stuck in 3rd gear

At least that isn't my car that's been towed and dropped off there.

My little fishface was able to get there under her own power, though I was concerned a moment or two along the way.

The pedestrian light was blinking red on DeRenne, but no one was at the crossing, so I'd slowed down, but was still in third gear, hoping to not have to stop.

Eventually, I had to anyway, as the red light persisted...

and as I braked and pushed in the clutch to shift to second...

that's when it happened.

The gear shift knob went slack in my Saturn.

Perhaps I was imagining something had happened?

Oh, if only that were true.

Steady application of the gas pedal enabled me to continue down the road, but I changed my destination.

Instead of going off to the AMC for a movie, I drove straight to Rincon Transmission on Mall Boulevard.

Fortunately, the lights along the way were in my favor for most of that trip.

Fortunately, the rain storm had drifted on down the road.

Fortunately, Tony and Laura were home and able to come get me.

i thank You, God.

Here's hoping it's just that stupid little clip that connects the clutch cable to the gear shift knob...

happy 250th birthday, U.S.A.!!!

"So, g'friend, what did you do to celebrate this mega-milestone marker in your country's history?"

Honestly, I don't understand what the big fuss is all about. It's like throwing a huge party for a child's 100th-day of life, like they do in Japan. That baby has so much farther to go! A feast at that point just seems so overblown!

"What?! You're kidding, right? You, the girl who loves pomp and circumstance, are pooh-poohing the use of traditions to celebrate anniversaries of birth?"

I'm just rattling my sabre a bit. England has been a country since the 10th century, so that makes them more than 1100 years old. France has been a country for about that long, too. Spain is a bit younger than them by about 500 years, but that's still more than twice the age of the United States of America.

"But there are countries that are younger, too. Take Mexico, for instance. It declared its independence from Spain in 1821 and had its first constitution in 1824. That means that two years ago was its 200th birthday, but I don't recall hearing anything about a big celebration for that."

I don't know why we would have. Our news reports local first, then state, then national. World events don't get much coverage unless they directly affect the USA.

"Sad, but true. Hence our need to get news from the BBC. They had fairly even reporting about our 250th birthday and the wedding of Taylor Swift to Travis Kelce."

That's what I mean. To an old country like England, those two celebrations would have an equivalent weight. I'm not saying that this 4th of July isn't a bit more special than usual, I'm just asking for it to be kept in perspective. Every 4th of July is special.

"Yes, dear. So, how did you celebrate this day?"

I sent messages for a "Happy 4th of July" to those dear to me during the morning, answering as they replied. One of my favorites came from Doug Andrews, the Commander of Post 36 of the American Legion. He wrote: "My heart is swelled with pride for what OUR country has done for itself, by itself, while also lifting up the rest OF the world, who couldn't have done it without us. All done by the sacrifice of many great American military Patriots, 'who loved their country more than Self'. Happy Fourth of July to you, being one of America's most devoted patriots."

"Wow. What a beautiful sentiment there!"

Right? I just may keep that message for a long time. I held it in my heart as I enjoyed much of the "Disney Celebrates 250th Anniversary of the USA" on ABC. Later, I watched interspersed that with NBC's "Great American Block Party", but focused in on CBS's "Macy's 4th of July Countdown". That was mostly because it had the fewest 'mercials.

"Hahahaha! I'm sure! And what fabulous shots you have there!"

Thanks. This, to me, was what it was all about: people with genuine love for our country watching the fireworks over head while they stood and waved the flag. Seeing all of that really made me feel proud to be an American, and proud to be a veteran. I've got that 27-minute, continual, fireworks display recorded, and I plan to watch it again in the morning. Some of the song choices were questionable, but that's okay; you can't please everyone. Most were excellent, including starting off with "The Star Spangled Banner" and ending with "Stars And Stripes Forever". Most excellent.

bottom's gonna be on top!

I just love all the double-entendre running all through "Something Rotten!"

That's the modern musical selected for this summer's Encore production at the Savannah Children's Theatre... and modern it is, even though it does deal with Shakespeare!!!

Yes, I said it: a musical about The Bard and his big problem with a couple of competitive Bottoms!

Hahahaha!!!

I took these shots during their post-show bows to the audience.

See the young man in the vest, on the far right?

That's Josiah Williams and he played the revered playwright 'Shakespeare' with a bit of sass and almost no humility - perfect!

He was the first one I approached afterward and he practically ran up to me to clasp my hands in his!

I was telling him how much I'd loved his 'Orpheus'...

and he said, "yes, in "Hadestown" and you sat up front!"...

and I said what a great voice he has!!!

What a magical moment that was for us both!

And see the young woman doing a curtsey in center stage?

She was 'Euripides' in that earlier musical!!!

Here, Nikki DeCubellis played 'Bea', wife of 'Nick' of the Bottom brothers.

I told her that I loved the way she played this character as a strong woman, but also a fun person - and she gave me a hug for that!

And see the older fellow who's the third from the left? 

He's Sonny Schneider, and he knew naught of this play, but came out to audition anyway for the role of 'Shylock', the Bottom's Jewish money man.

He was thrilled to talk with me about that!

And that young woman having a blast dancing on the far left, with the bucket on her head?

That's none other than Jada Banks, who mush have had ten roles here!

I exaggerate, as she only had four, but she certainly could have played a lot more if they'd needed her to do so.

I managed to catch her hanging with her family after the show and I made sure to tell them that I've been watching her ever since she was the 'Nurse' in "Romeo And Juliet".

That was in 2024!

Later that year, she directed the play I liked so much that I saw it twice, then, early in 2025, she was the lead in "Sister Act", among other things.

Her family was thrilled that I'd been such a fan for so long!

 

Then, in this second photo, I've got the two Bottoms!

Front and center is 'Nick', played by Desmond Chaney, and to his right and behind is 'Nigel', played by Alex Gray-Hill.

I can't recall seeing the latter actor in anything else, so perhaps he is new to Savannah and attending college here.

However, I've been watching Desmond for sometime and was so glad to see him in a leading role!!!

Sure, he had a lot of lines in 'Evita', but he wasn't the lead.

This time, he got to show us that he's more than a pretty face - and that was such a great thing to see!

I managed to pat him on the shoulder after the show and tell him that I'd loved him in this role... but then he was gone.

I do hope he'll get more meaty roles in the future!

Heck, I hope all of them do!

After all, these are the Encore actors, so they've graduated from high school and are off into the world now.

See you on Broadway some day!!!

But I'm glad to have seen you here, with the SavChTh, first.

(smile!) 

four meals out this week!

Monday was with my first niece and her man, right?

Tina Tuesday found me with Sandy, Marcia, and Kathy, having supper.

Nope, we were not at MSG!

That's supposed to be our Monday meetup, right?

We decided to skip that, but still wanted to have dinner together, so we met at Seasons of Japan.

Pricier than I'd expected, but it was definitely right place, right time!

This 2007 penny magically greeted me on the floor by the drink stand!

Thursday found me dining out again, this time with mi amiga, Carolyn.

We got together to see a movie first and ran into a snafu, yet again, but different this time.

The movie of interest was on its last screening, so there would not be a make-up date.

Trey made it right, and Tom gave us free cameo specials!

(See elsewhere about the great film!)

We dined at Longhorn, as she wanted their potato soup.

Fine by me!

Then, with me having missed last week's S&K Friday Fiesta, I wanted to be sure to catch it this time!

Smitty must have wanted to make sure, too.

He texted me the location and earlier time about 2 PM!

Spanky's at Mall Boulevarde was the designated spot, with 5 PM as the time.

That worked for me!

I wanted to try out their Spinach & Artichoke Dip as my meal... and I made sure to bring plenty of Lactaid, too.

It was pretty good, but I'm glad Jimmy gave me a slice of his Pepperoni Pizza and Tony gave me some of his Spuds!

No Robin at this gathering, but Addison was there with Sean again, so I made sure to properly introduce myself this time.

He won't be there next week, nor Addison.

How do I know?

Mary was getting a head count for Miyabi's, which is Smitty's choice for his 66th birthday dinner.

Fancy, fancy!!!

I'll need to be sure to set money aside for that.

Now, I'm using some Stella cash to see a musical!!!

Woohoo!!!

look at it sparkle!!!

Brenda just sent around these pics from the clean-up earlier today.

Doesn't hardly look like the same place, does it?

I don't know if the cleaning was done by Justin Wells' crew or by a contingent from Post 500, but whoever it was did a fabulous job.

Even the event room got spiffed up, and that hole in the ceiling is closed for now. 

The Two First Posts of Georgia looks ready for business!!!  

Thanks for the photos, Eric!

may need to rethink thursday movies...

Rather, Carolyn and I may need to make other plans regarding movies at AMC on this day of the week. 

Remember the snafu we had a couple of weeks ago?

Tom had made it all better for us that time.

Now, Trey was the manager who had to right the wrong.

I'm glad I'd already reserved my ticket online, so the folks at AMC felt obliged to make it right!

It was regarding that 4th movie, the Indian one.

"Maa Inti Bangaaram" - aka "The Jewel Of Our Family" - had only been screening at 10 PM, so neither of us had seen it.

Now on it's final day, the time had been moved up to 3 PM - hooray!

So, I got my ticket and contacted  her and we gleefully met up there... only to find the assigned screening room had a worker in it who was running late... so they had canceled the movie.

No, no, no, that would not do!

So Trey assured us the room would be up and the movie on at 4:30, just for us two old ladies who were regulars at AMC 11.

i thank You, God!

That movie was so awesome, with a young woman who'd run away from a foster home and into the clutches of a control freak man who lived in the woods and taught her how to fight like a ninja.

She eventually escaped him by having him arrested and in prison he'd stayed, leaving her to build a new life with the man she married.

Now, he is going to bring her to his family, as his little sister is getting married and wants them both to come... only the nutjob in jail has found out she lives and he escapes so he can wreak havoc on this genteel family.

Truly awesome movie!!!

"Lucky Strike", seen on Tina Tuesday (along with the latest from Illumination", was an excellent WWII movie that featured sons of famous actors.

It also had an ending that I didn't see coming - I really liked that!!!

In fact, that ending elevated the movie into one I'd gladly see again.

I'll have to wait until it hits Peacock, though, as it's gone after a week.

As for "Minions & Monsters", I'm done with that after one screening.

I like the little yellow guys, I do, but without Gru they get a bit tiresome.

I'm glad someone decided to add Gru to the credits, or I wouldn't have hung around to watch those.

So, that's three... and the fourth on this A*List was another viewing of "Toy Story 5", seen last Saturday, as I've already mentioned.

Now, I'm off to meet Carolyn for dinner!

most def the blanched almond in the fudge...

It takes a lot to make me feel like I don't belong somewhere.

This ZOOM meeting definitely had me rethinking being part of the group.

All was well with the first few parts of the AARP GA volunteer session.

Gabrielle led it for us, though she did say that she's looking for one of us to step up and take that duty.

Only five of us - me, Wanda, Lillian, Carolyn, and Jennifer - were there for this odd 11 AM meeting on a first Thursday.

We're supposed to be meeting at 1 PM on the last Thursday of the month, but the June meeting was canceled for this one.

However, we will be meeting again on the last Thursday of July.

I wonder if we will have a higher turnout for that one?

Anyway, she began as before with an icebreaker: "share a vacation memory".

I talked of playing chess on a giant chessboard with my two great-nieces on our trip last year to Florida.

John Strong, the head of the entire Georgia group, spoke of taking his 16-year-old daughter on a week-long cruise and how nice it had been to spend so much time with her.

Lillian told us about taking her grandkids on a cruise a few years ago.

Good times!

Then Gabrielle had us watch a twenty-minute training video titled "The Strategy Before The Strategy".

It was all about listing people who would be helpful for a project, as well as those that might be harmful.

Then we were to make a graph, kinda sorta, placing the people in order of how much influence they might have on a project.

I just know it sounds like a lot of work, though I understand that proper planning can prevent issues later on.

All of these meetings at the Two First Posts has made that clear!

Anyway, after the video, there weren't enough of us to break into chat rooms on the Zoom, so we stayed together as Gabrielle brought up the list of possible events we might want to work.

She had one highlighted: "Virtual Workshop with GABWA".

That acronym is the Georgia Association of Black Women Attorneys.

Um... okay.

I thought we were trying to increase our diversity???

Just how was I to figure in with this event???

And just who would be expected to attend this event???

That's okay, I would see how it shook out if, or when, Connie showed up at the next meeting.

Gabrielle had chosen that event because she recalled that Connie's daughter was a member of that organization, so she could be 'leveraged' to help out with planning such an event with us.

Gabrielle asked that we think about what topic we would want the event to be centered upon, though 'estate planning' was mentioned.

I admit, I was pretty quiet.

I guess I will hope for the best at the next meeting.