Happy Independence Day!

• When I was a kid, we enjoyed July 4 with Black Cats, bottle rockets, roman candles, whizzers, sparklers, and, uh, 'chasers'.  I probably haven't purchased any fireworks personally in over 30 years.
• I used to enjoy organized displays, but kinda like the circus blogger, it's become a bit of a beat down.  My favorite fireworks watching experience was two or three years ago near Panther Island.  Daughter and I decided we didn't want to be part of the throng of humanidad within the event confines, so we watched the display from atop our SUV in the parking field at the intersection of Henderson and White Settlement. 

Watching fireworks

• Went to downtown Mt. Pilot last week for an interview on my day off.  I got there early, only to realize I'd left my change in the pocket of my shorts at home, so I scrounged four quarters from the cup holder for the meter.  After walking the block and-a-half to my destination, I asked them if they could make change for the meter (they didn't have any petty cash), and was also told the meters won't allow 'stacking' after their initial feeding.  Then, the nice lady told me about the 'pay stations' that dispense stickers to affix to the window, using a debit/credit card (which I had used years ago but forgotten about).  So I purchased a longer period with my card and put it on the window, feeling like a doofus because I'd wasted a dollar in the meter.
• The interview was a 3 person panel affair.  I enjoy panel interviews, but was a bit surprised that it would take 3 people to screen candidates for the position I was seeking.  At the end, I answered the obligatory query "Do you have any questions for us?" by asking "Yes, when do I start?", to learn that that was just the first round - if I passed, there will be another interview.  Hope to hear something tomorrow or Wednesday.
• I felt like a doofus again when I got back to the car and remembered the coin dispenser under the console armrest that had an adequate supply of quarters.
• No, I don't think memory is an important issue for the job I'm seeking.
• The markets see to have recovered from their collective Brexit-induced hiccup, as one surmised they would.
• Saturday I drove to Mayberry in the same ZIP code as Deloitte for something.  Along the way, I passed a pasture with both rectangular bales and round bales awaiting haul-off.  The pasture was not abnormally shaped so far as I could tell, so it made me wonder if it's common to bale in both formats in the same field?
• When I was about fourteen or fifteen, I learned that the best job in hay hauling was to drive the GMC flatbed (even if it lacked A/C).  Sweating in the Kansas sun and dust atop the deck wrassling those bales as they came up the escalator was not so much fun as you would expect, so I decided after a pasture or two that my knuckle dragging cousins would be better suited for those roles, and Gramps allowed it.

A pretty close approximation of  Gramps' hay hauler, 'cept his was blue 

with faded lettering from Caney Valley Lumber Company, its prior owner.

• I wonder where that old truck is today.  If somehow fate reunited us, I'd restore it to its original CVLC livery, and drive it in parades.
• The guest pastor yesterday made an aside that saying 'two' Corinthians isn't necessarily wrong or a sign of Biblical illiteracy, and is apparently even common in England.  It was kind of a funny moment.
• Later in the sermon, discussing the Declaration of Independence, I could almost imagine that we're close to a point of making a second such declaration.  Almost.
• A few times today, I wondered what terrorist calamity I would see on the news tonight.  Looks like most were outside the U.S..