First Friday Freestyles

It is the first Friday of the New Year.

I feel like I should be doing something special today. But it is cold outside. And it is raining. And that means I am not gonna be running these mean streets today.

Now I can handle the cold. I can even handle the rain. But both together? No ma'am. No sir.

Tomorrow will be much nicer. Sunshine for three days straight. But the bad news is that this is the end of "Staycation". I have to go to work on Monday, even in the midst of a gubment shutdown.

So I am still being held hostage. But I am a hostage that moves around and possibly gets a paycheck.

I still have the hostage look on my face, though.

You know, I just want it to be over, where everything goes back to normal. I do not want to go back to work with 10 people being in the building versus some 200 people in the building, the normal amount. It is just terrible. And I have been passively looking at the news, which needs to stop. Sometimes we just need a break, where we replace the emotionally draining craziness of the news with something positive. And I think that will be my goal this weekend. That will be my goal this SUNNY weekend.

I have much to do. I need a new battery for Pam the Protégé. The battery is dead. Oh yes, I tried to jump her off.

I jumped her and let here idle for some 20 minutes. I turned her off... and she would not crank back up. Alas, I need a new battery. It would be good to take that dead battery out, take it to the auto parts store, switch out for a new battery, and bring it back home. But I do not know right off hand where my tools are to do this. (I am sure they are around. I just rarely use tools, and I am not sure where I should look first).

My sister called the other day and said, "Lisa, batteries are expensive now. I thought they were $59.99. What happened?"

"It is called inflation, girl," I responded. "Pam's battery is $110, and Lucy Jr.'s battery is over $200. You and I are thinking of 1999 prices, because we rarely buy batteries."

Inflation is something else, ain't it?
I am thankful that I can go get a new battery. I just hope that is the only issue. Most likely it is.

I can purchase a slab of ribs from my favorite rib spot for $28. I found this out when I went to get a couple of slabs of ribs for a family gathering on my father's side a couple of months ago. I asked the cashier why they were so expensive?

"The last time I bought a slab, they were $14.95."

"How long ago was that?" she asked as she rang up my order.

"The year 1992."

*blink blink*

Both she and I had a GREAT laugh behind that one. That was funny.

Yes, the prices of those ribs have gone up in the last 26 years. Go figure.

What is interesting is that we do not notice these things. It is so SUBTLE. And that's the way it has to be done.

Song of the week. My favorite song is by one of my neighborhood rappers JID. *throws up eastside Atlanta gang signs*. The song is titled "Off the Zoinkys".

Sorry, I could not track down a clean version. OH WELL.



That song is probably the most interesting appeal of "Just Say No" to drugs that I have heard in awhile. I love the production and beat structure too. Good song. Lay off the xans and lean and the cigarettes, ya'll. Mind needs to be clear, because we are a long way from Decatur, ya'll.

Right on.

And you know I like to go look up the samples. This song samples "I'm so Grateful" by the Crowns of Glory.



This song makes me see how FAR urban gospel music has come. This song is not shined up. It definitely sounds like something my Grandma would have listened to back in the day. Good song, though! They did snatch a lot for the sample.

That is it for freestyle Fridays!

I think on this cold rainy Friday I will take a lesson from Big Mitch.

Lay out for the rest of the day.

Big Mitch knows how to relax and lay out, even if he's showing all his bizness. He does not care.

Sounds like a good plan, though. I have much reading to do, and I will be up early on Saturday morning so that I can get out and run the streets on a sunny day!

In other words, I'm gonna have a good weekend. You have a good one too.

On purpose!