Broil London; 1

Happy Thanksgiving to all.

Logged a lot of miles this week. Produce and meat in the ice and snow on Monday. Took me forty minutes to get from 111 to 120 on I-80 eastbound. Trailer wheels slipped a little. A driver behind me came over the radio. He said we should take it easy. He said we should just get down off the hill in one piece. It's a big hill. At the top reads a sign. Highest point on 80 east of the Mississippi.

Tuesday was Pittsburgh. Snowing down there too. Crossed the Highland Park Bridge three times again. Six stops starting at 0500. Finished up at 1530. Two hours overtime. I like overtime.

Yesterday was produce and meat plus. It's a holiday schedule this week. Everything is subject to change. Got called in two hours earlier than usual for a produce run. Finished up at 1930 hours last night. More overtime.

When I got home they were gone.

My wife and the baby girls went to Jersey to spend Thanksgiving with her father, her sister and her father's girlfriend. They took the older baby girl's car. I have to stay here because I have to work on Friday. I also have to take care of four dogs and two birds.

I will be grilling in the snow today. The sun is out. I'll have to knock the snow off the top of the grill. I have a London Broil. I took it out of the freezer last night. I have some Romain lettuce, onions and a tomato. I also have a six-pack of Molson's in the fridge. Life is good.

I don't mind being alone on Thanksgiving. I'm not really alone. Four dogs and two birds. I miss my family very much. I do know that they are having a real good time. It's good for them. It's good for the girls to spend this time with their mother. It's good for her to spend this time with her family. She needs this.

I think I'm going to write today. The dogs are content, having all been given some outside time and lots of food. The birds are pretty happy too. I've got The Parrot "stepped up" on his perch. The Love Bird is............OOPS!

The Love Bird's cage is uncovered. He's now happily chirping away with fresh food and water. The younger baby girl's Betta fish has been fed as per her written instructions.

When I was up at the "big cooler" on Monday I got a call on my Trac-Fone. The "big cooler" is the perishables facility that the outfit I work for owns. It's about two miles from The Dock. Anyway, it was The Gifted Program Coordinator calling me. We received a notice from the school to schedule a meeting with her sometime in December. It's an annual thing. They need you to sign off on a form that allows your gifted kid to stay in The Gifted Program.

So The Gifted Coordinator tells me we don't have to have the meeting unless we feel like we need to discuss something. She said she could just send the form home and we can sign and return it. I said that's fine. I said that my wife and I know that the younger baby girl is doing well. The Gifted Coordinator starts going on about how well she is doing. The gifted Coordinator tells me that the younger baby girl is her smartest student. She said that the younger baby girl is so far ahead of the other kids, the other gifted kids, that it amazes her. The gifted Coordinator that is.

The Gifted Coordinator said that the younger baby girl is really patient and kind. The Gifted Coordinator said the younger baby girl's circle of friends is a good one. That's something that we know. She does run with a good crew.

If it sounds like I'm bragging. I am. Our girls are our treasures.

So after The Gifted Coordinator is done gushing about how great the younger baby girl is, I ask her this. Can you teach little Miss Einstein to put the phones back on their respective chargers? Can you teach her to put her clean clothes away and pick up her room?

Okay. I don't really ask The Gifted Coordinator those things. I just say thank you very much. I promise to call her if my wife and I feel like we need to. I tell her I don't think we need to because the younger baby girl is doing just fine. The Gifted Coordinator agrees.

I'm going to slide my feet into my slick soled work boots and put on my old Carhardt jacket. I'm going to step out back on the patio and smoke a freshly rolled cigarette. I really do need to get a new pair of boots. No traction left at all on my current pair. That sucks when you have to two-wheel down a ramp from the back of a straight truck. One day about a week ago I slid down a truck ramp with a loaded two-wheeler out in front of me. I didn't lose it. I do need to get myself some new boots.

Coffee and a smoke.

I know I have to quit smoking. My wife and I have discussed it. She will tell me when. She quit already. The whole cancer thing. Smoking does not cause breast cancer. The experts have told us that. Anyone who thinks it does is an idiot. It does not change the fact that she had to quit. The only reason I have not quit yet is because we did that before. We both quit together and it was terrible. We were at each other. I ended up staying at a friends house for a few days. That's how bad it was. This time will be different. When her stress levels have gone down enough, then she will tell me it's time. I'll get the gum.

I'm really going to miss smoking. Maybe one day I'll be able to enjoy a good cigar. I always like a good cigar. I never inhaled a good cigar. It ruins it if you inhale. One of my best memories is enjoying a real Cuban with several cups of black coffee. It was on the deck behind my friends house. We were partners when we were both cops. We went to the academy together. After we put in our rookie time they let us ride together. We worked well as a team.

That Cuban and coffee time came after a real bad night at work. A baby had died. It's never good. No matter how much experience you have. It's never good. A little part of your humanity fades away. I had two of those calls in my time on the job. When you're a cop you're expected to fix the problem. To save the baby. It don't always work out that way.

So that Cuban and coffee time was one of the best not because of what happened the night before. It was the best because of how it helped so very much the day after. We just sat there on his little deck. We didn't talk. We just enjoyed. I know it sounds strange. I can't put it into the right words. It was better than the first time I had a D.O.A. baby call. This is getting too messed up. I'm afraid that someone who reads this will not understand.

If anyone who reads this has lost a child. Or anything like that. Or knows someone who did. I am so very sorry.

Time for me to suck it up. I have my treasures. I can't imagine losing them. I have no reason to..............Oh God why do these things have to happen.

I am so very thankful for my wife and beautiful girls.

Hey Tommy. I'm going to try to right some fiction on my fiction blog. I do mean right. At least on paper you can right some wrongs when you write.......