We are gradually emerging from the deep freeze that was the third full week of January. Our temperature this morning was still a single digit. 8°f (-13°c) but at least it was a positive number. The coldest day this week was Wednesday, that started out below my estimate at -5°f (-21°c). Still warmer than at my brother’s house in Iowa, but cold enough for me. Today, we will soar to almost freezing 31°f (-1°c) and tomorrow, we will bust through the barrier and hit 38°f (3°c) — break out the flip-flops. So, David and I are cooling off with an adult beverage as I work my way around Linda G. Hill’s prompt.
Your prompt for #JusJoJan the 25th and Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “in line.” Use it any way you’d like! Enjoy!
SoCS and JusJoJan by Linda G. Hill
If we were having a beer, we’d be laughing about a mistake that I made.
“Good afternoon, Dan. I see you’re glued to your phone. Shopping?”
“No! I’m just checking some basketball scores. Pitt and Iowa State both have games this afternoon.”
“You were pretty quick to dismiss the notion of shopping. I thought you were finishing placing an order.”
“The only order I’m placing is with the gentle giant heading our way.”
“Fee-fi-fo-fum, to bourbon and beer these boys shall succumb.”
“Good one, Curley, and yes, a John Howell’s Bourbon for me and a cold Modelo for my young friend.”
“You know, one of these days, I need to meet this John Howell guy. I’m beginning to wonder if he really exists.”
“Keep trading with Cheryl for one more week and you’ll get your wish.”
“John is coming here, Dan?”
“Well, if he can get that convertible out of the snow in Texas, yes. He’ll be here next week.”
“Okay. Here you go, David, bourbon, seltzer, ice and a few cherries. Dan, here’s that beer.”
“Cheers, Dan. Back to my question, what has you all spun up about orders?”
“I rarely do any shopping on my phone. It’s too small a screen, and too easy to make a mistake.”
“Uh oh, what’d you do?”
“Well, I got this offer from Fandango at Home, you know the movie service formally known as Vudu.”
“Not to be confused with John Howell and Voodoo Ranger.”
“No. Not that Voodoo, or the Voodoo you do so well.”
“Which version, Dan?”
“Which version do you like best?”
“I like Frank Sinatra’s best.”
“That’s the perfect segue into my mistake.”
“I don’t follow you, Dan. Not that that’s a new thing.”
“I got an email from Fandango last week when I was waiting for some takeout food.”
“At Sophia’s? At the bar?”
“Of course. Anyway, this email included a special offer — five movies for fifteen dollars.”
“Any movies?”
“No, you had to pick five from about a hundred on their list. Then you had to drag and drop them in line in a set of five empty squares. ”
“Did you want five of them? I mean, that’s how those sales work, right? They get you to buy some crappy movies because they’re on sale.”
“Yeah, but individual movies are usually ten dollars. Sometimes, they go on sale for five dollars. I figured, if I could find three I liked, it was a good deal.”
“Did you find three?”
“I did, then I looked for two more.”
“What did you get?”
“Fall of the House of Usher.”
“With Vincent Price?”
“Yes!”
“I love that movie. What else?”
“Ocean’s Eleven.”
“Ha! I get it now. You thought you were buying the new one, with George Clooney and Brad Pitt, but you bought the Rat Pack edition.”
“The icons were so small. I couldn’t tell.”
“The Rat Pack…that’s funny. Lemmie see if I can name them. Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., Joey Bishop, and, I always forget. Was it Peter Lorre?”
“Close, Peter Lawford.”
“Did you watch the movie?”
“Yeah, it’s pretty good. Weird seeing the Las Vegas Strip back then. It looked like the pictures in Brad Lewis’ book.”
“Is that what this is all about?”
“Is what what this is all about? I’d throw in an extra ‘what’ but it would be awkward. What is the this?”
“This whole cockamamie story of yours. You’re upset because I borrowed Brad’s book and never gave it back.”
“Actually, I had forgotten about that.”
“Damn.”
All five of my current books are now available in audio book form thanks to Amazon KDP’s Virtual Voice process. The voice is AI generated, but I can honestly say, it’s pretty darn good. The audio books are reasonably priced (all below $7 US) and, if you already own the Kindle version and want to add an audio version, you can do that for $1.99. There is a five-minute sample on the book page for each book. If you’re interested, click on any of the Dreamer’s Alliance book links below the image or on the link below for my latest book.
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