Drive like no one's watching, dance like Paula Abdul is.

I'm sitting in the parking lot of a McDonalds in Franklin Tenn, just south of Nashville. I've driven 26 miles, one way, to come here. No, not for a delicious order of golden brown fries, no, not for a double cheese, my current burger of choice. I'm here to use the internet access they offer. A "Hot spot" it's called. My work computer has to be linked up to our home office every night, before 11pm central time, or the world blows up or something goofy like that. So no problem, I'm at a Hampton inn, a great place to stay, and within my budget, the only problem is, over the last 2 months, I've been unable to link my computer to the mother ship. So I drove across the street to Holiday inn, no wireless access. Comfort Inn, password needed, Biff's no-tell motel, nope. So I'm driving the almost 30 miles to the closest town to link up this computer at Ronald McDonald's Place. Sidebar: do you think Ronald McDonald the clown is related to Michael McDonald the singer? Anyway it's pretty sad when you can go to a freakin' Macky-Dees and get a better internet hookup than you can at the 80 bux a nite hotel.Maybe I'll drive through, and reward myself for being such a faithful employee. I shouldn't, I'm on a diet, kind of an atkin's-type thing, I've lost 16 pounds, but gained back 5. I'll lose it again, and more. But in the meantime, I should have a burger, no bun, no mayo. Yes, no, yes, no, yes...no. well, okay. My computer has completed it's upload, I can drive 30 miles back to my awesome hotel, that doesn't allow me to link up my computer. And I'll have to unwind a little now, which means I'm up another couple of hours. Whatever, I just heard the bell ring, and the frycook dude, just announced, "Fries are up!" I'm outta here. Nitey nite.

Pebbles-1998

Every day, I walked down to the ocean, to wait for my love to come. But my love never visited. And though I came every day of my life to this same spot, I did not see my love coming for me. So every day, as I waited, I threw a few pebbles into the water, knowing that in time, I would throw in enough pebbles to take me to my love, and yet afraid that I'd never find her. Every day took me a little further, and a little further away from shore. And I became a little more, and a little more lonely, and a little more desperate, knowing by now, that I'd never see my love. For by now, I had traveled too far to return, and yet, so weary, I hadn't the strength to continue. So I lay down to die, broken in spirit, that my love would not be there to share my last breath. Then, just as I felt myself starting to drift away, I heard a sound. It was the sound of someone throwing pebbles into the ocean, a few at a time, venturing out a little more, and a little more each day, coming to find her love. Dave Nicar-1998