BBQ #1 for 2005 is safely behind us. It had many of the usual elements and a few surprises. Actually March 3rd is quite late for my first BBQ.

After Neverland, which is a stunningly good movie by the way, I went to hook n’ schnuck (so named for its single’s scene reputation) to get grill fixings. I got some Johnsonville Beer Brats, yellow squash, acorn squash, and a zucchini. The sweet smell of the acorn squash in foil halves, coated with butter and brown sugar, mingled with the beer brats and it hinted at syrup, an aroma like I was making Jimmy Dean’s breakfast links. I did the other veggies in the grill basket with peanut oil and crushed black pepper, that was accidental as we were out of olive oil, but actually better = new trick.

Just as I was getting ready to throw everything on the grill, backyard set for summer with the umbrella back in the table and the folding chairs unfurled, Dan showed up with a job description; pay rates that sort of thing for this tax rep gig. So this weekend is tweak the resume and whittle the cover letter, in which I am to namedrop the politico who set this all up. Might be time for that haircut we’ve been talking about. The job is twelve an hour to train and twenty-five an hour to do – contract work through the end of July. If I apply now for teaching jobs I might land one for an August start or use the contacts from the tax job to swing onto something else more political in nature. Let's use our combined will to make this happen, shall we?

Also I will be learning and then teaching, assuming I get the job, about property valuation in south city. This is good as I’ve been contemplating buying a south side house and rolling my credit card debt into it. I think I am in this city. I think it might be home.

How did the world work before coffee? Without coffee I feel like a puppet without a hand. Coffee hits the blood and the puppet animates, broadens like an inflating hot air balloon and the tether lines get tight with anticipation. I am tight with anticipation, and it’s not just the coffee. I think I’ve found what I was looking for, the plot behind the plot of my hindrances, and now it’s time to go.