"Do fries come with the one-pound burger?"

Friday, August 27, 2010

I kind of knew I wouldn’t be getting in a workout today. My oldest son, Jason, had asked me to come over and help him put a new roof on his garage. I knew it was in bad shape and that we’d be pulling the old one off, but I figured it was a rolled roof and wouldn’t take long to install the new one…even though I’d never done one before.

We got there and climbed up to measure and check the condition before heading to buy the necessary supplies at Home Depot. When we entered the store, I tried to find someone who knew something about rolled roofing, but when the roofing expert they sent me thought I was looking for felt, I knew I was on my own. I called my brother Jim…he’d had his own roofing business for a number of years, and he explained the process. I didn’t know about the tar to glue down the sides to the drip edge and for the overlapping edges between rows, so I was glad I’d reached him.

When we returned and climbed on the roof to take off what was left of the old roll job, we quickly discovered rotting boards underneath. It was 1” by 12” board and I figured I could cut out the bad stuff pretty easily and replace it so Jason headed back to Home Depot to get what I needed while I went about removing old nails and the last pieces of rolled roofing. He returned with 2-by planks instead of 1-by and at that point I knew…no bike ride and we wouldn’t be finishing the roof before dark. He was getting impatient, but I told him shit happens and we’d just get it all ready and do it Sunday morning…the only time he wouldn’t be working over the weekend. We finished preparing the roof, cleaned up the scrap we’d been throwing into the yard, put away our tools and called it a night. He had told me he wanted to take me to Kristi’s for a burger and though I’d had two the night before with Don, couldn’t say no.

Kristi’s is an old, family-style, Italian restaurant on the corner of his street in Euclid and he said they made fantastic burgers. We walked in and were told to sit wherever we liked. There were only two other tables occupied, which concerns me because it’s Friday and if the place is good…shouldn’t it be packed? The waitress brought us menus and told us about the 1-pound burger they were serving. Jason’s eyes opened up like saucers.

“I think I’ll have that. Does it come with fries too?” he asked.

“Do you really think you’ll need fries with a one-pound burger?” I asked. He seemed to think he did and was pleased to discover they came with the burger. I just ordered the plain, old half-pounder, but mine didn’t come with fries so I got a side of cold slaw, which Jason said was really good…”better than ‘Bob Evans’ cold slaw any day.” I’d have to see that to believe it…I like ‘Bob Evans’ slaw.

The food arrived…Jason’s came on a platter instead of a plate and the burger was bigger than my head. It was loaded with fries and cold slaw, too, and the waitresses gathered to see if he’d actually be able to pick it up and eat it. He’s got his mother’s manners, so he took a knife and cut it into about four pieces for easy handling. Wimp. He didn’t say much while he was eating it and it was gone in about 5 minutes. The kid can flat-out eat…and yes, he’s rail thin, but very active. He kind of shocked me though, when he started looking over the dessert menu.

“Really? Dessert? Not me…I’m full,” I said. He decided against it, but I’m sure he could have handled a half of a pie if I’d said yes. And the burgers were damned good…I recommend the place…for what that’s worth.

Roofing duration: A couple of hours…give or take.
Training Heart Rate: 75…except when I was pissed about not bringing my circular saw. Then it was 200.
Calories burned during workout: Maybe 500.