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I'm
remembering when we were youngly married and living in Camp Springs,
MD. I
had a good job, but we were house poor, and every nickel counted.
On payday we'd treat ourselves to a PAPPY's PIZZA
. Sundays
were
dinner at my parent's, and we'd both search the crevices of couches
and chairs for loose change. Every once in a awhile we'd hit the
mother lode; enough lootage for the Ranch Drive-In with a six-pack of
Natty Boh ($2.10 total).
One killer thing was when the military got a
pay raise. We shopped at the Food Fair, just outside the main
gate of
Andrews AFB. We had already noted that at the end of the month, when
they received their pay, that prices on everything rose, and nothing
was on sale for a few days. The gummint pay raise soldered the food
hike permanently. We, unfortunately, did not get a corresponding hike,
and it hurt
Once, with a visit from my in-laws pending, we had to
float a loan from HFC in order to put on a feed for them. The big
Sunday dinner featured a sirloin tip cooked on the charcoal grill. I
had
it marinating in a bowl on the drive-way, but when I went out to get it
the sumbitch was gone! I had an inkling, and sure enough found
Boomer,
our German Shepherd, crouched way in the back of the yard with
it.
Fortunately I'd discovered it before Boomer had time to do much damage.
After furtively looking at windows, and finding nobody watching, I
hosed it down and went forward [actual picture above]. It was as
I remember, delicious. Dog saliva enzymes are good tenderizer.
We now, once again, find ourselves in a
local economy ruled by government paychecks, which are quite generous
in these parts. With inflation looming
already here, and once again finding ourselves with a fixed income, I
see - as
Yogi Berra once observed - deja-vu all over again. No more
parent's
couch though. Did you ever see Fun With Dick and Jane?
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Dude, I'm way ahead of you. You wear the wig.
ReplyDeleteCasca
I worked near Andrews for a few years and would sometimes shop at that Food Fair on Allentown Road. I learned from some Air Force guys that's where the Air Force One chefs buy the food to serve on board. I'd have thought that they would have had some super secret place to buy it.
ReplyDeleteTom Mann
That's the very Food Fair I spoke of. Our next door neighbor was one of two AF-1 pilots; what stories he told us! Directly across the street lived an AF pilot who flew an executive jet that ferried big shots around - even better stories. Next to him lived the White House chef, who had us - the whole family and in-laws to the White House for a dinner in the executive dining room. The chairs had brass tags on them; I sat in Henry Kissenger's. Wish I'd saved the silverware I stole. (kidding)
ReplyDeleteYou should'a taken the silverware Rodge. It now adorns the Clinton table.....
ReplyDelete10! B
ReplyDeleteMy best friend in high schools father was in the secret service , and had a pool pass for Andrews . One afternoon after we had finished terrorizing the pool we took a ride around the base , and wound up on the flight line . We were just standing beside the pickup truck smoking cigarettes , and watching the jets when several trucks full of very unhappy men with M-16's came screeching up ! We were escorted to the main gate , and never got to go swimming again : ) SMIBSID
ReplyDeleteWhen I was in the Naval Reserve, I used to do my two weeks training at the Navy complex in Suitland. Some years I had to stay at the Navy BOQ at Andrews.
ReplyDeleteOne evening, I went out for a walk. I came to a double chain link fence, with nothing but dirt in between - no grass, no trees, no stones nothing. As I walked along, I saw a hangar with a 707 in it, with the US logo. Obviously, it was the plane used for Air Force One. Shortly thereafter, a Security Force jeep pulled up and asked for my ID. I asked them if I was in a restricted area. They said "Not now". How the h*ll do you just wander into a restricted area if there are no signs? (There were signs on the fence, but I was outside the fence.)