the universal sign for asshole

...can be found here.

I don't know about too many former national leaders that had their own salute. I remember some of them having gestures that they made, the "W" referenced in the article by our current prez and Nixon's infamous peace signs. But I can only think of one that was greeted with salutes from their followers.

But is this the best they could come up with? Way to shun the perfectly good "O" created by/for our deaf community! Or did you have to pay royalties for that one?

I also think that this refers to the new size of my (and any other middle class folks) bum hole if this guy gets elected, which is looking more and more likely judging by the cult of personality that this guy has been able to create.

sunrise biscuit co., marietta, ga

I always warned my readers (is the plural even necessary, much less singular?) that this would be a dumping ground for my chaotic and unpredictable whims for online publishing. My latest idea is to provide insight on the restaurants where I end up from time to time. I always avoid the chains when I can and it seems that I can never really find good, quality information about some of these smaller establishments. So if you want an honest, not-picky, rarely critical review of some interesting little spots that I happen upon in my day-to-day journeys, then read on! Otherwise, go stick a pork rind in your ear.

Today, I was out and about around my home turf and realized a small, uncrowded breakfast shop on Canton Road on the left just before you hit Hawkins Store Road going northbound. It is called the Sunrise Biscuit Company and if you know how much of a sucker I am for a good biscuit then you know that stopping in for a taste was not a want but rather a necessity.

I am usually wary of places with few or no customers and it's generally a rule that it's off limits, but there were a couple of nice motorcycles in the parking lot and if you know anything about the average motorcycle rider it's fairly certain that they usually have the inside scoop on good grub. Besides, it was about 9 AM, well after the construction crew rush so it may just be a lull before the lunch rush.

The place is well kept. It has a small, local feel but a little more well-maintained than most ordinary breakfast/lunch-only restaurants that I'm used to. The waitress, Tami, greeted me kindly when I entered and showed me to a table. One patron was just leaving and the motorcycle couple was still seated at the table next to me so I didn't really break my rule. Tami asked what I'd like to drink and it being the morning and all my response was the usual, a nice cup of regular coffee. That decaff crap is for hippies and old people that can't handle the caffeine but still need to prompt their bowels that have been trained so well in the Pavlovian style. Besides, decaf (one 'f' or two??) seems so unnatural.

The cup of joe was larger than the usual cup and I appreciated that I didn't need an ice cube or two in order to drink it immediately without parboiling my tongue. In the style of Goldilocks, it was "just right."

Now it came time to order. I asked Tami what was good and she started rattling off pretty much 80% of the breakfast menu. She mentioned the bacon and biscuits and gravy so I asked her what I could order to try both without too much of one or the other, a good balance. She suggested the sunrise breakfast which was two eggs cooked to order (I take them scrambled), choice of meat (bacon, duhr!), choice of potatoes but I could substitute sausage gravy, and of course a biscuit. Perfect! She asked for my name and from then on she called me by name, Jehoshephat Larkins, for the rest of the morning. (nah, I told her my regular, bland name)

After reading that Belgium is on the brink again and how many more layoffs are expected at GM and Rubbermaid (woo hoo, a good news day!) the order arrived. Mmmm, smells and looks delicious!

The eggs were fork-scrambled and cooked omelet-style, folded, and presented on the plate. A little on the oily-side, but I should have tasted them before adding salt and pepper. They were already fairly salty from the pan and I put it over the edge. Still pretty good and cooked without browning the eggs, always a plus in my book.

The biscuit was rather tasty, light, just fluffy enough, and browned perfectly! I added some sausage gravy to the rest. The gravy was rather run-of-the-mill and too thick/lumpy for my preference, but it did have real sausage bits and grease in it and it seemed to be made by hand rather than from a packet (not that I verified for certain with the cook) so maybe it had just been simmering for too long from an earlier breakfast rush.

Oh, the bacon. Talk about tasty! I complimented Tami on the bacon and she said that it is applewood-smoked. And the thickness is just right for cooking. You get a little bit of crisp, but also the tenderness of the cured meat. It had a nice smoke flavor with a very distinct maple syrup flavor that seemed to come from the smoke rather than artificial flavoring. I'm no expert on such matters, but it seemed authentic.

So, if you're ever in the greater Marietta area and are looking for a good breakfast, this is definitely an option. There are a few other good breakfast/lunch places around as well and I'll post about them as soon as I revisit one of them.

graphjam fun

Have you checked out GraphJam? If not, it's another great way to waste an hour or four.

Hooray wasted productivity!

Here's my feeble attempt at musical dissection.

believing for a change

All of the political rhetoric about change this voting season has really had an effect on me. I actually started to buy into it. So much, in fact, that I actually created some change of my own. I quit my job.

Well, actually it was more of a resignation. I had the decency to notify them back in March and then finished up my commitment to complete the school year per my contract.

The way it works with public education is that they give you a contract for the next school year sometime around February. I think that they do this so that you really never have time to consider doing anything else. It's difficult to schedule interviews during the school year for obvious reasons (at least for those of us that actually have a work ethic and try hard not to take unnecessary days off from class) and the contract goes into effect on June 1, less than a week after the last day for teachers. Where are you supposed to find a new job in there? That's kind of a rhetorical question for most public school teachers because a "new job" to most of them only means moving to another school which is most commonly arranged by agreeing to coach some sport for them. For those of us with a "real degree," we might be looking for other alternatives.

It feels like they used to issue contracts in April and each year pushed it back a week or so until it was almost February when we got them this year. I had grand visions of bringing the unsigned contract into the principal's office, placing it on his desk, urinating on it, then lighting it on fire. I abandoned this fantasy due to the obvious complications created by making one's urine flammable. Instead, I simply drafted a standard resignation letter, notified the people it actually matters to, and then submitted the paperwork to the principal.

It's not like I am totally without a plan, although I am kind of a private person and didn't quite share with everyone what my plans are. Instead, I told them either a spontaneous lie along the lines of PGA-tour caddy or that I have something part-time but no full-time plans. The latter is more accurate although the first one would be fun if anyone needs a quirky-but-lovable caddy.

My real plan involves something along the lines of being a science education consultant. Through a convoluted series of events and an oddly-connected network I ended up with an offer to train teachers how to use lab equipment for a science textbook/equipment company. It looks like I might be playing Vanna White on a few sales calls as well. And somehow, on my "first day" I ended up with some distribution responsibilities. And the task of moving a small warehouse to a more convenient location. The best part was the opportunity to discover where McDuffie County, Georgia is and train a few teachers there. And somehow this all started the day after my last day at Wheeler High School. No gap, no vacation, so I'm not a full deadbeat. Oh, and I have to suffer Charleston, SC next week for training purposes.

So I think that I am going to be finding a new purpose for this loosely formatted blog. If the new job is going to be sending me all over the rural Southeast, I am going to concurrently pursue my other hobby of seeking out good local restaurants. I found one in Thomson, GA. Look for more info in the near future.

In the meantime, here's to believing in a change for a change. Wait change that.

missing information

How dismal is the housing market, really?

Everyday, we hear about the number of sales in the housing sector declining. For example, check out this article today in the AJC.

The questions that I have are:

1. how many houses are going on the market compared to last year at the same time?
2. how many new houses were constructed compared to last year?
   

It's my guess that with the uncertainty lingering over our country, fueled by every media outlet in the country (world?) that a lot of people are choosing to just stay put. I know from multiple reports that foreclosures are higher than normal, but how many people is that affecting number-wise? Percentages don't help as much as real numbers in this case because there are just too many variables.

Also, since people are more hesitant about buying, it seems only logical that builders would be more hesitant about building. If there are no new houses to buy, can sales continue to rise, especially if people are choosing to be less transient?

I suppose the question that I'm really asking is are we looking at a growth/decrease/stability in the population in this area, not how many houses happened to be sold in a given month.

suck my ass, sam waterston!

Looks like the Unity08'ers are nothing but a bunch of panda-raping, namby-pamby quitters. I don't really think they rape pandas, that was just me getting your attention.

Build up. Slower build up. Even slower build up. Fizzle. Just like a M. Night Shamamlam movie.

I guess it was doomed from the get-go. First, it was infiltrated by a bastion of bed-wetters pretending not to be Democrats. That was apparent by the fact that the #1 issue (based on free-membership voting, mind you) was global "climate change." Otherwise known as "global warming" but that term has been officially abandoned because people in the Dakotas were praying for it and the new term covers the agenda in the event that the average global temperature ends up decreasing. And we all know what happens when Democrats get to make the decisions. Either an all-out cluster-fuck, or indecisive inertia. I honestly can't tell which one this one was. Not that we don't get cluster-fucks or inertia from Republicans.

I'm ready for a real third party option. No matter who gets the benefit of voting fraud in November, I still feel like any of the current candidates will simply be "more of the same." The lesser of two evils is still evil.

give an inch

Take a mile.

Guess who has too much free time today!

parent of the year award

I've got the perfect candidate for 2007's "Parent of the Year" (tm).

How about this one?

A College Park woman who drove around a group of teenage boys as they broke into South Fulton homes pleaded guilty to burglary Wednesday in a Fulton County courtroom.

Surprisingly, there are still teachers and community members who wonder how kids these days can be so gosh dern irresponsible.

business proposal

How lucrative do you think that stealing 500+ parking meters would be? Most of us realize that it would be chump change. Not worth the risk of imprisonment for a handful of quarters. But I have a much better idea.

First, we have to start a legitimate business. Let's start an importation business. One that imports parking meters, say. And then we bid out to the local Atlanta government to replace broken/stolen/lost meters. Not enough business you say? Wait, there's more.

The second phase of our strategy requires that we contract with a shady business to "service" existing meters. Service as in "with hacksaws." This partnership would understandably be explicitly unwritten and consist mostly of nods exchanged across a public area, such as a park or a restaurant.

Don't think it would work? Let's see...

Despite the thefts, little is being done to catch the parking meter pirates.

That's because city officials do not file police reports on the stolen meters, Jennings said. The city's police department said thefts that are not reported are not investigated.

"Well, we certainly note it in our inventory that the meters have been lost," she said. "It's a loss of inventory for us, similar to any other asset we would lose."

They don't seem to mind. Why should we?

to bucky...

Congratulations, Bucky!

I'm all for sacking career politicians. Don't become one yourself, Mr. Johnson.