Spitball Army

There was so much vinyl – multiple copies of many titles, and what seemed like endless rows of classical music – that I was overwhelmed. The two guys working the store seemed overwhelmed, too, wedged in behind a small sales counter that was piled high with boxes of new vinyl arrivals.

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It has been raining here since Friday night. It is now Tuesday morning. This area sorely needs the rain, and this rain has been ideal – a slow and steady rain, but never a deluge. At this time next week, my neighborhood will be ten shades of green. But, today, as I walked across the back lawn to my office hideaway, the soil underneath the grass groaned and moved beneath my feet, sounding like an old man breaking wind.

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Am strangely tired, and would dearly like to spend the night in my own bed, nice as that feather bed at the Charles was.

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Oh, I forgot to mention that Ron played his own version of Nick Lowe’s “Where’s My Everything?” during his set. He said he’d asked Lowe if he would sing it, Nick told him it wasn’t on his list this tour, so Ron asked if he could sing it.

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The subway system no longer takes tokens. They have taken the “branding” approach, as well, as the tickets that you buy from a machine (automation again, as at the airport) are called “Charlie,” as in “Charlie on the MTA!!” It took me awhile to figure out how to buy one. The lines to buy with cash were very, very long, and no one was purchasing at the credit card line, so I did that. It wasn’t easy, at first, all touch screen technology and menus, but I would be a pro a second time.

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I had only had a cup of Starbucks coffee and a muffin at the Memphis airport, so I was ready to eat! I’d been wanting that incredible steak sub made with sirloin tip that I used to treat myself to occasionally at Mr. Bartley’s Burger Cottage, so I went around the corner for that. Once there, I found out that…THEY NO LONGER HAVE IT ON THE MENU!!

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There are hardly any of those great used music or book stores left. I especially miss the one on Church Street, which is now a bunch of offices. Thank God there seems to still be no McDonald’s in the Square, but there are plenty of Starbucks storefronts, which is just plain odd in an area with sooooo many great small indie coffeehouses.

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Of course, there is always something that can go wrong, and my driver’s license expired on 9.1, so I was flagged as “SSSS” or “special screening.” It basically meant nothing more than being sent through a separate line and being paid extra special attention. That was OK by me.

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