Lots of Changes

20 Sep 20 

06:45 hrs

     Yes, there have been a lot of changes and revelations that have happened in the past week. So, buckle up Dear Readers it may be a bumpy ride.

     The first notable change is the amount of darkness even in the middle of the day. Sure, the sun is rising later and setting sooner but the sky has been notably darker due to the massive forest fires raging the length of the Left Coast of the Hugh-ess. All three western states have fires that have burned millions and millions of acres. The size of the scorched earth is even bigger than some other states. The size and scope of the fires is a result of a couple of factors - forest management practices and, more importantly, climate change. The entire Left Coast of the continent has been hammered by climate change with hotter summers and drier winters. This has left us with a much smaller and shallower winter snow pack that does not last through the summer. Here in the Valley our glacier has continued to visibly shrink year after year. It should be noted that the Island used to have twenty glaciers that slowly fed the creeks and streams and rivers in the valleys below their peaks. This kept the trees in those valleys well watered against the threat of a forest fire. Higher summer temps have increased the melt and lack of winter precipitation hasn't replaced what is being lost. Recently, a big chunk of the Greenland Ice Cap has broken off and is now free floating in the ocean. How big is this giant ice cube? It's about 110 square kilometers. This is nothing new. The ice sheets all over the globe are shrinking and the oceans are rising. Another thirty years and that penile shaped bit of land dangling off of the Right Coast of the Hugh-ess will be just a reef under the waves. 

     The Hugh-ess has lost a champion of the people. The Notorious RGB, Justice of the Supreme Court, has passed away after serving twenty- seven years. It happened Rosh Hashanah. She was the greatest champion of equal rights between the sexes which has elevated the rights of women without diminishing the rights of men. Unfortunately, with her passing the Tangerine Tyrant and his Sycophants are now chomping at the bit to find a right leaning conservative replacement that could undermine the statutes and allow the Scales of Justice to tip to the Right leaving the marginalized members of the Hugh-ess society in jeopardy. In short, the laws in the Hugh-ess could be moved backwards more than 50 years. This could include women's rights, reproductive rights, LGBTQ rights, minority rights, immigration rights and voting rights. All of this will cement the rule of the Old White Guys even more. 

     And think about it for a second. All of the fighting and arguments put forward by the GOP in the past dozen years has been because these rich old white bastards are deathly afraid of losing their control over others and deep down they are even more afraid of the browning of the Hugh-ess. If you think that equality under the law exists in the Hugh-ess you would be wrong. Mark my words you don't have to peel off too many layers on a member of the Old White Guy's Club to discover a person hoping for a return to segregation of the races. 

20:30 hrs

     A friend of mine posted on Social Media that he had been Out in the Woods to pick chanterelles and he mentioned that he had too many for his own use. Well brother,  you can drop them off at my place so Chef Blaine can make some wild cream of mushroom soup. Quite a few years ago when I was Out in the Weeds my friend Cindy had picked about two pounds of chanterelles that Chef Blaine had sauteed and folded into a half dozen egg omelet, cooked on a camp stove on the tailgate of the truck  Absolutely delicious. 

     My Better Half and I are going to be spending a few days in Capital City to celebrate our 25th anniversary.  Of course that will leave the Oma-nator in the care of our two Couch Monkeys. I'm sure she'll survive. 

     Have the leaves started to change colour where your at? Some of the trees in the neighbourhood have changed already and some have not. When we look across the Valley towards the Beauforts we can see the deciduous trees painting the mountains as if splotches of colours were thrown from B. Scotts paintbrush. Mostly greens with reds, oranges and yellows spattered about. There isn't as much colour as there is near the Nation's Capital in the fall. There it's all the colours until winter sets in and the leaves fall. Then its grey and drab. Dirty and ugly. At least our winters are not so ugly as we still have the greens of the conifers rippling on the shoulders of the mountains. 

     It's back to the salt mines for a couple of days. I had to purchase a new beacon light for the top of the Ram. One of the controllers must have been blind and informed me that he couldn't see the one I had and suggested that I replace it. Well, the new one has eight patterns and twenty-four LEDs. No problems now.

Ten months in.....

09 Sept 20

15:45 hrs

     So we are ten months since the Oma-nator moved in to the Wayward Inn. Ten months of Trouble. Must have played damn near a thousand games by now. But that's okay. If she was still own on her I don't think she would be doing as well. I know that her diet and her kidney function would be way out of whack. At least now she's getting some green veggies other than iceberg lettuce which has as much nutritional value as wet loose leaf paper. Other than her broken foot - she's wearing a Boot for now - she has been no trouble at all - as long as we do not try to feed her an onion.

10 Sep 20 

16:00 hrs

     I saw that one of the Watergate investigators has come out with a new book that is base on, among other things, eighteen personal (audio recorded) interviews with the Tangerine Tyrant. You have to wonder what was going through his head to agree to that. I'm pretty sure that his Sycophant advisors were all screaming NOOOOOOOO! Oh well, the cats out of the bag now. The pundits figure that150,000 You-Alls may not have died from the Beer Flu if the POTUS had been truthful,  honest and proactive. Nope, didn't want to panic anyone. I hope this will finally put the nails in his political coffin.

     Yesterday I found an old slightly freezer burned pork loin roast. Chef Blaine is going to turn it into soppressata and chorizo sausages. 

     I'm planning on heading to see the Sages for Thanksgiving. I figure about a week will pretty good visit. I know that they probably may not have a lot of chores for me to do. I'll take my knife sharpening set to touch up the kitchen tools. While there I'll take the annual run down to the City at the Head of the Lake to see if my friends mom is still on this side of the sod. Two years ago she could barely remember me. Last year she was rolled by me in a wheelchair and never looked up. This is something that I have to do. She was a great friend to many of us in highschool. Unfortunately,  her only son is such a shit he wouldn't tell anyone if she passed away. A friend of mine had just visited the Kangaroo Ranch. It's just south of the City at the Head of the Lake so I think that since I'm already down that way I'll drive just a little bit farther to buy some mead. 

     One of the pricier restaurants in The Valley has been closed for more than a few months, possibly because of the Beer Flu, and is now up for sale. It's a beautiful building. West Coast design, top of the line kitchen, seating for about 250. We had dined there on several occasions and really enjoyed the food and the atmosphere. 

     I spotted the renovations on one of the Valley's schools. A seismic upgrade was incorporated. It was an older building and had to be brought up to code or be torn down.

22:45 hrs

     When Elric the Stalwart and his Lobster were over last week my Better Half had bought a couple bags of snacks things to munch on while playing cards. We had a bag of chili and lime flavoured peanuts and a bag of mixed snacks. The components of mixed snacks could be purchased separately. The different items included seasoned peanuts, a crescent shaped moon cracker, a mustard flavoured twisted pretzel and some salted pretzels and these odd lumpy sesame things that looked a lot like cat cookies from a litter box. I said to my Better Half that the contents of the snack bag is probably made from the bits swept up from the production floor during the manufacturing of the individual items and what looks like cat cookies could actually be rat cookies. Let's sleep on that.

So that's what the problem is!

01 Sep 20

19:15 hrs

     We've been busy at the Wayward Inn. Then again, when are we not busy in some way shape or form. Last week was a busy work week for me and my Better Half. After I finished working on Thursday I came home picked up the Jr. Couch Monkey and drove him out to where we would be camping. Unfortunately,  the place I wanted to go was full so I had to back track to a second location. When we arrived we were informed that all of the sites were full. A little bit of begging and I secured a spot in the overflow site next to the boat ramp. After assisting in putting up the BAT I bid my son adieu and headed home. After work on Friday I met my Friend from Over the Hump at the Wayward Inn. I got changed, we loaded the boat and headed off to the lake. 

     Now, the road into the campsite is only 5km long from the main logging road which is pretty short as far as logging roads go. But, it hasn't been plowed in at least five years. All the other logging roads in the area are so smooth you could push a baby carriage and not wake the occupant. I'll be calling my local MLA about this bullshit.

     Once we got to the lake the boat was dropped on, the Jr. Loin Fruit was loaded in it and I took him to the other end of the lake for a solo camp over the next two nights. We checked on him the next day as we trolled by. We had planned on doing it again in the afternoon but the weather turned shitty and I wasn't about to launch the boat. The next morning we fished for a few hours, broke camp, retrieved the Loin Fruit and headed home. We had landed only four trout and my boat still has a leak.

03 Sep 20

19:45 hrs

     The Oma-nator is now wearing a boot cast on her right landing gear. We don't know how it happened but somewhere along the line she broke a bone in her foot. She was suffering from aches and pains but nothing like this. 

     So, on with the boot!

     She has an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon in a week or so. My guess is they'll let the injury heal on it's own

     The salumi that Chef Blaine started two weeks or so back is doing nicely. It has to reduce in weight by 35%. They started at 510 grams. They're sitting at 380 grams and have to reduce another 50 grams. He figures it will be another week just be safe and he is already looking at doing his own pastrami or capicoli or maybe salami. He has asked me to look for large sausage casings.

     Elric the Stalwart and his Lobster will be coming over to the Wayward Inn for supper on Saturday. Chef Blaine and Sous Irene will be prepping fajitas - beef, chicken and veg - with locally made corn tortillas and homemade salsas. I don't know if they've eaten fajitas before so this might be interesting.

04 Sep 20

04:30 hrs

     I just caught a story on a major Hugh-ess news network of another African American male dying while in police custody. For some unknown or imagined reason they had placed a cloth bag over his head - supposedly to protect the officers from being spit on. This shit has really has to stop and before it does  believe there will be another civil war South of the 49th Parallel. All I can suggest is that we keep our collective heads down when the shooting starts. Another issue coming to a head for our neighbours is the fact that due to the Beer Flu their neighbours, The Great White North and The Big Salsa Bowl have both closed their borders to casual crossings a lot of which was for medical reasons. It is well known that some medical drugs - insulin is an example - are far cheaper outside the borders of the Hugh-ess and a large number of those in need regularly travel over the border to fill their prescriptions. It is unfortunate to those in need that Big Pharma has trapped patients with their affliction.

21:45 hrs

     Prep work for our guests have begun. The beef has been seasoned and the chicken is marinating. My Lobster had purchased a big bunch of peppers from a local home gardener. Sweet, hot, mild, Hungarian and Mexican. Outstanding. We love peppers and for some applications the hotter the better. Chef Blaine has taken some green cherry tomatoes and has created a salsa verde for tomorrow's dinner. Sous Irene will use the ripe tomatoes to make a regular salsa. Desert will be the PBR STREETGANG mango cream pudding.

He's at it again!

20 Aug 20

06:45 hrs

     Chef Blaine is at it again!

     Feeling the need for some basic comfort food I asked him to make an old family favourite - Poor Man's Borscht. It's nothing special and it's not complicated but it is something that my L'il Sis and I grew up with. My Lobster, who wouldn't eat soup on a bet, pooh poohed the dish calling it dirt soup and as a result the only two people who ate were myself and the Sr. Couch Monkey. That's okay that just means there was more for me.

     Chef Blaine has also branched out on a new pursuit - the dry aging of meat. Meats can be smoked to preserve them for future use but another method, a more ancient method is to cure and dry age the material. By drying the meat, not as dry as jerky, moisture is removed and spoilage from bacteria is also removed. 

     He took two pork tenderloins, butterflied them and then weighed them. Next, sea salt or non-iodized kosher salt is measured out at 2.5% of the weight of the meat. To that, curing salt at .25% of the weight of the meat is also added. These salts were rubbed into the meat before they were sealed in a bag and allowed to rest for 6 days. For the next step the meat was rinsed off, dried off and seasoned with paprika, cumin, fennel and black pepper. The tenderloins were then rolled, tied, wrapped in cheese cloth and tied to hang in the shop bar fridge. How long does it hang? Again, the time is determined by weight. Before hanging the meat was weighed, 510 grams and 506 grams respectively. When they have reduced in weight by 35% it will be ready for consumption. Look in any delicatessen and you will find meats of all sizes and shapes and flavours hanging from the rafters ready for sale.

21 Aug 20

13:00 hrs

     We just finished Trouble Game #895 - at least it seems like it. The Oma-nator won. She doesn't always win and the style of Trouble that we play could be best described as cutthroat. It's everyone for themselves and no quarter given. Go get 'em!

22 Aug 20

05:00 hrs

     I have no idea why I am awake and up at this hour. Something popped I to my head while I was sleeping and I couldn't shake it. So now I'm enjoying some roof tar while watching the news. Of course, it's still dark outside. The sun won't be up for another hour. The seasons are changing here in the Valley. Leaves are starting to change colour already, especially on the big leaf maples as the heat of summer stresses them out. I remember when we lived in the 'Peg the seasons could and would change in a couple of weeks and skip one season altogether. From 30°C and mosquitoes to -10°C and swirling snow. I prefer being here.

Back from the Weeds

13:45 hrs

14 Aug 20

     This years expedition is now over and as much as I really enjoy going out into the Weeds hosting an expedition adds multiple layers of stress onto what should be an enjoyable outing. Overall, the expedition was a solid B in the success department. We had no injuries, there were no fights, no accidents, two possible sightings of the big and hairy kind, several rocks were throw in our general direction and a number of vocalizations were heard.

     While I was slogging through the trenches my Lobster had to take the Oma-nator for an appointment in River City and for a bubble tea as well. On the drive up the coast she noted the number of large new apartment/condo buildings that have gone up in the last little while. I had seen the construction when i went fishing with my Friend from over the Hump. If I had the time to stop and take some pictures I'm sure that my Lobster's Travelling Relatives would like to see the changes taking place in their old neighborhood. What really strikes me is how the contractors in River City can build condos over four floors in height and the morons at the city halls here in the Valley will not allow, under any circumstances, a building to be more than four residential levels tall. To gain height the developers are placing these four floors atop of a two level above ground car park. So guess what? Its six floors tall.

     My Li'l Sis and Aynsley made a trip to the Sage's place a week or so ago. It was the first time Aynsley had met this portion of her family and from what I was told all went well. L'il Sis said that it would be good if I went to visit the Sage's. My Better Half suggested that I go for Thanksgiving as we will not be travelling to the north end of the Rock anytime soon. I may or may not take one of the Loin Fruits with me. If I did it would most likely be the Jr. one as it our hope that the Sr. one will be gainfully employed by then. The only issue with bringing the Jr. Loin Fruit is that he has taken it upon himself to really push my buttons with his regurgitation of the high fallutin university psycho babble. I'm getting too old to care anymore. 

     What I do care about is this...I'm looking forward to the day when the Wayward Inn is paid off and when this Beer Flu is gone and when we are both retired to sitting on a tropical beach for a month at a stretch. Cold beers, warm sand and my Lobster beside me.

     I haven't touched any of my writing projects in the past six months. I know that I should pick it back up and get the shit done. The rewrite of Who Let the Goats Out  is pretty much done. I have to come up with a couple more stories and it still has to be edited mind you. Then there is the cook book and the last non fiction work. Five books. All different subjects.

19:45 hrs

     Tonight was not good night for games. I lost at Sludge Pit cribbage and two games of Trouble. My only consolation was finding and eating the first two ripe cherry tomatoes on our plants. We didn't plant these plants nor did we propagate them. My Lobster found them on marketplace for free. They were ten inches tall when we brought them home. They are much bigger now and the largest of them has grown taller than our blueberry bushes. I figured they would get so big, flower, produce fruit then die. But no. They just got bigger and bigger. And all the while flowering and producing fruit that wasn't ripening.  I talked to the Sage about this and was told that I had to prune off the male branches if I wanted to have the fruit ripen. But which are the male branches i asked. Simple, son - the useless ones with no fruit or blossoms on them. Thanks mom.

23:15 hrs

     The one thing you don't get a lot of when you are Out in the Weeds is news of current events - local or other wise. One thing that surprised me is how the Tangerine Tyrant has gone about facilitating a failure of the postal system to prevent mail in ballots from ever reaching the counting stations. Not only did his buddy, the Postmaster General, begin to remove neighbourhood mail collection boxes from across the country he also began the dismantling and the destruction of automated mail sorting machines which means the 10k peices of mail that is electonically sorted per hour will now have to done by hand. So, not only will it take longer for your mail (personal, business and government) to get to you but it will be almost impossible for you to send back a reply. I guess if he can't win by preventing mail in ballots from being used he's just going to prevent the mail in ballots from going anywhere. 

     Tomorrow is adventure day.

15 Aug 20

06:15 hrs

     I probably would have slept longer but we have a new rental cat who takes great pleasure in bolting up and down the hallway in the early morning. She's only nine months old and Miss Maggy Baggybits hates her. This is our second rental since Mr. Teddy Buttnuggets passed away and as important as it is to facilitate the habituation of these rentals so they can be adopted I have no attachment to them at all.

     I'm an old guy and being an old guy I'm partial to original things. Original art, songs, movies, etc. In my opinion, very rarely does the remake out shine the original. American Woman by the Guess Who is great. The Lenny Kravitz version not so much. Original Coke is far Better than any new recipe. The 1980 remake of the Mustang sucked. However, I recently watched a remake of the movie Death Wish that was really good. The original, starring Charles Bronson, came out over forty years ago. The updated remake starring Bruce Willis is just as good. You should give it a look see on Netflix. 

     Chef Blaine has a new experiment on the go. Previously, on several occasions, he has created a smoked and cured pork loin which was delicious. The only issue was when it was drying in the refrigerator the rich smoke scent, as deliciously intoxicating as that is, had permeated up through to the freezer compartment. The Jr. Couch Monkey once asked me why the frozen french fries smelled of mesquite. The new goal is to produce his own dry aged meats. If you have the ability, would you rather make your own home made salumi/salami (where you have control of the ingredients) or the mass produced stuff found at your local deli?

19:45 hrs

     Yes, today was adventure day which started out with yours truly not being able to find his wallet. For the next 2 1/2 hours I searched high and low in every nook and cranny. Finally, when I had reached the end of my rope the Oma-nator said a prayer and I found it. This is the nice version. Deal with it. 

     We drove south towards Hub City but not quite that far. I had to pick up something for the PBR Wayward Inn and on the return leg we stopped for an icecream cone. Coming back into the Valley there were three Queens's Cowboy ghost cars. We skated through.

     Well, Dear Readers...there's more on my plate but I think this is just about all you can digest.

Out and About

01 Aug 20

05:00 hrs

     The Valley is on a watering restiction so yours truly is awake and manning the pumps. I'll spend my time to catch up on the news programs that I recorded. Over the past few days I've been prepping the Mobile Wayward Inn to go Out in the Weeds. Its pretty much done now being loaded with food, water and libations. I did some clean up around the house too including a dump run. Our landfill is located out by the Wild Wild West. When I drove through I saw that they are building a  new firehall. This a good thing as the current firehall is probably a heritage building. The new one is more centralized to the ever expanding community. 

18:00 hrs

     Chef Blaine has ribs and a pork tenderloin on the Flame Pit. His sous chef is making the salad. The Oma-nator will be happy to chew on the ribs.

     My Li'l Brother is flying in from the Peg on Monday. I invited him to come Out in the Weeds with me next week. As the organizer I'm not charging him anything. I don't charge my Friend from Over the Hump either and he has been out on at least three other expeditions that I can remember. 

     Out for a walk with my Better Half she commented that the Beer Flu has not put in a dent in the housing market, at least locally. In the past week we have both seen at least a half dozen moving trucks in just our neighborhood. What has changed is the way people are conducting their house hunting. Gone are the days if trudging from house to house with your realtor or attending an open house with a crowd of other shoppers. The new method is to take an online virtual walk through from the cocooned safety of their current home. Buyer beware. It is risky to buy anything on line and this risk increases as the value increase but the risk of possibly catching the Beer Flu - and possibly dying from it - is worse.

     Our latest rental cat has been put up for adoption at one of the local pet stores. When we got her we had been told that she had an anxiety issue and was urinating anywhere she wanted. Well, we saw none of that. First, she's only a nine month kitten. Her first owner, from what we were told was an older person, who may not have scooped the box every day and after a few days a fastidious feline will be looking for a cleaner place to do its business. 

     A friend of mine posted this unique trick where instead of pouring out your bacon grease she stirs in oatmeal to it as it cools. This is now distributed as bird feed which is far better than bread crumbs. Here at the Wayward Inn,  we're going to give it a whirl.

     This will probably be my last post for a while as there is no cell access from Out in the Weeds.  Be safe and take care of each other. 

You would think...

23 Jul 20

06:24 hrs

     You would think that after 40 years or more of shaving that my lower lip would have enough scar tissue built up that the odd nick of the blade would not require the use of dampened tissue or a styptic pencil. 

     No.

     You would think that if you recieved a gift that you don't particularly care for that you would still say thank you and then quietly re-gift it when no one is watching.

     No.

     You would think that if you are an elected official and you get your hand in the cookie jar, not once but time and again, that you would step down and walk away from the position because you are a greedy pig.

     No.

     You would think that people who consume soy or almond "milk" would be smart enough to know that soy beans and tree nuts do not have mammary glands and therefore what they are drinking is best described as nut juice.

     No.

     You would think that if people knew what hot dogs were made of and how they were made that they never eat them again.

     No.

     You would think that as a highly successful comedian who was adored by millions of fans and who never cursed while performing his act, Bill Cosby would guilty of such heinous crimes.

     No.

     You would think that common sense would prevail and people would fall into the traps set by demagogues such as those pushing the Q-ANON agenda in the Hugh-ess.

     No.

     You would think that everyone knows that putting ketchup on a hotdog is just plain wrong.

     No. 

     You would think that people who read this blog would comment.

     No,