I will not try to pretend as if I have anything of great interest or importance to say with this post; I'm just checking in to say hey, and to let you know of a new RGNC blogsite feature that will begin tomorrow. This new feature will be called "Mystery Link". Each new "Mystery Link" will be in the links section for one (1) week, then it will be replaced by the next Mystery Link, and there will be no hint as to where the link will take you or what it's about. You can be sure that it will fall into the previously stated PG13 editorial guidlines as per the RGNC founding charter of 1971. Now, on to some observations and questions.

In the "really ticks me off" category; the little window that pops up on the computer sometimes that tells me I have "performed an illegal action". Now, first off, I have no idea what this "illegal action" is, since I'm not doing anything that I haven't done on the computer before. But what really chaps my asphalt is that these @#$% from microsoft have the unmitigated gall to tell me, a paying customer, that I have done something illegal when it's their hack program that screwed up. In my opinion, since I am A PAYING CUSTOMER ON MY OWN COMPUTER, I NEVER do anything illegal. Instead of phrasing whatever has happened as an "illegal action", they should instead be begging our forgiveness that their @#$% software doesn't perform adequately. The window that pops up should read, "Sorry, WE messed up. Please give us another opportunity to do it right and to deserve your business in the future. Call us at 1-800-WE'RE-WRONG for prompt assistance. Thank you".
What kind of @#$% marketing and public relations hacks do they have working there? They have all the common business sense of the same @#$% on the Overland Park, Ks. city council who refused to allow a White Castle restaurant to be built there unless it was painted beige. That's right! A Beige Castle restaurant to blend in with the tract housing and strip malls! I'll tell you this, the boat can't leave here fast enough that carries these types of @#$% away from our shores. Send them to Canada! Or Fr*nce! Just send them!

I've spoken with some of you about the RGNC journal idea. Suggestions for the name of it include "Woodpecker", from Jeff Graham, and "The Vase" from Bud Lane in Neosho, Mo. We have a decision to make about it sometime soon, so keep the suggestions coming. And no, it will not be called "The Greg Christakos Quarterly".

Re: my statement on the e-mail I got suggesting boycotting oil companies to drive down the price of gasoline; the 2 companies mentioned were Mobile and Exxon, not Gulf and BP. My Mistake. I don't want to lose their lucrative sponsorship of this site. I don't know how such a mistake could have happened. Perhaps it's really not my fault at all. Perhaps Gulf and BP . . . "performed an illegal action", resulting in the incorrect statement about them. . . yeah, that has to be what happened.

be good.

Krispy Creme. Tulsa got its first about 2 years ago down in the south part'o town, where the churches expand and the kids drive Humvees. Saw folks waiting in a very long line on a Wednesday, 2 p.m., in the hottest July weather that only Oklahoma and Texas can lay claim to. Saw the same occurence later that week at a different time, same weather. Just friggin' donuts. Good donuts, but...just ding-dang donuts.
Saw Mark praising home sweet home. The complete lack of quality music stores in that part of the country, with the possible exception of the used music store chain, "Daddy's Junky Music," sent this Midwesterner into a mild tizzy during my Massachusetts stay back in '88. We're definitely spoiled in that area.
To cap-Krispy Creme-just a donut; New England music stores-estamos muy malo! Jefe.

When you spend time living in a foreign country, you have the opportunity to view the day to day lives of the local citizenry from a vantage point that can be enlightening at times, and confusing at others. Case in point: Here I am, temporarily doing time in Boston MA., and there are some aspects of daily life in this place that are perplexing to me, such as the absolute overkill on the ratio of Dunkin Donut franchises compared to the local population. Near where I am typing this, there is a road through a suburban part of town that has 3 Dunkin Donuts shops within the space of about a mile. I am not exagerating. Donuts are everywhere in this town, and the places are doing well enough to stay in business, so there is obviously a whole donut subculture in this town that you just don't find where I come from back in America. Now, Dunkin Donuts ain't bad, lousy coffee, but OK donut wise. However, today there occured a shift in the donut culture of these parts that is truly seismic in effect: on this day, March 16, 2004, the very first Krispy Kreme donut shop opened up in Boston. The town will never be the same. I went by there this evening (in the middle of a blizzard with Jacob G.) to check the place out. I'd driven by earlier today and there was a way long line of cars for drive thru and people inside as well, and it was the same story tonight. The place was really packed. They must have had 30 people working behind the counter, no kidding, its a big place. We got some donuts, I tried the coffee, we sat down and people watched for about 15 minutes, and then we split. Of course, the plain glazed donuts at Krispy Kreme slay those lead (pronounced "led") imposters from Dunkin Donuts, but the other verdict was that the Dunkin "curlers" were still better than the Krispy "curlers", and that was from an expert curler afficianado. I do know that the coffee was tons better than the thin brown swill that they cup out at the Dunkin Donuts joints, so thats a big plus in their favor. Plus, they stay open till 1 am for walk in and 24 hours for drive thru. This is a big deal in a town where most retail places, including many sit down restaurants and coffee places close up shop before 9 pm. Anyhow, that was the big happenings in this part of the planet today.

Tomorrow, March 17th, is St. Patrick's Day. St. Patrick is called the Enlightener of Ireland. He was the Bishop of Armagh, and his place in Celtic history is obviously monumental. He was a big time Saint recognized by the Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church as well. He was kidnapped when he was about 15, sold into slavery, but eventually escaped and went back to Ireland where, the rest, as they say, is history. He wrote some amazing spiritual poetry, and was the real deal. He was like a walking sermon, a living bible, and the people there recognized this in him and their lives were changed as they could see Christ living in him. I'm sure there is a ton of stuff online about him, check it out.

A few more travel observations...I was lamenting the high price of gasoline today, $1.79 a gallon here. I tried to remember the lowest price I have ever paid for gas, and I think that a long time ago in the Reagan era, I paid 51.9 cents a gallon in Warrensburg, Mo. Thats when I was driving the 63 Ford Fairlane, blue 4 door sedan with a 260 v-8, just like the one driven by...sheriff Andy Taylor in Mayberry!
I got an e-mail a few weeks back claiming that the retail price of gas could be forced down by boycotting the two largest oil companies in the world, which I think are Gulf and British Petroleum, I'll have to double check. But this e-mail said that these two companies supply enough of the gasoline market that if they get hit in the pocket book and are forced to lower prices to attract business it would have an industry wide effect. Does anybody know if this is accurate?
Also, as far as I can determine from my drives back and forth from America to the east coast, the real America begins somewhere around Columbus, Ohio as you drive in from the east. After that point you begin to see grain elevators, Sonics, real truck stops, etc. And the price of gas is lower too.

be good.

Well, OK now, back to bidness. Been away from this wonderful little corner of blogdom for over a week now. I was travelling deep into fly-over country, searching for the lost continent of America. But suddenly, there it was: Sonic drive-ins, the Ozarks, the Flinthills in Kansas, a horizon that was not hidden behind a jungle of architorture and trees, longs trains of maybe 125 coal cars, cattle, guitars and fiddles and men that could play them, woodsmoke in the air, gravel roads, good dogs and some cats that know their place, no subways, lots of cars with only one occupant cruising down county black tops, cornbread, Aunt Martha's Pancake House, strip mines and empty old towns, radio stock reports at noon, Paul Harvey, drivers that wave when they pass by in the other lane...

I am not as much of a fan of air travel as I once was...especially on southwest airlines where all the employees have suddenly become comedians...had my suitcase searched by the gubment travel cops; do I fit a "profile"? El cheapo travel snacks are apparently the trend of the day in air travel. I was given one bag that contained 7.3 honey roasted peanuts...the bag was so small I had to open it with watch repair tools and one of those magnifying glasses that you put over one eye...almost saw a fight in the KC airport while waiting to board the plane...one guy accused another of cutting in line (he wasn't), and the accused cutter called the accusee a "little punk" and said that he had to travel "38 weeks of the year" and that he didn't want to "hear one more word" from the accusee....Things on the trip did not go as well as I had planned, but then again, do they ever?

more tomorrow after I decompress a little.
be good.