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Hooray for the Olive Garden! - 14 March 2003 . 11:54 On this day in North Carolina: 1862: Union forces occupy New Bern, their first conquest on the North Carolina mainland. 1919: Professor Frederick Koch's Carolina Playmakers debut with a trio of short plays in the Chapel Hill High School auditorium. Leading the bill: The Return of Buck Gavin, a Tragedy of the Mountain People written by Thomas Woolfe, who also plays the part of Buck. Among Professor Koch's other notable early students: Paul Green, Jonathan Daniels, and Francis Gray (Patton). By 1928, Brooks Atkinson of the New York Times will write that "what Professor Koch has accomplished, not only in Chapel Hill, but through the state, is nothing short of extraordinary." 1938: In a brief ceremony at the Square, Charlotte decommissions its last electric trolley car, No. 85, while welcoming the bus age. "This is not a funeral," says the Reverend Luther Little of First Baptist Church, "but a resurrection marking the beginning of a new and better method of transportation that keeps time with the march of progress." Less than 50 years later, however, many Charlotteans will be nostalgic enough about their old trolleys to begin discussing proposals for the modern equivalent: light rail. In 1987, after a three year search for an original Charlotte trolley car to restore (many wound up as far away as Bogota, Columbia) No. 85 will be discovered only a few miles away from its old route. It had served first as an Air National Guard office, then as a snack bar, and finally as a low-rent dwelling. Yesterday my sister came to my house with the objective of finding a serving job nearby. Her current job would be perfect if not for one small flaw....the money. She can wait a table of 6 people, be run nearly to death by their incessant whining for drinks, etc., and what does she get for a tip? $4...or less. Yes, the City of Kinston, NC, will hereby and forever be reknowned for its pathetically cheap tippers and rude dining habits. So, we get to my house, look up the Olive Garden in the phone book to find out what road its on and lo and behold the address revealed the place is on a road I can actually find in "the city." We pile in my car, roll down the windows because it's such a beautiful Carolina day, and make tracks for Fayetteville. Get to the restaurant, she goes in while I sit in the car because I was not fit to be seen in public, and about 10 minutes later she comes out all smiley and happy. It took us almost 40 minutes for the drive; it took her 10 minutes to get the job! YIPPEE!! HOORAY!! Now she has to quit her current job and she'll be spreading the Hospitaliano once again! And staying with me, to boot! I'm happy as a pig in shit that she'll be making more money and I'll be getting to see her more often!! But that's not ALL the good news... Wednesday my Mom had an interview at my workplace for a job in purchasing. It's a number crunching, high paced job...the very sort she excels in handling. The interview lasted an hour and I have a very good feeling she will get the job...if so, this will mean all of my family is together once again. Mom and my sister will be out of the God-forsaken city of Kinston, they'll both be making more money and life in general will be good. I love it when a plan comes together. In the interim, Mom is being moved back to 3rd shift (boo!) working in a place that is far, far beneath her intellect and skill (boo!) but will be given a $1 per hour raise beginning Monday. (yay) Last night, around 11 pm, the bottom fell out and it was raining to beat the band. Unfortunately, my car window was all the way down. I have power windows and for some reason when I returned home, when it was still sunny and warm, the stupid thing would not work. I couldn't roll the window up! At that time I was not too worried because it didn't seem as if rain was on the horizon. Now my car (driver seat, backseat, 1/2 of the passenger seat, console, floor panel, etc.) is DRENCHED. And the window STILL won't go up....
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