You think I’m kidding, don’t you? Well, yesterday, I met my friend Jane (Hi, Jane!) in Louisville at Cubana restaurant (Caribbean, Cuban, Latin American).

But on the way, I stopped at Office Depot and bought a new laptop! My beloved Linux desktop has gone all wonky and I haven’t yet figured out what to do for it. Meanwhile, I’ve been using my old laptop and it just isn’t cutting the mustard as a full-timer. So Charlie says, “Why don’t you buy a new laptop?” And I’m like–Oh, I’m not like anything, ’cause I’m in the car on my way.

So a very nice man named William Powell (Hi, Mr. Powell!) listened to what I needed and recommended this HP G62-340us Notebook. So I got it. So far, it’s plenty fast to suit me. Drawbacks: the right and left clicks are harder than I’m used to, so I need to get used to that; the touchpad knows I’m touching it even when I don’t intend to be touching it. If I typed the way Mrs. Crosby-Lambert taught me, with my wrists elevated, this wouldn’t be a problem, so perhaps I’ll relearn the proper way to type. also, there’s a touchpad lock for just this very same sloppy typing stance, so I can cheat.

Laptops come pre-loaded with all kinds of come-on crap–programs that expire, hoping you’ll like them so much on trial that you’ll cough up the dough to own them, for instance. I paid extra to have all that stuff scraped off. And guess what? Office Depot loaded a couple of their own bits. Shortcuts to help (for a price, Ugarte, for a price), so I can live with that. I’m using it, now. LIKE!

Then on to Cubana. I couldn’t find a website FOR Cubana, and Google street view won’t show it (apparently, it’s too new), but it’s across the street from The Grape Leaf on Frankfort Avenue. Beautiful inside and out, friendly, speedy service, affordable prices for a treat, and WICKED GOOD food. Jane had vegetable empanadas (fried pies) and black bean soup. I had Lechon Asado, which the menu describes as “the famous Cuban pork dish that is marinated in citrus juices, garlic and Cuban spices”, congris (black beans and rice cooked together) and yucca. The yucca was kind of like potato. I like potato better. The congris and the pork were DIVINELY good! Four thumbs up from Jane and me (yes, that is grammatically correct). Oh, and my stuff was topped with slivers of pickled red onion–SO good!

Happy day! 🙂 Now to tackle the desktop Linux.

WRITING PROMPT: Go to a restaurant you’ve never visited and eat something you’ve never had. Write about it.

MA