The Triumphant Return of Chet the E-Mail Boy!

It has been a while since Chet's services have been needed here on Possumblog. As I had feared, the comment feature has made the admittedly cumbersome task of receiving e-mail--which Chet converts to Morse Code, then transcribes in longhand, then sets with a Linotype before giving it to me--almost obsolete.

Chet, however, being rather advanced in years, has not seemed to notice, aside from an occasional lung-rattling cough that he develops when he is inactive for long periods of time. He has been biding his time with other activities, however, such as tending his collections of oddly shaped cornflakes--he has three different sets: U.S. Presidents (currently needs only twelve to finish the set), Silent Screen Sirens (sadly only two examples, both of which look like Mary Pickford), and The Many Moods of Gordon Lightfoot. (Chet fancies himself a real Bohemian, you know.) Chet has also spent some time in the small patch out back by the dumpster, where he has a cold frame and a couple of nice rows of collards. He has also taken up with a new lady friend, although I will not speak much of her other than to say I heartily disapprove, and firmly believe she is after his Telegrapher's Union pension.

In any event, Chet was pleased to see some activity from his telegraph key this afternoon, and just now hobbled in with a message from morphine-crazed Jim Smith up in East Carolina:

Could you please blog lunch. It's boring and inane but some of us like it.

Well, I have never been one to deliberately disappoint my readership!

I gave Chet a dollar or two and sent him away to go change the oil in my van, and reared back in my office chair to contemplate my mid-day repast.

As you all know, Birmingham is chock full of good quality restaurants, but on occasion, they fail to live up to my needs and wants. For example, many have nothing at all on the menu for under four dollars, which is the sum total of all that my wallet held today.

Feeling the need to free myself from the conspicuous consumption of comestibles, I decided to turn to the always conveniently cheap Sneaky Pete's on Park Place.

I walked in and after only the briefest of waits, exchanged pleasantries with the intriguingly handsome-looking lady behind the cash register. I have been trying to think who she reminds me of for a while now, and the best I can come up with is Lauren Hutton. Except with good teeth.

Anyway, I fished out the Four Georges and ordered a big plate full of Chili-n-Cheese carb sticks. MMMmmm! A big Styrofoam takeout box, full of crispy, lightly salted shoestring potatoes, covered with a thin spicy meaty red slurry AND brilliantly-hued nacho cheese sauce. Nothing quite hits the spot like salt, fat, and starch!

I walked quickly back to my office to enjoy my wonderfully presented composition and noticed with great admiration all of the preparations being made in Linn Park for the upcoming Mercedes Marathon. Just so you all don't think I am a horrid lazy slob, I want you all to know that I will be participating in this event!* So there!

In other correspondence, Dr. Smith also sent me a picture of what he describes as an Alabama high-rise.

Obviously an error--a true high-rise is one that has been set up on end.

ANYway, there you have it, loyal readers.




*Disclaimer--Participation in Mercedes Marathon by writer shall be limited to mentioning said event on Possumblog and a general urging on of all the actual competitors. No actual running or movement by the writer is meant to be implied.
posted by Terry at 4:36:00 PM