Just Catching Up
09/06/19 17:19
Let's get the party started, kids! It's a sweet June day wth the longest day of the year fast approaching. The weather has been lovely if I had to choose an adjective that would seem to be as right as rain as they say. It's grass growing and grass cutting season round these parts and I've been doing my share of both. I had my doubts when I first cast a handful of seed upon the bare spot in my front yard but have been rewarded for my patience and lawn tending. There is only one problem. It's infinitely more lush and maybe even a different shade of green if I'm honest with myself. No reason not to be so there you have it.
Did I mention that we bought a new grill? We've owned maybe one grill for the better part of 10 plus years and maybe more and it finally rusted out and was no longer of use to anyone. It was old! How old was it, Johnny? It was so old that I can't remember the grill that we owned before it. That's pretty old. And it was one of those camper grills that we thought we might take with us on one of more of our trips to the lake during the summer months. I also can't remember if we ever did that. Maybe once. Not more than once though. I would have remembered that.
So I did my homework and bought a Weber grill. Not one of the big honkers you see that takes up the better part of the back of a pickup truck but rather a smaller two burner version. It was on sale at the local Home Depot and it didn't require assembly (it was already assembled) so I had an attendant grab one end and I grabbed the other and we squeezed it in the back of my vehicle with just enough room to spare.
I'm not a versatile chef when it comes to using the grill but I threw together a few skewers of chicken, red peppers, onion, zucchini, and tomatoes and lathered the lot with a nice low sugar Italian dressing and preheated the grill per the instructions before laying the skewers on the grill.
The first thing I noticed when comparing my old grill to this new one was that the burners were much closer to the grill in my old grill which made it difficult not to burn the food I trying to cook but not burn. And I have to tell you, I love the electric start on this new puppy. I'm not sure I ever read the instructions on my old grill but I took the time to do it with this new one and I learned a trick or two. For one, heat the grill well so it gets nice and hot before you put the food on the grill. That way, it doesn't stick. That works for me.
I think tomorrow I'll tend to the garden. I'd prefer to do that either early on in the day or on a cloudy day just to keep the sun exposure to a minimum. I'm not a garden-to-grill guy so stop looking for that connection right away. If I plant anything in the garden it will likely be two or three tomato plants and maybe an herb or two if Nancy asks nicely. If I wait too much longer I'll not be able to find a tomato plant worth my while so time is of the essence. I also told Nancy that I will likely not put a fence around the garden this year either. No need really since tomato plants are not typically targeted by groundhogs, etc.
Evan should be stopping by today to pick up a pair of headphones he ordered on Amazon. He stayed over earlier in the week since Nancy and he had a scheduled meeting to attend. I was reminded just how much things have changed since he moved out and we were clearly not accustomed to hearing someone in the house overnight so we slept fitfully to say the least. He admitted that even he didn't get to sleep until 4am but it probably had little to do with the fact that his parents were sleeping (or not sleeping) under the same roof.
I had a good mind to make a book recommendation to Nancy's sister but thought better of it since it dealt with the fateful events leading up to September 11th, 2001. She is a traveller who from all accounts seems to do well when it comes to traveling by air so why have her read something that might give her pause when doing something she clearly loves to do.
I suppose she could refuse to read the book so as not to taint any of her otherwise well intended planned or unplanned itineraries. Maybe I'm reading too much into this. And then there was this other book I had in mind. But I thought to myself that just because I liked it doesn't mean anyone else would feel the same so I did not make the recommendation. It was a good read though. I could't put it down. That's when you know it's good.
I was never convinced that Biden would get the nomination to go against Trump in 2020. The democrat party is desperate to find a candidate who can beat Trump and policies be damned. What the hell are they going to run against? A great economy? Unparalleled peace and prosperity? A country that has a strong unapologetic leader at the helm and one that has established America's rightful role on the planet after eight years of the disastrous tenure of one Barack Hussein Obama?
But Sleepy Uncle Joe seems especially sleepy these days and is never far from a gaffe or a distasteful comment about a prepubescent child. And the plagiarizing! In a speech yesterday to some 85 of his fans, he even plagiarized the comment "Make America America again" which was espoused by the failed and soon to be convicted Michael Avenatti, or the creepy porn lawyer as Tucker Carlson likes to call him, and even he lifted it from someone else without attribution.
Bernie the socialist is running a close second now and not because he's doing better. It's because Joe's numbers are falling. That might explain why he's making a speech in Washington today giving his version of what socialism means so that right meaning Americans might embrace it more willingly. And Bernie was doing so well in 2016 until he lost to Hillary Clinton. Bernie's diehard followers never forgave him for that and many of them ended up voting for Trump out of their hatred for Hillary and all things Clinton.
Of the 24 declared candidates in the democrat party there are only three or four now I think that have more than 10% in recent polling. A couple more recent up-and-comers are Butt-Edge-Edge and Pocahontas. These two may be surging at the expense of Bernie and Biden and both would be welcomed with both arms by the Trump camp. I mean, let's face it, Elizabeth Warren is as nutty as the day is long and dare I say, Butt-Edge-Edge is too gay to be president. I don't care what platoon he served in or how many stints he did at Oxford.
I was hoping to grill swordfish and asparagus for dinner last night but, alas, Nancy got home from work too late. She asked if I had noticed if the fish store had any wild caught salmon and I replied that they did not. I don't know that I could tell the difference between wild caught and farm raised either by sight or taste.
The question must be asked with sufficient regularity though since the signs indicating "farm raised" or "wild" are posted clearly for all to see. Having never cooked either fish or asparagus on the grill I grabbed a couple of recipes off the internet and I was, well, loaded for bear. I was ready to surprise, ready to inspire, ready to go if only she had come home sooner.
It's hard to say if I will manage to get a bike ride in this morning before the rain arrives. I welcome the break a rainy day brings if I've had a few rides in days past and today may well be one of those days. I don't try and make up for the time lost nor do I look for alternatives like going to the gym, walking, etc. There is something to be said for giving the body a break, a chance to recuperate and rebuild.
Riding with a renewed sense of vigor is one possible outcome and that can be something to look forward to. Maybe I should look at my calendar to see if I am entitled to a break. My biking days are clearly marked so if my memory fails me, as days turn into weeks and weeks turn into months without much fanfare sometimes, I'll know at a glance if I've accumulated enough riding days to warrant a day off. If not, I'll try to get a ride in before the rain arrives or maybe I'll look at the forecast to see if there is an opportunity to ride after the rain comes and goes. If I get caught in the rain, so be it.
Did I mention that we bought a new grill? We've owned maybe one grill for the better part of 10 plus years and maybe more and it finally rusted out and was no longer of use to anyone. It was old! How old was it, Johnny? It was so old that I can't remember the grill that we owned before it. That's pretty old. And it was one of those camper grills that we thought we might take with us on one of more of our trips to the lake during the summer months. I also can't remember if we ever did that. Maybe once. Not more than once though. I would have remembered that.
So I did my homework and bought a Weber grill. Not one of the big honkers you see that takes up the better part of the back of a pickup truck but rather a smaller two burner version. It was on sale at the local Home Depot and it didn't require assembly (it was already assembled) so I had an attendant grab one end and I grabbed the other and we squeezed it in the back of my vehicle with just enough room to spare.
I'm not a versatile chef when it comes to using the grill but I threw together a few skewers of chicken, red peppers, onion, zucchini, and tomatoes and lathered the lot with a nice low sugar Italian dressing and preheated the grill per the instructions before laying the skewers on the grill.
The first thing I noticed when comparing my old grill to this new one was that the burners were much closer to the grill in my old grill which made it difficult not to burn the food I trying to cook but not burn. And I have to tell you, I love the electric start on this new puppy. I'm not sure I ever read the instructions on my old grill but I took the time to do it with this new one and I learned a trick or two. For one, heat the grill well so it gets nice and hot before you put the food on the grill. That way, it doesn't stick. That works for me.
I think tomorrow I'll tend to the garden. I'd prefer to do that either early on in the day or on a cloudy day just to keep the sun exposure to a minimum. I'm not a garden-to-grill guy so stop looking for that connection right away. If I plant anything in the garden it will likely be two or three tomato plants and maybe an herb or two if Nancy asks nicely. If I wait too much longer I'll not be able to find a tomato plant worth my while so time is of the essence. I also told Nancy that I will likely not put a fence around the garden this year either. No need really since tomato plants are not typically targeted by groundhogs, etc.
Evan should be stopping by today to pick up a pair of headphones he ordered on Amazon. He stayed over earlier in the week since Nancy and he had a scheduled meeting to attend. I was reminded just how much things have changed since he moved out and we were clearly not accustomed to hearing someone in the house overnight so we slept fitfully to say the least. He admitted that even he didn't get to sleep until 4am but it probably had little to do with the fact that his parents were sleeping (or not sleeping) under the same roof.
I had a good mind to make a book recommendation to Nancy's sister but thought better of it since it dealt with the fateful events leading up to September 11th, 2001. She is a traveller who from all accounts seems to do well when it comes to traveling by air so why have her read something that might give her pause when doing something she clearly loves to do.
I suppose she could refuse to read the book so as not to taint any of her otherwise well intended planned or unplanned itineraries. Maybe I'm reading too much into this. And then there was this other book I had in mind. But I thought to myself that just because I liked it doesn't mean anyone else would feel the same so I did not make the recommendation. It was a good read though. I could't put it down. That's when you know it's good.
I was never convinced that Biden would get the nomination to go against Trump in 2020. The democrat party is desperate to find a candidate who can beat Trump and policies be damned. What the hell are they going to run against? A great economy? Unparalleled peace and prosperity? A country that has a strong unapologetic leader at the helm and one that has established America's rightful role on the planet after eight years of the disastrous tenure of one Barack Hussein Obama?
But Sleepy Uncle Joe seems especially sleepy these days and is never far from a gaffe or a distasteful comment about a prepubescent child. And the plagiarizing! In a speech yesterday to some 85 of his fans, he even plagiarized the comment "Make America America again" which was espoused by the failed and soon to be convicted Michael Avenatti, or the creepy porn lawyer as Tucker Carlson likes to call him, and even he lifted it from someone else without attribution.
Bernie the socialist is running a close second now and not because he's doing better. It's because Joe's numbers are falling. That might explain why he's making a speech in Washington today giving his version of what socialism means so that right meaning Americans might embrace it more willingly. And Bernie was doing so well in 2016 until he lost to Hillary Clinton. Bernie's diehard followers never forgave him for that and many of them ended up voting for Trump out of their hatred for Hillary and all things Clinton.
Of the 24 declared candidates in the democrat party there are only three or four now I think that have more than 10% in recent polling. A couple more recent up-and-comers are Butt-Edge-Edge and Pocahontas. These two may be surging at the expense of Bernie and Biden and both would be welcomed with both arms by the Trump camp. I mean, let's face it, Elizabeth Warren is as nutty as the day is long and dare I say, Butt-Edge-Edge is too gay to be president. I don't care what platoon he served in or how many stints he did at Oxford.
I was hoping to grill swordfish and asparagus for dinner last night but, alas, Nancy got home from work too late. She asked if I had noticed if the fish store had any wild caught salmon and I replied that they did not. I don't know that I could tell the difference between wild caught and farm raised either by sight or taste.
The question must be asked with sufficient regularity though since the signs indicating "farm raised" or "wild" are posted clearly for all to see. Having never cooked either fish or asparagus on the grill I grabbed a couple of recipes off the internet and I was, well, loaded for bear. I was ready to surprise, ready to inspire, ready to go if only she had come home sooner.
It's hard to say if I will manage to get a bike ride in this morning before the rain arrives. I welcome the break a rainy day brings if I've had a few rides in days past and today may well be one of those days. I don't try and make up for the time lost nor do I look for alternatives like going to the gym, walking, etc. There is something to be said for giving the body a break, a chance to recuperate and rebuild.
Riding with a renewed sense of vigor is one possible outcome and that can be something to look forward to. Maybe I should look at my calendar to see if I am entitled to a break. My biking days are clearly marked so if my memory fails me, as days turn into weeks and weeks turn into months without much fanfare sometimes, I'll know at a glance if I've accumulated enough riding days to warrant a day off. If not, I'll try to get a ride in before the rain arrives or maybe I'll look at the forecast to see if there is an opportunity to ride after the rain comes and goes. If I get caught in the rain, so be it.