I had a very laid back weekend in which I still got to see many of my friends.
After my Bible Study was postponed on Friday morning, I met SMA and RLN in Oak Ridge to eat at Big Ed’s Pizza. SMA and I had not been in some time and RLN had never been to the East Tennessee staple. SMA positioned us at our favorite table, directly in front of a signed photo of 1983 Miss USA winner Julie Hayek.
Unfortunately, on RLN’s first visit we had unbelievably bad service. The restaurant was dark as usual and abnormally cool making his wait seem longer. How cool was it? I was comfortable!
We used part of our extensive time investigating the countless memorabilia that adorns the walls. I was especially taken by a massive oar from Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida. I had no idea there was even a Rollins College. Did they just happen to have a massive oar with them to present to the restaurant?
SMA decided to make some selections from the restaurant’s blaring jukebox. For $1, he receieved six choices. I was impressed their catalog had six bands of which he approved. He picked Credence Clearwater Revival, The Doors, Nirvana, The Postal Service, Radiohead, and The Who.
RLN’s extensive experience in waiting has made him incredibly critical of poor service. I tried to assure him than the pizza’s quality was worth the wait. He replied, “It could be topped with breasts and it wouldn’t be worth it at this point.” Shortly before he made a formal request to rename the establishment “Big Mistakes,” he finally got his food at 12:41 (we arrived before noon) and we got ours at 12:46. Had it been the other way around, there would have been an incident.
We each ate 10" pizzas. (The restaurant only has one item on the menu.) The extra greesy pizzas are served on flimsy paper plates smaller than an individual slice and accompanied by an equally useless plastic spoon. Why?
The service did not improve as we had evaporated our beverage supply. The waitress eventually arrived to refill our glasses. Stressing the length between visits, RLN lamented, “Who’s gonna break the news to her that Heath Ledger died?”
SMA and I, the Big Ed’s veterans that we are, forgot the place only takes cash. So, RLN paid for our pizzas. I do not think he is that eager to come back.
SMA and RLN then went to play Oak Ridge’s newest frisbee golf course. I am reluctant to report this as it is pleasantly empty as it has been discovered by few so I will not divulge its location.
On Friday night, I hung out with KL and MPW. Before a night of playing the Wii, I was needed to assist in moving a television set. KL’s roommate’s girlfriend’s mother (a close personal friend) had a spare 27" set that KL wanted. When we arrived we found that she actually had two 27" sets she was willing to part with. I also found it amusing that the woman openly criticized her daughter’s choice in men in front of her boyfriend’s roommate. I tell this story mainly to show this picture of how beautifully I backed up the woman’s inclined driveway.
After MPW and I had lugged two large television sets around for awhile, we spent much of the night talking and playing the Wii. After I was prompted to make my own Mii Wii (a personalized Wii version of myself), we played the Game Party game. (Was that redundant?) In fact, we sampled every game on the disc. The game that stood out the most was playing shuffleboard. We quickly learned that none of had any idea how to play shuffleboard despite me having been present for the epic DA-DBN shuffleboard battle of March 30th. We lost the first match to a generic character named Jon (who was way too smug for my tastes) before upending him in the rematch. It was a proud moment.
At 11 o’clock, I met CTH, JTH, and JBT at Applebees. Yes, for the second night in a row. CTH is attemtping to quit smoking. Judging from the two smoke breaks he took during the meal, I do not think this endeavor is going especially well.
In other news, CDM is engaged...again. No "Danger Dave" is not back in the picture. This time it is a different fiancé (who looks eerily like the old one) named Marvin. (If you click on the link, yes that is the Confederate flag in the background.) This one has two children who were having a sleepover with her daughter. Any bets on how long this "engagement" will last?
In other Friday news, I was beckoned to witness my mother’s robot. You read that correctly. DLNV has purchased an iRobot Roomba 570 vacuum. The vacuum moves its self and reverses when it gets stuck. She has named him “Edgar” for no apparent reason. I was given the opportunity to rename him but I thought that might only confuse him. I am always so thoughtful. (Note: This is a stock photo, not the actual Edgar.)
My Sunday revolved around three church activities.
Sunday School convened at MPW’s condo. I taught on Mark 8:22-26. The day was most eventful due to the special appearance of RLN and his longtime girlfriend Sara. Despite the tenure of their relationship, this was the first time Sara heard me teach and more importantly the insights of WAM (caught here in an especially pensive moment). For just one of these nuggets, check out the WAM Quote of the Day.
On Sunday night, I went to the Central Baptist Church of Bearden to attend the reception honoring WLB’s 25th Anniversary anniversary at the institution. He is a good friend and it was good to see him. We made plans to do hospital visits together on July 10th.
I spoke to too many people to document. Most notably though, I conversed with WDS. His son DWS preached his first sermon in Colorado that morning in both of his church’s morning services at Cherry Creek Presbyterian Church in Englewood, Colorado. He is work for Don Sweeting (whose father George was once famously president of the Moody Bible Institute.) Congratulations to Dave and to listen to the sermon “Freedom from Sin: How the Gospel Still Affects Us All” click the link on this page.
After returning from the reception, MLM and I taught the opening night of the “Summer Breeze Bible Study” to the church’s college students. We covered all five books of the Pentateuch. From this you should be able to tell that MLM gratefully dictated the pace. This is part of his experimental program to teach the college group the entire Bible in one summer. If you are college aged and would like to attend, just let us know.
We had six students attend (three guys and girls each) and three teachers, the two of us and WSJ. That is a great student-teacher ratio. The only two I had met previously were MEH and HS. It proved to be a good group.
After the Bible Study, I headed to RAW’s for a late visit with he, KLTW, and KJW. RAW cooked pasta for myself and KJW (KLTW had eaten and is not a big fan of pasta anyway) while KLTW compared the inexplicable and often painful bumps on our knees. We have concluded that they are not zits. While this pleasant conversation progressed, KJW tried on my shoes for size. Though my feet are small, she is still has some room to grow.
After getting a good deal of pasta on her, she was bathed for her two year checkup with Dr. Rochester (JCR) the next day. Her parents were already anticipating the lecture on how the child should be potty trained. Though she is way ahead of schedule on many things, she is not even in the ballpark on this one. Just after getting dressed, I asked if I could get a picture. This was her response.
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