Nope vs Open – There was no Satur-deja Vu post last week. I put in extra hours and effort for about four days in a row, Thursday through Sunday, and it really took a toll on me. It also took more days to bounce back than I expected. So last week I was like NOPE NOPE NOPE when it came to writing or adding anything else but today we’re OPEN OPEN OPEN. I found a sign on the internet that works for both.

It has been their pleasure. The Dwarf Grill, later Dwarf House, opened in 1946. The Chick-fil-A sandwich came later. There was a time when you could get Chick-fil-A sandwiches at Waffle House locations which are also Atlanta based. Eventually the chicken sandwiches became a bigger seller than waffles so instead of recognizing the potential they pulled them from the menu. Greenbriar Mall opened in 1965 and the enclosed shopping mall was a relatively new concept at the time. It took a while but Truett Cathy eventually convinced them to let him open a Chick-fil-A inside the mall in 1967. He reasoned that if mall shoppers got hungry they would leave the mall to go find something to eat; but if they could eat in the mall and keep shopping, they would spend more money. That was not only the first Chick-fil-A location with that name but he essential invented the mall food court.

Malls began in the 1950’s and peeked in the 80’s. At one time the vast majority of Chick-fil-A’s were in mall food courts. It was a business model that worked. To be honest I didn’t know that Greenbriar Mall was still open. Today at 4 PM the original Chick-fil-A mall location will close permanently. Chick-fil-A started doing business in the mall but is doing better these day than the mall. Today there are 19 restaurant chains with more locations than Chick-fil-A but only McDonald’s and Starbucks generate more sales revenue.

Oh I wish I were an Oscar Mayer… Frank? To promote their new 100% beef franks Oscar Mayer is renaming it’s fleet of six Wienermobiles. The Winnie Whistle will now become the Frank Whistle. If you’re name is Frank, or any variation thereof, you can get a coupon for one free package of the new Oscar Mayer all beef Franks. This is the first name change since the Wienermobile was introduced in 1936. I guess time will tell.

Charlie Clutch – I mentioned a few weeks ago that Charlie Culberson was once again in the Braves organization. With Adrianza going on the 60 day injured list, the Calhoun, GA native has been called up to Atlanta. BTW, if anybody knows a starting pitcher for sale cheap let us know.

There was a meme going around about traveling back in time to the 90’s and telling people that someday Roseanne Barr will look better than Madonna. That’s them pictured above; Madonna looks more like Jigsaw than the Material Girl of the 1980’s. Is that the craziest thing we will hear this year? Oh no. Be sure you are sitting down for this next one:

Martha Stewart is appearing on the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. I thought the wackiest thing in her repertoire was becoming best friends with Snoop Dog. So let’s get the timeline straight here. She became best buds (no pun intended) with Snoop after being released from prison and before posing for SI. Okay, there was a pun in there. We live in interesting times.

Yes, it’s true. This is one of those “fun facts” that I researched to disprove but could not. A wealthy London businessman purchased the London Bridge in 1968 and had reassembled in Arizona, hoping to create some kind of tourist destination in a rural town. The London Bridge in London today opened to traffic in 1973.

Available from Oriental Trading Company. I’ve ordered from them before, my wife used to order a lot of stuff. Sometimes though I’m just like, What?!? But if people are buying it I guess someone needs to sell it. So if you’re in the market for a 6 ft. tall cardboard cutout of the Bible…

Here are some one offs, posted without comment.

And finally…

Tim Keller has passed at the age of 72. He was the founder of Redemption Presbyterian Church in New York and the co-founder of Redemption City to City. He also authored many books. It has only been a few weeks since the passing of Charles Stanley, long time pastor of First Baptist Atlanta. The books, videos and audio files of both men will be around for many years to come. Someday guys my age will be old pastors, just maybe not today.

It’s graduation season, Memorial Day is coming up and May 28th is Pentecost Sunday. Be salt, be light, peace out peeps.