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"IN MEMORY OF MARY LOGSDON" - IN NOTE SECTION OF CHECK

AUGUST 12, 2006 - WHEN THE RAIN COMES, I SLIP INTO THE SHADE.....

There was a hell of a storm that moved through the area last night until early this morning. I was awakened - yes, and for those of you who know me, THAT is a tough job - by a simultaneous clap of thunder and lightening strike that did two things.

1. I immediately went to the bathroom - but I made it TO the bathroom 2. The fire alarm went off - for a long time.

That meant that there would be no more sleeping in THIS room. I got up and got dressed and was greeted by the sight of deep gray skies very close to the ground and thunder. Things weren't looking all that good so I had a bowl of cereal and a coffee, took my meds and came back to the room to see if I had any email, which I did. It was an interesting batch of emails, too, and some of them were very confusing. Oh well.

I went to the bike and determined that everything survived the storm and was looking at the Victory motorcycle parked next to me when out came the owner. She is married and was here in town with her daughter, who followed her in the car. She has been motorcycling for one whole WEEK, and drove the 100 miles here to see the dealer. Sandy is her name and I told her that she was an impressive woman to do that. She thought I was doing something special as well. We talked about bikes and safety classes and gear, especially rain suits, and then she left to have breakfast.

I just hung around the motel today and did laundry again. The dryer took FOR EVER…. When I was able to get everything taken care of and sorted - I did get all of my socks back, don't ask me how, but I did - I went to walk across the parking lot to go have dinner at the Pioneer restaurant. I ran smack into a group of couples that had motored in from Saskatchewan and they were out in the parking lot discussing bikes and stuff. It was fun to join them and we all ended up having lunch together. I had a good time with those folks. We were able to swap stories and experiences. I had been telling them about the fact that I was from Ohio Farm County originally and had mentioned that it was pretty flat country from where I was from.

One of the guys commented "You mean, if your dog ran away, you would be able to watch him go for three days?" I suggested that it was probably not THAT flat, but close. We had a good time.

Then - I decided to go to the movies. I saw Will Farrell's "Talladega Nights, the Ballad of Ricky Bobby". The following is my critique:

If you like or dislike NASCAR, you will be able to see the humor in this particular motion picture, just because of the characters that reside within. Let's face it, there are some REAL characters in NASCAR racing and this movie spoofs not only the human element, but the whole environment surrounding this "sport". I put the quotes there on purpose, just so you know.

The best actor in the movie, however wasn't Hidalgo, either. Nor was it the race cars, any of them. I liked Gary Cole. He's the guy who played the quintessential Boss at Initech in the movie Office Space. Yes, Lumford resurfaced, as a better redneck than he was an Office Stoolie.  Perhaps it is because of my relative isolation, but I thought that this movie hit most of the nails squarely on the head, in the treatment of the characters, and everything that surrounds NASCAR, including all of the stereotypes that seem to pervade that whole scene.

So far, I have not had the camera out at all, so there may not be any photographic evidence of today ever happening. We'll see what happens. The Motel I am at sits on a slight rise above the city of Minot. Minot, itself, is situated in a shallow bowl with a ring of hills surrounding it. The ring of low hills could almost be mistaken for a long extinct volcano, with Minot on the floor of the low walled cone. If it is, I doubt anything is active here.  I mean, the government wouldn't put missile silos and a bomber base with nuclear weapons in any possible area of seismic activity.

No medications have arrived today, so I have to wait until I can call in tomorrow.  I asked the clerk to just throw them out the back door and I would find them. He was sympathetic, but he can't hand me something that he doesn't have. The next delivery isn't due until 11:00 PM tonight, with another following at midnight. I will call in the morning. I might not get out of here until Monday. We'll see what happens.

I have to find a place to have dinner. Mexican? The usual? Albanian? Latvian? Hmmmm…. What to do, what to do………