitchen counter.
This has been a wonderful experience! A delicious plate of food from my favorite local place arrived quickly with a smile, still warm, and the catfish melted in my mouth. Damn...
I was still in my robe this morning when I got a loud knock on the door. At first I thought it was the cops, but a peek through my door glass showed a tall old man standing there.
It turned out to be a guy I had chatted with in the Park a few years back, I had mentioned where I lived and he decided to drop by today.
He's an 84 year old country boy, hard of hearing so we talked loud. His girlfriend is 87 and they've been together fourteen years. He sold his house and moved in with her. The two drive as a team when together, one checking surrounding traffic while the driver handles the lights. They don't drive at night.
He was an insurance claims adjuster, which is interesting since my smoke buddy yesterday was urgently looking for someone to help him get some money from an auto accident a while back.
Mr. Jones said what he needs is an Independent Adjustor, someone who will jump through all the insurance company hoops, settle the claim, and draw a commission.
This guy was great to talk to, very down home, honest and ethical. He told me of folks he had helped over the years, even writing out checks on the hoods of cars.
He told me about a family that had made house insurance payments for twenty years, missed one payment, and then lost their home in a storm. The company didn't want to settle, but he got it done.
Then he said something that I liked so much, I wrote this Post to share it.
"If you do people right, you never lose."
I've been eating too many UPF's (ultra-processed foods), as in frozen meal style that I consume nightly, if I remember to...
I'm working on a possible new meal routine. Legends Express off N Military makes great food, right here, with a good menu. Today I was there at 1030, first one through the drive-thru. Ordered meatloaf, mashed potatoes, creamed corn and corn bread.
Eight dollars and change, served up quickly in a nice to go box, and I took it straight home. If you eat inside Legends, even though they're very nice people, the sides are cool for some reason, and they really need to fix that.
I put half in my air-fryer for a few minutes and had a healthy homemade lunch, at home. The rest I had for dinner later on in the afternoon.
I think the food is cooked locally and distributed daily to here and their sister restaurant Legends up the road from me. The locations just turn it from fresh refrigerated food into warmed up and serveable.
I could live off of Legends food. It would be like having a wife cook me lunch and dinner every day. With just a short drive thru the Square, a few stop signs along the way, and one light.
Their catfish is also great, by the way!
Man, Parkinson's is really kicking my ass today. The shakes are bad, I take the two top meds on the market, and I almost couldn't make out my rent check this morning. It makes me wonder what happens when I can't take care of myself anymore.
My grand-daughter Shelby just told me that Emma, one of my fourteen grandkids, watches my YouTube stuff and drops by here on occasion. I'm now working on a new radical thought.
We pick a spot in the middle of America, for a Summer meet up, of every family member that would love to show up. For a couple of days, we all stay at the same hotel, bring the kids, my great-grand-kids.
Everyone pays their own way. An opportunity of a lifetime to meet their siblings and families, and meet their grand-father.
I haven't landed well, it could have been way worse, but I'm still alive and somewhat presentable when I'm sober.
If I had ended up a rich guy, I would have tracked down everyone by now, connected with them, and loved them.
But I'm not, it would take the last of my stash to get there, but it would be epic.
So, I'm just tossing the thought out into the world, puff!
I just had a great talk with my grand-daughter Taylor. I had someone reach out from the other side, and told me to do it. I found her on FaceBook, sent her my number, and she just called.
She sounded great, her voice was calm and collected. Her baby twin girls are at eighteen months, and doing well.
It makes me wonder how much family I have out there, fourteen grandkids, most I don't know. I would love to meet them all, or just talk to them before I die.
It was so nice to talk to Taylor, we both knew in a moment that we were talking real, no bullshit talk. She has a couple twin girls, that maybe I'll meet some day.
I've been driving for sixty two years, millions of miles, and I've never gotten a DUI, totaled a vehicle, or hurt anyone. I take driving very seriously.
That's why it was so nice yesterday when my neighbor Daniel called me and wanted to know if I would like to ride up North with him.
It was a nice Sunday afternoon, he'd been hunkered down with his wife since Friday evening, and he had to empty the coins from a bunch of ice houses that he maintains.
I said hell yea, give me ten minutes, then I made a drink in my insulated cup, said high to the pipe, and slid into his passenger seat. He said I stunk, I told him I loved him.
It's great to be escorted through amazing Tennessee countryside by a friend that was born and raised here. Beautiful backroads I've never been on, fun stories along the way.
It also happened the previous day, when a buddy of mine and I drove to Summertown to see a lifted truck. We talked about going to the infamous Hippy Farm, but we ended up driving back to Lawrenceburg, again on roads I've never been on, with another guy born and raised here, and stories to tell.
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