The Usual

I worked the first shift at McDonald's in 1990 (6:00am to 2:00pm), and several of the customers during those hours were regulars. Some senior citizens enjoyed free coffee and free newspapers each morning. Some of them would buy one thing (cost less than 75 cents) to go with their free coffee - either a biscuit or an English muffin. Some of my customers would walk up to the counter and ask for "the usual," which made me realize I needed to memorize what their "usual" was. I've never frequented any restaurant often enough to expect any serve to know what my "usual" is even though there are some places I always order the same thing (ex. at Dunkin Donuts my choice is egg and cheese on an everything bagel), but when it comes to getting my haircut, if I have been going to the same hair stylist for a period of months or years, then I might ask for "the usual." A month ago I started wanting to get my hair cut, but in order to save money I decided I shouldn't go more than 3 times a year so I told

myself to wait one more month as the last time I got a haircut was in early May. The hairstylist I have been going to answered the phone yesterday, and I asked for an appointment with her, but it seems she didn't hear the "with her" part of my request. When I showed up today only one stylist was present, a new one I had never met. So I scrambled to think of how to explain how I wanted my hair cut because "the usual" means nothing to someone you've never seen before. It might turn out to be a blessing though because the woman I had been going to was very, very slow. This woman today took less than half the time the other one takes, and considering I walk into the salon with three children, taking a shorter amount of time is appreciated, if I am still happy with the haircut.

Tonight the kids and I went to church, which is not something we usually do on a Friday night. Our church occasionally has Friday night services. The new youth pastor and his wife shared some of their testimonies. She was born and raised in a small village in Thailand that had no electricity and her family sacrificed chickens and pigs in their worship of ancestors. Her story is quite amazing. She and her husband met when he was on a missions trip in Thailand when she was 18. We are usually at church on Sunday mornings, but we won't be this Sunday due to visiting Antietam. The rest of 2019 we don't have any plans that should keep us away from church on a Sunday morning, but when I realized we'd be down that way for the Uprise music festival and it's also the anniversary weekend of the battle at Antietam (and we're studying the Civil War right now) it seemed to be a good plan. I'm hoping it doesn't rain too much tomorrow considering it's an outdoor music festival. Nadia and I are getting in free as we're passing out brochures for Compassion (trying to find sponsors for kids).

Since we've been studying the states of matter this week in science, we made some Non-Newtonian liquid today (aka cornstarch mixed with water). Nadia took the first two pictures in the post, and I took the last two. Photography is one of her subjects in school this year.