Daily Dirt: Knock! knock! Who’s there? The Doctor, the Doctor of Love

Daily Dirt for Jan. 25, 2022

Several times a year he stops by, often unannounced, with his sole goal of helping those caught in a nasty love-related situation … Stevie Love is back for his annual pre-Valentine’s Day session in Vol. 193 of the Daily Dirt.

1. Valentine’s Day is quietly sneaking up on us, and what better figure than the incomparable Stevie Love to offer some tips for the approaching Season of Love?

As always, the baron of carin’ answers readers’ questions. The potentate of passion, ayatollah of amore and emperor of embrace is always here to see you through this potentially trying period. Stevie has been helping the forlorn for 15 years and has no plans of slowing down. With that in mind, the first envelope, please:

Dear Stevie: Every Valentine’s Day for seven years my husband, Waylon Beau, has taken me out for a special night at a nice restaurant (one with real table cloths, rolls and those little patties of butter). He makes me such a happy woman … but, alas, this year he says we’ll have to postpone our night for a week or so because there’s some kind of big basketball game he says he needs to see. I’m just crushed, Stevie, just crushed.

Woeful in Warsaw, Ill., Wanda May

Dear Wanda: Possibly you are making way too much out of this. As I understand it, Wayland Beau is simply postponing — not canceling — your night out because there is a big game he wants to see. Don’t be a whiner, Wanda. It must be an important game for Wayland Beau to change these kind of plans. I’m sure he’ll come through with a big night later in February. Remember, Wanda, there’s always a bright side.

Dear Dr. Love: I always appreciate your keen insight and compassion in these kinds of situations, so that is why I am writing for the first time. Every Wednesday night I fix what I like to call “cabbage surprise” for my hubby, LeLand, who I like to affectionately refer to as the “Big Dog”. I’ve fixed him that same meal every Wednesday for 19 years, but lately LeLand doesn’t say thank you or even acknowledge how good it is. Is LeLand trying to tell me something?

Worried in West Quincy, Mo., Adele Leigh-Ann

Dear Adele Leigh-Ann: Maybe, just maybe, it’s time to mix things up. Surprise the Big Dog with a different meal on Wednesdays. Instead of cabbage surprise, maybe sit a nice pepperoni pizza or or some of those White Castle Sliders in front of him. You might be surprised.

Dear Mr. Love: I find myself in a predicament. I have a crush on a guy I work with, and with Valentine’s Day coming up I was thinking of getting Roger a surprise gift, maybe a bag of those really good Dove chocolates. There’s a new kind at Walmart that have white chocolate with strawberry and creme. I’m sure Roger will love those, but there’s another concern — he’s an outdoorsman, loves hunting, killing things and all that kind of stuff. I’m more of a girl who would rather sit in front of the TV and watch Hallmark Channel movies. Is there any hope for Roger and me? Any at all?

Uptight in Ursa, Ill., Amelia Ann

Dear Amelia Ann: The Dove chocolates are a nice touch, but overall … no, there’s no chance here. It’s time to move on.

Real issues. Real answers. You can always count on Stevie Love.

2. Our favorite license plates crusade (across West-Central Illinois and Northeast Missouri) seems to be gaining some traction, with more and more entries coming across the keyboards of the Muddy River News. Here’s today’s medal winners:

Gold medal: MY TIME 1. My guess is some major life occasion is being marked by these plates.

Silver medal: SOTHAT 1: So … That’s it, eh?

Bronze medal: TURTLZ: Someone likes those little chocolate, caramel and nut treats, right?

3. Baseball writer Matt Snyder of cbssports.com provided an interesting piece, predicting — and explaining why — who the next players from each MLB organization would be to enter the Hall of Fame. These were his selections for the teams in our coverage region:

Cardinals: Albert Pujols. (Duh …)

Cubs: Jon Lester.

White Sox: Mark Buehrle.

Royals: Carlos Beltran.(And for all you Indians/Guardians fans out there, his pick was Kenny Lofton.)

Steve Fact O’ The Day
Steve actually invented the catch phrase “Who loves ya, baby?!” — and not Kojak.

Steve Eighinger writes daily for Muddy River News. I’ve never seen him wearing a hat or sucking on a lollipop.