July 20 - Great Eastern Tour Day 4

Diet Cokes: 3
Flaming dishes: 1
Euchre games: 2

8:49 a.m. - Aroused by a discussion in the other room of a tornado touching down in a baseball stadium. Get up to ask which stadium, and then mentally thank the Lord I'm not in Missouri since the stadium hit was St. Louis' new one. Hopefully by the time I get back in 2 weeks a tornado hitting the new stadium will no longer be the lead story in every local news cast.

10:36 a.m. - Using the tried and true college method of following someone else into a locked building, I arrive at Grandma's apartment without needing to buzz in. Dad looks eager for a break and heads for the door. Take the sharp knife from Grandma's hand out of self-reservation instinct.
"I had it pointed down."
"Yes, but you also had it pointed out towards me, so I feel a little safer carrying it until you're sat down."
While we talk, I am reminded that she can actually be a funny woman. Wish we had spent more time alone together this trip. Grandma points out sky is turning ominous again. Decide to head to the car before rain can pelt us.

3:30 p.m. - Go see Cars. Family takes up nearly an entire row in the movie theater. Wonder why movie theaters insist on keeping the temperature at a brisk 57 degrees at all times. Are there some kind of heat regulations attached to movie film that prohibits the temperature going above 60? Realize about a quarter through movie that Grandma isn't laughing, which must mean she can't hear it well, as the movie is incredibly funny.

7:25 p.m. - Waiter says to me, "Oh, so you're the flamer?" This could be offensive if I hadn't ordered the flaming Hawaiian pork chop. There's nothing cooler than watching your dinner on fire while it's on your plate. Especially a dinner that includes marshmallows and a cherry on top.

8:30 p.m. - Play some euchre with Grandma, brother, and dad after we give up on Fluxx. The game banter comments include:
"Do you have some Ambesole?"
"Well sure, I have teeth."
"The logic there is flawed. Most people have an asshole, that doesn't mean they have Preparation H."

"I am a master discarder."

"He eats like a hobbit."

"You know, with a little spray paint we could fix up the parts on your head where the scalp shows through."
As the banter goes on, there are warm feelings for my sideways family and our banter. Feel a twinge of melancholy about leaving tomorrow.