All American

Today is day two of the glorious three day Memorial Day weekend.  It is the unofficial beginning to summer, for the northern part of the country at least.  (Austin has hit triple digits on more than a few occasions already this month.)  It's the weekend people open their pools, dust off their grills, and get those day-drinking chairs out.  Things are just a tad bit different down here in the dirty south.

Pretty much every apartment complex has a pool down here and they've been open, if not year round, then at least since March.  Pretty much the entire state is in a burn ban and thus unattended fires can lead to devastation down here.  Not like I would consider a grill an unattended fire, but I had to find someway to relate everything.  And lastly, day drinking still occurs but it mostly happens inside rather than outside.  Sitting under a 95+ degree sun is not quite as pleasant as it may sound, no matter how many 45 degree days and rain you've had lately. 
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My own personal three day weekend has been less than stellar.  I spent Thursday night on Skype with a dear friend in South Dakota.  And we proceeded to get pretty smashed, each alone in our respective homes, linked together by technology and a love of beer and high school stories.  The drinking was spurned on by the elimination of possibly my favorite Chicago team.  (That argument is for another day).  I then proceeded to hate myself at work through all 8 hours on Friday before again settling into another Skype drinking session with my friend in the wild, wild west of South Dakota.  (He literally owns 12 guns.  That's more wild west than Will Smith).  We haven't seen each other in person in probably more than a year but had no trouble inviting him into my virtual power hour.  (New addition to the bucket list: Skype power hour). 
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For the lack of a decent segue, here's a few pictures of patriotic things I've been involved with the last month or so:

While in Mississippi saving the residents from record floods and a recent thrashing from tornadoes, I was able to spend some time at Vicksburg National Battlefield.  You can't really capture a battlefield on camera so I stuck with the major players of the battlefield: the big ass guns.  The things were all over and must have been a bitch to move up and down the hills.  Old-timey people were much more outdoorsy and manlier than me. 

 

 

 

Cannons, bitches

 

 

 

Saw these at the liquor store on Friday after work.  Seriously, I would buy cat piss if they sold it in red, white, and blue American flag cans.  And I hate cats.  Sadly, I didn't actually end up buying the Budweiser.  They were only sold in 6 packs.  Had they come in a case of 24, I'd be the proud owner of 48 of them though.  Poor planning by Anheuser and/or Busch. 

Wanted to buy them.  To be fair, they are now owned by a Belgian company though

Not many foods are more American than the hot dog.  I ended up making these about two hours ago.  Nothing fancy, just an all-American dinner.  Could only have been better had there been apple pie.

Just didn't want to throw the cheese out so I threw it on.  Not something I always do. 

Last but not least, this might be the most patriotic shirt known to man.  I bought it at a thrift store in Akron, OH.  I normally only wear it on special occasions like Memorial Day, 4th of July, or the day of a big USA Olympic/World Cup game.  I have to limit the use of it because it has many holes and tears in it.  Consider yourself warned if you see me tomorrow. 

I choose to ignore the "Made in El Salvador" on the tag

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I'm heading home to Chicago on June 8th.  To say I'm excited is an understatement.  I hope y'all are ready for this crazy Texas accent I'm going to fabricate on my flight in.  I will also be attending my 10 year 8th grade reunion while in town.  Many people do not believe me when I tell them this.  Sounds like many people went to grade school with shitty people.  Southsiders stick together.  Meaning we meet at the bar every 10 years. 
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Hug a soldier or veteran tomorrow.  And buy them a drink tonight.  Many props to those in our armed forces.  You allow me to sit in my apartment and write shitty stories and post terrible pictures.  Thanks. 
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Y'all come back now y'hear.