Capital C Columbia

4 Apr 20204 Apr 2020 ~ roldaver ~ Leave a comment

Today’s choice of capital cities was very easy for me as Columbia, South Carolina is the only capital I have ever called my home. I lived there between 1995 and 1997. I left Columbia to pursue the great love of my life, Amy with whom I will celebrate 22 years of marriage on the Saturday before Easter.

While in Columbia, I discovered another great love, The Krispy Kreme donut.

One of the best things about the Krispy Kreme Donut beyond the flaky creamy tenderness found in every bite is the Krispy Kreme donut shop itself especially the cascading waterfall of glaze, which I renamed the wall of glaze. Eventually The Wall of Glaze came to mean the Krispy Kreme itself.

I am something of a song writer. I say something since I can only carry a tune in a bucket and I so seldom have a bucket with me. It’s often on a list of things I need, but hardly there when I make up songs.

So in the Fall of 1995 I was driving to a job interview and I made up a song about a relationship that takes place over several years but entirely in a Krispy Kreme Donut shop. I named it of course ,The Wall of Glaze.

I sang the lyrics to my friend Jeff. But because I did not bring my bucket with me that day, he recognized it as more of a 50’s do -wop song and not the Bob Seger like ballad I intended it as. He performed it at a campus function and probably promptly forgot about it. It has lingered with me these 25 years and I endeavor to share it with you now.

Here are the lyrics …

The Wall of Glaze Lyrics by Dave Roller Music by Jeff Half Dozen (actually Jeff Six, but half dozen has a more donut themed approach)

It was our first date On a Friday night.
She got a blueberry donut and a medium Sprite
She looked so good and I stood amazed
That I could lose my heart 
At the wall of glaze.

At the Krispy Kreme
At the Wall of Glaze
Just a memory
of my younger days
Of how she looked so good
And how I stood amazed
That I could lose my heart
At The Wall of Glaze .

End of senior year 
Going separate ways 
I was off to the army
Her to the college daze
We promised to write every week 
It would be like we never went away  
How we cried and cried at The Wall of Glaze.

At the Krispy Kreme  
At The Wall of Glaze
 Just a memory 
Of my younger days 
Of how we promised to write every week 
It would  seem like we never went away 
But the tears fell like rain 
At The Wall of Glaze

Well you know the story
 Left a boy came back a man 
I wrote her in my letters 
Things I still don't understand
 Oh my love for her just grew and grew 
I was longing for that day 
When I'd ask for her hand 
At The Wall of Glaze

So on a Friday night 
Got down on my knees 
Put a ring on her finger
 Said will you marry me please 
She said I'm sorry 
But you were just a passing phase 
And she broke my heart 
At The Wall of Glaze

At the Krispy Kreme 
At The Wall of Glaze 
It's the end of the story
 Not the starting page 
I put a ring on her finger
 She said "Boy, you're just a phase" 
And she broke my heart 
At The Wall of Glaze 


(Poignant Musical Interlude) 

Now I sit alone 
On a Friday night 
With a blueberry donut 
And it don't feel right 
I know I shouldn't be here 
But I feel trapped in a cage 
Since she broke my heart 
At The Wall of Glaze

 At the Krispy Kreme 
Called The Wall of Glaze
 Just a memory Of my younger days 
I know I shouldn't be here
 I feel trapped in a cage 
since I lost my heart, 
since she broke my heart, 
now that we're apart 
At The Wall of Glaze.

For more of the A to Z challenge click here. To see my 2015 entry on C is for Comiskey Park click here.

Capital B Boston

2 Apr 20202 Apr 2020 ~ roldaver ~ 1 Comment

Day 2 of the A to Z challenge.

My theme is random thoughts inspired by Capitals.

I could have chosen Boise or Baton Rouge and I almost chose Bismarck but there was a big sign that said doughnut disturb, so I went with Boston I hope I don’t get creamed.

Yesterday Albany reminded me of Baseball’s Hall of Fame. Today Boston reminds me of a Children’s video. I used a lot of words to explain yesterday’s choice. Today I’ll just show the video.

The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything

For More A to Z challenge click here. To See My B entry from 2016 click on Batman. Make sure you watch both videos as they are two of the funniest I ever made.

Capital A Albany

1 Apr 202031 Mar 2020 ~ roldaver ~ 1 Comment

It is time for the A to Z challenge 2020. My theme is Capitals .

Mostly current state capitals but I do plan on using some country capitals and old state capitals where there are no current state capitals with that letter. There are plenty of State Capitals that begin with A Anchorage was a definite consideration but only because today is April 1st and Juneau that Anchorage is not the capital of Alaska.

Other legitimates A’s are Anapolis, Austin, Atlanta and Augusta. I did not go with any of those. I went with Albany the capital of New York.

Since this is the first day of the challenge let me explain the rationelle of why I pick crtain capitals over others. Each capital I choose is more of a touchstone to something significant to me and my family that may have very little to do with my actual post. Albany is no exception.

I chose Albany because it reminds be of Baseball’s hall of Fame.

Hey Wait a minute. You are probably thinking babseball’s hall of fame is in Cooperstown not Albany ,and you would be right. Let me just back up a little.

Frank Thomas memorabilia on display at Hall of Fame

In 2014 Frank Thomas, along with Greg Maddux Tony Larussa, Joe Torre, Tom Glavine and Bobby Cox were elected into the Hall of Fame. Frank Thomas is one of my most favorite players and I had been hoping for years to go see him inducted if he ever was inducted to the hall.

At about the same time that Franks was being voted in in Januar of 2014, my Dad was having a quadruple bypass operation. Much of my love baseball comes from my Dad. The first game he ever went to was at County stadium in Milwaukee, wisconsin where he watched Jackie Robinson and the Brooklyn Dodgers play the Milwaukee Braves. Life is short I decided. I planned an intergenerational family trip for my Dad, brother, nephew and Son. 3 of them ended up declining my offer but my SOn Charlie and I went. By the time other family members had backed out there wasn’t a lot of local accomodations available. So Charlie and I decided to stay in, wait for it, Albany and drive the 90 minutes (one way) or so each day into Cooperstown.

It was an amazing trip. We drove up through Canada into Buffalo stopping briefly at Niagara Falls and then going back the next morning and exploring it more thoroughly before driving into Albany.

WWe didnt spend a lot of time in Albany we got there late and left there early. On our last night we did continue a family tradtion of trying to bowl in every state in the U.S. That night trying to bowl was the correct term as we didn’t break 100 until the final frame and that was his and my combined score.

The next day we left Albany for good and went back to Cooperstown for the induction speeches.

Frank’s Speech

It was an amazing trip. So many things we did that I haven’t even mentioned and Albany has so little to do with it. But when I think of the Capital of New York I always think of the Capital time Charlie and I had Hall of Fame Weekend 2014.

This is not my first trip to the A to Z Challenge. You can get back to the Challenge by clicking here. You can see my A entry from 2019 when my theme was the music of the Sherman Brothers by clicking on Spoonful.

Facial Recognition

30 Mar 20201 Apr 2020 ~ roldaver ~ Leave a comment

Two weeks ago I stopped shaving. The school district I sub for shut down the week before their scheduled spring break. A few days later the movie theatre I work for shut down as well. The theatre does not allow facial hair so I saw this as an opportunity to add shaving to my spring break.

Until that point I had been working about 60 to 65;hours a week between the 2 jobs so I didn’t really do too much in terms of job hunting over the extended Spring Break.

Today would have been the first day back to school after Spring Break. So I decided to start looking for work,today.

Thiis is how I looked after 2 weeks of no shaving

A few minutes after that only the mustache remained.

A few minutes later this young goofy guy emerged

I had thought that the clean shaven approach might be my best bet. I drove down to a local grocery store that I knew was hiring. I went to the service desk and they said to apply on line. So much for shaving I thought.

I went back home, applied on line. I went on a walk with my wife and a few minutes before we got home , the store called and asked me in for an interview. I must have put the best face on it as I was hired on the spot.

A Return To Blogging

30 Mar 2020 ~ roldaver ~ 1 Comment

This is my return to blogging. It has been since July 2019 since I have posted anything. In the past 2 weeks I have gone from too busy to even think about blogging to plenty of time on my hands due to losing both my jobs (at least temporarily) to the corona virus. I had considered coming back for the A to Z Challenge and these recent events have allowed it.

My Theme will be Capitals. Due to the random nature of my blog, and specifically my mind, each entry may only be somewhat related to the Capital mentioned. For example, it is entirely possible that Friday April third’s entry will feature the Krispy Kreme themed love songs I wrote in 1995 because I wrote it while living in Columbia, South Carolina where I first encountered Krispy Kreme.

Last year I participated in the A to Z challenge and my theme was the music of the Sherman Brothers. At the end of my entries this year, I will include a link to last year’s entry as a bonus. As a sign of a good faith, click here to see last year’s reflection post. I’ll be back on Wednesday to start off this years extravaganza.