Well, It was another busy weekend, with a few interesting twists that I think you’ll enjoy.

First, let me let you down easy here. There was no trip to the psychic reader for Mom and Denise. Mom didn’t try to make the appointment till Friday morning, and the woman just didn’t have a slot open. Who the hell would think she’d be that busy? Guess it’s a booming business, selling superstitious swill to the Gullabillia. You know I love my Mom, but damn!

Anyway, Friday night went off as planned. Dad and I hit the drivin’ range, but it turned out to be too chilly for Dad, so after I hit a few balls he left me and went in to the office to chat up the people who own and run the place. I was left out there, hitting golf balls by myself, wondering why the hell I do this. I’d much rather be over on the other side of the place shooting arrows for $5 an hour at the foam deer targets they have set up. Kinda pissed me off. Well, that and the fact that for whatever reason I really sucked at hitting those balls that day. Normally I hit them pretty strait and do OK, but this time they all kept shanking off to the right, or skipping off over the middle at about a foot off the ground. Too much head bobbin’ and raisin’ up. Old habits came back with a vengeance.

After that we hit the Buffet, but that night the buffet was packed with people, so they put us off in the smoking section. They recently installed these huge aquariums, like really friggin’ massive things that you’d have to stand in to arrange the rocks and shit, and we were on the other side of one, right up next to it. Originally I thought it was pretty cool, but then I had these huge, stupid lookin’ orange fish swimmin’ by and starin’ at me while I consumed mass quantities of the generals chicken and shrimp fried rice. Kinda tedious. The food was great, as usual. After that I took Dad back home, visited with Mom for a while, and then headed back to Killeen.

Saturday started with a long, lazy get up. Denise had an appointment at 1:45 to get her hooves filed. We ended up bein’ about 5 minutes late because I hung back at the house trying to read Mushy’s latest post and leavin’ a comment. I got her over there in her car and realized I’d left the clubs in my trunk. I drove her car back to Killeen, got my car. I prefer to drive mine anyway . The sound system is better and I can smoke a cigar with the sun roof cracked. It’s really the life, jammin’ the tunes with the seat back, watchin’ the smoke slide up out the roof, feelin’ like a king in my own little kingdom. Anyway, I drove back over to get dad to took him back to the drivin’ range.

I did a little better that time, but not much better. After we hit a bucket of balls we wet over to get Denise, all manicured and pedicured, and then we went over to see Mom. We’d brought a can of strawberry daiquiri mix with us, and mom got out the booze and the blender and she and Denise whipped up a magical mixture.

They were both surprised to find that I liked the stuff, to their chagrin. I chugged my first one and went to get another, to find that there was only really enough for one more. I refilled mine and spread the rest between Denise and Mom (Dad wasn’t drinkin’).



As we sat there in the livin’ room, listenin’ to Mom tell stories about the old days, her yella cat decided to jump up at one point and see if he could get a drink. It was a great time.

After that, Denise and I went over to the mall to catch a movie. We ended up seein’ Vantage Point. I was a bit worried about it goin’ in, thinkin’ it might be some sort of message piece, but it turned out to be really good. The first hour or so is frustrating as hell though, because they keep showing the same events unfolding from different vantage points (hence the name). The main events of the story happen, and then they rewind back to the beginning and you see it all from another persons experience. Eventually it all comes together in a cool way. For me, the end was a bit of a let down, but I still liked it, and recommend it highly.

We also got to see the preview for the upcoming flick Iron Man. It looks cool as hell, and that tune’s been in my head ever since. Had to burn a new CD for the car so I could cruise down the road crankin’ Sabbath. It sounded REALLY good cranked through the theater’s sound system. Here's the trailer. Enjoy.

Now, tell me that ain't gonna be cool as hell!

After the flick we headed back over to BJ’s. We had to wait about 45 minutes for a table, but that gave me a chance to take a few pictures.



The place is really pretty inside, and the food is wonderful. I’d been lookin’ forward to tryin’ a few more of their beers, and diggin’ into a deep dish pizza, which is one of their specialties. It turned out that I had to remind the waiter that the Harvest Heffeweizen needed a slice of orange. It was good stuff.

We decided to order a few different appetizers so we could try them out, and then to get a medium sized pizza. It turned out to be just slightly more food than we wanted to consume in one sitting, but that wasn’t a problem. We took a few slices of the pizza home with us and I had it for lunch today. I had a glass of Irish Red Ale with the pizza. Now THAT was one really good drink. Denise, of course, had another Shandy. Had to explain what the hell it was to yet another waiter. Always cracks me up.


The chicken tenders and honey mustard dip were wonderful, as were the Santa Fe Spring Rolls (left). Denise isn’t into spicy food, so I ended up eating most of the latter. They were goooood. Especially in the left over honey mustard dip from the chicken tenders. I've found there really are few things that don't taste better dipped in honey mustard, but that's just me.

On the other hand, the deep dish pizza was a disappointment, and we probably won’t order that again. I mean, it was OK, but it wasn’t what ether of us were expecting. There was a real Italian place in Hulen Mall up in Ft. Worth when I was growin’ up that had deep dish pizza, and it was juicy wonderfulness. Thick with meat and tomato sauce, mushrooms and cheese and everything. It was like cutting into solid bliss.

This one from BJ’s was just a thick crust pizza with the toppings. There wasn’t any juiciness. It was a let down. Go ahead and try it. Maybe you’ll like it, but we’re gonna stick with the Pizza Palace in Killeen. It makes the best pies in this area, we think. Next time we go I’m gonna try a few more beers, and try some of their pasta. The advertise a couple of spicy shrimp Alfredo things that sound great. Can’t wait.

While we were there, waiting for our food, I realized that I’d turned off my phone in the theater and pulled it out of my pocket to turn it back on again. When I did it flashed that I’d gotten a voice mail message. It turned out to be my buddy up in Gatesville, Dave Waters (the dude I go up and shoot with, on his place). His message intrigued the hell out of me, so I called him to find out what was up. He said in the message that he’d just seen a rifle that he couldn’t ID (Unusual, because this guys knowledge is encyclopedic), but he thought that I might know what it was (meaning it’s probably Soviet/Russian or Eastern Block stuff – my specialty).

What he described over the phone sounded like a Dragunov sniper rifle. They show up at gun shows now and then, but they’re not too readily available. Thing is, he said this friend of his had something there, and didn’t know what it was or how much it was worth.

My friggin’ life flashed before my eyes when I heard that. That’s like the ideal situation when you want to make a killing. Some goober has something but doesn't know what they have. Last year my boss found a $700 Randall skinning knife at a gun show in Sweetwater for $35! That shit may happen once in your life. I was thinkin’ my time had come.

Well, I've gone on long enough, so you'll have to wait to find out about the gun later this week. I know, I'm bad. Click in in a few and see what I found up in Gatesville and hear about the other stuff we did on Sunday. It was another full day. Later. Cheers.