One of the things the University of Florida is kind enough to pay me to do is to recognize patterns.

It’s not very glamorous and sometimes it is downright tedious, however,  a few times a week it is very interesting.  Now “pattern recognition” really isn’t in my job description as such, but without it this skill in my toolbox ( a trendy 21st century workplace phrase if there ever was one), you’d probably be reading about me in ways that wouldn’t be good for me or my house payments.

Speaking of the house… this week… Angie and I have been taking sometime to do some projects around it (painting mostly) and we have also been treating ourselves to lunch at various places around Gainesville.  We kicked things off with old-favorite Burrito Brothers yesterday but today, we were in search of a place neither of us had ever been before.

Just a few miles away from our house near 16th Ave and Main Street is a nearly 50-year-old place called Sandwich Inn. It’s one of those places that you drive by during the lunch hour and see city vehicles, contractors, and retirees parked at … all waiting for their order.

It features dual drive-through windows, a walk up window, and a green roof.  It also has (according to a friend of ours who once donned a very famous green costume with pleated skirt and painted Alligatoridae tonails) fantastic French Fries… possibly the best in town.

We can report that the French Fries were very good (more pondering is needed before we can say they are the best), Angie’s hot dog had great flavor (my tuna salad was average), and the shakes were a fitting match– Angie vanilla, Rob strawberry.

Since we were having a good Gainesville kind of day, we decided to head over to the Millhopper Sinkhole to see whatever there was to see.  During the next 10 hours… the following things happened.

Devil’s Millhopper Park — Closed
Motoring on Major Road through Three Towns — Ends in Woods
Found Really Good Coffee Beverage at Bike Store — Really Good … Great Actually.
Mistook Paint Stripper for Thinner — Hey, that feels good.
Friend Facebooks pic from Hospital — Say What?
Walmart on Waldo Road — Nuff Said
Lawyer Friend from South Florida Calls — Unexpectedly
Ex-Wife Calls — Sort of Expectedly

Everywhere I went, I felt like I was getting a message to do something.

So…. on Wednesday… I’ll take the next step… and make a phone call and put some more things in motion.

We’ll pause this part of the story here for now.  However, tomorrow, we’ll be on the prowl again for another great Gainesville meal location and are planning to do the same thing on Thursday and Friday as well.

Filed under: Ramblings