DICKS and new AdDICKshun

I was already brimming over with stuff to say about Dicks. Then, I discovered a DICKS association with another subject which has ben dominating my Internet time of late. The discovery happened this morning.

I was sitting at the computer surfing through Facebook, getting to know the site possibilities better. I clicked on "Groups." I could not believe my eyes.

A group for fans of DICKS Hamburgers.

I clicked "DICKS."

I was thrilled to discover that DICKS has a whole passel of friends---friends who love the Whammy and the fresh French fries.

I ate a Whammy just last night. Bill gave me a choice. I could have the buck fifty Polish sausage with a drink at Coeur d'Alene's Costco or wait until DICKS.

That would be AFTER we dropped Annie off at the airport. Bill had dined at DICKS last Tuesday night BEFORE he picked up Annie at the airport.

Last night, I was nice enough to spend a buck fifty or so on Annie at the convenience store near Fairchild Air Force Base. She bought her jerky, cookies and drink for her airline trip to Seattle. We dropped her off, and the excitement built as we drove over the black ice headed for downtown and DICKS.

Bill was careful to find a good parking spot up near the ordering crowd so I could people watch while he stood in line for our order. We still wonder what ever happened to Vinny who used to stand at the window, count his coins and talk to the DICKS help. We haven't seen him for a couple of years.

But we still see a pretty good cross section of society pull up or walk up for their 87-cent hamburger or their fish and chips. Bill told me my bagful of WHAMMY and fresh French fries cost less than that Costco Polish sausage, so I felt like I'd made a good choice---especially in these tough times.

It was a great dining experience. Bill shared his fish-and-chips tartar sauce with me for my fries and described the DICKS French fry operation down at the end on the other side. He says you see the actual potatoes and just seconds later--hot, salty fries.

Bill remarked that the crowd was a little sparser than usual. Still, we watched people lean on the counter and read the literature piled up next to the order windows. We also watched a couple who never ordered anything. They came to smooch. First, they smooched outside their SUV; then, they got inside and smooched.

I've read on the DICKS fan club site, which I joined on Facebook, that DICKS was a high school hangout with as many bagfulls of memories as hamburgers sold over the years.

A few years ago, I also visited with a former student and 4-H'er who told me that she and her hubby had their first date at DICKS. Must be the Whammy's include the aroma of romance.

I was thinking all the way home how much fun it would be to write about DICKS on my blog today, and then to discover the fan club on Facebook---that was almost too good to be true.

Now, I've gotta talk about this Facebook adDICKshun. I never dreamed of doing much more than just sign up, put a picture of my book on my profile and then hope some strangers would come along and maybe buy a book.

I had just a few Facebook friends for several weeks and hardly ever visited the site. Then, one day I opened my Gmail account, and there was Betsy Walker, my long lost teaching friend, who lives about three miles from me out here in Selle.

She seemed excited to see me---oops---my book cover, and she invited me to be her friend. So, now I have the honor of being Betsy's chosen friend twice in my life----once in real life, now in virtual life. Betsy and I seldom see each other here in the neighborhood, but we've been talking up a storm since she invited me to be her friend.

And, she suggested some other friends I might like to have, including our mutual friend Dana Curtis---from back in the good ol' days when we used to go to Betsy's house---a bunch of us SHS teachers----and play dress-up. There was usually a little wine to go along with the fun.

Anyway, once Betsy asked me to be friends, I'd open up my Gmail account every morning and find three or four new people wanting to be friends. It was just like Christmas!

I've been slowly but surely getting to know Facebook. I read about it in a newspaper column the other day. The writer suggested that some people may embellish their life activities, just to keep up with the crowd. You see Facebook invites you to fill in the blank every time you check in: Marianne is . . . .

Like the columnist, I started thinking my activities were sounding pretty mundane, so I've been trying to spice them up a bit. This morning's most recent addition for all the voyeurs out there, who are SURELY interested in every breath I take and every Whammy I gobble down at DICKS, now know there are moose tracks in the Lovestead driveway.

I'll have to go check in to the site again, though, because as yet another round of heavy snow begins to fall from the sky, I probably won't be able to find those moose tracks.

I'll have to replace that report with: Marianne is watching Mother Nature pee in the cold again.

Ah, the Whammy's of DICKS and, ah, the possibilities of new friends every time I open my email. Life doesn't get any better than that!