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20 JUL 04: CONFINED TO QUARTERS
But first -- BREAKING NEWS! I'm happy to report one of my nieces had her second baby Monday night! The baby is Kathryn Elizabeth Eckert. She's in Lawrence, Kansas. And I have to figure one more name into my will.
The birth of baby Kathryn makes me a "great-uncle" for the second time, for lack of a better term. I actually became an uncle at age 11 - and did I ever feel more grown-up than the other children at church school....
My brother reports Kathryn's mother Penny gave birth after almost a full day of labor. That had to be exhausting - if only because her health plan might not have covered another couple of days.
(If Penny decides to have another child in a couple of years, things should be easier - since another niece of mine is in college, studying to become a gynecologist.)
Now to our scheduled topic: you may hear or read in the news what this day is across Georgia. But for me, it's something else. It's laundry day -- where I pick up and carry a tall hamper full of clothes around town, yet for some reason don't log it as extra exercise.
Normally I do my laundry every two weeks. Yes, I have enough clothing stashed away to do that - although I must admit I've lost the handle on one drawer in my chest, trying to stuff it all in there.
But some full work days lately have required me to adjust my laundry schedule - to every 13 days, instead of 14. Otherwise, I would have had no time to clean my clothes before sundown on Friday nights. As some of you know, that's when Sabbath-keeping people like me turn into pumpkins.
The last time I did laundry was 13 days ago -- and that Wednesday night was quite an adventure. For starters, I don't have a washer or dryer at home. So my tall filled hamper was in the car all day while I was at work. If only Interstate 185 had diamond lanes for "high occupancy vehicles...."
As I recall, that Wednesday two weeks ago was sunny. So the hamper didn't smell bad at all as I drove to my regular laundromat after work. And it was so full of clothing that I didn't have to worry about a police officer pulling me over, for
not having it buckled in.
Problem #1: My regular laundromat has no attendant - and on this Wednesday night, the change machine was out of service. I'm used to hearing longtime news reporters talk about carrying "a pocket full of quarters," but I thought this was
the 21st century.
Thankfully, this laundromat is in a shopping center on South Lumpkin Road. So I locked the laundry hamper back inside my car, and went walking down the sidewalk to get change for dollar bills. It's too bad the storefront church in the center
didn't have a Wednesday night service, or I could have negotiated over the offering.
Problem #2: I walked to a convenience store across the street from the far end of the shopping center - and a teenager outside asked me for 50 cents. He wanted a bottle of soda, and showed me one about half-full. Maybe you would have said no - but I remembered someone was stabbed behind this store a couple of weeks before.
My original plan was to get change for a five-dollar bill as I bought one soda, but I wound up buying two. Problem #3: the convenience store was low on quarters as well. I was given one dollar's worth - but I need $1.50 to start the two washers. Maybe I should have asked the teenager to be my broker.
I took the long walk back to my car, left the 20-ounce bottle of soda inside near the laundry hamper and started a second round of searching. This time I tried a little ethnic grocery store in the shopping center - but it was filled with items I don't normally eat and wouldn't buy. At this point, I doubted even their "lucky candles" would have worked.
At last I found something for my tastes in this little store - a package of M&M's candies. How old were they? I didn't care, since the stains on my clothes were turning even older.
The little store had change for a dollar - so after about a half-hour of searching and haggling, I was able to do my laundry. Hopefully today will be a lot easier. For one thing, it's an afternoon trip as opposed to evening. And this time, "Plan B" for me is to get back in the car and head for a supermarket.
BLOG UPDATE: It was sad to learn Monday of the passing of Chuck McClure. News reports said the reason was "natural causes" - but I can't help wondering if the sound of Don Imus on WRCG schmoozing with liberals had something to do with it.
While Chuck McClure offered conservative commentaries on the radio for years, his stations included the very modern music of WCGQ "Q-107.3" FM. McClure probably left that to his son, presuming "Boss Junior" could understand the words.
I didn't realize until Monday that Chuck McClure made local history by hiring Al Haynes as an announcer. Haynes was the first African-American voice on a white-owned radio station in town. So when does Ritmo Latino Radio plan to have a "gringo" host on weekends?
Longtime Columbus residents know Chuck McClure and his wife played a major role in saving the Springer Opera House from the wrecking ball years ago. To this day, I don't know why nobody put up a fuss about Three Arts Theatre. A fresh coat of pink paint would have made it look as good as new.
Now other quick notes we found on an almost-comfortable summer Monday:
+ WLTZ "NBC-38" won the Ledger-Enquirer's "Reader's Choice" award for favorite local TV station. Are that many people tuning in at 11:00 p.m. for Jim Devitt's one-minute weather forecast?
+ WXTX News at Ten sent "Fox 54 on Patrol" to Auburn Road in Phenix City, to monitor speeders. The city could slow things down by installing a traffic light - but then again, we've seen enough TV news to know lots of drivers would ignore that, anyway.
+ A Quizno's Subs commercial during the Columbus Catfish radio broadcast revealed a second store will open soon in the Bradley Park area. We'll see if they copy the downtown location -- and put it in the basement of Peach Bowl or something.
+ Eufaula Mayor Jay Jaxon suggested changing the city's name to "Lake Eufaula," because it might attract more tourists. Why didn't someone think of this before? A simple change to "Lake Bibb City" could have saved that town....
+ Roy Moore's two-ton Ten Commandments monument was removed from the Alabama Judicial Building in Montgomery, for a three-month national tour. I say if homosexual people can come out of the closet, so can the commandments.
+ Pacelli High School kicked off football practice with "Midnight Madness." On a Sunday night at midnight in Columbus, it's either do that for entertainment or watch reruns of "The Andy Griffith Show."
COMING WEDNESDAY: Georgia Primary night! Where will we go? Who will we see?....
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