Five years ago today we took our brother FlaMan out for a birthday lunch. Today! We finally got to do it again. No, covid is not over but a bunch of us braved a visit to a restaurant to celebrate. Of the 10 original siblings, we had the birthday boy, his three living brothers (including the Twinz of Terror), one of his living sisters, her husband, and yer fav-o-rite blahgger.

This was a surprise event, to me, not to the bday boy. The GG scrambled last night, calling around to his siblings trying to round as many as possible up. The GG’s identical twin (the UU) drove down from Gaylord, which is a few hours away. A rocket trip. I got online much earlier than I usually start work this morning, put in for a half-day of vacay, and asked that an important meeting be recorded. I could not miss this!

Everyone was in fine form including FlaMan, who often has difficulty mustering for outings. You never know what he is going to say next and some of the things he says are NSFW and thus NSFB (Not Safe For Blahg). Like you are driving along and he’s telling a story and then he says something that makes you jump in your seat a little and think, “Did he say what I think he just said?” This trip he didn’t say anything NSFW but he did recount a surprising story about sitting in a bar with Trump’s daughters. Trump was sitting at the bar (yes, that Trump) and FlaMan went up to the bar to talk to him. I can only guess this was somewhere in Fla. I know it was well before the Orange Baboon ran for president. I got the definite idea me and FlaMan disagree about the Orange Baboon but I was *fascinated* so I was polite and *mostly* kept my mouth shut. FlaMan doesn’t usually talk about politics so I was surprised when he brought up the subject. Do I think his little story was true? I have no clue. He says a lot of outlandish stuff but he is neither insane nor a liar.

Trips to FlaMan’s place always involve a stop at the grocery store (and usually a stop *before* going up there). When I am with the GG, our modus operandi is that the GG goes inside and I stay in the car in case FlaMan thinks of anything else he needs so I can text it to the GG. Given that some of the requests are repeats (Bud beer, Vernors ginger ale, butter, for a few) I think I am going to start putting them on MY grock list so I can pick them up and they’ll be here for the GG to schlep when he makes a trip up. I dunno if this will work or not. We’ll see…

I love FlaMan. I didn’t know him very well for a long time. When the GG and I “rescued” him from his dilapidated trailer in Fla a few years ago (pre-COVID), I got to know him a lot better during our three-day drive back to the Great Lake State. (I call that our LSD Trip – it featured a U-Haul trailer, a dog, oxygen in a couple different forms, and Hurricane Michael.) FlaMan has a different way of looking at the world than a lot of people do but he is highly intelligent and I have become a big fan. I don’t even care if he likes the Orange Baboon🤣. I would be kinda surprised if he votes…

Johnny’s Pour House was very accommodating and kind and the food was good. I had my eye on a Greek wrap but they specialize in burgers so I tried the black and blue and was not disappointed.

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