Celebratory Dinner at... Denny's

I figured that Hawk would want to go out for dinner yesterday after getting her cast replaced with a boot that lets her walk better. I thought that would likely mean one of her favorite sit-down restaurants, Vive Sol or La Fiesta, or perhaps her favorite fast-casual place with great guacamole, Speedy's Tacos. Instead she announced yesterday evening, "I want pancakes. We could go to IHOP, or Denny's, or...."

I suggested we try IHOP if only because I ate at Denny's about 2 years ago and haven't been to an IHOP in possibly 10 years so it'd at least be a newer experience. But alas the nearest IHOPs are a few towns away, and in evening rush hour traffic the novely wasn't worth the commute. One of the remaining Denny's is just 1.5 miles away. So Denny's it was!



I went into Denny's with low expectations. Hawk wanted pancakes, and I figured they'd do a decent job of that. Eggs, too. But I didn't want breakfast all day. Heck, I don't even want breakfast food at breakfast hour. (I hate the taste of eggs and regard pancakes as carbs-and-sugar bombs my blood sugar level does not need.) I figured there may not be much else on the menu except for burgers anymore.

I wound up ordering a pot roast sandwich. It was small though came with a huge portion of fries filing out the plate. The meat on the sandwich was surprisingly tender. Hawk was surprised at how fast it was ready. I wasn't.... I figure it came in a boil-in bag from Sysco.

Toward the end of dinner Hawk's medications started hitting her pretty hard. She was feeling a bit dizzy and rested her head on the table. "It's good we went to Denny's," she quipped. "They're accustomed to people passed out with their faces on the table."

Hallow-Whatnow?

Tonight is Halloween. Or as I've called it recently, Hallow-whatnow?

I don't celebrate. And not only don't I celebrate, but fewer and fewer people around me celebrate. Oh, the stores are all festooned with "PLeAsE GiVe uS MoNeY!11!" holiday decorations as early as August. But as I do less and less shopping in stores I'm visually assaulted with such things less and less. Plus, by the start of October Christmas decorations are already displacing Halloween decorations even as Halloween is still 4 weeks away. 🤣

Like I said, though, fewer people in my orbit celebrate. Halloween is a nonevent in our neighborhood. We're a townhouse community, so few people living here have kids, and those who do have kids have mostly younger kids— mostly too young to go trick-or-treating. And those who do have kids also tend to bundle them into their luxury SUVs and take them to carefully controlled parties. Most of them never play in the community any of the other 364 days of the year... why would their parents suddenly feel it's safe to let them walk around in the dark and knock on doors tonight?

Even my company hasn't done anything for Halloween the past few years. In the past we'd have a small costume contest. Small, as in only a few people would participate. But at least there was something. Or a few people would act on their own to dress in costumes, and it would be amuse to see them on videoconferences. This year there was nothing. No contests, no announcements, no funny surprises on camera.

I've always been a bit "Bah, humbug!" about holiday celebrations but this year it's disappointing there's been basically nothing.