Let me fill you in on my shenanigans then tomorrow it is back to Strong Street, Nickerson, Kansas

Icarus, the calico cat that seems to run the place here, just walked across  my modem, knocked my coffee cup on the floor and settled herself on top of the HP tower.  She is thinking about swatting that blinking light and if she does that she is going to hit the power button and I will be on hold for a while.  Let's hope that does not happen.  Just so you know I am keeping busy, I took the grand daughter and her beau to the Friday night Art Walk on Union. 
We first went to the library to see the Pueblo AIDS Memorial Quilt display.  We arrived simultaneously with the fire engine and the ambulance.  I do not know where the emergency was and no one inside seemed too alarmed.  We checked with the lady at the desk and she told us we were on our own for the art walk.  She suggested that we start over at the Cup and Cork, but since I knew what the "Cork" was and these kids are 15 or 16 years old, we skipped that part.  We were advised to just walk across the bridge and on up Union.  I opted to drive down there and leave the car in a central location and walk both ways.
Just wanted to see what that was about.  First it was cold.  We saw one group of carolers twice.  This very quickly lost all luster to the three of us.  We decided we were hungry and I wanted a greasy hamburger that would slam my aorta shut and get me out of my misery.  Where to go? 
I remembered Carl Jr's or Carl's Jr, or something like that and their advertisements that showed all kinds of stuff squirting out when the guy took a bite.  I figured some of that had to be grease, so off we went.  Bad choice.  I got a Bacon Cheeseburger, French fries, and a soda.  That was the driest thing I ever bit into.  Totally it consisted of a bun, hamburger patty, a piece of cheese, 2 pieces of tissue paper thin bacon that clung together for safety, two dried out onion rings that actually had at one time held an onion ring, and a stain on the bun that I later identified as barbeque sauce.  I squirted a couple packages of ketchup on it and did finally get it to drip.  Gross.  Even the French fries were not greasy.  The Dr. Pepper was pretty good.  Total cost for the three of us was $21 and some change.  I still have a fully functioning aorta, so if anyone knows where to get a greasy hamburger, please let me know.
Ah, I see Icarus has now gone over and settled herself in her box on top of the filing cabinet.  I see we are supposed to maybe by some miracle, get a little snow tonight.  Not thinking that is going to happen, but it is winter and it should.  I am going down and whip out a couple seed catchers a lady ordered and then I think I will work on my warp for the loom.  I will probably leave the computer asleep tomorrow since it is a busy day, but I fully intend to dredge up some memories about Nickerson, Kansas on Monday or Tuesday.  See you then.
 

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  This is the novel I have for sale. Do not be confused by the title. Chapter One simply means this is my first book. There may never be another, or there may be many more. I am very proud of this endeavor and guarantee you will enjoy the book in it's entirety. Just click that little BUY NOW button.     Lou Mercer

From the back cover

Chapter One...Loose Ends
Lou Mercer

Meg Parker led a simple life.  She was a widow of three years and lived on a chicken farm at the foot of the mighty Rockie Mountains.  Life was good and her little store on eBay made her extra spending money.  But snow and wildlife were not the only things lurking in the forest above her house.  Nor did it stay in the forest for long.

Marshall Purcell came home a wounded veteran from vietnam.  He still had his dreams, but they were of an incestuous past that threatened to consume him.

When Meg and Marshall met it seemed an inconsequential meeting, but it changed both their lives forever.  And change is not always a good thing.

This is adult fiction at its best without all the sex.  Well, maybe just a little bit. 

About the author.  Lou Mercer was born in Nickerson, Kansas. She came to Pueblo, Colorado in 1977 and is now a product of the majestic Rockie Mountains

Are you talking really fast? Or am I listening really slow.

Made the mistake of going through the drive through at Wendy's in Pueblo West yesterday.  Have you been through one of those lately?  Damn near a fatal mistake.  First, I do not have the menu committed to memory, so I have to actually look at it.  Well, no, the first thing that has to happen is I have to manuver the car into a position so I can SEE the menu.  That being accomplished I then need to see the words.  Now I wear trifocals so one of the three levels of glass should afford me the ability to actually see the words.  Now seeing the words and awakening my taste buds to that particular item is usually like passing something through congress.  And it helps to have some little chickadee blasting through the speaker "Yareddy?"  "Reddynowhuh?" 
Now there was not another car in sight so I am sure I was not holding up the line.  I finally had to tell her, "Listen honey, I am 70 years old and any meal I eat may be my last so I want to be sure it is something I will remember on my luge ride to the Pearly Gates.  So cool your heels and I will call you when I want you."
Apparently that either ticked her off or appeased her cause she got very quiet.  I finally decided on the value menu hamburger with french fries and no drink.  So I called her back to the mic.
"I would like the hamburger and an order of french fries on the value menu."
"Yawantcheeseonthat?"
"Huh?"
"Yawantcheeseonthatornotcheese?"
"Huh"  This girl was talking way faster than my ears could listen.  "Wait a minute, just let me slow that down."  I put my brain in warp speed and played it back to me. "You want cheese on that or no cheese."
"Ok, I got it.  No I do not want cheese on that.  For future reference had I wanted cheese I would have ordered the Cheeseburger for 40 cents more."
"Whatsizefriessmallmediumlargeorsupersize?"
"Huh?"
"Whatsizefriessmallmediumlargeorsupersize?"  Once more I played the warp speed slow down and play back game.  "What size fries?  Small, medium, large, or supersize?"
"Well honey, which size comes on the value menu for $1.19?"
"Small."
"Ok, I will take the small."
"Whattadrink?"  I immediately translated that and told her, "Nothing."  Not going to guess what I might have ended up with on that one.
" $2.47."  And I took that as a dismissal.  Since no drawer was proffered and no hand came out the window I took that as a signal that I should proceed on the drive way to the next window.  Sure enough a hand popped out, grabbed my money, an pushed a sack towards me, which I grabbed before it hit the ground.
Now this is an open letter to all you little fresh faced little newbies entering the work force.

Dear Who ever you are,

    I am old.  My ears have apparently not kept up with changing times.  They are slow.  When you speak to me you need to leave spaces between your words.  At the end of the sentence there will be a period which indicates a breathe before forging to the next sentence.  Like this..."Hello, Old Lady.  I know you are slow witted and not always sure what you want, but I will give you a little time to decide.  I realize you did not wake up this morning knowing what you would want for lunch at a fast food place and since you are paying and eating it I will let you decide.  And I realize your bladder is only so big and I will not push the super size drink out the window at you."  Or something like that.

   I choose Wendy's over the other places because of the fresh faced little girl and Dave Thomas and his honest appeal.  MacDonalds has a reputation of luring children with thier ads so I never go there.  Burger King is alright, but seems a little pricey and austere.  I actually prefer the Senior Menu at Village Inn, but that involves setting alone and I do not like to do that.

   You need to know that since you are just entering the work force you probably have 50 years ahead of you during which you will no doubt encounter a lot of us old farts, but remember this, some day you are going to look down at the cuff of your shirt and see your mother's hand coming out of the sleeve.  To interpert, this means some day you are going to be old.  When I was young we were taught to respect our elders.  To help them across the street.  And if we encountered one who seemed a little confused we were to be patient with them.  Try it.

    In exchange for that, I will pay my bill promptly and move out of the way for the next customer.  And I will smile at you, because I actually like people and I know the next generation will be the one that slaps me in the nursing home.
   So have a good day and take pity on us old people.

And those are my thoughts for today. Today I will take a sandwich with me.