October 10, 2008 Memphis, TN

Tune had bought himself a Cadillac, and I got a chance to look at it when I drove over to his house to pick him up to go to lunch. It was a 1993 DeVille, and it needed some work, but it was a beautiful car nonetheless. We headed back out to Skimo's in Cordova, and tried one of their pizzas this time. It was like a replay of the week before, as the stock-market was taking another dive on this Friday, with the government running out of ideas to stop the collapse. I swung Tune by his job so he could pick up his paycheck, and then I drove down to High Point Coffee to buy a couple of pounds of coffee. Since the weather was so nice, after I dropped Tune back off at his house, I drove to Charlie's Meat Market and bought a couple of filet mignons to grill outside, and then went to Kroger to get the necessary items for our cookout. This time I marinated the steaks in a Jack Daniels mesquite marinade in a bag, and the steaks came out tasting delicious.

October 3, 2008 Memphis, TN

Now that our company was on a four-day schedule, I had Friday off, so I called up Tune C, who didn't have to be in to work until 4 PM, and we headed out to lunch at a new restaurant in Cordova that I had heard about, called Skimo's. The place was at Houston Levee Road and Macon, and featured a wood-fired oven for pizzas, as well as five flat-screen TVs. I ordered a ciabatta burger, which was quite good, but the TV screens were full of the shocking stock-market crash that occurred even after Congress had passed a bailout bill. From there, we headed over to the new Cafe Eclectic on McLean across from Snowden Middle School, where I ordered a Viennese capuccino. This place features coffees, or course, but also fabulous breakfasts, burgers, gelatos and homemade desserts. Later in the afternoon, I drove over to Wellworx health club and completed my membership, and by that time, it was time for dinner. I was so impressed by Skimo's that I suggested that my mother and I try it again for dinner, so we did, and this time I ordered a shrimp po-boy. Like the burgers, it too came on ciabatta bread, which was a little unusual, but very good. In the evening, the Sanctuary Jazz Orchestra had a rehearsal at Johnny Yancey's house, so I drove over there, and we finished with that about 9:30 or so, getting ready for our performance Saturday at the Bartlett Performing Arts Center.