Grim News

This week I have been working in The Salvation Army's Kroc Center in downtown Atlanta. I am installing the dimming system and hanging a bunch of lights in the new chapel/auditorium.

Yesterday, I was going about my business when 3 or 4 volunteers came in with a table, a Gatorade cooler and some aluminum serving platters. Apparently on Wednesdays, the volunteers bring in lunch for the construction crews and feed them. A very nice gesture I thought. So, they start serving out hot dogs. the weenies are in the Gatorade cooler, and the trays are full of chili and cheese, and a lady at the end has a big bucket o cole slaw.

Out of nowhere, all of the contractors (like 40 guys) show up and queue up for lunch. I'm a little confused, but I get in at the end of the line, because hey, a free meal is a free meal, right? I am patiently waiting my turn in the line and I start looking at all of the guys around me. Mostly country, good ol boys and gritty, dirty, workmen wearing ratty tee shirts with their profession on them, real dirt under the fingernails kind of guys.

Suddenly it dawns on me that I am standing in a food line, run by the Salvation Army. I'm covered in drywall dust and sweat, and the people around me are in no better shape. I've never felt more homeless in my entire life.


As a side note, the dogs were quite good, but the chili made for a rather, um, musical afternoon. It was like the campfire scene in Blazing Saddles there for a bit.

Why does a blog always sound like a good idea until you actually sit down to start one? All of a sudden, the realization that millions of people potentially, can read the words I write, puts a lot of pressure on me to perform.

Of course, millions is probably a bit strong for my ego; tens would be a better goal to shoot for. Anyway, this is my new home for all of the strange ideas and thoughts that I will never remember if I don't put them down to remind me.

A small introduction is in order. I live in Atlanta, GA. I have a wife and three cats, a newly refinanced home, a job that sounds much cooler than it actually is(Television and theatre lighting technician) and a desperately middle-class life. I am not yet thirty, but I can see it from here. The end of the month comes awfully fast.

So, welcome to everyone that makes their way here, or stumbles their way here and is wondering aloud where are the Raymond Feist references , I'll try not to disappoint.