Good Morning All. As I start this post at 0600, it's cloudy and 58°. It was 62° when I got up at 0400. I hear thunder in the distance, but the expected rain of over an inch hasn't reached us yet. It's damn close! Within a mile or two in two directions. Right now the showers look to be light to moderate on the radar, but they aren't moving very much so the lingering will produce rain all day long. Temperature today will not warm up, high tomorrow will be 61° and back into the more seasonal low 70's Sunday, which will last for a while.
Yesterday was another Chamber of Commerce day here. Sunshine, low 70's, no winds and the insects seemed to have gone away for the winter. The weekly grocery trek went well except the prevailing outfit on the young ladies has shifted from shorts or sundresses, to Lululemon workout pants. Not always a good thing. While they are made for everyone, they should not be worn by everyone. Prices this week seemed to have stabilized a bit, with only poultry and eggs continuing to go up. Gasoline has settled in at $3.19 for now; I had enough fuel points to get a 50¢/gal reduction.
On the way home, we stopped at a new to us BBQ joint. He's a one man business who has actually been there ten years. It's a little red trailer, semi-permanently parked, similar to the one that I built last month, with a couple of smokers next to it; cash only with limited sides but lots of meats. He's located about a quarter mile from the local high school and gets a lot of lunch business from students. He is also benefiting right now because the state highway department is going to widen the road out front to a 4/5 lane affair. Presently and for the last 18 months, all of the utility relocation contractors have provided a surge in business. The highway workers themselves will start next summer. I got a combo plate with sliced brisket, smoked sausage and pork ribs. Wife got a half pound of pulled pork. The meat and BBQ sauce were very good, the sides were just average. More than enough for lunch, so I will eat the leftovers today or tomorrow. My three meat plate with sides was $16, the half pound of pork was $10. Good prices for around here. We never knew that he existed because he's located on the side of town that we normally don't go to, no stores or other businesses over there. Pepperbelly is the establishment's name.
Thanks for all of the comments and reactions regarding the random scenes that I posted yesterday.
Out in the train shed, I had a mixed afternoon. Most of the time I was doing some infrastructure work on the wiring under the upper level. It started when I finally looked into why locos were slowing down on a certain section of track in one of my DC blocks. Not the whole block, just 9' of it. The feeder connection was good, the feeder to the terminal block was good, but there was no power connection to that terminal on the block. All power was coming through the rail. So I fixed that.
I also planted two trees, since I had made a bunch last month and had not planted most of them. Some went in around the 7-11 store back then.
Then off to a scene on the other side of the layout to add some figures.
Tom O - I am bothered by the suggested tips on restaurant checks. They are on most around here, but some figure it on the before tax total, while others figure it on the after tax total. I always tip on the after-tax total because it's easier, it only amounts to an extra quarter or lessand I figure my own which is usually 20%+ in cash also. I tip only at sit down places with table service, never leaving anything in the "jar" when I pick up. From what I can determine by talking to many servers, most establishments require the servers to "donate" 1% of their shift sales to the tip pool for busboys, kitchen help and cooks. Income tax withholding is only based on wages and credit card tips. It seems to me that most servers are happy with their jobs. We eat out usually once a week because I like to cook.
Snowman - Good point about the breakfast tipping. I'm not too sure that I ever ate breakfast at a sit down restaurant though.
James - Back to tipping! I haven't been to an establishment yet that automatically adds the tip. I probably would not go back.
Steve J - I guess that the comment didn't offend anyone, it's still there.
Clergy are truly in a minority when it comes to declaring cash gifts on their taxes, not that I would expect otherwise. Back in the 60's, part of my Dad's tithing was to have a case of Scotch sent to the rectory for the monsignor every couple of months. I think that he continued well into the 80's.
Hughie - Looking forward to your brewery build.
Since I started this post a few hours ago, the temperature has dropped another 8° and 0.4" of rain has fallen. No I am not a slow writer, I took a 90 minute break when my wife got up and I watched a bit on the Fox Business channel.
Everybody have a great day.