One year ago today: June 27, 2018, whirlwind?
Five years ago today: June 27, 2014, I built my own.
Nine years ago today: June 27, 2010, over-orchestration.
Random years ago today: June 27, 2013, alligator watching.
Blog rules I tell you whatever the biggest event was, and this morning, you get yard work. I hauled 3-1/2 hours of leaves, branches, twigs, and such out of the yard. Think around eight or nine heaping wagon loads. I left the shady spots until last but by noon, it was quitting time. Remind me to pick up more peach tea. I staked out the row for the bamboo and may chance the heat long enough to get those in the ground. They dried to almost tinder despite being kept in water. Let’s see if they live up to their legendary hardiness.
Blair, that’s the name of that chef. Back in college, I took summer jobs replanting trees with the forestry service. Try that with today’s unfenced borders, hipsters. Anyway, for no reason I’ve tried to recall his name and it finally hit me. Not really bloggable, but I’m writing it down so it doesn’t bug me that I can’t remember it. He was actually a grad of some school that had a one year practical, so he headed out to bush camp. When he found out I actually liked to peel potatoes, he often needed fifty pounds of them on rainy days and got the ranger to assign me indoor work.
What reminds me of Blair is spices. When he graduated, his relatives chipped in and got him this massive supply of spices. One of the first things you learn in culinary arts is spices have a shelf life of one year max. What to do, since he couldn’t dump them, so he got me to “invent” his secret chicken mix. My guess is there were around 100 different spices in that trunk. I know there were 96 for sure. Each Wednesday chicken day, we would take one tablespoon of each and shake them together. All of them, you name it, went in that bag. And that chicken became such a favorite he would make almost three times as much. One day he baked 52 chickens, the last batch was still in the oven when the eating began. Why I recall this? Beats me, I forgot it until it flashed back.
Naturally, we never told anybody. By end of that summer, some of the rangers would drive ten miles in that bush for chicken Wednesday. I’ve never again seen as many spices at once, not even in spice displays. But the mixture solved the storage problem. By the time I left in mid-September for Spokane, we could tell his relations we had legitimately used probably over half of their gift. And yes, they always asked. That’s also where I learned I never wanted to be a cook.
The crew figured he got up, threw on some eggs, and went back to sleep until noon-ish, that type of thing. Hell no, that guy was up at 5:30AM and go, go, go until sunset. The one good part of the job was he had a lady helper and bunked in a trailer. He was also bunking the helper. The rest of us stayed two to a canvas tent and that’s where I learned I never wanted a city kid for a roomie. They are cranky all the time, don’t know how to keep the wood heater going, and attract ants. They never figured out how you knew they broke the cardinal rule of not eating inside the tent. Ants.
“Oh. But I didn’t think they meant crackers.”
Prefab yurt.
Remember to use BACK ARROW to return to blog.
Archives. Over the years, I have some 16 hard drives of material. Usually salvaged from computers I’ve owned, they likely contain tons of duplicate material. Time to pull it all together. The solid state terabyte drives have proven their worth. Much as I would not normally put everything in one basket, I’m planning to get one of the largest drives available and outright put all my records into long term storage. This includes thousands of 5-1/4 and 3-1/2 inch floppies and countless discs. I estimate the copying will require around 120 hours. I have software that finds duplicates, but I’m afraid to use it.
That dragon movie is still, well, draggin’. How long are those two going to lounge around romantic campfires and listening to silly music? After an hour and twenty minutes, they’ve escaped every dungeon, killed all the assassins, and found the two halves of the unicorn horn. The only remaining cliché is to battle the dragon and I’m not quitting until I see that. That part of the movie doesn’t make sense and the special effects are so low budget it hurts a bit. In the credits, the producer’s names are Griffin and Wulf. This could be some kind of set-up.
Later, the movie ended before they sealed the deal. I threw on a Gene Hackman movie, always a good bet. And it was. “Runaway Jury” and no, I’ve never seen it. Just like I’ve never seen Oprah, Leno, and cannot name you a single television program. Nope, not one, wait. Because I sometimes have coffee at the right time, I know that “Jeopardy” and “Wheel Of Fortune” are still on. But I’d hardly call that watching television in any couch potato sense. I could not tell you what comes on after them.
This movie is excellent, in that it sums up a lot of what people inherently know is wrong with the American system. It still beats most anything else, but it is far from perfect and the major element wrong with it is, in my opinion, the lack of accountability. Two similar cases, two different verdicts. Far too much emphasis on appearance, acting ability, and then there is the blackmail of plea bargaining and turning state’s evidence. Bad players are not held responsible for serious errors, jurors are coached, the accused is limited by his money supply, crime labs have no oversight, and this is just skimming the surface.
ADDENDUM
Tennessee didn’t do my diet any good. I gained six pounds. While my daily weight can swing half that either way, I base my true wait on a three-day average. I’ve gained, and it must come off immediately. I know my metabolism all too well. No wonder my skinny jeans were fighting back that day we went to the market. Hmmm, I guess that sounds funny a bit, but allow me to add that when you go out with gals like the Reb, even shopping for cat-filler becomes a unique date. You know, those little food-scented pellets that list the ash content. Cat-filler.
And scratch that song, “Total Eclipse of the Heart”. It turns out that is the only good part of the song. Remind me to shop for an extra bed. Up till now, I’ve used the fold out sofa, but that is not going in the spare room. Trent’s got some business in Orlando and that’s a visit opportunity and chance to jam. Besides, we always get all the good women when we head downtown. I wonder whatever happened to that Korean lady we met? The ROK burger lady.
