Today is Sunday, August 24 and for those of you who are counting, school starts (at least in this area) in just 9 days.  For the lovely Elaine, after having a first day of school every year for the past 58 years, in 9 days it will be just another day.  Hooray for retirement!  Today we remember the birthdays of Wilbur Wilberforce, Louis Teicher and Marlee Matlin.  On this day in 79 Mt Vesuvius erupted, burying Pompeii and Herculaneum, in 1869 the waffle iron was invented and in 1991 Gorbachev resigned as head of the USSR Communist Party.  In Liberia it is Flag Day and in Sierra Leone it is President’s Birthday.

Just something I am wondering - how hard is it to find a qualified person who has a birthday today so that he or she can be president of Sierra Leone so that they don’t have to keep changing the day of the holiday?  Or does the new president have to change their birthday to coincide with the holiday?  H-m-m-m-m.

I find myself at somewhat of a loss this week because we did not get out much.  The lovely Elaine has been suffering with a tooth issue that included an infection and a root canal.  As a result she has not been in much of a mood to go out.  She has not been in much of a mood to do pretty much anything, as a matter of fact.  And thank you, I will pass your best wishes on to her.

I did have one opportunity to be out and about the other day. The lovely Elaine had an appointment to go to and I drove her there.  I told her that I would go down the street to the Starbucks and would meet her there.  I went in and got on line to get my coffee.  One thing I noticed is that most Starbucks do not generally serve their stronger coffees any more.  Those strong blends are the reason I always liked going there.  Unfortunately, the coffee weenies have asserted themselves and as a result the blend that is typically served is the Pike Place blend, which is good, but not what I am looking for … but I digress

The Starbucks is in a town that has a rather inflated opinion of itself.  The people who live there and in the town’s “Upper” section seem to think they are, I don’t know, better than most people.  The women all walk around in their tight yoga pants, their fancy sneakers and their pony tails, with their children named Ashley and Trevor and Chastity and Morgan and other affected names.  The men all wear Oxford shirts (even in the summer), jeans and dress shoes.  If I dressed like the men there, I would be sweating so much it would look like I spent the day under a lawn sprinkler.

Anyway, as I said, I was standing in line waiting to place my order.  The people in front of me were ordering things like mocha cookie crumble or caramel ribbon crunch frappucinos.  They ordered iced caramel macchiato, shaken sweet tea, green tea latte and chai tea latte.  Some of these drinks sound more like new Ben and Jerry ice creams.  This is a coffee place!  Drink coffee!  Even if it is the weak stuff they are selling now.  So it was finally my turn to order and as I approached the counter the sales person was standing there poised with cup and marker to check off the flavors and whipped toppings and such that I wanted. 

I looked at him and said, “Medium coffee (I refuse to call it a Grande) and leave room for milk.”  He looked at me and said, “Is that all?”  I said yes and he hesitated for a moment and then said, “Oh, okay.”  He got my coffee, put it on the counter and looked at me as if to say, “You must be from out of town.”  I paid for the coffee, went to the area for sugar and milk and then sat down to wait for the lovely Elaine.  I had my tablet with me and proceeded to read a book I had downloaded.  

As I sat there, I saw three young boys come in.  I assumed that they are with a parent, because none of them appeared to be more than 10 to 12 years old.  It turns out that they were not.  They ordered beverages which included coffee.  I could not hear what they were getting, but could see that coffee was one of the ingredients.  I am not sure that they should have been drinking those beverages.  If I were their parent, I probably would have said, “Tyler, Laredo and Spencer, should you boys be drinking coffee beverages at your age?”  But I am not so I decided not to care.
  
I was sitting at a table in a row of four.  They chose to sit at the table next to mine.  We were the only ones there so I could tell the one boy was talking about me when he said, “Our usual table is taken, so I guess we will have to sit here.”  Obviously they were in the condescending-in-training program. I hope the kids did not think I was going to move so that they could have their usual table.  They should have known better.  Besides if they had looked, they would have seen that I was drinking regular coffee and was obviously from out of town.  Of course, if they had asked me to move, my response would have left little doubt that I was not from around there.  They did not stay that long and I had a pleasant time reading and drinking my plain coffee.  In due time my wife arrived, got herself a beverage and we headed home. 

 Fortunately for all who read my weekly diatribe, if it were not for that one foray, I would have had nothing to write about.  

This week our fact tells us that at some point in their school careers, John McCain, Barack Obama, Joe Biden and Sarah Palin have all performed in a production of the musical Oklahoma.  I did too when I was in high school, so there is still hope for me.  I am sure this will generate a good laugh from the lovely Elaine when she is feeling better.