Greg's General Store

Did you ever have one of those light bulb moments? When all of the little independent thoughts finally align and out of it comes a common theme or idea. Such a moment occurred for me this morning as I busily got ready for work. Ironically this came at a opportune moment and fell in line with what I planned on posting today. I will tell you more about the idea that came to me at the end of this post so let me get right to my story for the day. We had a boat when I was growing up. It was a 21ft “Classic” with a 115hp Mercruiser engine. It sat beside the house under the chinaberry tree because there wasn’t room in our garage with all of Dad’s “treasures” in there. Because of this, it usually took a day of cleaning to get it ready to use. We only used it a few times a year and more time was spent cleaning and repairing it than fishing in it. If you are a boat owner, you know that the worst thing you can do to a boat is not use it. Ours was no exception. It was prone to breaking down. When ...

Do you ever wonder what is up around the bend? Do you ever sit and ponder what lies ahead in your life? I do. Sometimes I wish I knew what tomorrow will bring but then after I give it some thought I realize that it is best not to know. I mean it could be something bad and I would hate to waste today thinking about something bad that was going to happen tomorrow. I think most people would agree. This is especially true since it is such a nice day today. Instead we live our lives for today and wait for that “tomorrow train” to arrive. But like any train ride, we have to be ready for it. Tomorrow will be here soon enough and if we are not ready then it might just pass us by. Also we want to make sure the train we are waiting for is the right one. “Wrong station” The other day, I was driving home after a day’s work, taking an alternate route through a bad part of town and I stopped at a stoplight. Ahead I saw a young woman walking my way. She was smiling and waving at all the cars passing ...

Well we made it through another weekend. To tell the truth is was a great one despite the weather. Lots of good things happened. Here they are: We voted. We got DSL. We went to dinner and had a nice meal. We got some work done around the house. I finished repairs on my boat and the test run went great. We had a great service in Church. I fixed home made chicken soup. The family is all happy and healthy. I am sure there is lots more but I don't want to bore you. I have a great post for Tuesday. It will be funny but also contain a hidden meaning. Don't you just hate that? Happy Monday, Greg Wait hold the phone, I almost forgot. I got a raise this morning after only being here 4 months. ( I was going to say yea me but instead I will say Thank you God. )

I love my coffee. There is nothing like starting the day with a nice hot cup of coffee. Sunday coffee is especially nice though. On Sunday mornings I can sit quietly and enjoy my coffee without all the distractions of the world around me. I can slowly sip it and savor every precious moment. It's just me and my coffee. I have loved coffee for as long as I can remember. My Grandmother Lottie first let me taste it. Her real name was Carlotta but everyone called her Lottie. I called her Grandma Lottie. She would sit in her tiny kitchen, reading the paper every morning and sip her coffee. She drank it strong and black. She would only make one cup though because she believed in moderation. On weekends, I would drop by and visit her. She would offer me breakfast but I usually declined because I knew she didn't have much and I didn't want to take what little she had. On mornings that I said yes though, she would make a small batch of pancakes for me. She would make them from scratc...

Breaking news: South Carolina is under attack. We survived the first surge of attackers but a second wave is now upon us. No it’s not a foreign country with weapons of mass destruction. This is something more deadly and underhanded. Yes I am talking about politicians and special interest groups. They are invading our homes and lives with a barrage of advertising in hopes of swaying our vote. Fortunatly, in a few days the Democrats will back off just as the Republicans did but be ready. There will be a third round. The first problem I have with all these ads is the way they say them. “The American people want……” or “We want…….”. They presume that because a group got together with a common interest, all Americans feel the same way. Bad assumption! “We” often don’t agree with their opinion. In many cases “they” are a minority but want you to believe that joining their cause makes you part of a majority so you should jump on the wagon or be left out in the cold. Think for yourselves peo...

We are having a heat wave today. The weather man said is was 48 this morning when I got up. I tried to watch the news but it was full of bad news and I wanted to start my day out on a positive note so I switched back to the weather channel. Not to dwell on the bad news, but what makes an actor so special that they take top billing over other things that happen in the world. Not to take anything away from them but they are a human being just like the rest of us. I am sure thousands of people died yesterday. Any accidental death is tragic in my book. It's funny how 48 feels so nice after a few days in the 20's. We got more rain this morning too so we are above normal on Wadmalaw Island. No drought here. I really love the rain. It is so cleansing. And speaking of cleansing, I finished book #1. Yea me. Ok I know I am a slow reader. I enjoyed Genesis although there was a lot of violence and adult content. On to Exodus. Sorry no fishing today. You know you can't fish in the rain....

As I slip and slide on my trail to having a better body, I decided to take a look at where I have been and where I am going. Up until I was a junior in high school, I was short and plump or “husky” as my mother used to say. No sense sugar coating it. I was fat. Then sometime during that year, I began growing taller and before I knew it, I was almost 6 ft tall and hadn’t gained an ounce. I was also in great shape and was finally satisfied with my body and knew this was where I would stay for the rest of my life. Yea right! Now fast forward to the present day. I Have since grown a half inch taller and put on a few pounds. Ok maybe a few more than a few. I am now overweight again. I have tried everything in the book to lose weight too. Most things work to some degree but it all comes down to will power. The basic answer to my or anyone’s weight problem is simple. ”Eat less”. I can use whatever excuses I want but eating more got me where I am today so eating less is what will get me bac...