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The Dairi-O, a landmark in the tiny town where my dad grew up (and where most of my family still lives), closed its doors windows for the last time recently.  You know times are tough when you can’t sell fried chicken in Lee County, South Carolina.

Their chicken was absolutely delightful.  It was the kind of chicken that made you believe God created chickens and grease on the same day.  You’d order a chicken basket - a large chicken basket, all white meat (2 breasts, 2 wings) with broasted potatoes.  And you got “salad” (I use that term loosely) with the chicken basket - it was a small cup of shredded lettuce with a dressing I never cared to eat.  And rolls.  You got rolls with the chicken basket - small, boring, flat (very flat) rolls.  It was quite the experience.

My dad sent me a link to this article from my hometown paper that said the Dairi-O had closed.  I figured a farewell blog post would be appropriate.

I went online tonight looking for pictures of the Dairi-O but had little luck.  I was able to find this on Google Maps.  Click it for the full effect.

(In other news, somehow Bishopville, SC got on Google Street View.)

There’s no dining in (obviously), and the place is not exactly new (except for where they renovated after the fire), and you could eat at the picnic table next to the little building (though I doubt you’d want to).  We always took the food back to my grandparents house, which is just a few minutes away, and enjoyed the greasy awesomeness there with them.  Sometimes my Granny would trade me a breast for a wing, which is obviously a steal for me, but Granny loves the wings, so who am I to deprive her of what she loves?

There are some things worth noting in that picture.

• On the far left, notice the Dairi-O sign.  That sign is a landmark in that small town.  I’m not sure why people don’t use the giant, empty, decrepit old high school building as a landmark.  Seems like the high school would be harder to miss than the fried chicken joint.  But that’s Bishopville for you.
• Also on the left, notice the giant, empty, decrepit old high school building.  That was Bishopville High School many years ago.  My dad can still point out which room was the science lab and which was the principal’s office.
• Moving right, you’ll notice that the Dairi-O parking lot on this day was empty.  The parking lot had no formal parking spots (just pull in and park somewhere), and sometimes you would get blocked in if you weren’t careful.
• In the building windows, you’ll see what appear to be poorly designed menu signs made out of flourescent poster board.  Yup, that’s exactly what those are.  These signs make for nearly 20 years of jokes in the Davis family.  They say things like “Extras cost extra” and “Apple pie a la mode (with ice cream)” (no, I’m not kidding).  The signs have been there so long, they’re a bit faded, and the prices have been crossed out and increased - twice.  Again, I’m not kidding.  They really got their money’s worth out of that poster board.
• On the far right is the picnic table.  Never once did I see anyone eating at the table, but it carried remnants of meals from years of fine dining.

I remember when Bishopville had only one local phone exchange.  That meant that instead of dialing 803-484-6275 or even 484-6275, you just had to pick up the phone and dial 6275.  Every member of my family knows that number by heart.  I even used it for my ATM PIN for a while.  (I use something else now because 6275 was too obvious, so don’t steal my wallet hoping to get my money.)

You had to make sure you ordered in advance, too.  20 minutes, at least.  No matter how busy they were or what time of day you called, they’d tell you they needed 20 minutes to get it ready.  Then, when you showed up 30 minutes later, you usually spent another 10 minutes sitting in the parking lot waiting for the lady to signal that your chicken was ready.

So this is the end.  No more nasty “salad” with greasy chicken.  No more “extras cost extra” signs.  No more jokes about eating at the picnic table.  At least we’ve still got family.  We’ll need family to get over this tremendous loss.

Farewell, Dairi-O.  We’ll miss you.

My loyalty to the Yankees demands that I never cheer for the Red Sox. That said, there are some things that we all can learn from the Red Sox.

Brand Loyalty is Critical
Go back to 1965 (when the Sox lost 100 games) and find some Red Sox fans. They’ll tell you that Boston has the greatest team on earth. Go to the 1980s and ask the same question in the bars of Boston. You’ll get the same answer. They love their Red Sox. Before 2004, there wasn’t even 1 “fair weather” Boston fan, and though today the Sox have more than their share of “fair weather” fans, the team has always had a strong following. In most cities that host a professional sports team, 86 years without a championship will get you run out of town. For the Red Sox, 86 years without a World Series title found them in the same city with a very loyal fan base.

Build strong loyalty around your brand, because whether you’re winning or losing, you need somebody supporting you.

If At First You Don’t Succeed… (or, Even Losers Can Win Eventually)
Cheer up, you Cubs fans. Eventually everybody has a chance to win. Now the Red Sox have won twice in the past 5 years, so it’s time for more Yankees dynasty. You’ve got to admire their patience on this one. 86 years is a long time to wait.

Keep working to create a better product if you want to be a leader in your market.

Showing Some Class Will Earn Respect
This impressed me so much that I blogged about this after the 2008 All Star game. Terry Francona, the Red Sox manager, was the manager in the final All Star game at Yankee Stadium. He allowed Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez to leave the game from the field (as opposed to replacing them between innings), and he turned to the Yankees closer for the 9th inning (instead of using his own pitcher). Francona chose to show some class when he didn’t necessarily have to, and as a result, he earned the respect of many Yankees fans.

Showing some class is not always easy, but it’s required if you want to earn the respect of your competitors.

Lose the Bad Apples On Your Team
If it’s true that one bad apple will spoil the bunch, any team with Manny Ramirez on it should be ready for some spoiled apples. The Red Sox got rid of Manny, and though they did so while he was insisting on a trade and acting like a 3 year old, it was a great move for them because he was a liability to team unity. They didn’t win it all in 2008, but I’m convinced they won more than they would have if they had Manny the whole season.

Even good players on your team can distract from your team’s success. You have to get rid of the bad apples if you want a chance to win.

How have you seen these lessons in your business? What else can you learn from the Red Sox?

When you’ve invited friends to the house to eat your fried turkey, you need to be sure that the turkey is good and that you impress your friends while they watch you cook it. (They will watch you cook it, since Man Law dictates all men be within 20 feet of any meat being cooked outside.)

Here’s my 10-step guide to frying a turkey and impressing your friends at the same time.

Step 1: Calculate how much oil to use.
This is an often overlooked, yet very important first step. “Oh, I’ll just guess” is the worst solution for determining how much oil to use. The easiest way to calculate the amount of oil needed is the displacement method. Put the turkey in the pot and fill with cold water until the turkey is submerged. Then pull the turkey out and mark the water line. That’s how much oil you’ll need. Your friends who hadn’t thought of the results of splattering oil will be impressed with your foresight and your use of science.

Step 2: Beat the turkey like it just insulted your mother.
You need to beat the turkey a to help tenderize it. Basically, treat it like a bag of ice. Take it out to the driveway and drop it a few times. (Tie it up in plastic bags first.) This will help tenderize the meat. It’ll also make your friends assume you’re a turkey frying expert.

Step 3: Inject the marinade.
Pull the turkey from its packaging, remove the “extras” that come in the cavity, and then rinse it with cold water. Then you want to inject some type of a marinade. Homemade ones are usually really good but a lot of work. Something in a jar from your local grocery store will work fine. Go for anything with the word “creole” or “Cajun” in the name. (They usually come with a syringe for injecting the marinade.)

Inject the marinade pretty evenly across the bird. I usually fill the syringe, stick it in the bird, and squirt little bits in different angles as I pull it back out. Once you’ve injected the bird, put it in the refrigerator to sit for 1-2 hours.

Step 4: Heat the oil.
You’ve got to get the oil up to cooking temperature before dunking your turkey in it. Bring the temperature to 350 degrees. This is critical because if the oil is too hot, you’ll burn the turkey’s skin. If it’s not hot enough, your turkey will take forever to cook and will be all greasy. Also, remember to do this in the driveway and not on a wooden deck. Driveways don’t burn.

Step 5: Dry the turkey.
Using paper towels, dry every part of the turkey you can get to. You don’t want any cold moisture on the outside of the turkey because when cold water hits the 350-degree peanut oil, it splashes everywhere. Not good, especially if you want to avoid being mocked by your friends.

Step 6: Dunk the turkey.
Lower the turkey into the oil and monitor the temperature. Keep it as close to 350 degrees as you can, cooking it for 4 minutes per pound. Don’t leave the turkey unattended. While waiting for the turkey to finish cooking, recall stories from previous turkey frying experiences. If this is your first time, just make something up about how good it was.

Step 7: Say “no” to salmonella.
After your 4-minute-per-pound wait, lift the turkey out of the oil, and insert a thermometer in the breast to make sure the meat is cooked all the way through. To make sure you’ve killed all bacteria, make sure the meat is cooked to at least 165 degrees.

Step 8: Be patient and let it cool down.
At this point, the dumbest thing you can do (next to not saying “no” to salmonella) is to try to impress your friends with your turkey carving skills on a turkey that just came out of 350-degree oil. Allow a few minutes for the bird to cool before you carve it. Burned fingers are no fun. Plus, your friends will laugh at you.

Step 9: Show off your turkey carving skills.
“How to carve a turkey” could be a separate post. Developing your own technique will take some time, but this is an important part of the process. Your friends will be watching, and you need to look like you know what you’re doing. Start with the breast. Offer some to taste, but threaten them with your electric carving knife if they get too zealous about the taste testing. Then move to the legs and wings. Then get the thigh meat. By now they’ll all be ready to eat.

Then look at the carcass and (no matter how much meat is left) say, “Yeah, that’ll do for now. We’ll get the rest later.” You don’t necessarily have to go back and get more meat off of the turkey, but you want your friends to think that the bare carcass they see really has a lot more meat on it. They just can’t see the meat because they’re not an expert at this like you are.

Step 10: No doggie bags.
Fried turkey is amazing when it has just been cooked. The next day, however, it’s not nearly as good. You don’t want to send home doggie bags with your friends because you want them remembering your turkey as it was when it came out of the oil, not how it was when it came out of a Ziploc bag 3 days later.

To prevent doggie bags, you may have to eat until you hurt a little bit. You may have to force extra helpings onto your friends’ plates. You may have to lie about taking the leftovers to the widow that lives around the corner. Whatever you have to do, do it. Don’t let that turkey leave your home uneaten.

Conclusion
There you have it. Cook a great turkey and impress your friends at the same time. I hope you enjoy your turkey (and your newly found popularity among your friends).

Did I miss something? Got a recipe that’s sure to impress friends? Share it in the comments below.

I was hanging out with Eric on Thursday, and we found this online.  It’s Stephen Colbert and Steve Carell doing a skit about waiters who get nauseated by food.

Call me late to the party. I had dismissed Twitter as being nothing more than another social network I didn’t have time for. Tonight Guy Kawasaki convinced me it’s more than that.  So now I’m on Twitter.

If you’re a fellow Twitter-er, come follow me.

Also, check out Guy’s post.  It’s a great read.

My wife’s car is having problems today, and so she took the kids to school in mine. That leaves me here (for about 10 minutes) waiting for her to get back. She’ll take me to work, and then we’ll figure out some weird shuffle for getting me home tonight. It’s a pain, but it’s better than her being stranded in this rain.

Yeah, it’s raining. Hard. If it was snow, it’d be beautiful, but it’s not. It’s just wet and nasty. We need the rain though.

Posting this month is going to be light. We’ve got an awful lot going on at the office right now, and it’s really taking up most of my time. There’s some exciting stuff happening, and I’m glad to be a part of it.

I hear the garage door opening, which means it’s time for me to head out to work. More later.

I did a quick interview with Jill Phillips to coincide with the release of her new CD “The Good Things” (release date is today).

Jill gives insight on the writing process between spouses, discusses the deeper topics she addresses in the new CD, and hints possibilities of tour dates in 2009.

You can read the full interview at SquarePegAlliance.net.

I’m trying something new here on the blog and goofing off with a video camera at the same time.

We’re at my parents’ house for a couple of days to celebrate Thanksgiving Day, and one of the first things I had to do upon arrival is to inspect Dad’s new Blackberry Storm.

Some initial thoughts…

• It’s obviously a “me too” follow-up to the iPhone, but overall it seems like RIM did it pretty well.
• I use Opera Mini on my 8830, and the browser on the Storm is way better than Opera Mini.  It’s still pretty far behind the awesomeness that is Safari on the iPhone, but it’s very usable for those sites (like mine) that don’t do a good job of detecting mobile browsers.
• The screen click thing is weird.  I started to get used to it a little bit, but I kept having to remind myself that I had to push the screen to get it to type/click.
• The keyboard would take some getting used to, but I think I could adapt.  The iPhone keyboard might be a little easier for beginners, but over time, the differences would probably be minor.  Typing in landscape mode (1 letter per key) was actually harder for me than typing in portrait mode (with 2 letters per button).  The Storm does a good job of figuring out what words you are typing, and I made fewer “wrong button” mistakes with it in portrait mode.
• They did a good job keeping it pretty Blackberry-ish, so people who migrate to it from another Blackberry should find things pretty easily.  I picked it up and was navigating the menus and finding the options pretty quickly.
• I didn’t use the phone function, but Dad says he likes it.  He doesn’t hear too well sometimes, so if he says it’s good and clear, it probably is.

I’ll tinker with it more while I’m here, but my initial thought was that it seems like a pretty good phone.

Well, it took me a few days to get around to reading it, but last night I finally sat down and read this interview with Eric Peters.  Two very cool things about that interview:

• Eric used my name in the same sentence as Geof Morris.  I am so honored. 
• It spotlights Eric’s creative method of funding his new record.

The creative means, in a nutshell: your $50 helps pay for Eric to make the record, and in exchange you get

• 2 signed copies of the CD
• a mention in the liner notes
• your photo (holding your CDs) on Eric’s web site
• guest list access to a concert in your area

Quoting Eric:

…having made a handful of records, I full well realize that I, as a part of the music industry at large, certainly don’t amount to a whole heck of a lot. But as a member of Christ’s Body, I can only hope that my capillary of art (if I may so call it) will be of some minor significance in the life of someone in their own lurching championship of faith.

Eric’s an awesome guy and an amazing song writer.  This special preordering deal is a wonderful grassroots movement and a chance to help some great music get recorded.  Read the interview, and then go get in on the special deal.