Friday.

Lots of stuff goin' on today, so this'll be quick.

Denise is on her way to England. She flew out of Killeen Thursday afternoon and should have landed in Manchester this morning. She's surprising her family over there with a visit, particularly surprising her brother for his 50th birthday.

They were originally going to come here for the event, but his wife Carolyn couldn't get off from work. So Denise is gonna surprise him there. It should be great. Wish I could be there, but I have to work next week. So I'll be batchin' it for a week, till she comes back next Thursday. It's gonna be weird. I haven't slept alone in this big bed for 18 months.

I gave final exams in two classes last night on base, finishing up the semester there, and then went to a dive pool hall in town to join my Friends in the 9-ball team. I guess I played decently. Two beers, a fat cigar and a win later, I headed to the house.

After I get out of class in Florence this morning I'm gonna head back up to Killeen and try to find a guy's house, just south of where I live in town. The guys name is Ben Wickersham. He's a retired Dean from the college I teach for.

He's a gun guy, like me and most of the people I know, and he likes to get a table now and then at local gun shows and try to sell a few things. Denise and I ran into him at the show they had last weekend in Belton. He told me then that he had some .223 for sale, and the price was right. $35 for a bag of 100 rds!

It's reloaded ammo, but he swears by the quality of the reloads. Says he got 2000 rds. of the stuff a while back from a guy who's since taken a job loading rounds for the military. He used to reload all sorts of stuff but the government's been keeping him busy lately with orders for 50 cal. and .308 sniper rounds.

Anyway, he's got 500 rds. left. He said he'd round it down and sell it all to me for $150. Can't pass a deal like that up, what with a new Galil AR in the works (I'll take possession of it next Friday). So I'll drive up after class today and try to hook up with him. I've actually known him for a long time, through some other guys out at work. But we've never gone beyond a passing acquaintance. It'll be nice to see his place and see what he's got goin' on.

Later today I'm gonna drive up to Waco and pick up another guy I've known for many years. Glen Kueck is a Music teacher who teaches classes in the same building, across the hall from me on the base. I'll be teaching History or Government and he'll be playing some obscure Blues tune from YouTube. My students always laugh when I pause, smile and try to recognise the music. He usually plays great stuff.

We've known one another for many years, always teaching down the hall from one another. We even taught at a prison together a few years ago. He's a pretty cool guy, with a long history of seeing lots of great bands live and having lots of fun in the process.

Anyway, I've got an extra ticket to a show in Dallas Friday night. With Denise gone, Glen and I are gonna drive up and find somewhere to get dinner on Lower Greenville Ave. (should be easy), and then head to the Granada Theatre and see Derek Trucks and Guy Clark Jr. in concert. Trucks is an awesome guitar player who's worked with the likes of the Allman Brothers, Government Mule, and Eric Clapton. He's got his own band and makes lots of interesting music. Here's a taste.



It should be a wonderful evening. I'll drop Glen off again in Waco on the way back here and probably hit the sack around 3AM.

It'll be a quiet weekend after that. I'll head over to Temple to take Mom and Sis out to eat at some point, but mostly I plan to lay around and relax. Maybe clean up the garage. We'll see how motivated I get.

Anyway, you guys have a great weekend too and we'll chat again Monday. I should have some great shots from the gig. Cheers!

UPDATE: Denise called this morning, just as my alarm was set to go off. She made it to Manchester OK, and so did her bags. Her friggin' brother met her at the airport! Remember she was supposed to be surprising him. Turned out he was on the net, surfing for flights, planning to come here on his own. So Carolyn had to break down and tell him his sister was coming.

All is well there, She said she'd already had some good Fish and Chips, and some "proper" mushy peas, and some "proper" bread... YUK!

Anyway, I'm gonna go get dressed and drive to the Stop-n-Rob and get some "proper" Corn Dogs. Mmmmm, now there's a meal. Cheers!