A candlelit dinner it wasn’t.

We sat in a parking lot of a KFC, both with an individual box of chicken fingers, a biscuit and a side. Our iced teas rested in the cupholders between us. Napkins waited on the dashboard.

A quick trip to Asheville for a project. We camped in the RV, walked the dogs morning and night, and handled business needs during the day. Time was limited so meals had to be quick—fast food met the requirement. Bojangles. Firehouse Subs. KFC.

The fast-food joints we used offered drive-through windows or take-out, but no indoor dining. Not that we’ve eaten inside a restaurant for months. Here in Murrells Inlet, the temperature stays warm enough to eat outside on decks and porches. Mostly. Heaters required some nights, but many restaurants do that.

But not the places we went to in Asheville, so we ate meals in the car.

As anti-social as it sounds, the meals were a shared experience. Car after car drove through the line, picked up meals, and parked in spaces (leaving at least a space in between for automobile social distancing). Drivers and passengers ate in relative comfort, nodding at those in the surrounding cars.

Almost a year has passed since the shutdowns hit our area. It’s been a strange time with many strange experiences. Parking lot gourmet is just one more.

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Books I’m Reading

Dylan Moran’s life has been filled with dramatic, life-changing moments, like seeing his father murder his mother and commit suicide when he was only 13. A decade later, his opportunity for a happy life shatters when he drives his car off the road into a river, killing his fiancee. Struggling to save her, he sees a man standing on the riverbank—and realizes he’s seeing himself. Drowning in grief, he meets a psychiatrist who claims he is her patient and that she believes in alternate universes, perhaps places where the things that happened to Dylan ended differently. He could dismiss this craziness if he hadn’t run into his doppelgänger again, a man who claims he is here “to kill.”

Amazon affiliate links result in a small commission to me, though they have no impact on your pricing.

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Interesting Links

Webtoon acquires Wattpad—Naver, the South Korean parent company of Webtoon, has acquired Wattpad. Interesting combination since Webtoon specializes in visual story telling and Wattpad in written words. Naver has deep pockets as Korea’s largest information technology company, so I’m curious where they take this.

Square cancels services to Columbia Booksellers—Columbia Booksellers and Variety Store operates inside the California State Park system’s Columbia State Historic Park and online selling books, memorabilia, and replica guns (that don’t fire) consistent with the theme of the park. The California State Park system confirms all of their products are approved via the concessions contract. Square abruptly canceled their services which disabled the store’s point-of-sale and supporting systems for violating their Terms of Service around firearms. The store closed for a period of time as they installed a replacement system, a tough blow in an already difficult economic time, but has reopened. They are working to reopen their online sales in March. Square was founded by and is largely owned by Jack Dorsey, the CEO of Twitter.

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Gratuitous Dog Picture

The sun may barely be over the horizon, but Typhoon reminds Roscoe it’s never too early for games. I remind both of them I haven’t had my coffee yet.

Background title image courtesy John Matychuk via Unsplash