I am coming to you live from a Brandon, Mississippi Waffle House. I, a total loser, came in last place in my fantasy football league. As punishment, I spend 24 hours in a Waffle House. Every waffle I eat shaves an hour off the clock. It’s 4:07 Central.
The sun is rising, it’s a new day and I’m never eating waffles again. That’s 9 waffles and 15 hours in this restaurant. S/o to the staff for letting me hang out on a slow night (I tipped them well don’t worry). This was horrible and I recommend no one ever do this.
I let part of the waffle get cold and it is 4 million times harder to eat this way. And Wagon Wheel is playing. This is probably the purgatory period of the evening. Also, everyone asking about Venmo: Donate to your favorite local charity and make an impact in your town
The cook this evening is telling me about the time he got shot in the chest — and also that he really likes working here. Anyways, ordering 2 more and getting on with it
Four waffles down. Been here for 1.5 hours, so that means I have 18.5 to go. I am already in immense discomfort. Please, somebody, launch me into the sun
2 down. That means two hours down. 21.37 hours left roughly. Already my stomach is rumbling. Gonna be a long one.
The staff does not believe me that I’ll be here that long... little do they know
Two children, can’t be older than 6, are up at the touch tunes. Absolutely jazzed to hear whatever bangers they picked out as soon as Enter Sandman finishes
Hello. It is hour 7. Where we stand: 6 waffles consumed. 11 hours remain. Insides are in shambles, but two kind Mississippians came in and gave me some Rolaids. Shoutout those people. Yr boy is in PAIN
Per my league commissioner, I am allowed to sit in the parking lot and also if I puke it won’t count against me. This won’t recalibrate the strategy tho
Y’all they’re going down like cement now, and the heart is beating real heavy-like. I’m the only non-employee in here. Got half of waffle 6 left and so many hours.
Miley Cyrus’ The Climb is playing in this Waffle House and I think it’s time to try and put down those last 2 waffles and go home. This was real. At times it was fun. But, it was never really fun.
LMFAO’s Party Rock is blaring and I have ordered my 7th waffle. My editor
@marlonawalker
is here to show support and it’s time to lay this bad boy down and get movin!
What’s up: back from my brief stint getting some phone juice. Got some coffee in an effort to get ~ t h i n g s ~ moving. Sorry to the haters who thought I’d spend the night sleeping
Hahaha remember when I ordered a 7th waffle? Full crash and burn. Not gonna finish it. My body is in revolt/shutting down. It’s time to sit out for a while. Gotta rest up for the stretch run. Right now I’m on pace to leave 10:07 a.m. CT.
Enjoying another cup of coffee, trying to make some room. Beyond the utter and total discomfort I feel, Waffle House is pretty peaceful right now. Kind of zen. Not touching no. 8 for at least an hour
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@clarionledger
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Ok, I have four hours left. Again, the plan here is to order two waffles at 6 am CT and get out of here at 7. That would be 9 waffles and an amount of calories I don’t want to think about
The good news: I’m 10 hours and 6 waffles down. The bad news: I’m scheduled for 8 more hours, and I have no idea how I’ll eat another waffle, let alone the remnants of no. 7 that have been staring me in the face for 3 hours now
It’s 4:07 a.m., I have 5 hours to go and I’m out of
@ShutdownFullcas
episodes and the crossword I was doing is meh at best. At 6, I’m gonna order two (2) waffles and try and get them down. That would bring me up 9 and get me out of here by 7.
Gonna ride the next few hours out from the comforts of the parking lot because my phone needs to charge. I’ll a
#let
everyone know when I get back on the horse — hoping to make a strong push around 6:30 to get this thing in the house
"Being poor is not a crime." Nonprofit bought $3.2M of private probation debt for pennies on the dollar, then they forgave all of it. 20,000 people across Mississippi and Florida no longer have this threat of carceral debt hanging over their heads.
Mississippi’s Senators are passing a (unlit) fat doobie around the chamber to understand how big a “marijuana joint” is. Blackwell says 3.5 grams is like 2ish joints a day. Tate Reeves says it’s 11 joints.
There's a plan to dredge a deeper channel so larger cargo ships can dock at the Port of Baltimore, which would create more union jobs.
Where have I heard this plan before?
“If we do not challenge critical race theory, young Mississippians will grow up indoctrinated to believe that America’s material achievements have been gained through exploitation."
"I understand how difficult this is but we need to make sure we hold the correct person accountable," Feldman says, then repeats Mosby's "justice over convictions" line from her Nightline interview last week. Promises to bring Lee's killer to justice.
Feldman says she doesn't know why this information was never turned over to the defense in the past. "Based on this information alone, we believe the defendant is entitled to a new trial," she said.
Feldman now says the detective who investigated killing is unreliable, citing a separate case. Also is discussing Jay Wilds, the star witness in 1999 trial, who the state now deems unreliable. "He gave two different accounts to police about where he saw the victim's body" Feldman
Young Lee cont. "I ask you to make the right decision." Also says knowing there could be someone out there free for killing his sister is difficult. He is very emotional, working through tears. Obviously at odds because he spent 23 years thinking prosecution had the right person
Syed's attorney, Erica Suter, speaking now. "Mr. Syed's conviction was built on a flawed investigation." Suter also attacks Wilds' credibility. Was a brief statement and now Suter is done speaking
Phinn said she's mindful how difficult today is for Young Lee and his family. She thanks him for his input and that appears to be all there will be from the victims and their attorney. Now we proceed to the actual hearing itself
Kelly said Young Lee did not understand until yesterday afternoon that he actually had a right to participate in this hearing. Phinn denies Kelly's motion for postponement and said he had enough time to find and retain an attorney to advise him of his rights.
Feldman now going through Wilds' corroborating witnesses and impeaching their credibility by pointing to their inability to independently (without police prodding) provide information in support of Wilds' version of events.
Feldman discussing cellphone location evidence now saying it shouldn't have been admissible in court. That's because they allowed incoming calls to be used to determine location data, which AT&T said in its own legal disclaimer at the time it may not be entirely accurate.
Feldman going through the issues with the original trial/prosecution. Generally the failure to turn over the information received about a possible other suspect is grounds for a conviction to be reversed, Feldman says
Feldman asking again for Phinn to vacate the conviction and then release Syed from custody. That does NOT mean his charges are dropped, just that authorities feel more needs to be investigated. That being said, if state still thinks he is still guilty, unlikely to ask for release
One of the alternative suspects wasn't properly cleared by police because of a failed lie detector test. Those test results aren't admissible in court, but Feldman arguing they can be used to narrow down suspect identities. FYI the state is not naming the suspects
Recess should be over soon-ish. The courts always say 30 minutes but then everyone has to get back in place. Made slower when you're dealing with Zoom and the deputies have to take Syed in and out of the courtroom during recesses.
With Phinn denying Kelly's motion, it makes it more likely she will rule on Syed today. However, to be absolutely clear, she does NOT have to rule from the bench. She can take time if she wants.
Young Lee is speaking now: "My heart is kind of pounding right now... I personally wanted to be there in person. I've been living with this for like 20 plus years. Everyday when I think it's over... or it's ended, it always comes back. It's killing me. It's really tough."
I wrote about what it was like to be in a parking garage turned hospital in mid-August in Mississippi. Please read. Please take COVID-19 seriously.
As Dr. Dobbs said: “We should not be here, y'all.”
Young Lee cont. says he trusts the courts and the justice system and that this motion blindsided him because he thought the prosecution was on his side. "I feel betrayed." But adds that he's "not against investigation." "It's tough for me to swallow, especially for my mom."