Black Friday, Or How to Spend a Few Hours? X2

After a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner at the Derr's, this morning was off to a rousing start with a 5am wakeup call to go participate in the US holiday of shopping the day after Thanksgiving. Oh where does one begin?

The mood actually started two days ago at the local food warehouse emporium, WinCo. Some have likened WinCo to Walmart, but I would place it a step up the food chain of people observing. We did once see a woman carry her pet dog in the store crammed and wedged into her cleavage. On Wednesday we weren't into the store a minute before I saw the keeper for the day. A couple walking through the aisles. She, leading the way pushing tha cart and he, following behind doing the baggy pants text-messaging shuffle. He caught my eye for a unique twist, his pants were sweats and the bottoms were not dragging in shreds beneath his feet. He had taken the loose material and balled them into a knot to take up the slack. Novel idea I thought to myself, until I looked northward and realized in disgust that if he had purchased the proper size of sweats and pulled the sweats up to their intended location--No Knot Was Needed! He, oblivious to everything, shuffled along invisably tethered to the woman ahead of him and the electronic collar and leash in his hands.

After that start, much Thankfulness was sucked right out of me. Kind of like the last trip to Walmart, whence Maureen commented that the Sunday afternoon trip just, "Sucked the church right outta me."

So with much foreboding, we rumbled into Visalia where Sam dropped Maureen, Annie and I at the mall. Wils had wisely stayed home in bed. Sam continued to Best Buy and stood in line for 20 minutes just to get in the store at 6am after the store had opened at 5am, another 10 minutes getting across the store because of the crowds, to look at a computer that they had sold out of an hour previously.

The Mall Trio started at J.C. Penney's, then through the audio assault at Hollister, various skate/surf/lifestyle stores, pass the Chinese massage tables outside Victoria's Secret to Gottschalk's to look for a coffee maker. The coffeemaker we received from Freecycle finally had worn out its welcome. Actually it had gone from "never worked very well" to an "electric carrafe" that didn't heat the coffee. A person, usually me, had to heat water, then pour it through the grounds and nuke the coffee in the microwave to bring it up to temperature. With our No-Buy from China challange this year, we thought it might be impossible to find a coffemaker to buy. We actually found two. A Bunn "assembled" in Canada seemed dubiously labeled, but the KitchenAide we purchased was "made" in India. It is only a 10-cup which may become difficult with three coffee drinkers, or may get me to cut back a bit. Interestingly the KitchenAide 14-cup, better for our needs, was made in China.

Well, Que Sera, Sera as Doris would sing. What started as a quest of questionable merit turned into an excellent family adventure.

P.S. We did go out again in the afternoon. The good feelings of the morning dissipated with the crush of people. We added some lines to a cell phone family plan. The unfortunate woman helping us endured her computer freezing for about an hour before we finally were done. Activation took hours more. Such is life.

P.P.S. The photo was taken as I waited for my daughter to exit the dressing room in Penney's.

Frugal is Just Another Label for Cheapskate

Sam told us about zenhabits.net, a website that seems to be a keeper. I was digging through it and talking about the site with Maureen and Sam when I came across this article. I seem to be similar to the person described. My children call me the Urban Hobo for my cheapness. Sometimes I wonder if I don't relish the "Cheap" in cheapness too much.

We were also talking about the concept of enjoying what you are doing, instead of hustling along through one thing to get to another "thing" to do. James Taylor's "Secret of Life" comes to mind. Barbara Kingslover describes discovering a new way home during college. She told her grandfather she had made the trip in 37 less minutes. He asked what she was going to do with those 37 minutes.

When I think of Maureen, I think about her in the garden and cooking. She becomes immersed in those things. It is wonderful to be with her in the garden, tilling and working. I am blessed that we share the gardening. I find myself lost in enjoyment when we garden together. I anticipate the different recipes she cooks. I am extremely thankful for Maureen.

Food Survey--Great to Gross

I stole this from my wonderful gastronomical better half.

Here’s what I want you to do:
1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Mark any items that you would never consider eating.

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:


1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos Rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper--I was tricked one time into eating some mustard sauce from a Chinese restaurant
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar 37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects --chocolate covered?
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk--better than cow's milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu--pufferfish, I don't think so
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone--fresh just pried from the ocean
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini--only once, bad hangover
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis - see comment for head cheese
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill--seen many times, never eaten
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail--an aunt raised them for restaurants
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom Yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers--squash blossoms
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish--good from the pond, not so much in a restaurant
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox--many bagels, no lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake--Sea Snake count? Fresh from the North Coast of CA

Surpirse, I'm Back!

Do you ever experience something that surprises you in a good way? Last night Maureen and I had dinner at home with just ourselves. That happens from time to time now with our children being older. I hope Brad survived the FSU game. Sam was working. Wilson took Annie to her end of the year soccer party in Visalia. Wils picked up food in Visalia, even though Mom told him she was cooking. So it became a quiet dinner of garlic chicken for Maureen and I, with Wilson in his room gaming. That wasn't the surprise.

The wine was. We started the evening with a 2005 Campion Pinot Noir from the Santa Lucia Highlands. We're just learning to appreciate Pinots and this was a good one that we received the last time we were in Napa with the Derrs. We liked it, but it seems a bit young to me. That's my way of saying there is a taste somewhere that time in the cellar would smooth out. That being only my naive thoughts. We will probably finish the bottle tonight and see if 24 hours will help. Good wine and a good way to start appreciating Pinots.

The second wine we drank is more like we usually have, but really surprised both of us. Last year after one of Sam's football games in Reedley we needed to pick something up in the country north of Reedley near Sanger. We ended up out near the Redwood Inn, or at least what used to be the restaurant. It is off of Highway 180. I saw a sign that said wine tasting, we had some time, so we stopped. They were just closing up, but offered to let us taste. What a great discovery. Cedar View Winery is what we found. Great people, good wines. They have a B & B nearby and the winery. A couple from New York state staying in the B & B came in and tasted for a bit. It was the end of the month, so we only bought a few bottles of white and a red by their winemaker under his label and promised ourselves to return.

Last night in a sense we returned. I was rummaging through the cellar for a bottle of Cab and brought up the winemaker's red, a 2005 Ramos Lodi Cabernet Sauvignon. It has 10% Merlot and 10% Petite Sirah. From the first sip to the end it was great. Maureen said that it was one of those wines that makes you stand up and notice it in a pleasant way. Lots of fruit and berry tastes that were right up front, but not overpowering. The cab, with its berry tastes, contrasted with the Pinot. Just a very wonderful surprise. We just plain liked it and plans are under way to make the trip North, the back way to Fresno and get some more.

Gastronomically Thankful

After being thankful for a big thing, I thought it might be nice to share some thanks for a small thing that really isn't that small. Above is a picture of the baby greens that Maureen planted. It takes more than a bit of work to plant. She planted quite a bit again this year and I am so very thankful. It also means she is picking all the time, which is good. I love her salads. Many nights a big salad, bread and a glass of wine and that is dinner. Nothing to fancy on the surface, but good for you and good to taste.

The salad below is one of my favorites. Pine nuts, pecans, a bit of cheese, a bit of Balsamic vinegar and off to the races. A good cab to help wash things down. What else to you need?

Thank you, dear!

Thank You!

A big Thank You to all the veterans that served, were injured and died so that I could sit here listening to Tony Bennett, drinking a nice wine and not having to worry about injury to myself or my family.

Thank you to:

Max Garver
Thomas Derr
Rex Garver
Michael Derr
Daniel Unger
Bryan Wagner
To everyone I forgot

Better Pissed Off, than Pissed On

"Hopefully my 39 minutes on the phone will correct the mistakes created by the 42 minutes my wife was on the phone the first time trying to resolve the billing issue that has been ongoing with Verizon for 12 months. These times do not include the time spent deleting duplicate emails and reorganizing our Outlook Express page as a result of Verizon tech support Sharing changes. In the small town we live in Verizon has a virtual and real monopoly on DSL service, or we would be seeking service elsewhere."

Thus ended the email I sent to Verizon after another tech support experience. I still have time to spend making sure the email works.

I feel like a speck on the Earth, when the Earth is actually a marble being used by a creature in the Cosmic marble game at the end of Men in Black. Or the Whos screaming to be heard in Horton Hears a Who.

Appreciation

Grapes after being picked.


Juicing the grapes.


Composting leftovers from juicing, Yum!


Final product.

This grape juice is but one example of the generous work that Maureen does for our family. I am so parsimonious. Thrifty might be better and flat-out cheap the best description. I can't seem to let anything be wasted. The family can tell stories of things brought home, stops to pick something up from the roadside, or just plain not throwing something away that should be. I wore a wool sweater that Maureen picked up from the gutter before we met. When we married it was put in the closet and sat for years. I wore it until it was more holes than wool. It was bright yellow-gold and so warm and cozy, even with the holes. Our children refused to go into public when I wore it. I finally gave it up to the trash. You get the idea.

So when my cheap ways come into the open, like with the Cabernet grapes on our vine, Maureen is the one that usually translates them into something useful.

For that I am truly thankful that God put her in my life.

SOS Squared

Yesterday Maureen and I were watching Annie's soccer game in Visalia. AYSO soccer to be exact. I call it Socialist Soccer, but that is another story. Annie's team had the last game of the day. Most of the other fields were empty but for adults taking down nets and picking up. Part of that Socialism. A lady walked by us picking up trash. I'm guessing that the fields are picked of trash to leave the place neat. Good idea. I looked near us and saw a wrapper for a yogart squeezy tube lying on the ground and picked it up, intending to put it in the trash later. The lady offered to take it to the trash, so I gave it to her. Maureen commented about what kind of person would suck the yogart from the tube then toss it on the ground and walk away.

We then got into a conversation about the general rudeness of people. We talked about the time years ago that our family picked up the baseball field of trash, cans, diapers, cigarette butts, etc. after the free Lions Club 4th of July Fireworks show. Maureen at that time was disgusted at the nonunderstanding of the concept of "Haul it in, haul it out." I had a bit of a better idea of the rudeness having cleaned up after athletic teams and fans for many years as a coach. I have just conditioned myself to expect the worst of people. From that point on we casually comment to each other when ever we see such an act.

Yesterday we coined a phrase for this generally rude, self-centered, unconcerned, uncaring attitude that shows a lack of vision of a person's world and of others that occupy this same planet. We call it the Sickness of the Soul--SOS. Not very original, but it seems to capture the idea.

The idea has been brewing inside for a long time. I teach Lord of the Flies in senior English. A good book about the evil within us that corrupts. Christ covers our evil with His shed blood. If we allow.

So we are going to keep track of the SOS's we see. Yesterday in Fresno two buddies walking holding their pants up least they fall. Not pull up the pants, walk a bit, pull up pants again. One hand permanently affixed to pants or they fall. SOS.

The person that stops in the middle of the street to let someone out of the car without regard for others behind them, and the resulting line of cars backs up into the intersection they just drove through 50 yards before. I see it every other day at the school where I teach. SOS.

All Hallows Eve trick or treaters that don't dress up, but expect candy. Kids greater than 16 and don't dress up, and expect candy. Treaters that come back more than once. SOS.

Save Our Souls from the Sickness of the Soul.