It’s Saturday, I am at the bar, waiting for David. He’s usually the early one. Oh well, when he get’s here, we will relax with a few adult beverages and some carefree banter as we weave our way around Linda G. Hill’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt.
“Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is ‘up/down.’ Use one, use them both, but try to put one in your first sentence. Bonus points if you use the other in your last sentence. Have fun!”
Bonus points? Linda knows how to get my attention. I better take care of the introduction up here, above that critical first sentence – if we were having a beer, you’d be late, but you would have a good reason.
“David, what’s up with you? You’re normally here waiting for me.”
“I decided to let you open the tab today, Dan.”
“Come on, you know I was planning to pay today. Why are you late?”
“I had to finish Teagan’s Delta Pearl finale – it was longer than normal, but I couldn’t stop reading – so good!”
“Well then, let’s toast the end of the journey for that wonderful riverboat. Cheryl, give the old man a nice pour of John Howell’s Bourbon, and the cherries are on me.”
“Coming right up Dan.”
“Um, Dan…”
“Yes David?”
“The bourbon is on you, too, right? I mean you’re not just buying me the cherries are you?”
“It’s all on me. And if you want some food later, I’ll spring for that was well.”
“Phew.”
“Here you go, one glass of bourbon, three cherries, a snifter of seltzer and a glass of ice.”
“Thanks Cheryl. Cheers, Dan.”
“Cheers David.”
“Did you have a nice Father’s Day last week, Dan?”
“I did, but I’m going to have a nice one tomorrow, too.”
“Huh? What country celebrates Father’s Day tomorrow?”
“None that I know of. I was on antibiotics last week – you know, limited or no alcohol – Faith and I are going to celebrate tomorrow.”
“As good a reason as any, plus you miss the crowds.”
“Yeah and avoiding crowds these days still feels like a good thing to do.”
“These days? Dan, avoiding the crowd is why we always meet here at three o’clock.”
“Ok, ok, so we can’t blame everything on the pandemic.”
“What are you going to do to celebrate tomorrow?”
“We’re going to tour Old Newgate Prison.”
“Is that the one that’s in the old copper mine?”
“Yes. They completed renovations on the site two years ago. We were going to go last year for Father’s Day, but…”
“Ha! The ‘we were going to’ file for twenty-twenty is pretty thick. I have a few items in there myself.”
“Well, this should be a good day to take the tour.”
“Speaking of renovations, Dan, how’s your workshop coming?”
“It’s coming along nicely. I’m working on the worst segment.”
“What makes it so bad?”
“My lathe, two cabinets and a sixty-gallon compressor.”
“I take it those aren’t some of the things you have on wheels.”
“The lathe will soon be on wheels; the cabinets can be moved with a hand truck. The compressor – well, that’s a different story.”
“How much does the lathe weigh?”
“About two hundred and fifty pounds.”
“Dan, if I might ask, how do you get it up in order to get the wheels under it?”
“I lift it with my crane, of course.”
“Of course. Why didn’t I think of that? Is that how you’ll move the compressor?”
“No, David. I can’t move the compressor very much. It’s wired into a dedicated two-twenty-volt circuit, and it’s plumbed into a steel air line that runs through the shop.”
“How will you get new flooring under it, Dan?”
“It will have to do the north-south-east-west wiggle.”
“That sounds like a dance from the sixties.”
“Almost. I’ll tip it to the north, shove a piece of flooring under it, then repeat to the south. Then, east and west two put a second layer under to get it up to the required height.”
“Sounds intriguing. Good luck with that.”
“You boys need another round?”
“We do, Cheryl.”
“Any food?”
“David looks like he needs some wings.”
“Those will be just the thing to settle the rumble in my stomach.”
“Here you go. Fresh bourbon, a cold Corona and some fresh lime. I’ll get those wings in right away.”
“Thanks Cheryl.”
“Cheers Dan, and I hope you enjoy your trip down into the mineshaft tomorrow.”
