Trains and Parking

I had to work today, as it's my turn for on-call coverage for the next two weeks. I was down in Glen Eagle, and had 4 tickets I needed to close at a site in Wynnewood. The drive was okay, it's nice not having to deal with the normal traffic patterns that occur during the work week. As I arrived at Wynnewood, I knew there was something up. There's a train station that's right across the street from the shopping center that I was going to, and it was packed with people. The local rock station, WYSP, was onsite with a trailer and there were signs for McCain, Obama, and Hilary littering the parking lot. There were two or three police officers onsite directing traffic, and people were everywhere. As I was stopped at a green light by one officer, I saw an Amtrak train pulling into the station. Now this shouldn't have seemed odd, except that this station was for SEPTA, not AMTRAK. The last car was different, and had patriotic bunting on the railing. I saw the train stop, and a roar from the crowd as a figure emerged from the car. I didn't get a good look, I shrugged and pulled into the parking lot to get my work done. After circling the lot for 20 minutes, getting the finger from someone for backing into my well-sought after parking space, and going into the store I finally figured out what all the hub-bub was about from the first employee I saw who asked, "Did you see him?" "See who?" was my reply.



Yep, I found out later in the day that Obama was doing a whistle-stop train tour from Philadelphia to Harrisburg and that Wynnewood was the first stop on that tour. One of his regional campaign offices was just up the street from the station, so I guess it made sense for him to stop there and greet some of his volunteers and such. The figure I saw emerging was Mr. Obama stepping from the train, as the news reports of his attire matched the figure I saw stepping from the last car. I thought about heading over to the station to see what was up before I knew who it was on the train, but I needed to get work done and didn't have the time to screw around. If I had known it was him, I probably would have taken the time to at least see him speak, but that's all hindsight at this point. Regardless, the parking lot when I left the work site was littered with cars parked in all sorts of places, all getting tickets from the nice police who were no longer directing traffic as they weren't in "legal" spots. That was probably the funniest part of the afternoon.

Enjoy.

Guitar Heroes

Anyone that knows me knows that I have always been addicted to video games since I was a kid. My first paycheck from the paper route that Thad and I ran went to buy a Nintendo NES - yep, the original one with the square game cartridges. I moved up when the next gen came out, and bought a Sega Genesis when I got my first real job. That graduated into the Genesis 32x (it was a gift), then the Sega Saturn, Sony Playstation, Playstation 2, Xbox, and now the PS 3. I have always liked rock music (see previous post on Queensryche), so when I saw Guitar Hero II for the PS 2 I had to have it. I bought it one afternoon at Target, when the boys were still with us and plugged it in as soon as I could. I have to admit, in a cheesy way it made a lot of sense to me. It felt good to play along with some of my favorite songs, and some new ones that I didn't know. When Guitar Hero III came out last year, no brainer, right? I ended up selling my PS2, Xbox, most of my games, plus the guitar hero controller and decided to concentrate on my PS3 collection of games. Rachel bought me GH: III for Christmas with some of the proceeds of that sale. It's so much fun. I love the Les Paul Guitar controller, the fact that it's wireless, and that Rachel worked with Dee Gallion to make vinyl cutouts of the TriRyche and a "got Queensryche" sticker for it to display my love.

The EQ presidency decided last month to do a game night together, and Ed brought his PS 2, GH: II game and controller. (side note, GH II game doesn't work with the PS 3 - so I gave to Ed). I was supposed to go as well, but ended up having to work late and I wasn't able to attend. We decided to get together again on Tuesday, and I brought the PS 3 and GH: III over to play. We ordered pizza, drank soda, and rocked out to some of the classic bands and their most popular songs. I took a few pics, and am sharing with you now.

This is a Thinker

So, I was in a store the other day - and saw this placard on one of the registers. Now, I noticed that this wasn't on all the lanes, just two of them. I asked the cashier what it was for, she said they have two lanes designated as ADA lanes and this was the sign for them. I let it go at that, but it started to eat at me. So I ask all of you:

How is a blind person supposed to know what lane in a store is ADA compliant?

(on a side note, another person I posed this question to asked me a follow-up question: Why is there braille on the number keys for a drive-up ATM?)

Happy Birthday Allison!

Well, today was Allison's fifth birthday. We actually had her "official" party on April 5th, because Grandma Palmer was planning on coming up that weekend anyway, so we wanted Grandma to be a part of that celebration. Her party was fun, we had the Wrights and the Otts, and Brody L. in attendance along with our family for pizza, then cake and ice cream. Rachel searched long and hard for the Cinderella cake pan to make the requested shape for Allie. Aaron brought home the five dollar pizza from Genuardi's for lunch, and it was fun.

Thursday night brought the Palmer family tradition of the birthday boy/girl choosing the dinner of their choice for the family. In that vein, macaroni and cheese was had by all at the Palmer house tonight. Aaron brought home little ice cream cups for the girls, and we sat around with Allie wishing her the best on her day. I can't believe that she is going to be starting kindergarten in the fall, time sure flies.

Love to all.

Official Birthday Party

Well, since Easter this year was on March 23rd, I decided that I would postpone my "party" until the 30th. We did have my meal of chicken pot pie, and a small cake on Sunday night, since Rachel had to work on the actual date (24th). Jim and Jess called and emailed me birthday wishes (THANK YOU GUYS, I LOVED IT!), one text message from K.S. (you know who you are) and I received two calls from my family. We talked to Kim Wright during the week at some point about her making it to the party, and she offered her house to host the event. What a great friend the Wrights are turning out to be! It's sure nice to find people that you click with, even though the only common thread in the beginning is that you attend the same church, or work at the same company, or had abusive fathers, or smoke a ton of weed ... you know, the classics.

I also decided a few weeks back to make Carolina BBQ for this party. Now, I've never worked up the guts before to attempt this recipe alone. Usually, I get the stuff to make it and end up waiting until Mom comes up, and she cooks everything. What a great way to learn, huh? This time, I didn't have the option, so I called her up and asked for the recipe. Now, my mother learned this recipe from my Grandmother(father's mother), who learned it from her family on a hog farm in rural North Carolina, who probably learned it from the Confederates. She also learned grandma's recipes for southern style cole slaw, chicken pot pie, buttermilk biscuits (add cheddar for cheese biscuits), and southern banana cream pie all passed down and taught. The rub? Grandma never used a written recipe, she just knew how to make all that stuff. So, Mom never wrote them down, either. You should see what I wrote down when I asked Mom for her help. It's actually funny, often you'll see the words "Oh, add some *insert ingredient called for here* - and don't be shy. But don't add too much, either." I started the roasts on Saturday night about 9:30, and then spent a good 3 or 4 hours obsessing about it on the couch. I finally stopped worrying, and fell asleep around 3 AM. When I woke up, I was jazzed. It smelled like it usually does when BBQ has been cooking all night. I pulled off the foil, and it turned out great. I was very, very happy with my first try. I toned down the spice, due to the fact that I didn't want to burn faces off when the meal was served.

The Otts, the Gallions, and the Wrights all joined with us in observing the birthday celebration. The Otts brought my favorite Salt and Vinegar chips, Kim made wings and a cheesy potato casserole, and the Gallions made chocolate Heath bar fondue with a ton of dippers. We sat around, eating dinner and watching Empire Strikes Back (Kim knew it was my fav and popped it in) and talking. The BBQ turned out so much better than I could have hoped, and now I'm keen to try it again, using the written down dimensions I used for the spices to find the exact measurements so I can make it the same each time. I'm hoping it will become my "signature" dish to bring to people's houses, or to make for dinners. I'm also wondering if I could use our big ole roaster pan, instead of the oven. Maybe I'll try that next. Thank you all for your birthday wishes, and for your love to me and my family.