waffle house

I love waffle house. But being real cheap when it comes to dining out I'm always trying to get the most for the lease amount of money. So over the years I've come to the conclusion that the triple order hash browns with smothered, covered, diced, peppered, and toppedis the way to get the most bang for the buck, other than pancakes. Those are the least expensive toppings except for the chili. For those who haven't committed the waffle house lingo to heart this is the breakdown.

1. smothered = onions = .25
2. covered = cheese = .30
3. chunked = ham = .50
4. topped = chili = .80
5. diced = tomatoes = .25
6. peppered = japs. = .25
7. capped = mushrooms = .65

Of course the prices vary from place to place and also the size of the servings, which is the most important thing. So you got to weigh a lot of things when ordering. Is the place crowded, is it a shift change, does the cook look friendly and in a good mood, have you made a good connection with the waitress, who controls the amount of chili. But the most important is location. Big city's are usually more stingy than small towns. Not a fact just a guideline.

So now I'm in Key West, a small expensive Island town. I have no idea how to play the variable into the equation, so I go for it. I'm just going to chalk it up as data collection, lesson learned, and just gaining experience to make a more information based judgment in the future. I'm going to enjoy what I get no matter what! After all I'm with my wife and we are enjoying ourselves.

This is what I get.

It doesn't even fill the plate! I was so shocked the pile was so small, that I took this picture. Usually its the whole plate. I told my wife no big deal, just a learning experience. Then the waitress brought another plate to us that looked like my triple order of hash browns.

I asked her what the small serving was for and she said it didn't fit on one plate!

I was flabbergasted. Then I told my wife "we are home". A moment I will never forget in my life. A real Kodak moment if there ever was a Kodak moment.

I couldn't eat it all! Which has never happened. Of course I was with my wife and we are working on portion control. Which I've equated to just being more efficient. But that's another story.

Then we got the bill. It was higher than it was suppose to be, so I asked.It turns out they triple the cost of the toppings when you order the triple. I've never seen that before. So all the others were wrong and this one is right or vice-versa. Doesn't matter because now I know what to ask next time I order the triple. A very valuable piece of information to throw into the equation. Money well spent; we had a great time; and I'm full.

Our New House (Maybe)

Evac!

We evacuated! Ran like chickens. Key refugee, I like the sound, screw politically correct.

Strange thing happened though, that made it a little interesting.

We actually have a contract on a house in Big Pine Key. "nobody buy's house's during hurricane season," my neighbor said. I't's a one year old modular home on concrete pillars. About 10 ft off the ground. It's rated up to 180 mph, 2 bed/2 baths.

I was getting everything ready for the storm at the mobile home and just wondered if the people we are buying from would let us hang out in there with some of our valuables until the storm blows by. We'll everybody thought no way, except the home owners who had moved out about a month ago. I told them I could put up the storm shutters.

I started grabbing everything I could and took it to the house. We had planned on staying in there. But, my wife was having a HORRIBLE! sinus infection and just wanted to die, and it was getting worse. We knew this place would not be fun without water and electrcity while your sick as a dog. I realized with a storm surge our vehicles will be swamped in salt water. don't need that at all.

So we decided to leave. We are staying with some friends of ours in Ft. Lauderdale, Burt and Glenna, they are real easy to stay with, so we'll have fun.

I'm real nervous about my boat and motor, which I pulled out of the water and put on blocks. I'm laughing at all the stupid stuff I grabbed, but I guess you can't grab it all. Hopefully my wife will be feeling better. She is excited about going to a bookstore. It was strange driving in all the hussle and bussle, I already want to get back to my hole in the water.

My wife told me that my spelling and grammer has been pretty bad. She volunteered to be the editor, but since the editor is asleep and I don't want to waste minutes calling everybody, I'm going strait to print.

Rita is still a Tropical storm, but the wind is going to be slamming the mobile head on at first because it faces due north on Big Pine. If it can hold on until the storm gets below us we'll be good.

We do take charity, being hurricane refugees and all, just kidding. We're just glad we don't have school until WEDS!!!! And you can't really do anything for 2 days, then another weekend!

911

09-11-2005
Starting week #7 at school, 2 full months in the keys.

09-17-2005
That's all I wrote last week. Writing is tough, when there is a lot of playing to do.

We bought a unused 1999 20 HP. Johnson motor for $1,000 and it came with a free 1954 Alumna Craft 14 ft Aluminum boat.

The motor itself is worth $3,000, I guess we were at the right place at the right time.

I'm beefing up the back end of the boat because it is only built for a 10 hp motor.

I actually got up to 30 mph the other day. I was using my 100 million dollar speed odometer (GPS).

I finally got with a guy to show me where the lobster are. We got 7, meaning I got 1 and he got 6. He gave me four.

Those things are fast, but Good!

1 year! I remember wondering where we would be in one year, but I don’t think I applied the correct amount of “!!!???!!!???*%#$@^!!!???”.

My wife happened to mention our anniversary to her interpreter for one of her classes one day. She was telling him that I was going to buy some tickets to go on a sunset cruise aboard the Western Union schooner. He said he would love to get us free tickets(he is a city commissioner in key west). $60/person free tickets. I said “sure, whatever” not expecting anything.

Well I met Mr. Menendez and you talk about an interesting “write a book about me" kind of guy. He was a stowaway from Cuba aboard a ship at the age of 10. WW2 rolled around so he lied about his age and joined the marines. 9 years later the war was over so the Government sent him to his home or as close as they could get, which meant Key West. He Hasn’t left. He has more stories than Hemingway if you simply ask him.

So! Dude man knows everybody and gave us tickets to everything. I eat lunch with him now, as a great reality check and just a healthy perspective of things. I’m hoping to bring the gospel into our conversation, but I’m probably just scared of the delivery and the follow up that usually follows the type of delivery you deliver.

Picture of cruise.

woman and I going out to partake in the sunset cruise. It was cool, but a 30 mph wind blowing from the captain's wheel would have been an evening to remember. We enjoyed it though, calm, no dramatic sunset, but just being on the water with each other was nice.

My woman did write me a note later that touched me in a big way. I wish I could have written something to remember the moment, but to be honest I'm just too emotional to put the last year into words.

I must say that I have been more proud of my wife than anyone else in my whole life. Simply because she has endured the torturous line that my life seems to follow. I don't know why, it's just the way God has made it. I guess it's like David's line verses Abraham's line, both equally important, but one has a tad more "Hollywood" type material, if you know what I mean. She has bent over backyards, to the point of complete sacrifice, to make me happy. Even beyond her own ability to recover completely.

So! I must allow the following to be stated as a complete understatement of how I feel about her. But! since she wrote it, I have to be aware of the fact that she is more aware of our situation than I am.
This is what she wrote:

”Though there are times when life seems more of a tortuous trek than an adventure, and though I seem to more often cry than smile, and though I feel as a stranger blindly traipsing across foreign terrain, there is a peace that wells up inside me that overwhelms my mind and soul when I see you – when I gaze upon your peaceful slumber. I have only to think about your brilliant blue eyes and happy, sheepish grin and I can’t help but know that this love we share is the very thread that, at this time in our lives, is holding us up. Jesus’ Spirit pulsates between us so that together our life is sustained, even when, perhaps one of us is down. Yes, I have known fainter hints of peace – but the gift of sharing peace with my love is so satisfying. And seeing peace on your countenance as you sleep there beside me fills me with a peace I only can know through you, because we are sharing this life – and this peace – between us. “

God has truly made our marriage a oneness through His Love, Wisdom and Power in all situations. At this moment in time we don't have a lot of peace. Just little moments with each other and God Himself. I can see Him in her and she can see Him in me, so we are literally drawn to each other by Him. We maybe in "paradise", but I'm realizing that peace only comes from the realization of a person's future.

Paradise without water to drink is the anticipation of hell with no end.

We have never realized the magnitude of our weakness until now. Yet at the same time we are finally understanding the magnitude of our strength, together in Christ. I want to say “Bring it on! Big Bad World of Crap!” but at the same time I know exactly what that means.

Speak softly, and carry a nuclear Jesus bomb in your heart.

Katrina damage in key west

The damage in key west was pretty bad.
"ME" got blown away and turn the family store into something a little less respectable.