I went inside the place today. As I walked through the main entrance, two older distinguished gentlemen in matching white suits rose from their seats in unison behind a large wooden table. I really didn’t know if they were greeting me or they suspected I was an outsider and were ready to toss me back out the front door!

How would they know? Do Mormons have a secret translucent logo tattooed on their foreheads and then wear special contacts to spot each other?

I told them I was looking for my client (a lady in a wheelchair). They nodded knowingly and implied with their look that it would be taken care of. As I was retreating back out the entrance I noticed they never moved. A minute later, she came out.

Rexburg is a Mormon town to the extreme. Dozens of churches, no liquor stores and home to Brigham Young University. A nice place to visit but I’m glad I live in Driggs.

Then she asked if I wanted them in a bag. Of course I did! They subtly try to coerce you to walk out of the store carrying your purchase in your hands because it’s one less bag in our landfill. The truth is we line our kitchen garbage can at home with Broulim’s bags because our garbage company requests that we do so. Go figure…

When I buy just one loaf of bread I always ask for a bag. Some checkers roll their eyes and I say “It’s not good for people around here to know how much bread you have!”

When I pulled up to Karen’s therapy office she looked in my trash can and said Lunch?

But there are some constants, and one of them is named Skoge. I first met Sherry Skogen at the Mafia operated grain company in San Leandro, CA known as Golden Grain Macaroni, in the early seventies.

I was the fresh out of college, IBM System 3 trained computer guy, who had been brought in to build them a computer system. I did that, and in the process met Skoge, a single mom raising her son Eric. She was in the billing department and we hit it off quickly as kindred spirits, minus the romance part.

Skoge watched me move through life and relationships while I watched her navigate the rock and roll scene in the Bay Area. At one point we lived together at Michael Cottens (keyboardist: The Tubes) place in the City. We also shared a great old house out on the Sacramento River.

Over the years we have continued to stay in touch. When Riley and I made our summer vacation trips down south, we stopped and saw Skoge. The Steph and Riley vacation, we saw Skoge. My trip through San Fransisco last summer, I stayed with Skoge, and Grant.

Ah, who’s Grant you ask? Well, he’s a famous rock and roll photographer who took shots of Joplin, Morrison and Jefferson Airplane long before Bill Graham got his hands on them. Grant and Skoge have been roommates for years now.

As this current summer approaches, California pushes against me as a destination, but the chance to see my old friends may override that. Stay tuned!

I have known Skoge for more than forty years now…

The place was really plain inside. There were booths around three walls with tables in the middle and if there was any artwork in there, I don’t remember it. I was greeted and waited on by an old white woman.

There were two categories of lunch specials, one $6 the other $8. I couldn’t discern why one would cost more than the other, and half came with chow mein while the rest came with fried rice.

I ordered the $6 Sweet and Sour pork with fried rice. What I got was a smallish plate with a scoop of fried rice on the right and a pile of deep-fried light brown balls with a smattering of sauce, on the left. Not pork pieces with pineapple in thick sauce, nope. What the hell’s wrong with these Idaho hicks? Take a trip to Chinatown will ya!

I was hungry so I ate it. The deep fried balls were thick battered things with a little piece of pork buried in the middle. The rice was bland. I couldn’t finish it. That stupid meal is sitting so badly in my stomach that I’m skipping dinner tonight. Sad…

Happy Birthday Betty!

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Or play the song from this Link…

Your Birthdate: June 17, 1944. Here is what you need to know:

1944 was a leap year
Sign of the Zodiac: Gemini
Birth Flower: Rose
Symbolization of Flower: Love, gratitude, appreciation
Chinese Year of the Monkey
Birthstone: Pearl

Estimated population growth in the world in your lifetime: More than 4.5 billion people

Academy Award nominees for Best Picture in 1944
The winner was: Going My Way

Other nominees for Best Picture were:

Double Indemnity
Gaslight
Since You Went Away
Wilson

Winner of the Nobel Peace Price in 1944: Comité international de la Croix Rouge (International Committee of the Red Cross)

Time Magazine’s Man of the Year for 1944: Dwight David Eisenhower

Best Selling NonFiction Book in the U.S. in 1944: I Never Left Home by Bob Hope

Some world leaders at the end of 1944:

United States – President: Franklin D. Roosevelt – Democrat
Britain – Prime Minister: Winston Churchill – Conservative (Coalition Government)
Canada – Prime Minister: Mackenzie King
Australia – Prime Minister: John Curtin – Labor
Mexico – President: Manuel Ávila Camacho

Betty is my most prolific Commenter!

b.t.w. You know you can click any photo to see it in full browser mode, right?

Here’s a weird little video I shot coming back to the truck:

SlideShow (Valley Clips)

Hottub bathing suits are still a prefered blanket…

…and her shaved area is growing new hair back!

Just hanging out in meditative bliss.

SlideShow (Piper Update)

Here’s what went down. I ended up in the Wendy’s in Rexburg for lunch after failing to find a place that serves a decent fish sandwich. This town is really a fast food loving place and around noon all hell breaks loose. They must have had new people on the line because the orders were stacking up and as soon as I paid my money, I wanted it back.

I ordered a flatbread chicken sandwich medium combo with an unsweetened iced tea and no clue what the with-it was. I assumed fries… After standing off to the side for a while I texted “Never eat at Wendy’s” to Steph and was considering my exit options when the lady shoved a tray at me.

It had something wrapped in paper, a very tall drink and a baked potato. I liked the potato side so I took it. I found a table next to a young Mexican guy with his baby in a high-chair and dug into the potato. The sandwich was what I ordered, but with different sauce. The tall drink turned out to be Dr Pepper.

I knew then I’d gotten the wrong order but it was too late, so I just ate the food. The young guys wife arrived at their table and when I glanced over at them she was staring at my baked potato, and my Dr Pepper, with a strange look on her face.

Suddenly I remembered that she was directly in front of me in line and I recall her ordering a large Dr Pepper. Oh shit! Not only was I eating her lunch I was within smacking distance if she wanted.

I hope she liked my iced tea and fries :-)