Sunday Potpourri

True Love (Ouch)

My older son drove 100 miles round-trip in a particularly magnanimous gesture this past week. Greg's girlfriend is taking a class to become a nurse's aide in Lansing and a class project required her to enlist a volunteer for practice blood draws. So my son Greg made a long distance trip to become a class guinea pig for the day. Students drew five samples--three from his left arm, one from his right arm, and one from his left hand. It wasn't that bad, he said, though one student was so nervous her hand quivered needle and all the whole time.

And I still remember the time I had to hold Greg down so the nurse could give him a shot. Ah, the power of love.


Dubious Milestone

This week, courtesy of Red Roof Inns, I received my first senior discount. Anybody over 50 gets one. Saving money ordinarily makes me happy, but this produced mixed feelings. Kinda like when they stop routinely asking for your ID when you buy beer. Milestones like this I remember. It was last year when I was first asked by a restaurant employee if I qualified for a senior discount (at a Golden Corral).

One that really bit was long ago when our family spent an extended weekend at Wheels Inn in Ontario. I was 40 then. We were headed back from the pool when this little tyke knee high waddled past me in the hall. The little guy looked up at me, then his eyes widened a bit as he thought he saw someone he recognized. "Bumpa?" he asked. For the record, it's 12 years later and I've never been a 'bumpa.'


Mama's Country Home Cookin' Restaurant (and Coney Island)

Around Ann Arbor, there are a number of Coney Island style restaurants, most of them owned by Greek ex-patriots or folk from thereabouts. In a small town outside Ann Arbor, there was a place called The Aegean, its walls hand-painted with creatures and characters from Greek mythology. Of course, its menu included gyros and other Greek favorites, along with standard American road food.

Only problem was that this restaurant didn't pack them in like so many others in the area. What to do? The owners changed the theme and the restaurant's name. Now it's called The Country Roadhouse. The walls were re-painted and the menu re-done, though I'm sure you still can substitute feta cheese for American on your John Wayne burger if you like. Now the restaurant seems to attract a substantial clientele like its competitor, the Country Creek Restaurant a few miles down the road. It also is owned by southern European ex-patriots.

Maybe the only difference is that when you order flaming fried cheese at these eateries, the waiter cries out "Gi Haaa!" instead of "Opa!"