Sunday, April 29, 2018

Three Beautiful Things 04/28/18: Washing Machine Laughter, Old Timers at the Elks, Good Cheer at the Lounge

1.  The dogs' bedding in their crate needed laundering and when the Deke put the dogs' blankets and towels in the washing machine and turned on the water, nothing happened. Shawn had done whatever plumbers do so that our bathroom has no water (our main floor bathroom right now has no sink, tub, or toilet) and I thought maybe Shawn had accidently turned off the washing machine water, too. It wasn't an emergency, but I texted him this morning to let him know. It was Saturday. It was his day off. He came right over. Shawn went in the basement, surveyed his work, studied the water pipes, and then I heard him laughing. "Hey, Bill! I found your problem. The washing machine's unplugged."  He started the machine. I fixed Shawn a cup of coffee and we shot the breeze for a while and concluded that Shawn had accidently unplugged the washing machine while fogging the basement on Friday.

2. I drove up to the Inland Lounge around four o'clock or so to see if Cas wanted to go across the street to the Elks where an annual dinner was being held for former longtime employees at the Bunker Hill Company. Cas and I stripped zinc in the cell room together back in the early 70s and thought we might run into some people we hadn't seen for a while. Well, we walked in the Elks and immediately I visited a table full of Listoes! Marilyn, Patty, and Dick Listoe were all seated together -- John Sevy was there, too -- and I had a great time visiting with them. Then Cas grabbed me a drink and John Hopper called me over to his table and we had fun getting caught up. I meandered around a bit and talked with Billy "The Greek" Manthos and George White (he took me out for my first ever round of golf when I was about 13 years old). Cas had made his rounds and I was done and he and I returned to the Lounge.

3. I texted the Deke and told her Jake and Carol Lee were at the Lounge and wondered if I should come down and pick her up so we could all be together. The Deke was all in. We had a great night. Ed joined us. I bought a chicken fried steak dinner leftover from the Elks' event and Julie delivered it. The Deke helped me eat my dinner.  The Deke then went up to the bar and got acquainted with The Greek and then had a long talk with Julie and just as we thought we might get going home, Harley and Candy strolled in, having buttoned up the Elks for the night, and we sat for a while longer, yakkin'. I heard a bunch of great stories. Harley and I reminisced about the old days at Silver King elementary school. It was an awesome evening, seeing old friends and sharing good cheer.

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