Small Talk: The Welcome Mat

[Netfoot]

It's almost two in the morning and Mo and I have just made it to bed. (But Mo has been sleeping on his little piece of carpet.)

We went in the shower together and sloshed our feet around in the warm water to get some of the mud off our paws. Then it was damp footprints on the bed and Mo who got there first laying across the pillows and insisting he be allowed to keep them.

Alas, that couldn't be. Do So he lete let me get the pillows and waited until I'd opened the window before retiring to his own little bed in the crate. 

He gave me a good long cuddle first, and I know as soon as the lights go out he will come give me another, and more during the night every now and again.

So, hoping the rain doesn't fall, or if it does there isn't enough breeze to blow it in the window to wake me, I will.now send this, and turn out the lights to receive the first of those cuddles.

BTW, He was a very much better behaved boy at the club today. Not exactly an angel, but not the absolute devil he was yesterday.

Since the major concern is Mo hurting himself on a spinning prop, I've asked the guys to give me a heads-up before starting, so I can get him on a short leash. Most of the guys are fine with that but there are a couple who ignore that request and start up as and when they feel like it. Not malice, just bad memory. So mostly Mo runs around freely, but when their are engine runs in the pits or planes are preparing to land, he goes on a short leash and stays at my side.

Now, as I was saying: cuddles time!

Edited May 3, 2022 by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

Ok, so I just took my last dose of warfarin, and this being the first Tuesday of the month, the Book-Tent ladies will be there -- and I might as well see what veggies are available at what prices (could use some brussel sprouts, a few more carrots... etc. I called the pharmacy several times so they would have the warfarin waiting, but got no answer.

So, off we go to the supermarket/pharmacy! The van needed air n the tires for a while so we stopped at the gas station and pumped them up to "medium load" for the van. (We never carry anything heavy and mostly we are pretty light.) I didn't fill up because I've still got ¾ of a tank, and I'd just as soon put off the initial shock of gas at the new price of $16.56 per gallon! (I remember back when I drove a 1965 Austin Mini 850, and gas prices went up from $1.65 to $2.00 per gallon. Everybody screamed, and I gave thanks for the fact that the mother of my girlfriend at the time owned a gas station! I don't hear any screaming today...)

So, from the gas station to the supermarket to find... nothing! No book tent, no Ark ladies, no cars of any sort! I stopped and was looking around in bemusement when a store employee came to the window of the car. She advised me that the place had been gutted by fire last night! "How bad is it," I asked? "We don't know yet, the cops/fire people haven't let us in as yet so we can't make an assessment." Well, hell!

The pharmacy is part of a chain, and there is one quite near my house, in the same compound as Dr. Kristi, actually, but I don't use it normally since I use the other supermarket. So, I came back, sat in Dr. K's clinic for half an hour (her A/C is better than theirs) and then picked up my warfarin. Didn't actually see Dr. K. who had actual patients to deal with, and spent half the time in the van with baby Mo anyway.

But, came home with no vegetables. With the Big-B store gone the nearest one is now is in Oistins, but I don't like the parking there, the store itself is older and a bit shabby, and is an extra 4 Km to drive there round trip. (Don't forget: $16.56 a gallon!) I could go to Haggatt Hall which is better, but the increase in round trip is 6.4 Km, and the best of them all at Warrens is 10.8 Km extra!

Anyway, here's hoping the fire damage is nowhere as bad as the woman seemed to think, and they're back in operation with minimal loss of plant & equipment or stock. In the mean time, it looks like we'll be shopping in Oistins.

Edited May 3, 2022 by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

Supermarket fire news (All I've been able to find):

"An early morning fire has damaged the Massy supermarket at Worthing, Christ Church, formerly called Big B. The fire is said to have started in a freezer and seems to have been largely restricted to that room. However, there is believed to be significant water and smoke impact to the Supermarket and its stock."

There is also a video but it is essentially this exact scene but with very little in the way of action or movement, and only an irritating siren as a soundtrack.

By time I got there with Mo in passenger seat and vegetables in mind, the fire engine and all the yellow-clad firemen had gone. And as you can see, there isn't much wrong with the building to see from the outside. 

Oh, by the way, right next to the store is a church, and right next to the church is the fire station. So, assuming their detectors were all in order, they couldn't have got a faster response. Google Maps measures the distance from the fire station exit to the supermarket entrance as 101 feet,

So, if we're lucky, they won't be out of business for months and months on end but perhaps for only a few weeks! But if a whole new walk-in meat-freezer is needed, that will have to come as deck cargo on a two-masted brigantine. But maybe this will not delay reopening because their entire bond, untouched by the blaze, which is 10,000 sq. ft. larger than the store itself is located directly behind the store and only 65 feet away, So they will still have plenty of freezer space available, if admittedly a short distance away across the parking lot.

[Netfoot]

Saw a brief video from inside the store, taken without benefit of electric light. Took me a while to recognize the aisle. It was the one with cheese, butter, yoghurt, juices and eggs down one side, and cookies, biscuits, crackers, crisp-breads and milk down the other. None of the stuff looks burnt, I doubt the flames ever went near it. But it's all black with smoke!

Realistically, their entire on-premises stick stock will have to be dumped. The tinned beans and boxes if of cornflakes may be fine inside most if of the packages, but they will have trouble convincing people to buy if the packaging is stained and looks like it's been submerged.

The building itself looks ok. A good scrub followed by a paint job is probably all they need to get that back together. It's the racks for the goods on show, the open topped freezers for meats and not least the cashier's machines with conveyors, etc, that may need to be replaced. So how long it will take to get it back online is anybody's guess. So I guess I'll be shopping in Oistins for a while.

Mo has destroyed another book, so badly this time I can't tell which book it is. As soon as he saw me find the heap of confetti the book had become, he ran away. I don't know why. I haven't punished him in any way for the last three, other than by tone if voice.in any case he's here sleeping as peacefully as the angel he definitely is not!

Had a big bowl of soup for lunch, really more than I should have, but I didn't want to leave a tiny amount in the bottom of the pot. So, in light of such a big lunch I skipped dinner and obviously, now regret not having at least something! But I will have some sort of hearty breakfast tomorrow instead. French toast, scrambled eggs (or an omelette) with the toast on the side... Dunno what but something good for breakfast. And I think I will go take a chicken breast out of the freezer to defrost in the fridge tonight, and make myself a couple chicken cutters for lunch. My chicken cutters taste pretty good. I slice the breasts in two horizontally so one breast makes two sandwiches. Yes, the chicken is thinner, but it tends to be crispier and crustier than just having an inch-thick slab of chicken in your cutter. Dunno what else to put in there... I think I've got one tomato left, but not sure if I have any cucumbers I can run through the mandolin. I do have some potatoes rescued from the yard and not too badly puppy-chewed! I could mandolin them into hot oil... Or skip that idea and  just have the cutters.

Dinner could be pasta of some sort, perhaps in a sauce as simple as garlic butter! But I do have some corn, so maybe some sort of sauce that incorporates corn. And tuna fish, because I have some tuna. Corn and tuna? I could probably make that work if I had a few extra ingredients... 

Too much food talk! I'll go grab a pack of crackers, next!

Starting a new book tonight. Moreta: Dragonlady of Pern. It's been so long I remember very little of what happens... So I will probably enjoy it all afresh!

Going to take that piece of chicken out of the freezer, try for the opening chapter of the book, and then grab some shut-eye.

Edited May 4, 2022 by Netfoot

[dbklmt]

What will happen to the Book Tent ladies?  Do you have other sources for the books that you read?

[Netfoot]

12 hours ago, dbklmt said:

What will happen to the Book Tent ladies?  Do you have other sources for the books that you read?

The Ark has permission to erect the book-tent in the parking lot of the supermarket on the first Tuesday of each month. Obviously, with the place shut down and no customers, there isn't much point of that.

What they will do mow now, I don't know. Wait for the place to be repaired and reopened? Borrow a small part of a different car park? Maybe Massy will let them use a corner of one of the other stores? Haggatt Hall? Warrens? 

Kooyman's has a huge parking lot, but they are a hardware and building supplies store and I dunno that their customers are the type to stop abd and buy a Mills & Boone novel on the way past. Carters is also hardware and building supplies but they would get a different sort there. Carters parking lot is always jammed full, so they may not want to give up 6-10 parking spaces.

There are lots of places they might go, but another supermarket would be best from the point of view of the type and number of potential walk-past customers.

Personally, I can go to the Book Den which is small, but the old guy in there is cool and will actually go out and look for books on request. And there is always the RSPCA with their $2 price on everything. 

I don't think I'm going to be buying too many books right now. They aren't good for Mo's diet!

Edited May 4, 2022 by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

He ate two more books this morning.

I would buy a sheet of plywood and nail it across the front of the book case. Except I can't afford it, and besides, I have books in several places in the house.

 One of these days, he will steal a 2 oz. bottle of Cyanoacrylate (super glue) and then the party will start. I keep it in the drawer in the fridge, but he will probably figure out how to open that soon enough.

He's already standing with his paws on the kitchen counter and stealing things from up there. Next thing to go will be an entire pot full of spaghetti or something. Which would be bad enough because I like spaghetti and don't feel like sharing. It's the gallon of boiling salt water that will probably cause the most tears...

And before someone takes me to task about that, this:

Is the little gate which is supposed to keep him out of the kitchen. Unfortunately it isn't 100% effective because there are times it has to be left open, and times when it gets left open by accident.

Edited May 4, 2022 by Netfoot

[Rootbeer]

What about turning the bookcase around so  it faces the wall?  You'd have to turn it back to get books for yourself, but at least, there were still be books to get.

[Netfoot]

Remember I said I was going to cook chicken cutters? Remember I said that Mo can already reach up onto the kitchen counter and steal stuff? Let me tell you about Le Poulet Pirate! (But it isn't quite what you think.)

When I used to buy chicken breasts, they would come in packs of 6, unfrozen. When I got them home, I would put each breast in a Zip-Lock bag just perfectly sized for chicken breasts, then I would freeze them individually. This makes it much easier to take out one (two? three?) breasts as I need them. I take them out of the freezer and leave them in the fridge overnight to thaw out.

A few days ago I thought about chicken and a baked potato for lunch the following day, but the next day I couldn't find any breast thawing in the fridge. I assumed I'd forgotten and eaten something else.

When I went into the fridge for the breast for today's cutters, I found two defrosted breasts! I used the sniff test to decide which was the freshest and the other one was borderline, so I decided to cook it for Mo. (Dogs are carrion eaters so a slightly older chicken breast, well fried would be no problem and a great treat!)

So with Mo wandering around the kitchen, I started making my cutters, leaving Mo's breast aside. I sliced mine horizontally, salt, black pepper and just a hint of garlic powder, and into the pan.

Mo suddenly ran out of the kitchen! I hadn't heard anything outside so I ran after him. Caught a glimpse of him vanishing through the door into the night carrying a Zip-Lock with a raw chicken breast in it! He had stood on his hind legs, put his front paws on the counter reached over and stole the chicken that was going to be his anyway!

So, no big deal, right? Except what he steals tomorrow might be my lunch, leaving me with nothing to eat!

[Netfoot]

This much cute should be illegal!

[Netfoot]

On 5/4/2022 at 3:26 PM, Rootbeer said:

What about turning the bookcase around so  it faces the wall?

The bookcase in question is actually a series of planks laid over milk-crates. So since the back is as open as the front, if I turned it around it wouldn't make any difference. Good idea, though. And I'm now thinking of a bookcase design that lays flat against the wall with the books facing inward, and hinges out 90° to allow access to the shelves. Just as soon as lumber prices fall below that of bullion, I might make one and see if it works!

I have been a very bad boy today, and ate pasta twice! Each time I was hoping for spaghetti but each time the package contained macaroni. Now, when ever I'm eating macaroni (or spaghetti, for that matter) Mo positions himself near my right hip, and makes a sort of querulous noise each time my fork approaches my mouth. I don't usually feed the boys at table, but I will hold out a strand of spaghetti or macaroni, a foot long, and watch as Mo inhales the thing. So, today, when I was preparing the meal, I fetched Mo's bowl and put a small portion in there for him.

The little devil wouldn't touch it! Instead, he scattered it all over the top step (thus creating a hazard to navigation) and there it is, still. By tomorrow it should have dried out enough to be swept up and disposed of. But what a little rotter! He doesn't like pasta. He likes my pasta!

The how is a long story but I have come into possession of one gallon of mayonnaise. Light mayonnaise (shudder). Correction: it is a US gallon so it is Lite mayonnaise. 

I like mayo usually, but I'm concerned about the Lite stuff which always tastes like a portion of Ponds Cold-Cream gone bad.

My mum used to buy Mayo and "handle" it. You can, for example, turn mayo into thousand island quite easily by mixing it with tomato sauce and tartar sauce. Mum's mixes often included a bonny pepper or some overripe Julie mango or coconut or currents or capers or any of a number of unusual ingredients in unexpected combinations to produce a condiment that could be used in a sandwich, on a salad, as a dipping sauce, or the basis for a garnish for virtually anything.

Anyone got any clever ideas for unusual combinations of herbs, spices, additional extras (sweet or savoury) that I could try? Anything from pancake syrup to peanut butter?

There is a gallon of the stuff to be going on with, so I can make several smaller batches with various constituents. Any ideas?

Tomorrow is Heidi's birthday. And Saturday... Well, I'll tell you on Saturday, won't I?

Edited May 6, 2022 by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

Greetings to all my online friends! I wish to make an introduction:

Born an hour ago at 6 lb. 11 oz. She is my great grand niece. She and mom are doing just fine and all is good -- no issues. I cannot give you her name because deliberations are still under way, but one must be forthcoming soon. (She will need a name eventually. It is required to get a driver's license, I believe)

I did mention that today was Heidi's Birthday -- I had no idea that Chloe was planning such an elaborate gift as this!

Here is the happy family, Chris, Chloe and the poor nameless waif.

Some may recall when I had my surgery a while ago? (It approaches three years now.) A few days later a babe was born: Nina was her name, This is Nina's baby sister.

When I have a name, I will let you know what it is.

[Spunkygal]

Beautiful family! 

[Netfoot]

25 minutes ago, Spunkygal said:

Beautiful family! 

Thank you. And it's nice to hear from you. You've been keeping quiet recently!

Here is a photo taken a while ago with Chris, Chloe and Nina and the new baby just a bump.

Maybe some day they will let me be a part of the family.

[Netfoot]

Still no name. I have informed them that I am telling everyone the child is to be called Schartzmugel in the hope this adds motivation. (I got that name from an internet list of the worst possible baby names and have no idea what, if anything, it means.)

Mr. Barker is at the gate earning his nickname. He demanded to be fed three times today, and fed he was. But he's still angry because I wouldn't share my lunch (the last of the macaroni) with him, and now he's angry again because I won't share my dinner. (A cup of tea only, since I think that pasta three meals in a row was excessive. And haven't learned yet that later tonight I am going to regret this decision.)

I've also caught him sneaking out of the house several times today with stolen merchandise, but fortunately nothing of value: An empty Sprite bottle, the cap which fell off a can of "deoderant" and a few things like that.

I keep a can of antiperspirant deodorant by the door and give myself a squirt before I leave the house. Last time I was on my way to the club, as I went through the door, I squirted myself with WD-40! When I mentioned this to the lads it was the subject of much merriment and all WD-40 is now being referred to as "deoderant" now. I'm hoping the joke will quickly be forgotten, and give thanks that when I grabbed the wrong can I didn't grab the Rust-Oleum Red spray paint that was also on the shelf.

It is a widely held belief around here that WD-40 is good for arthritis...

Edited May 7, 2022 by Netfoot

[Spunkygal]

9 hours ago, Netfoot said:

Thank you. And it's nice to hear from you. You've been keeping quiet recently!

Here is a photo taken a while ago with Chris, Chloe and Nina and the new baby just a bump.

Maybe some day they will let me be a part of the family.

And what is the name of this adorable pup?

[Netfoot]

2 hours ago, Spunkygal said:

And what is the name of this adorable pup?

🤣  I'm amused (but not surprised) that the name of "the adorable pup" would be a priority item for you. Honestly, I don't know. These people live less than 3 Km from my house but I have never been asked to visit. When Nina was born, I was not invited to come to the hospital to meet her nor have I been asked to attend her baptism, or any birthday or Christmas affaire at which she was present. I've never met Nina face-to-face. I don't think it will be any different with the new baby whose name I still don't know.

The reason for this is long and nasty, and I won't go into details. Sufficient to say it has nothing to do with Chris or Chloe who I get along with just fine, whenever I run into them in public. 

But I promise I will find out the name of "the adorable pup" and let you know. (I pray it is  more imaginative than Jack!) I'm not personally a fan of the Jack Russell terrier myself. Not that I have a problem with them... or any dog.

This is a photo of Jelly attacking my beard when she was a puppy, and me red-faced with laughter! But they aren't my sort of dog. I like a mongrel, unique and quirky and amazing. However, they (Jack Russells) are very popular in this island (for some reason) and in fact Heidi has four of them.

Ate too much pasta (last three meals) so decided to skip dinner knowing I would regret the decision later! Well, I do, now, and I'm planning lunch for tomorrow. I have plenty of once-chewed potatoes but should I have them with tuna? Sausages? Corned beef? I don't know, but I'll figure something out. Maybe I'll just have them with beans and onion. I lived on that exact recipe for a year when I was a student. Ate once every 48 hours. (Money was very tight, especially in winter where much of your cash had to be directed at heating.)

It's late, I want to try and get through at least a few pages of Moreta, and so I say good night to you all, and catch you tomorrow!

[Netfoot]

10 hours ago, Spunkygal said:

And what is the name of this adorable pup?

The pup is named Millie. The baby is Nora StClair.

Edited May 7, 2022 by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

Today is Saturday, 7th of May, 2022.

It is my mother's 100th birthday.

[Spunkygal]

2 hours ago, Netfoot said:

Today is Saturday, 7th of May, 2022.

It is my mother's 100th birthday.

Oh, I miss my mom too! She would have been 95 in July. 

[Netfoot]

31 minutes ago, Spunkygal said:

Oh, I miss my mom too! She would have been 95 in July. 

I drew the anniversary to Heidi's attention on Wednesday. I said "i still miss her," and she replied "Me too!" She really was one hell of a woman, and I'm not just saying that because she was my mum. You can ask anyone. If she were alive we would have five generations of mothers in a line! From Nora to Great, Great, Granny. We did have a five-generation photo once upon a time, with Granddad Noel (My mum's dad) at the top of the line. But it got lost with most of the stuff in Mum's house when... well, I won't go into it.

Didn't take Mo to the club today because, well, $16.56 a gallon! So, of course, my friends sent a couple photos to make me feel really bad about missing.

This is our club seen from the air. You are looking along the field from the arrival end to departure end. (That is the Atlantic in the distance.)

You can see the clubhouse on the left with the vehicles parked beyond, and the lads fussing with aeroplanes on the edge of the strip. The pond on the right still has water from last weekend.

Here is another look at the aeroplanes from a closer range.

Starting on the left, Raf's giant Ugly Stik (a wheel fell off in mid-flight today, and went directly to the bottom of the pond). Then, a model that looks like Austin's trainer, the one he smashed into a matchsticks (again) the other day and swore he was scrapping rather than repair (again). Next, Raf himself, presumably flying the camera drone. Working on a model I don't recognize and hiding under it's wings are Austin and Rudy. Finally, cooling out in a lawn chair before his Spacewalker in traditional yellow and red is Tony.

Mo and I will be going up tomorrow (unless snow falls), not because of the photos, but because it was our plan all along. Austin says he will try to get the Extra 300 of Death going tomorrow, having overhauled the carburetor. Fingers crossed.

What is that Austin and Rudy are working on?!?? Could it be Norman's old Citabria? The tail group looks about right for a Citabria but there are no struts! (I will lose sleep over this, damnit!)

Lunch and dinner consisted of carrots and spuds cooked with tomatoes, pak choy and red kidney beans, with corned beef and a few spices. I got some of the mayo Lite and added balsamic vinegar and red pepper flakes, with a little garlic, but this proved to be unsatisfactory so I added some Bajan pepper sauce to warm it up a bit more and it was passable. I think some syrup would help offset the vinegar. 

I'm itching to try a mix with peanut butter and soy in it, aiming for a sort of sate flavour. It'll prolly be horrible.

It's not a Citabria! It's Rudy's old Decathlon! Wow, haven't seen that for a while... Maybe it will be back tomorrow. The Decathlon also should have struts -- maybe that's what the guys are working on?

[Netfoot]

Up at the club today with Mo, possibly our last visit,  at least for a while. We went for our usual walk around the property. 

Do you remember a couple months ago, all the drama of models being lost in the sugar cane? There was even a photo of  tiny Mo, at the edge of the road, waiting to lead the charge into the razor-like canes! This is what the cane piece looks like today:

 Not only did Mo not care, it was like he didn't even notice! Little Mo always accompanies me on my circumnavigation. But not all of it, necessarily. When we were halfway around, Mo spotted Unka Rudy arriving in his jeep and shot back to the clubhouse to chat with Rudy. Then he sat by his water bowl and waited for me to complete the walk. I called him to come back and keep me company. Several times. And was ignored. Only when I was in the home stretch did he come join me again for the last, short walk back to the club.

Being Mother's Day not many attended this afternoon, and I got sad news when I got home that one of our members lost his mum today. His dad who passed maybe 10 years back was a founding member of the club, an excellent modeler, and an all round good guy. Now she has passed, and she was always a friendly and gracious lady who welcomed me into her home many times and always with warmth and humour.

With no other witnesses, I was the only person to observe and celebrate Raf and Austin receiving their 'B' Certificate, having successfully completed the test yesterday.

 

Tony also attempted the test but was thwarted by an aircraft breakdown that prevented him from completing the required maneuvers.

Edited May 9, 2022 by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

Photo of Mo playing with an old, homemade toy. Because there can't be too many photos of Mo.

See this face? Do you know what it's saying? It's saying "Thanks for giving me my lunch. Now, give me your lunch!"

[Netfoot]

Maybe I should have let him have my lunch today, because I've had a bad tummy ache ever since I ate it. That's happening quite a lot these days.

[Netfoot]

Needed a prescription today, and when I contacted Dr. Kristi, she said "Sure," and made an appointment for tomorrow morning. I really needed the prescription today, but apparently she had a bunch of patients coming in with confirmed athlete's foot and so I was banned from even popping in to pick up a script!

Anyway, tomorrow I must go to the pharmacy and could use some staples from the grocery itself, so that means... Oistins branch, where I don't particularly like to shop, and where nobody knows me. Anyway, we will manage just fine; it's just a shop. And maybe it's better than I remember or perhaps even improved since my last visit!

I think Mo is limping again. A couple weeks ago everyone was wondering and couldn't say for sure, so I took him to the vet who charged me $150+ to tell me they couldn't find anything. I'll keep an eye on him and see what happens.

He was here a second ago - where has he gone? He'll be back shortly, I expect.

Hungry again, because after the tummy ache after lunch I decided to settle for a couple cups of tea for dinner. I have chicken chunks defrosted in the fridge, and will create something with that. I'm out of pak choy, cucumbers and onions. No sweet peppers. I do have some carrots and some plain white cabbage.

Also some potatoes remain from the ones Mo scattered around the yard, but the last time I tried them there were a lot of eyes sprouting. They were still quite edible, but it's getting close to the point where black spots will start to appear. So as you can see, the grocery is important tomorrow.

Mo just came running in (with no sign of a limp), jumped into bed and demanded a massive amount of cuddles. Now he's retired to his crate, but he will be back out to cuddle again as soon as the lights go out.

Actually, I think I will skip potatoes tomorrow. I have a huge bag of instant mashed potato flakes, and I quite like eating the stuff. I add different things like garlic powder or dried cilantro or grated parmesan cheese so when the flakes/powder gets reconstituted, it has a flavour which will vary between each use.

I think I can make a heavy soup/stew and serve it over the mashed spuds. And the flavour of the stew can be tweaked between meals, too. 

I'm also hoping to find a breadfruit. I haven't had breadfruit for ages and I really like it. And my mouth is springing for dumplings as well, so there are lots of options, depending on what's available at Oistins.

Still reading Moreta: Dragonlady of Pern and have reached about ½ way. It seems like the chapters are longer than usual, and when I'm reading, I hate to stop reading before I get to the end of the chapter. As a consequence, I find that the next time I pick up the book I don't know what's going on because I finished the previous chapter half asleep, and I have to go back and re-read at least part of what I read last night before I can continue with the next chapter.

Got to go to the bank tomorrow too. Trying to make a dollar out of nine cents, this time.

Please don't let me sleep through the alarm and miss my appointment with Dr. K. tomorrow morning. I think I'm going to get a bollicking as it is, for arguing with her today about popping in for the prescription. I wasn't actually arguing at all! I just didn't know she didn't want me rubbing shoulders with her other patients!

[Netfoot]

Went for my 9:00 appointment with Dr. Kristi and what should I find in the parking lot?

So glad to have found them again. They will operate from this location until the original store gets reopened. One lady commented that she believed it would only be a matter of weeks. Don't know if she is just guessing, or if she's in the know!

Meanwhile, for some reason, Clauder wouldn't let me in the clinic (BO?) and asked me to wait in the van. I waited for well over an hour and nothing. Dr. K. isn't the type to keep you waiting all day when you have an appointment. If you just walk in, you will have to wait until everyone before you has been seen, but if you have an appointment...

Anyway, Mo needed to pee and I was wondering if Dr. K. had WhatsApped me instructions, but since I don't have a data plan these days, I wouldn't have received them. So we came home. Mo peed, but no message from Dr. K.

So, I dunno what to do next. I have things to do and I don't want to sit around in the parking lot all day. I'm an easy-going sort of person usually, but if they had some sort of issue, they could at least have said. No details necessary. Just "Sorry, but you will have to come back tomorrow," sort of thing.

Well, I will go back and wait some more, and then I will be on my way about my business. To tell you the truth, I hate taking all those damned pills anyway! Down to only 13 different medicines daily, 6 for breakfast, 5 for lunch and 6 for dinner.

Blood sugar was 4.9 mmol/L this morning, so that ain't bad...

[dbklmt]

3 hours ago, Netfoot said:

Went for my 9:00 appointment with Dr. Kristi and what should I find in the parking lot?

So glad to have found them again. They will operate from this location until the original store gets reopened. One lady commented that she believed it would only be a matter of weeks. Don't know if she is just guessing, or if she's in the know!

Meanwhile, for some reason, Clauder wouldn't let me in the clinic (BO?) and asked me to wait in the van. I waited for well over an hour and nothing. Dr. K. isn't the type to keep you waiting all day when you have an appointment. If you just walk in, you will have to wait until everyone before you has been seen, but if you have an appointment...

Anyway, Mo needed to pee and I was wondering if Dr. K. had WhatsApped me instructions, but since I don't have a data plan these days, I wouldn't have received them. So we came home. Mo peed, but no message from Dr. K.

So, I dunno what to do next. I have things to do and I don't want to sit around in the parking lot all day. I'm an easy-going sort of person usually, but if they had some sort of issue, they could at least have said. No details necessary. Just "Sorry, but you will have to come back tomorrow," sort of thing.

Well, I will go back and wait some more, and then I will be on my way about my business. To tell you the truth, I hate taking all those damned pills anyway! Down to only 13 different medicines daily, 6 for breakfast, 5 for lunch and 6 for dinner.

Blood sugar was 4.9 mmol/L this morning, so that ain't bad...

Did you ever get in for your appointment with Dr. K?

[Netfoot]

9 hours ago, dbklmt said:

Did you ever get in for your appointment with Dr. K?

Well, the thing is, I never really needed to see her in the first place. Pleasant as it always is, I quite understand that there is a lot she doesn't have to handle personally. She could have written up a script between patients, and left it with Clauder at the desk for me to collect.

Anyway, after Mo did a good waz, we got back in the van and we turned to the parking lot at Dr. K. Clauder came running out, took down the list of what I needed and popped back inside. A minute later, she came out and handed me the prescription, and away we went.

I will just mention that we did stop to say hello to the ladies at the tent, and Mo's behaviour was so disgraceful I was totally embarrassed. It was so bad one if of the ladies offered to lend me an electric shock/training collar.

So off we went to SuperCenter in Oistins, where the parking lot was a tiny, disorganized mess and we had to circle for 10 minutes to get a spot, (fortunately, under a tree). I went directly to the pharmacy and dropped off the prescription (a process that took close to half an hour), and then fetched a small trolly (not even 2' square) and began our shopping.

The place is a mess. The aisles are so narrow it is very difficult for two small trollies to pass each other, yet most customers insisted in parking their trolley in the middle and wander off somewheres else. Well, my method of dealing with this is longstanding. I run into their trolly with mine as hard as I can and knock it for six. Matters weren't helped by the fact that most aisles had not one, but two concrete pillars in the center, holding up the gym upstairs.

Couldn't find a breadfruit. But I did get five beautiful plantains and some sweet potatoes (the orange-fleshed ones which are relatively new around here but I like them). A big piece of belly-pumpkin, onions, cucumbers and carrots. Quite a bit of bread - two large sliced and a dozen rolls, a block of New Zealand cheddar, a dozen eggs, a small bag of puppy chow and a large bag of all-purpose flour. 

What else? Oh, yes, I found a tub of red butter that was less than gallon-sized. Good. And a tin of Vienna sausages for the least deserving little wretch that ever lived, along with two tins of diced tomatoes for myself. Maybe one or two items that I can't remember but nothing significant. Oh yeah, three little boxes if of evaporated milk.

Back to the pharmacy where some woman asked if I wanted the items on the prescription I'd just handed in, or maybe some other items? With a straight face. Yeah, like "Here's a prescription. I don't want you to fill it, I want some other random shit!"

So, I had to sit for another half hour while they got down to business. At the end of which, the pharmacist told me they were 27 tablets short in one medication, and she would call me when they got a resupply, so I could come and pick up the balance.

So, my hour, hour and a half day ended up being five hours long. And when I got home and backed the van into the garage and locked the gate and let Mo out of the car to run around a bit, and unlocked/opened the house, and taken all me clobber off and slipped into something more comfortable, and fixed Mo his lunch and made a meal for myself and sat down to eat it... when the pharmacy called to say they had found the missing 27 tablets and would I like to come right back and collect them now?

Pas ce soir, Josephine!

That will have to wait until another day. Right now I'm laying in bed, hoping my back stops hurting, thinking about the delicious stew I was supposed to cook for lunch and the egg & cheese on stale bread I had instead. And cuddling with a fuzzy black baby who will soon be wearing a shock collar, if he doesn't learn to behave!

Oh, the issue with Dr. K. Is that for the last two days she has been dealing with all her COVID patients and her policy is to see them all at once, then completely sanitize the place once they've gone. So no, I don't have BO. Or maybe I do, but that's not why they wouldn't let me in.

By the way, what's this I'm hearing about three people dying at a Sandals resort in the Bahamas? That sort of thing would never have happened under Butch. You may be interested to know that our Austin was Butch's chief pilot for years until his retirement last year. Anyway, what ever the cause, I hope they identify it soon and make sure that never happens again!

Now, ZZZ-zz-zz...

 

Edited May 11, 2022 by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

Do these look great, or what?

But I didn't buy any pak choy. Forgot to look for it. Not familiar with the layout of the store. If I'd den seen them on the shelf, I'd have bought s few head. Maybe when I go to collect my 27 tablets? 

So, cooking soup and no pak choy.

Edited May 10, 2022 by Netfoot

[Spunkygal]

Those bananas have too many brown spots for me. I like bananas where the stem end is still a tad green. Beyond that point, they’re too sweet. That’s why I buy 2 at a time. 

[Netfoot]

3 hours ago, Spunkygal said:

Those bananas have too many brown spots for me.

Those bananas are actually plantains and they have virtually no black spots at all, considering that plantains that are 50% black are still perfectly fine for eating, and regularly available for sale in the markets.

You can tell a banana from a plantain by the fact that plantains are more "snouty". Bananas are more rounded at the tip. By the way, visitors occasionally buy plantains thinking they are bananas but they know different after the first bite. A raw plantain is so... starchy? You'd need an iron constitution to eat one raw, because as we say, it "ties up your mouth".

They can be cooked in a number of ways. I'm lazy, so I top & tail them, ise use the fery very tip of the knife to score the skin on one side, and microwave for 2-3 minutes depending on how ripe/soft they are. My mum used to slice them into thickish rashers, shallow fry them in oil and sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon.  

A couple days ago I ate one that was completely black all over. It wasn't great but it wasn't actually too bad! I do prefer when they have less black patches on them, though. I'll give you that!

I wasn't trying to trick anybody with the photo. Earlier, I did mention finding five beautiful plantains in the store...

Edited May 11, 2022 by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

So, if I had any sense, I'd have started my soup last night, but by putting black beans (or lentils, split peas or what ever) in the pot and covered with water, so they can soak. Ihe The next morning you skim off anything that's floating and add stock cubes. Some people throw out the water but especially with black beans, the water gets inky black and your soup is nice and dark!

Anyway, I didn't do any of that. I set some stick stock aboiling while I chopped up some carrots and flung them in. Then a sweet potato was peeled and diced and added, along with chopped onions. Next I added chopped English potatoes.

You can begin by browning your chicken but I bought chunks and cut them small so they will spread more evenly through the soup. In they went with the spuds. Next was chopped white cabbage, cubed belly pumpkin and striped, sliced cucumbers. I seasoned with salt, minced garlic and Cilantro. The pot was almost full!

The result was quite tasty, the veggies we're all cooked but none overcooked. The broth was not heavy, and I ate a bowl of the finished product for dinner and had to restrain myself from going back for more.

Tomorrow I will cook up a roux with red butter and flour to thicken the soup a bit, and I will add a tin of diced tomato for flavour and a variation in the colour. I'm also going to add a bunch of dumplings but as if of now I don't know what I will flavour the dumplings with. Soy maybe? It affects the taste and colour. I don't know if there will be any more room but I can also add channa, butter beans (tinned) or brussel sprouts.

Later on, I still have that bottle of Black Dragon that can go in, I might be in possession of some pak choy pretty soon, and I'm still looking for a breadfruit. I might even cut one or two if of my plantains into circles, peel them, and put them in to cook.

There were green-figs in the shop but I didn't get any. Green-figs is a common colloquialism for unripe bananas. Totally unripe, not just carrying a green blush. I like how they taste but I hate cooking them because they are a PITA. 

In bed now, but Mo refuses to come inside. Usually I tell him it's time to turn in and he follows me into the bedroom. Otherwise, I go in and pretty soon he comes in to find me. Tonight he just doesn't care. He's prowling around the yard and not interested in coming to bed. Thank the stars he isn't barking his head off! He's been out of control for most of the day and if he doesn't come in soon I will have to get a long stick with a bottle on the end (picture duck-herding on TAR but with one stick instead of two, and a bottle instead of a flag) and go wrangle him into the house.

I could just lock up and let him sleep outside, but I'm always happier when he's right her here protecting me and keeping me warm throughout the night. Hello! He's just joined me in the bed! Now to get the front door closed before he decides to rush out again!

No photo of the soup today because you must be tired of seeing them. One set of veggie soup looks much like another, after all... So here is a picture of a puppy instead:

I just sneakily locked him in his crate so I could go to the front door and close it without him escaping. He bitched royally about that! He likes his crate, but he doesn't like to be locked into it!

Moreta! Still only just past half...

Edited May 11, 2022 by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

Well, I made a couple dozen dumplings and set them in a small pot of boiling water. Only addition apart from salt, was cayenne pepper. Once they were all set, I put them in the soup which was on very low heat, just to warm up. 

Knocked up a roux from red butter and flour,  added that to the soup, along with a tin of diced tomatoes. Turned the heat up a little, and gave the dumplings s chance to cook through.

I enjoyed my lunch and especially the dumplings. The can of tomato really changed the colour and reengineered the entire flavour of the soup. The roux thickened the broth just enough. I could do that again later if I wanted the soup really thick.

So, guess who else loves dumplings? He was begging at the kitchen counter as I was making them, and to convince him he didn't like the stuff, I gave him a pinch of raw dough. Bad mistake. He gave me hell from then, until there was none left (it was all in the soup in the form of dumplings). After I served my lunch and sat to eat, he was back, and I gave him a small dumpling. Bad mistake again! He pestered me for several more by the time I was done!

Yes, all my own fault for feeding him even a tit-bit at table. But there you go...

So, should I drive down to Oistins just to pick up my 27 tablets? Or should I wait until I need to go shopping again? Maybe next week?

[Netfoot]

As expected, after repairing his aeroplane and trying again today, Tony passed his 'B' Certificate test and got the certificate immediately. Well done, Tony!

The Extra 300 of Death flew today. It ran perfectly with it's newly rebuilt carburetor, flew flawlessly, and made a perfect landing. What we call a greaser (pronounced like the country), to indicate that it greased itself back onto the runway without even a bump.

Rudy cooked saltfish cakes (he's famous for them and is constantly fiddling with the recipe so each batch tastes different). They are made with salted cod from Canada, I believe, with several other ingredients, made into a batter, spooned into hot oil and cooked until golden brown. Served with some sort of dipping sauce that can be as varied as the fish cake recipe itself!

And of course, Mo and I missed everything by not being there. Mo especially would have liked the fish cakes. When ever Rudy made a batch in the past, he would hold back two specially for Buddy and (in earlier days) Dotty, too! So I know Mo would have had a share!

Whoever took these photos could have done a better job, tho! Seeing as I won't be there, the guys will have to learn to take nice snapshots! My nasty old Samsung would have produced better composed shots than these!

[Netfoot]

Another bowl of soup for dinner, and as I added Mo's dinner to his bowl (puppy chow) I added a ladle of the thick broth plus a couple small pieces of chicken and one appropriately shaped dumpling. There is enough for one more meal, but it's more broth than bits. I could extend it by adding more stock, sweet potatoes, onions, pumpkin, cucumber, cabbage, carrots, and even more dumplings, but I have no more chicken. And perhaps I've had as many consecutive soup meals as is good for me. So maybe I'll just finish off the remainder for lunch tomorrow and start planning a pasta pot. Or rice. Yes, most of the veggies I have would go well with rice. Will decide tomorrow.

I also have quite a bit of bread in the house, so maybe a couple days of sandwiches?

I know that it's considered funny that I take Mo for his pre-bedtime stroll through the garden with a torch in one hand and a crapaud bucket in the other. But when we got started he was little, and he was afraid of the dark. So we needed the torch back then. And the yard was full of crapauds which we have diminished to near nothing by simply catching them and throwing them over the wall!

But tonight, I was glad I went with him, because he spotted and started messing with what is locally known as a "forty-leg." Fortunately I stomped it immediately.

Budweiser got bitten by a very small one in his inquisitive face, back when he was a little tyke and his head swole up like a balloon. It took antihistamine injections and orally to make him good. Mo is bigger than Bud was then, but this forty-leg was bigger too. Here it is again, next to my shoe.

Soon after this I went for a shower and Mo wandered in as well. Somehow he got a little sprinkled! So by time I got back into the bedroom, he was rolling back & forth on the bed. Eventually he got dry enough to go into his crate. I however, sleep damp tonight. (Honestly I wasn't that careful with the towel myself, so no biggie.)

So, I have to go back to Oistins to pick up my 27 tablets (please let the Worthing branch reopen soon!), I have to go to The Ark where Mo came from (to see if they'll take him back), and I have to deliver a jar of honey roasted cashews to Dr. K. But the Ark thing has to be Friday morning. So depending on how stir-crazy we feel, we may do some of that tomorrow, or save it all up for Friday. Probably more economical to run the van out only the once, but we'll see. Plot a cross country route from Oistins to Salters where the Ark is? Or stick to the highway? Google maps says 3 minutes (and 3 kilometers) longer to go cross-country. But for some reason the country route goes right out past Brighton plantation, and then back through Turnpike junction! Maybe I can do better on the computer in the morning. It would be nice to go for a drive in the country, but not to the point if ridiculous inefficiency.

Moreta! About ⅔ of the way through.

PS: Austin still alive and well...

Edited May 12, 2022 by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

Finished the soup. Almost, anyway. Using a slotted spoon I dipped out all the "bits", leaving the thick broth behind. I did add a larle ladle or two of the broth then, leaving some behind.

There is just enough thick broth to make about ⅔ of a mug. I can top that up with boiling water and get a slightly thinner, "sippable" mug pf soup for dinner.

Tomorrow, I have The Ark, the pharmacy in Oistins and Dr. Kristi to pay flying visits to. So, Mo and I are staying at home today. I will try to catch a few photos of him during the course of the day. 

Been working on a cleaned up version of the club logo for the Committee. I don't much like the logo, but it's a done deal. They had a grimy, low-rez JPEG image and I popped it into InkScape and vectorized it manually. Now we have a SVG (Scaleable Vector Graphic). It's now half the file-size of the original image and due to being vectorized, can be scaled to any size without pixellation / fuzzies. I still don't like the logo, but it's in better shape now than it was before. Let's hope some smart-arse doesn't decide to rasterize it again because he's too dumb to know why he shouldn't. 

After eating my lunch I got a tummy ache again. This happens a lot. Let's hope it isn't anything serious. 

Gonna go now, and catch my baby doing what ever wickedness he's doing! Might even get a picture! 

Edited May 12, 2022 by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

Sleeping under the van.

So, not actually wicked at all. 

[Netfoot]

Dinner went exactly as planned; ⅔ cup of broth (the last of the soup) topped up with boiling water made a great mug of sippable soup. As opposed to my usual soups that require a knife and fork to eat properly. And while the kettle was boiling I made a mug of tea as well. Only complication being that I used the same mug for both so soup for the meal and tea for desert. Only person unhappy with the outcome was Mo who couldn't understand why there were no bits from my meal that he could badger me over. The entire time I was sipping that soup, I had the warm breath from his nose blowing on my hip, as he waited for the scraps. Alas, soup leaves no scraps.

I'm thinking of resurrecting my old blender. Instead of making soup with all manner of nice things in that you can enjoy piece by piece, I can collect scraps of vegetables and when enough have been collected, boil them to buggery and blend them to blazes. Soup doesn't have to have chewy bits in. They are allowed to be blended smooth. And if lumps are very desirable, I can simply build a bunch of dumplings to go in after the blender has done it's job.

But I seem to have lost my dumpling fu. They taste ok but they are much more difficult to construct than I recall. I once made 120 dumplings to go into a big batch of soup I was making and they gave no trouble at all. I think I need to get my dough consistency perfected. 

For tomorrow, I've taken two chicken breasts from the freezer to defrost in the fridge. There are only four relatively small potatoes left, so I can bake two of them and have them with a chicken breast and a plantain, for lunch. Maybe with some sliced cucumber masquerading as a salad. Dinner time, I can butterfly the remaining breast and make two chicken sandwiches with some sliced cucumber and tomato, and the remaining potatoes can make chips.

I don't like making chips anything as much as I like eating them. They take much too much oil to fry. Even shallow fried chips take a lot of oil. I've been strictly using olive oil since I met Dr. Kristi, but if I am going to start frying chips I will have to buy something unhealthy but cheap. Coconut or soya maybe.

I asked Google maps how to travel from Oistins to The Ark and it gave me 16 km via the highway or 19 km via the country route. I tweaked it until I got it down to 12½ km cross country, but it's so complicated a route I think I will just go for the highway route and hope the efficiency of highway driving makes up for the extra distance.

Mo has been in his manic state all day. I was laying on my tummy this afternoon (surfing on the phone) when Mo jumped into bed with an empty bottle in his mouth. He danced a jig on my kidneys, then curled up next to me and began jabbing me with the bottle! Next, he insisted the only place he could lie down was on top of my phone.

He has this maneuver he does where he approaches at a run. When he reaches you, he leaps into the air and hits you with his front paws. You have to turn at the last moment and take the blow on your hip. You don't want that blow to fall on your stomach. And certainly not on the, uh, wedding tackle!

It's late but I'm making progress with the book. So I'll go and see if I can get a few pages further on now.

 

[Netfoot]

Friday 13th. Should have known better.

Zoomed out of the house with Mo in the passenger seat. He was like some sort of chainsaw with a missing sense of direction. Popped over to Dr. K. to drop off the cashews. Did see her very briefly, but she was busy and I still had to make a pickup from The Ark before 11:00. So she WhatsApped her thanks and said next time we would chat.

More zooming - 7 km up the highway and to Salters. Turned into the Ark's long driveway  and the dog-walkers were out. Mo went completely ballistic. At one point I had to hold him down to stop him hurting himself. Popped in and the lady took one look at me and said "Ooops! Can you come back tomorrow?"

Shit. No, I can't, actually.

From The Ark 11 km back to Oistins. Spent 12 minutes circling the parking lot (along with five other vehicles) before a spot finally appeared. Except there was a paro sitting at the edge so parking was iffy so as not to run over his feet. Bajans by reputation have the worst accent in the West Indies. I don't usually notice, but couldn't understand one word of what this guy was saying. I just locked the car and wandered into the store. Mo still behaving like an aminated ball of barbed wire.

No Pak Choy to be found, damnit. Anyway, what they had that I could afford, I bought. $3.17 for six tomatoes. $3.57 for half a small cabbage. $10.99 for eleven brussel sprouts. Large ones, but I prfer having more small ones. And I'd have passed if I had even dreamed that the sprouts were a buck each! Picked up $9.99 bag (5 lbs.) of spuds but put them back. i have a mass of powdered mashed potato here that needs to get eaten, so I better start on that.

Collected my 27 tablets from the pharmacy no problem. Two other meds I wanted I can't have until the 19th so I will have return to Oistins and do it all over again next week.

Paid for my groceries and went back to the car where Mo was still behaving like he had something hot strapped to his nuts. Paro guy had vanished. As I was about to start the car a guy appeared at the drivers window. Mo bounded across me and would have bitten the hand that was handing me my credit card I left at the cashier in the store. I grabbed him as the guy leapt back, dropped the card which went under the van. I had to reverse the van so the card could be reached.

Paro man showed up at this point, and started arguing with the other guy as to who would get the tip. (I know this from what the other guy was saying; paro man was still unintelligible.) Tip? What tip? Aty one point during all this, with the van blocking the driveway and the two guys screaming at each other while half a dozen card blew their horn at me because i) they wanted to get past my van ii) if I was vacating a spot in the lot, then hurry up and do it, damnit!

Mo got himself in such a state that he had his leash wrapped around his neck, leg and chest. I had to deal with the phrenetic biting and scratching plus the ear-splitting barking to free him of the tangle before he throttled himself.

Finally back on the road and traffic like The City (of London) at rush-hour. eventually back home and parked in the garage. Mo hops out of the car like a docile, little baby. Like butter wouldn't melt in his mouth. 

If Mo carries on like this I will have to restrain him in the back of the van so he isn't a danger to motoring. I don't want to do that because I like my boy riding where I can pat his head and ruffle his feathers from time to time as we go along.

Hungry.

Two spuds in the microwave to bake and a chicken breast in a pan to fry. Sliced half a tomato and put a bit of cucumber through the mandolin to make a "salad". Choppd a half a small onion. Spuds out of the microwave, plantain topped, tailed, slit and in for 3:00 minutes. Split the spuds, sprinkled with salt, and for want of anything better, put some red butter in the cuts to melt. Filled a glass with ice cubes. Chicken into the plate, onion, hot water and gravy crystals into the pan on the stove. Beep! Plantain into the plate. Gravy from the pan over the spuds (and red butter). 

All tasted pretty good! Made myself a lemonade with Stevia and lime juice, and there was just one large sip left when the meal was done, just as the alarm went for midday meds, so that helped wash them down. The ice hadn't all melted so made another half-glass of lemonade.

For dinner tonight I have another piece of chicken and two more spuds. And more tomato and cucumber. I'm actually thinking of duplicating the meal again. But no. I will butterfly and fry and make sandwiches with the chicken, dressed with the tomato and cucumber, and I'll try to cook some chips to go with them.

Mo is seated at my feet, vigorously licking my left shin. He's actually partly under the chair, making it dangerous for me to roll around. Wouldn't want to roll the chair over a footy, would I? Now he has his head on my instep and I think he will soon be asleep. wait! He's vanished! No, he's curled up on the little piece of carpet by the door.

My back is killing me. I don't want anybody to come to my gate or call me on the phone for the rest of the day. I am cool with e-mails, reply posts, or WhatsApp messages that I can deal with at my own pace. Will watch some crappy movie and hope the day ends with less chaos. Less Monster and more Mouse.

Actually, I watched Operation Mincemeat last night. Not bad! Of course, I am very familiar with The Man Who Never Was from 1956. The earlier movie was more details oriented. What they did and how they did it and what the results were. The newer movie focuses more on the relationships between the people, the departmental in-fighting and so forth. (It features a secret service character called Ian Fleming, who is a budding author!) The older movie glosses over the true identity of Major William Martin, because the identity was kept secret and wasn't known publicly util 1996.

Actually, they are both worth watching for different reasons, and I'd recommend both of them. Seriously, watch them both. If you just want to know what Operation Mincemeat was and how it worked, watch the older version (The Man Who Never Was). The newer one is, like I said, light on details and heavier on the personalities. The older movie is in full colour, and the equipment (cars, telephones, etc) seen aren't modern reconstructions, but actual equipment used in the day.

 

[Browncoat]

They do make doggy seat belts.  You could restrain Mo in the front seat where you could reach him for pats, but keep him from causing an accident.

[Netfoot]

Buddy was a great motorist as was Dotty in his day. Bud loved to move around in the car as can be seen in this video. When we stopped at traffic lights he would sometimes jump into my lap for a cuddle, but as the lights turned yellow, I'd pat him on the butt and sau "Ok, boy," and he's immediately jump back to his own side before the light went green. 

In the car, Mo is on a leash that allows him to get to the passenger window and onto the back seat. He can get as far as putting his two front paws on my left thigh as we drive. But if you don't know this and you stick your head in the drivers window and see a shrieking dog, a black dog by the way, leaping towards your face, you can be forgiven for soiling your shorts. Especially since it is widely known in these islands that black dogs are especially dangerous...

I can fashion some sort of restraint, but it's getting the right balance between being able to give him a pat on the head and the freedom to move around a bit vs. protection from him getting too cozy as we drive around. When he was smaller he used to walk right over me to the driver's window, stand on the armrest button to put the window down and scare the pants off me by nearly jumping out. Or crawl up onto the top of the dash, under the windscreen, and want to ride up there! That's when the leash was introduced. 

[Spunkygal]

1 hour ago, Browncoat said:

They do make doggy seat belts.  You could restrain Mo in the front seat where you could reach him for pats, but keep him from causing an accident.

Way back before I had Honey, I had two other dogs simultaneously. One day I had my many bags of groceries in the back seat where the dogs would have been. An idiot ran a stop sign in my neighborhood and I had to slam, and I mean SLAM on my brakes, to avoid a collision. It was a matter of inches or we would have had a terrible wreck. My groceries flew all over the car even though there was no collision. It took me many minutes to calm down because I kept thinking about what if my furry boys had been in the back. The next day I bought harnesses that had a seat belt loop. They loved them and knew to pose like good boys to have them put on! Then when I got Honey, she always wore a seat belt harness in the car. 

[Rootbeer]

14 hours ago, Spunkygal said:

Way back before I had Honey, I had two other dogs simultaneously. One day I had my many bags of groceries in the back seat where the dogs would have been. An idiot ran a stop sign in my neighborhood and I had to slam, and I mean SLAM on my brakes, to avoid a collision. It was a matter of inches or we would have had a terrible wreck. My groceries flew all over the car even though there was no collision. It took me many minutes to calm down because I kept thinking about what if my furry boys had been in the back. The next day I bought harnesses that had a seat belt loop. They loved them and knew to pose like good boys to have them put on! Then when I got Honey, she always wore a seat belt harness in the car. 

I've got the same harness that fits onto the seat belt and it works great.  Keeps the dog within a reasonable radius while still allowing him to shift position, to stand, sit or lie down.  I worry that, if there is an accident, the dog becomes a projectile and will likely be seriously injured or killed, especially my little guy who only weight 30 lbs or so.

[Netfoot]

While filling Mo's water bowl, I accidentally nudged the scouring pad off the edge, onto the floor. There was a flash of black lightning, and it was gone. I pursued the flash but before I could catch up with it, it had morphed. Here it is, photographed with it's replacement. 

This transformation occurred in about 6 seconds. It has happened several times before!

While outside, I noticed the left front tire on the van was flat. Not soft, completely flat. I know who my chief suspect would be, except I can't figure out how he could have done it!

Well, I knew where the jack and tire-tool were, but it was difficult to get them out of their hidey-hole. It took at least 10 minutes of laying on the ground, poking and prying, and fiddling. I even had to go inside to get a torch, so I could look into the depths of the chassis to see what was going on. 

Then, the wheel nuts were put on with an air-driver so I had to get a long piece of pipe to extend the wheel tool to slacken (not remove) the nuts. Jacking the car up was laborious but completed without issue. Then the nuts were removed.

Always slacken the nuts before jacking up! That way, you avoid levering away at an over-tight nut while precariously up on the jack.

Swapping the flat one for the spare took but a minute (although getting the spare out from under the back of the van is another story).

So, reverse the process: tire on, nuts tightened by hand only, vehicle jacked down, nuts really tightened when the vehicle is back on the ground. 

Overall the task was made much lighter, because I wasn't working alone.

Only problem: my assistant took one look at the wheel-nuts and decided they were the best steal-and-play toys he'd ever seen! I had to take great care not to leave them unattended for even a split second.

So the van should be fine to visit the club tomorrow, weather and the state of my fuel gauge permitting (I have not yet checked either of those things).

Not easy, given the tortuous methods of storing the tools and the spare tire. The weight of the van didn't help. And my assistant, although most pleasant company, did introduce a delay here and there. But thank goodness it happened at home, because I'd hate to have to go through that process on the side if the highway highest, somewhere!

The process took me about an hour, but would have taken far less without an assistant (or at least this particular assistant) and if I'd done it before. Next time, I won't be scratching my head trying to figure out how to get the jack out or how to release the spare from its place under the back.

Once upon a time, when heading to the beach with Carol and Jackie in the car, I noticed the handling was off. I looked out the window and saw the right rear tire was flat. I switched off the car, hopped out leaving the girls in the car, and changed the tire. We were back on the road in less than 90 seconds. This was possible because i) the car was a 1964 Austin Mini 850, ii) I was 17, and III) there were two teenaged girls in the car!

The downside was the old Minis came with what we all referred to a "prick jack" for reasons I won't get into. But they were horrible things to operate, and forced you to lift the entire side of the car (both wheels) off the ground at once.

I wonder how those girls are doing? They both got married. Jackie begat two boys maybe more since. Carol never had kids. I must make contact with Carol and ask how things are. Or ask Heidi (who knows everything about everybody's business) except she like she en' talkin' to me these days.

Now. What was I doing when all this started?

Edited May 14, 2022 by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

It was several months ago I reported Mo as having stolen a pill bottle of small screws and scattered them all over the garage? Well despite my best efforts to clean them all up, they do appear in ones and twos every so often. 

Here are two, one found by me this morning and one found by the van... I'm not sure when.

Remember I said I knew who I'd blame if I could figure out how he'd done it?

[Netfoot]

Today was a quiet day. Mo and I spent the day at home, with me doing some computer work for the club and he barking at the neighbor's cat and stealing things.

My lunch was simple: cheese and tomato sandwiches with sliced cucumber, salt, and in some, Bajan pepper sauce, and in some, and in some, Sriracha I bought in the store before it burnt down. I had several because I was hungry!

Then came the whole flat tire episode. 

And for dinner, bangers and mash with beans in a West Indian sauce with some onion sliced into them.

The mash was ok, but usually that stuff is excellent. I made up the stuff according to memory, and I probably remembered wrong. Must consult the instructions on the package before making the next batch. 

Lunch tomorrow must be light if I partake at all because I rarely eat anything before going to the club. Maybe a tuna fish concoction with crackers? And tomorrow night, who knows?

Baby didn't want me to write this post because he wanted me giving him cuddles and lovein's instead of playing with this phone.

I promised him he would get plenty after. Boy, does he have beautiful teeth? Or what? I wonder why he likes to eat rocks, rebar, concrete....

Anyway, a promise is a promise so I have to go deliver, now!

[chitowngirl]

On 5/13/2022 at 2:06 AM, Netfoot said:

I don't like making chips anything as much as I like eating them. They take much too much oil to fry. Even shallow fried chips take a lot of oil. I've been strictly using olive oil since I met Dr. Kristi, but if I am going to start frying chips I will have to buy something unhealthy but cheap. Coconut or soya maybe.

Now that you have an oven, maybe you could experiment with making baked potato chips?

[dbklmt]

2 hours ago, chitowngirl said:

Now that you have an oven, maybe you could experiment with making baked potato chips?

And here's a good recipe that complements things you like to eat.

https://simple-veganista.com/rustic-baked-potato-chips/

Edited May 15, 2022 by dbklmt

[Netfoot]

9 hours ago, chitowngirl said:

Now that you have an oven, maybe you could experiment with making baked potato chips?

I will! Just as soon as I get some sort of oven ware. But ca$h is tight these days. Was counting the change I found in the back of the sofa cushions and dropped a "hard" dollar (a coin). It rolled away and I couldn't find it. But it's ok, because after a bit of a cry, I searched again and the missing coin showed up again. 

Not oven related, but the other day I was giving Mo a cuddle and thought he smelled of pancakes. And then I thought "I can make pancakes..."

 

 

Edited May 16, 2022 by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

6 hours ago, dbklmt said:

And here's a good recipe that complements things you like to eat.

https://simple-veganista.com/rustic-baked-potato-chips/

I will check it out!!