Burn Notice

The finale was a few weeks ago but I just got around to watching the last 3 episodes today.  This was the end of 7 seasons.  I don't normally start watching a show until it's been on for a year or so because the networks have taken to cancelling them after a week or so.  Luckily, USA is better in letting their audience develop a friendship with their shows.  I did not watch the first 2 seasons when they happened but with the help of Netflix I got to watch them in about a week.  Then I got into the routine of recording and watching every year.  I got to know Michael, Fiona, Sam, Maddie and Jessie over the years and even though I am not sure their world is real (or at least I hope not!) their adventures were exciting & I enjoyed every minute. I especially loved Sharon Gless as Maddie, Michael's mom.  I remember her as Christine Cagney and her Maddie is so full of layers and I'll bet she showed these kids a thing or two about everything!

The ending left it open for a spinoff for Sam and Jesse and USA if you are in, I'm in.  And I do so hope Michael and Fi do live happy ever after in a land of plenty of C3 and Yogurt!!

Thanks for the fun ride.  I'm going to miss you all.

Les Miserables in Graham

Back in June, my friend Deb and I headed to Graham, Texas to see our friend Jimmy sing Jean Valjean in the Graham Community Theater  production of my favorite musical Les Miserables.  Graham is Jimmy's hometown.  He came to Tech and met Deb and I met him through her.  He is a tenor with the Lyric Opera in Chicago among other accomplishments.  He was the only professional singer who performed with several really talented and moderately talented local performers and they did a good job.  It is an ambitious production if you are not familiar...it is mostly sung start to finish.   The stage was at the Graham High School auditorium an it was a very nice facility.  All in all, everyone involved had a lot to be proud of.

Along the road in Megargal, TX we saw a really pretty church and I had to stop and take a few pictures.

I had to laugh at their sign.  7 AM.  Seriously?

We also saw some buffalo in a field and I tried to take their picture too but they were not very cooperative.

And then it was on to the show:

I was too slow on the draw with my camera.  By the time I realized I could take a picture it was too late.  

And here is Jimmy.  And Cosette and Marius.
This photo was taken by Jimmy's friend Randy Black and I'm using it with his generous permission.

And on the way home, we had to laugh at the "Guthrie Bypass".  Guthrie is a town with about 50 people in it and TXDOT built a bypass around it because they have a lot of truck traffic go through and I think there was a curve that was a little dangerous.  We pulled off to see if the old rock service station that had been there forever was still there.  It isn't.  There was a time it was the only place to stop over a long road from Vernon to Dickens.  Now there is basically nowhere to stop.  Not progress.  Anyway, at the overpass, TXDOT put brands on the wall and they look pretty cool:

6666 brand in the middle.  Largest ranch in King County.

Pitchfork in the middle.  Also in King County and Dickens County

Don't know K or JT but I liked the placement

We had a nice little road trip!!  

A few random thoughts.

1.  I really like the Marsha Sharp Freeway but why oh why would they build a brand new freeway with only 2 lanes each way?  If you are going to inconvenience an entire city for 5 years, build 3 lanes.

2. Speaking of that freeway, I wish the drivers who aren't getting off at whatever exit would get in the other lane so those of us that need off at whatever exit can get off there.

3.  I've tried to eat yogurt over the years but have decided I just don't like it much.

4.  I love my new job but loved my old schedule better.  Don't like working til 5pm.  And liked being at work at 730 to avoid traffic.  See thought 1 & 2.

5.  Kliff Kingsbury is adorably cute.  I am excited about Texas Tech football again.

6.  Why does a girl bring her chocolate lab to college with her, then make him live in a 700 sq ft and a 8x8 patio?  She takes him out to do his business and right back up the stairs.  She leave him and another dog on the patio all day...in the heat, in the rain.  She doesn't exercise him.  The other dog barks all the time when he's out.  Her dog just looks sad.

7.  I know tv is big business but afternoon games at the first of September in the south are cruel.  They showed the thermometer today at the Baylor game...it was about 2 pm and it was 117 degrees on the field.
No one should have to play in that heat.

8.  I love the school colors of Stephen F Austin University.  Purple and white.

9.  No one has a prettier symbol of a university than the horse at Texas Tech.

Fast Food~~Not sure what it hurts most: Butt or Blood Pressure

I am not really a big fast food person.  My standby place to eat when I'm too tired to make a decision is a west Texas place called Taco Villa.  I think they started in Odessa and they have a few stores between Odessa and Lubbock and they are familiar and comforting.  And I eat at Scholtzkys some because I walk out the back door and cross the alley from my office and I'm there. And I love Chic Fil A and there is one in my neighborhood that I've been to one time since I've lived here.    I have always, for some reason, liked Egg McMuffins so occasionally I will stop at McDonalds in the morning but actually find the rest of their food disgusting.  Which brings me to my rant, which is not about food but fast food employees.

One morning last week, while on my way to work, I went through the drive thru and I heard the employee say "it's not wrapped in the right paper" but he handed me sack anyway.  So I pulled over in the lot and sure enough, it was the wrong thing.  I pulled back around where I had to wait in line again for them to replace it. It actually annoyed me enough that I put a complaint in on their website when I got to work.  4 calls form corporate, offering me a free meal which I declined.  I was not needing a free meal.  I just wanted someone to know that my valuable morning time was wasted.  They all assured me they would discuss with manager. Normally, I would have just not gone back.  But last Sunday morning, there was one person in line and I figured they could handle handing me a Diet Coke out the window.  But I was wrong.  I got to the window and paid and then had to pull up behind the only other car in the lot where I sat for 12 full minutes.  By the time I'd been there a couple I was boxed in or I would have left.  So at 12 minutes, I called the number I still had in my call log in my cell phone from the manager calling me last week and they were surprised there was someone else in line.  I saw a little head come out the window to look to find not just me 2nd but several cars behind me.  When I finally got to the window they said they did not realize someone else was in line.  I asked them to make me  fresh drink so I could see that no one spit in it.  I should have filed another complaint but whatever.  That particular store cannot be making a ton of $$ because I rarely see anyone there.  Someone needs to Undercover Boss that place.

And then on the way home earlier this week I stopped at Chicken Express and watched as people behind me went to the newly opened lane 2 and got their food before I did.  And again, I was boxed in.  Being trapped in a line is an annoying trend among fast food joints these days.

My bigger problem is the employees at these places.  No doubt they are uneducated.   They can't take an order, they can't count change.  In my experience they are also don't care about doing a quality job, they are rude to each other and their customers and they need constant supervision from some who has a stake in the store.  Sadly, they are probably graduates of our public school system where...well, I'm not sure what is stressed but it's not math, reading or problem solving.  And I guess in some of their minds minimum wage deserves minimum effort.  No pride in a job.  I know I'm generalizing but these are my experiences and they happen every time I eat fast food.   So I guess I need to stop...for my butt and my blood pressure.