Nothing fancy today...just burgers and dogs. I'm not even hungry, but I do love to cook..especially on a grill when the weather is primo. Gives me a chance to do something productive while enjoying the scenery. Anything that the roommates don't scarf up goes to the day job with me for the potluck that is lunch. It's amazing how I've shown up without a dime to my name and been fed on somebody else's generosity. I try to give back when I can.

Now those of you who have it all figured out please don't snicker at me..but I've been trying to learn how to use my new cellphone today, by trial and error and perky little helpdesk people with accents. Like the poor girls that we are, BG and myself have managed for several years on the Dollar General pay as you go models but we found ourselves in need of more reliable means of communication since she's all over West Tennessee learning to be a social worker and I'm out huntin' SugarDaddy. She texts a lot..I just flip mine open if it rings or the car breaks down.

The day job continues to be a study in what-the-hell-will-happen-next. Three folks out on sick leave, two of them a big fat surprise. We have been in between CEOs for about a month with new guy arriving next week. All of the HR people and some of finance have moved to "the annex" next door. And the same chronically ill folks come in through the revolving door of the ER to be admitted. We know most of them by name...like the twenty something diabetic chick who eats a few candy bars when she feels like hanging out in the ICCU. And the guy who got the shit beat out of him for fighting with the cops in a neighboring county and is now a full fledged invalid at the expense of taxpayers.

I've had a snicker or two over the MSM's recent "war on MRSA." It's not funny, by any means, but it's a reality that has been making itself known for many years and some hype artist took it and ran so it's front page news for a few days like the flesh eating streptococcus was way back when. MRSA is the end result of people being overserved at the doctor's office for years, insisting on an antibiotic when clearly the causative agent was a virus which won't respond to antimicrobials at.all. In fact, their use makes things worse by killing all the normal flora in your gut and other private parts and setting up a fertile breeding ground for yeast. All of the 'cillins ceased to be effective against Staph aureus many moons ago. Some MRSA is hospital acquired....that's the really potent stuff. But the majority is community acquired, meaning that you pick it up in your day to day life by popping pimples and not washing your hands. I know...it's gross, but it's real life.

Another thing that most folks don't consider is that 5% of the population donates blood to support the other 95% when they need it. A small town joint like ours is fortunate to be served by a regional independent blood center that has never let us down, but big city hospitals feel the crunch daily. Nobody ever thinks about giving blood until there's a "crisis" of epic proportions like the WTC bombing. People literally FLOODED blood banks during the days following 9/11 wanting to "do something to help" not realizing that their donation is only good for 42 days and there were few survivors anyway. The paying it foward approach is to roll up your sleeve every 56 days and give a pint to somebody whose name you will never know, just because it's what Big Ernie would do.

Anyway...back to the grill. It's a hand me down kettle from BG's BF and has served us well. At the community grocery store I was in line behind a guy the other day who was buying a roast to cook on his grill. I was curious about how long it took as I've never tried that particular thing. Noticing the brew in my cart, he replied: " About eight beers."

Gotta love a guy with a sense of humor.