Backstory, Chef has a soft spot for a 40 yr old former coworker, "Davey" (names have been changed for anonymity) But he normally goes by David or Dave.  Not that this matters, but "Davey" has a wife and kids of his own.  He's generally unlikable but will talk a blue streak about his poor finances if prompted.  Chef always infantizes those who he is a sucker for, thus the Dave-"y"

To Girhippoville where Mr. Not So Neutral and his enmeshed adult son, the Mechanic live.   Uncle Kinky was always embarrassed of his hometown being too hick and rube.   He moved to the "big city"  which is really an inner ring suburb of the closest mid-sized city here decades ago before I even knew Chef.   

He became frightened of all the smash and grabs/carjackings in his inner ring suburban neighborhood and sold his house mid last November only to buy a plot of land back in the Old Homestead.   

So during our annual road trip, we stay at this hotel with an arcade room.  Out of curiosity I walk in and there it is!  A "claw" game.  The type where a kid tries to pick up a prize with the mechanical "claw."    This was a favorite of SD26's aka the Animal Torturer.  There was simply never a case where we didn't have to stop in our tracks so that the Animal Torturer would put endless quarters in UNTIL she picked up a prize of her liking.  I O Ws hours of time spent as she fumbled her way through the game (she was not good at it whatsoever).

In an earlier blog I mentioned how Pumpkinhead's (OSS28) house looked as though it was abandoned and there was a giant pod storage bin in the driveway.  Well the cat is out of the bag.  Seems like they had a major plumbing leak in the summer and are now reporting that Pumpkinhead's leg broke through the ceiling of their upstairs bedroom down into the kitchen below.