Good Bye Little Tavern!!

On April 29th, 2008, the last Little Tavern Shop closed it's doors on Holabird Avenue in Baltimore, MD.

A "Little" History:

*The Little Tavern Shop chain was founded in 1927 in Kentucky , by Henry F. Duncan who relocated to Washington, D.C., in 1928, where he opened a Little Tavern Shop in 814 E Street NW.

*The chain once grew into many locations. By 1939, there were 21 in Washington, D.C., and 50 in the Baltimore-Washington area.

*The stores were very small with only a few seats (mostly countertop stools). The majority of their business was take-out.

*The slogan of the chain was "Buy 'em by the bag". Outside signs advertised "Cold drinks * Good Coffee."

*The owner of the last Little Tavern, closed his restaurant due to his declining health. He hopes that new Little Taverns could open through a licensing agreement. (That would be great).

I personally did not have the means to "grow up" around Little Tavern, as the closest one wasn't so near to my home. I did, however, visit the Laurel, MD, location a few times and bought myself a bag of burgers. My Nana (who I miss so much) said once that she would like to go to a Little Tavern again and have some of the teeny burgers. When my Nana was in the hospital dying, I took a picture of the Laurel Little Tavern and brought it to her. I had told her that I took the picture of the Little Tavern just for her and when she gets better I will bring some burgers to her. She never opened her eyes to see the picture, and we never had the burgers together. She passed away shortly after.

On a personal note, I am very sad that the Laurel location is no longer in operation. I understand that the former Little Tavern in Laurel, MD is now called the "Laurel Tavern" which re-opened at the same location January 4, 2008. I went to look for it last weekend (as they say the exterior of the restaurant hasn't changed much), but was unsuccessful. I read that Laurel Tavern serves the familiar tiny burgers, now called "Famous Little Burgers", for lunch and dinner. I will try again soon (after I Mapquest it) on my next trip to Annapolis!

Why is it so expensive to live??

So, I work hard for my money. Most people do. I cannot understand why the economy is so bad now that it costs too much to just, well, live?

For example:

Gas for the car: I 10 years ago bought my first brand new car (and the only one to date, mind you). I bought a Ford Explorer, which as you all know is an SUV (a.k.a. Gas Guzzler). To fill up my gas tank, it costs me about $73.00. When I bought it, it cost me only $35.00.

Cable TV and Internet: This is a must have, not so much the cable TV, as I try to refrain from getting sucked into the TV vortex.....but my glorious cable internet I simply cannot live without. Remind me of that when I live in my cardboard box! (I betcha i'll still have my laptop and some WiFi somewhere).

Food: It costs so much to eat right. Seriously. I eat poorly (Hamburger Helper, Spaghetti, Tacos) because they are cheaper. HH was just on sale at the local Martins for 10/$10.00!!! The spaghetti sauce I buy is $1.19 (it used to be only $1.00, but it too went up). Taco Dinner mix, $2.50. Now if I were to buy some healthy alternatives like fresh fruit and veggies, we are talking an outrageous fortune! Milk is almost $4.00 a gallon now. I don't have that kind of money. Therefore, the carbs are glued to my butt and I feel like crap. So, any suggestions? It costs less to eat at McDonald's every night than to buy groceries. (I could live on the Sweet Tea alone).

Water, Sewer, Gas, Electric: All this on top of the other, and YES, it too has gone up. Especially water and sewer after all that Hamburger Helper I have been eating ha-ha-ha(TMI!).

Entertainment: The price of going to the movies is $8.50, add small popcorn, candy and a drink and your up to around $50.00! (Well, darn near!). Here is my solution to that: Movie rental boxes are now in the grocery store for $1.00 a night and grab a 12 pack of no-name-brand soda while you are there, then go to the dollar store and buy microwave popcorn and candy. You've spent $10.00 with tax. My yarn habit isn't too expensive. Thanks to 40% off coupons at Jo-Ann's, A.C.Moore and Michaels. Sometimes great yarn and some knitting needles or crochet hooks is all that is needed for entertainment.

Car Insurance, Mortgage, phone bill(s): Well there goes the rest of my money. I don't have any health insurance to speak of.

So, how is there money for anything else in life? I don't have any kids either! Lord forbid something would ever come up as an emergency (sickness, car repair, home repair), I don't know what I'd do. Why does it have to be like this?

I once looked into getting assistance from the Department of Social Services. I am single and working with no children. I was advised that I should quit my job and claim disability (for my depression) and then they (Social Services) would be able to help me. I cannot get cash assistance because I work. I cannot get Utility Assistance because I have no children at the home. I cannot get medical assistance because I am not on disability or over the age of 65. I don't know if I would be eligible for Food Stamps because they take your monthly income and subtract your mortgage and utilities and decide if you can live on the leftovers. They do not consider your car insurance, phone or gas for your car which I deem a necessity. So they only way for my beloved state to begin to help me is if I am lazy, lie about a disability and have a mess of kids. No wonder this country is so screwed up.

Proud to be Fiskateer #3782

What is a Fiskateer you say? A crafting ambassador to help share my love of crafting to all who care to know. I am a Certified Fiskars Demonstrator and aid in demonstrations or classes using Fiskars products.

What products do Fiskars have for crafting?? Oh, all kinds. You may be familiar with their scissors (orange handles ring a bell?). They have craft knives, trimmers, punches, cutters, adhesives, embossers, pens, stamps.........(take a breath).........They also have other subsidaries such as Heidi Grace, Cloud 9 Design, Lil Davis Designs, Gingher.........(take a breath).........
Fiskars also have school tools (scissors, caddies, compasses, protractors, pencil sharpeners, rulers)........(take a breath)........ and even Garden Tools (pruners, shears, saws, loppers, rakes, shovels, axes). WOW, what a company!

I am very proud to be a part of such a company that believes in their products and stands beside them 100%!! The company will replace any broken products just by calling them!

If becoming a Fiskateer craft ambassador interests you, drop me a line! I will be glad to help you!

I like things in the days of simplicity, when everything wasn't so reliable upon GB, RAM, cell phones and battery life. Do you rememer that time? The time when kids used to "do" stuff during the summer like swim and ride their bikes all day long and not go over little Johnnys house because he had Guitar Hero or Rock Band for his XBox? This world is getting screwier by the minute!

When I am at work, I ask my little patients to "Tell me one thing you learned today?". Of course they look at me like my eyes are leaking purple peanut butter. Then I say "Everyone learns one new thing a day". It gets their dusty minds thinking. 7 out of 10 times they give me an answer, but they aren't good ones. 1 out of 10 times there is this real smart kid that gives me an answer that makes me think.

Kids are really lazy these days. I mean I also tried to sleep until 2:00 p.m. during my summer vacation at home at their age also, but at least I 'did' things besides sit in with the electric babysitter and play video games.

I asked a kid patient of mine yesterday what he did besides play video games during the summer. He says "I don't know", and a smirk came from his mother sitting in the corner. I asked him "Do you ride your bike?". He said "Uh-huh". I asked him if he put a playing card on the frame with a clothes pin to make motorcycle sounds. Again, the purple peanut butter leaking from my orbits. I had to get into detail and explain the mechanics of it all (with circles and arrows and a diagram explaining what each one was.....). I mean I had to explain the schematics. Mom knew what I was talking about because she did the same thing as a child. You know what he said????

"I don't know what a clothes pin is".

I died.

What is wrong with YOUTH??? Where did it all go wrong????

A Blog Virgin

Ok, my mommy has a blog, SO MUST I. I mean this is just what I need! A place to vent about how crappy my life is!! I don't like to share with my biz-ness with my co-workers and personally, there really is no one else. So BLOG I MUST!!

Lesseeee......about me. I feel old at 38, I have a boyfriend of 3+ years that I love to death (he is 6 years younger than me and nice to look at). I have 4 cats (only two that I claim, the rest are the bastard children of my female kitten who learned the 'ropes' to early), 2 dogs (again, nope, not mine....one was my brothers that I so graciously claimed to save from death at the pound and the other from an a**hole friend/ex co-worker of my boyfriends). The dogs bark their freakin heads off and my neighbors (yep, all of them) hate me. I am poor. I have OCD, I am manic and bi-polar, barren and NOT MEDICATED!! Ooooh scary! I am crafty (scrapbook, knit, crochet, spin fiber, sew, paint, make jewelry). I am super nice and a great friend. Did I say I am poor? I am an excellent dental assistant!

I am all about savoring (and saving) the past. I love 50's architecture, old buildings, signs, Mom & Pop diners. I like things the way they used to be.

Enough about me.

New Topic:

OMG! Some people have the nerve to come to your door (barely able to speak english by the way - Hello you're here SPEAK ENGLISH!!!), to try to con you into buying books to send them through college. Hmmm, what is wrong with this? Let's see......
#1 - Who paid for them to be here in the first place?
#2 - Why is it cool for someone 'not of this country' to knock on doors for money or "donation" as they put it.
#3 - I can't pay for food, water, gas or any other necessity for myself, why, oh WHY would I give them money? Times are hard there, chickie!
#4 - And when I said "no thank you" (cause I am polite you see) they want to give me a card to fill out with my address on it so they can send to me more things that I said no to in the first place. (HELLO?!?!?!?!)

Ok, VENT OVER..... it is now safe to leave :)