Today will be the 30th day of triple digit temperatures in the Dallas - Ft. Worth metro area. And this week the forecast is for even more soaring temps, up to 108 by mid week. Joy.
The drought is so severe here that contractors are getting hundreds of phone calls for foundation work. It seems that the soil is so dry that building foundations are slipping and cracking. The soil is heavy clay which expands when wet and contracts when dry. Since all the moisture in the soil is virtually gone, the support is failing.
On a happier note, my brother John is coming to TX today for a short visit. Jennifer is also returning home after an absence of a month! Hurray! Some people to talk to! We will have a good, albeit hot, week.
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Sunday, July 31, 2011
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Texas drivers
Two things that Texans don't get: driving intelligently and stoplights. First, picture if you will three lanes of traffic, surface streets, 40 mph speed limit. One would think that cars would spread out on these three lanes. But no, not here. If there are ten cars in a space of a block or so, eight of those ten cars will be in one lane. No reason, just following along like sheep. Even at a red stop light, there can be two lanes with no cars and one lane with all ten cars. It isn't that the lanes end or merge or exit, it is just that Texans (and yes, I am generalizing here) seem never to look around, they just follow what is in front of them. So odd.
And can we talk about stop lights? You know how most lights, especially in Northern California, have some sort of sensor that tells the light if there are cars in the lane. That sensor will trigger the light to turn from red to green, or trigger the left-turn light to come on. In this part of Texas that does not occur. Ever. In fact, the lights really have nothing to do with the flow of traffic. I have sat at countless stoplights, waiting for the lights to take their sweet time progressing through their approved cycle, no traffic in sight anywhere. Will the light change early because I have stopped? No. Will the left turn light come on so I can make a left turn? Not unless it is part of the cycle. It is quite frustrating, just sitting at an intersection, no cars anywhere, watching the traffic lights letting the non-existent cross traffic have the green light. So stupid.
They also have a law that every seven years you have to physically get a new license plate with a new plate number. Why? According to the Texas DMV site, it is because the reflective tape on the plate wears out by then. Really? And it wouldn't be a lot less cheaper to just get better reflective tape than issue all new plates and hire bureaucrats to deal with that whole issue?
And finally, there are many freeways between Dallas and Ft. Worth, which is where Grand Prairie is, where I am serving my sentence. Some freeways say North and South and some say East and West, but some that say East and West actually run North and South.
Those goofy Texans!
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And can we talk about stop lights? You know how most lights, especially in Northern California, have some sort of sensor that tells the light if there are cars in the lane. That sensor will trigger the light to turn from red to green, or trigger the left-turn light to come on. In this part of Texas that does not occur. Ever. In fact, the lights really have nothing to do with the flow of traffic. I have sat at countless stoplights, waiting for the lights to take their sweet time progressing through their approved cycle, no traffic in sight anywhere. Will the light change early because I have stopped? No. Will the left turn light come on so I can make a left turn? Not unless it is part of the cycle. It is quite frustrating, just sitting at an intersection, no cars anywhere, watching the traffic lights letting the non-existent cross traffic have the green light. So stupid.
They also have a law that every seven years you have to physically get a new license plate with a new plate number. Why? According to the Texas DMV site, it is because the reflective tape on the plate wears out by then. Really? And it wouldn't be a lot less cheaper to just get better reflective tape than issue all new plates and hire bureaucrats to deal with that whole issue?
And finally, there are many freeways between Dallas and Ft. Worth, which is where Grand Prairie is, where I am serving my sentence. Some freeways say North and South and some say East and West, but some that say East and West actually run North and South.
Those goofy Texans!
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Friday, July 29, 2011
Water and fountains
As I mentioned a few days ago, I am reading a book about water, the current status of the world of water, the future of water in our world. Lots of data and some amazing facts, good examples of wise water usage and examples of foolish usage as well. It's easy to skip around in it, which is what I have done. "The Big Thirst" by Fishman.
Reading a book like this encourages you to investigate other paths that you might not have previously taken. The author talks about huge water fountains and introduces the company that has designed and implemented many of the world's most incredible water features: WET Designs. If you are at all enamoured of water fountains I encourage you to google the name and check out some of the fountains they have on their site, under "Creations." Some have a short movie about the fountain and the best one is the one from Dubai, UAE. This is the largest water fountain in the world, surpassing the size of the fountains at the Bellagio in Las Vegas. There are dozens of still photos of fountains as well, from all over the world. You can also go to youtube.com and search for WET Design fountains and see other videos from around the world.
Gorgeous designs and the scope of some of these water features is awesome in the jaw-dropping meaning of that word. Makes me want to see them all in person.
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Reading a book like this encourages you to investigate other paths that you might not have previously taken. The author talks about huge water fountains and introduces the company that has designed and implemented many of the world's most incredible water features: WET Designs. If you are at all enamoured of water fountains I encourage you to google the name and check out some of the fountains they have on their site, under "Creations." Some have a short movie about the fountain and the best one is the one from Dubai, UAE. This is the largest water fountain in the world, surpassing the size of the fountains at the Bellagio in Las Vegas. There are dozens of still photos of fountains as well, from all over the world. You can also go to youtube.com and search for WET Design fountains and see other videos from around the world.
Gorgeous designs and the scope of some of these water features is awesome in the jaw-dropping meaning of that word. Makes me want to see them all in person.
.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Dullsville
Sorry for the lack of blog postings this week, I have totally lost any sort of focus, any motivation and definitely have lost a great deal of perseverance. I fear the heat has become the tyrant that I must obey. Yes, I do my little daily routine but that's about all I can manage to accomplish. Walk the dogs from 6:45 to 7:30, sweat for a half hour, shower, have coffee and read for an hour. Run some half-ass made-up errand. Return before noon, read some more, go to the gym at 1:00 for 40 minutes. Return, gather the dogs into the car, take them to the grassy area of the park where they run around for 7 minutes and then beg to be let back in the car. Return to the house, where it is cooler. Sweat. Take another shower. Read some more. Feed dogs at 5:00. Make cocktail or pour wine at 5:30 (sometimes managing to hold out until 6:00.) Create some sort of dinner around 7:00, watch crappy TV til 10:00, let dogs out for last chance to pee. In between, check email, apply for jobs on-line, occasionally talk to a human person on the phone. That's it. That's the routine, varied slightly by perhaps seeing a movie or taking a different route in the car after completing stupid errands. Boring.
And with all that excitement during my oh-so-busy day, there just isn't enough time to create some amusing musing about my sojourn here in TX. Well, no, there is time, but the will to do so has vanished.
I will try to be better, try to write even if I don't have anything to say (like today!) and hopefully get more words onto the screen. I could talk about dinner, I suppose: I made a killer macaroni and cheese the other night, with several odds and ends of bits of cheese that were turning colors in the fridge. I had some home-made garlic and rosemary croutons as well, and I rough chopped them up and sprinkled them over the mac and cheese before it went into the oven and it added another layer of yummy, crunchy flavor.
I am also the queen of the fruit smoothies. You can't leave fruit out for longer than a day and a half, or it starts to go bad, so random fruits get tossed into the blender with some greek yogurt, a couple of ice cubes and a glug or two of orange juice. I must say, it is like drinking a really great milk shake but with almost no fat, some good protein from the yogurt and tons of fruit. That's pretty much my lunch every day. So, so good.
Blah, blah, blah. That's all I've got right now.
And with all that excitement during my oh-so-busy day, there just isn't enough time to create some amusing musing about my sojourn here in TX. Well, no, there is time, but the will to do so has vanished.
I will try to be better, try to write even if I don't have anything to say (like today!) and hopefully get more words onto the screen. I could talk about dinner, I suppose: I made a killer macaroni and cheese the other night, with several odds and ends of bits of cheese that were turning colors in the fridge. I had some home-made garlic and rosemary croutons as well, and I rough chopped them up and sprinkled them over the mac and cheese before it went into the oven and it added another layer of yummy, crunchy flavor.
I am also the queen of the fruit smoothies. You can't leave fruit out for longer than a day and a half, or it starts to go bad, so random fruits get tossed into the blender with some greek yogurt, a couple of ice cubes and a glug or two of orange juice. I must say, it is like drinking a really great milk shake but with almost no fat, some good protein from the yogurt and tons of fruit. That's pretty much my lunch every day. So, so good.
Blah, blah, blah. That's all I've got right now.
Monday, July 25, 2011
Book
I am reading a book called "The Big Thirst" by Charles Fishman. It is about water. Sounds boring, but the first 100 pages are quite good. The first several pages grip you with astounding statistics and then he talks about the evolution of water and it's role in everything from our blood to the manufacturing of microchips. There is a great chapter on Las Vegas and how they manage their water resources much better than almost any other city in the US which is especially remarkable because LV is in a desert and gets less than 6 inches of rain a year, average.
While I am interested now, who knows how interested I will be in another 100 pages, but so far, so good. Sometimes it's refreshing to read something that is factual instead of something from an author's imagination. And one learns new things at the same time! What a concept.
It is 6:20 pm here in Grand Prairie and the temperature is 105 degrees. Grand Prairie was in the news this past weekend because of a shooting at a roller rink, a sad and terrible way to gain notoriety. Six people were shot, one gunman who killed himself after killing them. Tragedy is impervious to location, isn't it?
.
While I am interested now, who knows how interested I will be in another 100 pages, but so far, so good. Sometimes it's refreshing to read something that is factual instead of something from an author's imagination. And one learns new things at the same time! What a concept.
It is 6:20 pm here in Grand Prairie and the temperature is 105 degrees. Grand Prairie was in the news this past weekend because of a shooting at a roller rink, a sad and terrible way to gain notoriety. Six people were shot, one gunman who killed himself after killing them. Tragedy is impervious to location, isn't it?
.
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Many topics from here in TX
Grab a glass of wine or a cup of coffee, lots of things covered here in this blog.
Books: if you aren't familiar with Dennis Lehane's books and if you are a fan of the private investigator genre, you should check him out. (The library is your friend here, no need to buy them.) Well-written, fast, snappy dialogue. Not great literature but fleshed-out stories, a couple of well-defined characters, mostly set in Boston, smart and always engaging. I am reading other books as well, but not finding anything that I totally enamoured of, but if I do, you will read about it. (Suggestions welcome.) The library here, while seemingly large, doesn't buy a lot of new books unless they are widely reviewed. However, while browsing the stacks of fiction I noticed that many of the books have a label on their spine reading "Christian Fiction." Hmm, I must check out one of those. NOT.
Produce: today I finally found a good tomato; it seems the heat here has ruined most of the crop. They look good, all red and plump, but are hard and unripe inside. Today's find was a yellow tomato that was actually ripe and sweet. Sadly, the 'farmers market' here is more more like a farmers roadside stand. And not even that. Summer squash abounds, along with green string beans, melons, onions, sometimes berries and the best peaches I have eaten, grown in Texas. Not much more, unless you want one of the Fried Pies offered by the Mormons. I still long for a juicy, intense heirloom tomato that you can slice thick, put on a slice of good bread with a smear of mayo, some salt, and eat it standing over the sink as it leaks its amazing juice into the bread and all over your fingers. Haven't found that yet. Will continue to look.
TV: just finished watching the first season of the FX show "Justified" with Timothy Oliphant. With him, nothing more needs to be said except "hot" and "cute." Very much so. The series is in its third season, I think, but I missed most of it so am catching up with Netflix. Takes place in Kentucky, he is a US Marshall (which is different than being a cop or a FBI guy) and the sleaziness of the south truly comes out. Now, I'm not saying the south is sleazy, but there is that gritty, unsavory element and the show does not pretty it up. Lots of guns, some shooting and some blood, but it has that lazy, hot, southern quality about it that I like. It's sort of twisted at times, again another plus. And hey, you just can't stop looking at Oliphant. (There are hot chicks in it too, just so you know and if you like that sort of thing. And really, who doesn't?)
Heat: I hate to run on and on about the heat but here's one thing that you don't know until you live in it. It's fine to think that you go from AC in the house to AC in the car to AC in the market or movie theater or whatever. All that is fine. What you don't realize is that if you are out of your car for more than 30 minutes, it heats up inside to temperatures in the 140-150 degree range. That's really hot. You turn the AC on and it does nothing for about 10 minutes because everything in that car is hot, every surface, and it takes a long time for that cold (read cool) air to actually make a difference in a fire box like that. So by the time you get home you are sweating through your shirt because the car is so hot and the AC is struggling greatly to cool things down but is defeated by the elements.
Cold showers: because the air and the ground are so hot all the time (night-time low is around 80, and that's not til about 3:00 am) the water that comes out of the shower head is also almost hot. You get about one minute of cold water, probably the water circling through the pipes in the house, and then it goes tepid. This is so disappointing! Because I am out several times during the day, sometimes actually out in the hotness, sometimes coming back from the YMCA, always sweating, I need that cold shower more than once a day. Not having it makes me cranky. But at least it saves water siince I am in and out quickly, and since there is a major drought here, that is not a bad thing. But still......
YMCA: yes, I joined because they have a gym and because I am so bored. It gives my day another dimension, that of fostering Christian values. Oh, wait, that's really not what I meant, that's just what it says on the walls, which I read while working the weight machines. The other dimension for me is just getting to do something else other than read and talk to the dogs and nap. The local Y is about two miles from here and if I go around 1:00 it is fairly empty, so not too many people watch me as I go from Nautilus to Nautilus and puzzle over how to move the seat or the fulcrum and not too many people giggle at my lame attempts to pump iron. But hey, it's something to do and wasn't all that expensive. But please, don't imagine that I will come back to California all toned and buffed. We all know that ain't gonna happen. The best I am hoping for is that I come back a little more fit physically and sane and reasonably sober, and my almost daily short work-outs are a way to help that happen. And by "reasonably sober" I mean I haven't had to join AA yet. But sometimes it seems not out of the equation. (kidding. sort of.)
Dogs: just one word about them: smart. I often take them out around 2:00 in the afternoon (they get an hour long walk from 6:30 to 7:30 in the morning) for a little romp on the grassy knoll in back of us so they can pee and stretch their legs, which they don't care to do in the backyard. Yesterday they ran around for about 8 minutes and then parked themselves under a tree, in the shade, and wouldn't move. I had to put leashes on both of them and gently coax them to the car. They know it's too hot and they know when to stop. When we first get to the grassy area, they hop out of the car like kids on a field trip but they know when they are too hot and they stop moving. I admire their awareness of their own internal thermometer.
Drinks: I make a really good, tart, on-the-rocks margarita but tonight I am having a whiskey sour. I know, TMI.
That's all for now. Thanks for reading along and I am sure there will be more salient topics for the next blog. Or not.
Oddly, there are herons or cranes (whichever) in the little lake (pond) near us and in the Joe Pool Lake behind us.
.
Books: if you aren't familiar with Dennis Lehane's books and if you are a fan of the private investigator genre, you should check him out. (The library is your friend here, no need to buy them.) Well-written, fast, snappy dialogue. Not great literature but fleshed-out stories, a couple of well-defined characters, mostly set in Boston, smart and always engaging. I am reading other books as well, but not finding anything that I totally enamoured of, but if I do, you will read about it. (Suggestions welcome.) The library here, while seemingly large, doesn't buy a lot of new books unless they are widely reviewed. However, while browsing the stacks of fiction I noticed that many of the books have a label on their spine reading "Christian Fiction." Hmm, I must check out one of those. NOT.
Produce: today I finally found a good tomato; it seems the heat here has ruined most of the crop. They look good, all red and plump, but are hard and unripe inside. Today's find was a yellow tomato that was actually ripe and sweet. Sadly, the 'farmers market' here is more more like a farmers roadside stand. And not even that. Summer squash abounds, along with green string beans, melons, onions, sometimes berries and the best peaches I have eaten, grown in Texas. Not much more, unless you want one of the Fried Pies offered by the Mormons. I still long for a juicy, intense heirloom tomato that you can slice thick, put on a slice of good bread with a smear of mayo, some salt, and eat it standing over the sink as it leaks its amazing juice into the bread and all over your fingers. Haven't found that yet. Will continue to look.
TV: just finished watching the first season of the FX show "Justified" with Timothy Oliphant. With him, nothing more needs to be said except "hot" and "cute." Very much so. The series is in its third season, I think, but I missed most of it so am catching up with Netflix. Takes place in Kentucky, he is a US Marshall (which is different than being a cop or a FBI guy) and the sleaziness of the south truly comes out. Now, I'm not saying the south is sleazy, but there is that gritty, unsavory element and the show does not pretty it up. Lots of guns, some shooting and some blood, but it has that lazy, hot, southern quality about it that I like. It's sort of twisted at times, again another plus. And hey, you just can't stop looking at Oliphant. (There are hot chicks in it too, just so you know and if you like that sort of thing. And really, who doesn't?)
Heat: I hate to run on and on about the heat but here's one thing that you don't know until you live in it. It's fine to think that you go from AC in the house to AC in the car to AC in the market or movie theater or whatever. All that is fine. What you don't realize is that if you are out of your car for more than 30 minutes, it heats up inside to temperatures in the 140-150 degree range. That's really hot. You turn the AC on and it does nothing for about 10 minutes because everything in that car is hot, every surface, and it takes a long time for that cold (read cool) air to actually make a difference in a fire box like that. So by the time you get home you are sweating through your shirt because the car is so hot and the AC is struggling greatly to cool things down but is defeated by the elements.
Cold showers: because the air and the ground are so hot all the time (night-time low is around 80, and that's not til about 3:00 am) the water that comes out of the shower head is also almost hot. You get about one minute of cold water, probably the water circling through the pipes in the house, and then it goes tepid. This is so disappointing! Because I am out several times during the day, sometimes actually out in the hotness, sometimes coming back from the YMCA, always sweating, I need that cold shower more than once a day. Not having it makes me cranky. But at least it saves water siince I am in and out quickly, and since there is a major drought here, that is not a bad thing. But still......
YMCA: yes, I joined because they have a gym and because I am so bored. It gives my day another dimension, that of fostering Christian values. Oh, wait, that's really not what I meant, that's just what it says on the walls, which I read while working the weight machines. The other dimension for me is just getting to do something else other than read and talk to the dogs and nap. The local Y is about two miles from here and if I go around 1:00 it is fairly empty, so not too many people watch me as I go from Nautilus to Nautilus and puzzle over how to move the seat or the fulcrum and not too many people giggle at my lame attempts to pump iron. But hey, it's something to do and wasn't all that expensive. But please, don't imagine that I will come back to California all toned and buffed. We all know that ain't gonna happen. The best I am hoping for is that I come back a little more fit physically and sane and reasonably sober, and my almost daily short work-outs are a way to help that happen. And by "reasonably sober" I mean I haven't had to join AA yet. But sometimes it seems not out of the equation. (kidding. sort of.)
Dogs: just one word about them: smart. I often take them out around 2:00 in the afternoon (they get an hour long walk from 6:30 to 7:30 in the morning) for a little romp on the grassy knoll in back of us so they can pee and stretch their legs, which they don't care to do in the backyard. Yesterday they ran around for about 8 minutes and then parked themselves under a tree, in the shade, and wouldn't move. I had to put leashes on both of them and gently coax them to the car. They know it's too hot and they know when to stop. When we first get to the grassy area, they hop out of the car like kids on a field trip but they know when they are too hot and they stop moving. I admire their awareness of their own internal thermometer.
Drinks: I make a really good, tart, on-the-rocks margarita but tonight I am having a whiskey sour. I know, TMI.
That's all for now. Thanks for reading along and I am sure there will be more salient topics for the next blog. Or not.
Oddly, there are herons or cranes (whichever) in the little lake (pond) near us and in the Joe Pool Lake behind us.
.
Thursday, July 21, 2011
A movie review and a recipe
OK, first the recipe. This is delicious, easy, cheap and pretty fat-free. And it has stuff you probably have in your pantry. Here in Tex Ass, where it is important to have cold things to munch on already in the fridge, this concoction acts as dinner sometimes, spread on a cracker or dipped with pita chips. Essentially it's like hummus but better in some ways. Let's call it White Bean and Roasted Pepper Dip.
1 can white beans (cannellini), drained
1 cup (or thereabouts) roasted, skinned red pepper, either from a jar (rinsed) or from a real red pepper that you have roasted
3 ounces softened cream cheese (fat-free or reduced fat is fine), or about a third cup, you could probably use greek yogurt as well
juice of a half lemon
1 garlic clove, rough chopped
Salt and Pepper
Put all the ingredients in the food processor and whiz it til smooth. Refrigerate for at least an hour so the flavors blend, but it is even better the next day. Keeps for several days, covered in the fridge. I know it sounds sort of boring, but it isn't, and it's a lovely color and it tastes delicious, and how cheap and easy is it! I made mine in the blender, worked fine, just had to scrape the sides down a time or two.
Movie Review: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2. You should probably see Part 1 first, but even if you haven't you will still appreciate this one. It's quite good, the effects are often excellent and the color palate is dark, gloomy, portending evil. I like that sort of thing. (And yes, I sometimes like light and airy and pastels, too, but really, not so often.) Harry and his friends do what they are all supposed to do so there's some satisfaction in the resolution of the story. There are some twists and surprises, of course. And to tell you the truth (no spoiler here, don't worry) it could have ended about 10 minutes earlier and the last scene omitted and I would have been a tiny bit happier. See it on a big screen. We did not opt for the 3-D showing, not being big fans, and I don't think we missed out on anything because of that.
OK, that's it for this morning.
1 can white beans (cannellini), drained
1 cup (or thereabouts) roasted, skinned red pepper, either from a jar (rinsed) or from a real red pepper that you have roasted
3 ounces softened cream cheese (fat-free or reduced fat is fine), or about a third cup, you could probably use greek yogurt as well
juice of a half lemon
1 garlic clove, rough chopped
Salt and Pepper
Put all the ingredients in the food processor and whiz it til smooth. Refrigerate for at least an hour so the flavors blend, but it is even better the next day. Keeps for several days, covered in the fridge. I know it sounds sort of boring, but it isn't, and it's a lovely color and it tastes delicious, and how cheap and easy is it! I made mine in the blender, worked fine, just had to scrape the sides down a time or two.
Movie Review: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2. You should probably see Part 1 first, but even if you haven't you will still appreciate this one. It's quite good, the effects are often excellent and the color palate is dark, gloomy, portending evil. I like that sort of thing. (And yes, I sometimes like light and airy and pastels, too, but really, not so often.) Harry and his friends do what they are all supposed to do so there's some satisfaction in the resolution of the story. There are some twists and surprises, of course. And to tell you the truth (no spoiler here, don't worry) it could have ended about 10 minutes earlier and the last scene omitted and I would have been a tiny bit happier. See it on a big screen. We did not opt for the 3-D showing, not being big fans, and I don't think we missed out on anything because of that.
OK, that's it for this morning.
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Meandering
A long time ago, seemingly a lifetime ago, I longed for the time to do little but read books. At the time I was a single mother, working a couple of jobs, cashing my paycheck from the motorcycle dealership I worked for, putting the money in little envelopes labeled "Rent" and "Food" and "Gas" and any other expenses I had to budget for. By the time I got home from work, made dinner, made sure the kids were doing their homework, got them ready for bed and into bed, I was too tired to read. I'm not telling you this for any other reason but to illustrate my lack of book time. I didn't read a lot in those days, but I thought about it. A lot.
I fantasized about contracting some sort of disease, nothing life threatening but something that would require me to go somewhere nice and quiet, with trees and green grassy fields, where I would be required to do nothing but rest. And in resting, do nothing more strenuous than turn the pages of a book. There I could read and read and read for hours, someone else making my simple meals, bringing me cold lemonade, telling me to relax. It was a lame fantasy, I admit, but one born out of the need for the time and energy to do nothing but read.
"Be careful what you wish for......" Now I have a ton of time and god knows I am reading. Hours of reading,
dozens of books. Some good, some excellent, some just 'passing the time' books. But reading, yes. And you know what? I am almost getting tired of it and it has been less than two weeks! What a shock this is to me! Me, who loves to read, is almost tired of reading. But not quite.
A Texan loaned me a Stephen King book, an author I do not normally read, but it was over 1000 pages long and I thought "oh, don't be such a literary snob, just give it a try" and so I did. I must admit, the first half of the book, which took me two days to devour, was rather intriguing, fun, creepy and entertaining. The second half is starting to get bogged down in stupid plot twists (an oxymoron in a S. King book) but I will continue on anyway because now I need to know what happens. At the same time, I am reading a book called "Running the Books" by Avi Steinberg, who is a young guy who gets a job running the library in a really tough prison outside of Boston. I am also reading a Dennis LeHane novel called "Moonlight Mile" about a private investigator looking into nasty stuff. LeHane is a good writer, it's a quick read. (He has written several books that were made into movies, most notably "Mystic River" and "Gone, Baby, Gone" and if you haven't seen that movie, you are missing out.) I am also, at the same time, working on the NY Times Sunday crossword puzzle.
There will be book reviews posted of these in the next few days.
And the heat continues. 100 degrees today, forecast is for more triple digits for the next ten days and we haven't even hit the real heat of July. The humidity is creeping up as well, especially high in the early morning when we go for our long walk. I read today why we feel hotter in humid weather: in hot weather a person perspires. In a dry climate that perspiration on the skin helps cool us so we feel less hot. In humid weather that perspiration doesn't evaporate from our skin because there is already too much moisture in the air, so our sweating is less effective. It also makes the blood near our skin warmer and thus makes us more lethargic, tired, and basically useless. (I speak for myself here, of course.)
That's enough for now. I do have some things to say about the bizarre and sometimes misguided concept of Dog Parks, which I didn't recognize until this morning. I will fill you in on that a bit later. It is after 6:00 pm here, definitely time for my daily dose of Vitamin C by way of lime juice, administered with a healthy shot (or two) of germ killing tequila with a little simple syrup mixed in just to make the medicine more palatable. In other words, a tasty margarita is on my horizon.
.
I fantasized about contracting some sort of disease, nothing life threatening but something that would require me to go somewhere nice and quiet, with trees and green grassy fields, where I would be required to do nothing but rest. And in resting, do nothing more strenuous than turn the pages of a book. There I could read and read and read for hours, someone else making my simple meals, bringing me cold lemonade, telling me to relax. It was a lame fantasy, I admit, but one born out of the need for the time and energy to do nothing but read.
"Be careful what you wish for......" Now I have a ton of time and god knows I am reading. Hours of reading,
dozens of books. Some good, some excellent, some just 'passing the time' books. But reading, yes. And you know what? I am almost getting tired of it and it has been less than two weeks! What a shock this is to me! Me, who loves to read, is almost tired of reading. But not quite.
A Texan loaned me a Stephen King book, an author I do not normally read, but it was over 1000 pages long and I thought "oh, don't be such a literary snob, just give it a try" and so I did. I must admit, the first half of the book, which took me two days to devour, was rather intriguing, fun, creepy and entertaining. The second half is starting to get bogged down in stupid plot twists (an oxymoron in a S. King book) but I will continue on anyway because now I need to know what happens. At the same time, I am reading a book called "Running the Books" by Avi Steinberg, who is a young guy who gets a job running the library in a really tough prison outside of Boston. I am also reading a Dennis LeHane novel called "Moonlight Mile" about a private investigator looking into nasty stuff. LeHane is a good writer, it's a quick read. (He has written several books that were made into movies, most notably "Mystic River" and "Gone, Baby, Gone" and if you haven't seen that movie, you are missing out.) I am also, at the same time, working on the NY Times Sunday crossword puzzle.
There will be book reviews posted of these in the next few days.
And the heat continues. 100 degrees today, forecast is for more triple digits for the next ten days and we haven't even hit the real heat of July. The humidity is creeping up as well, especially high in the early morning when we go for our long walk. I read today why we feel hotter in humid weather: in hot weather a person perspires. In a dry climate that perspiration on the skin helps cool us so we feel less hot. In humid weather that perspiration doesn't evaporate from our skin because there is already too much moisture in the air, so our sweating is less effective. It also makes the blood near our skin warmer and thus makes us more lethargic, tired, and basically useless. (I speak for myself here, of course.)
That's enough for now. I do have some things to say about the bizarre and sometimes misguided concept of Dog Parks, which I didn't recognize until this morning. I will fill you in on that a bit later. It is after 6:00 pm here, definitely time for my daily dose of Vitamin C by way of lime juice, administered with a healthy shot (or two) of germ killing tequila with a little simple syrup mixed in just to make the medicine more palatable. In other words, a tasty margarita is on my horizon.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Random Texas Observations
A few observations and comments on the Texas life:
1. Freeways: they should be wider, more lanes. But the Texans have thought of one very helpful thing: if you are on the freeway and realize you are going the wrong direction, such as East instead of West, you can get off at the next exit and many times there is a U-turn lane on the far left which takes you over (or under) the freeway and then right back on! Very handy, you don't have to navigate a bunch of small streets to circle around and find the freeway entrance. However, some of their on-ramps are almost like afterthoughts, just a ramp off the frontage road that has on-coming traffic driving straight at you. They are supposed to yield, of course, but will they?
2. Liquor: you can buy beer and wine in many places but not hard alcohol, which is so necessary for gin and tonics or margaritas, both quite important in this hot weather. You must drive 25 miles to find a liquor store, which isn't a terrible task but it is rather inconvenient. It forces you to purchase a vast quantity of alcohol at one time so you don't have to go back for a few days (HA!) and thus you look like a total party animal when you put all your purchases on the check-out counter. Again, not a big deal, just commenting. In California you can buy gin and whiskey at the corner Walgreen's for goodness sake!
3. Food: I want to make a Thai coconut chicken dish that I make often, lots of veggies and some chicken in coconut milk and it needs some Asian fish sauce and some curry paste. Can I find those things here? Nope. Not at the big grocery store nor at Cost Plus World Market. Perhaps at Whole Foods, but that's another half hour drive away, at least. Ah, but I can find at least 25 different jars of teriyaki sauce and about 30 feet, five shelves tall of different jarred salsas. There might be an Asian market somewhere but I haven't seen one yet. Must google that.
4. Libraries: thankfully, there is one close to the house. Unfortunately they have already used up their allotted book budget for this entire year so many of the new, recently reviewed books that I want to read will not be purchased. Sad.
5. Cars: So far I have spotted two Mini Coopers, one Prius, a handful of Honda's and one very small pseudo-Smart car. Everything else is big and half of those are trucks or large SUV's. No judgement here, just commenting. I am sure everyone has lumber, dead deer, passels of kids, cases of beer or large cement blocks to carry.
Finally, the heat. However, enough has been said on that subject and saying more just makes me hotter. I'll save it for later.
1. Freeways: they should be wider, more lanes. But the Texans have thought of one very helpful thing: if you are on the freeway and realize you are going the wrong direction, such as East instead of West, you can get off at the next exit and many times there is a U-turn lane on the far left which takes you over (or under) the freeway and then right back on! Very handy, you don't have to navigate a bunch of small streets to circle around and find the freeway entrance. However, some of their on-ramps are almost like afterthoughts, just a ramp off the frontage road that has on-coming traffic driving straight at you. They are supposed to yield, of course, but will they?
2. Liquor: you can buy beer and wine in many places but not hard alcohol, which is so necessary for gin and tonics or margaritas, both quite important in this hot weather. You must drive 25 miles to find a liquor store, which isn't a terrible task but it is rather inconvenient. It forces you to purchase a vast quantity of alcohol at one time so you don't have to go back for a few days (HA!) and thus you look like a total party animal when you put all your purchases on the check-out counter. Again, not a big deal, just commenting. In California you can buy gin and whiskey at the corner Walgreen's for goodness sake!
3. Food: I want to make a Thai coconut chicken dish that I make often, lots of veggies and some chicken in coconut milk and it needs some Asian fish sauce and some curry paste. Can I find those things here? Nope. Not at the big grocery store nor at Cost Plus World Market. Perhaps at Whole Foods, but that's another half hour drive away, at least. Ah, but I can find at least 25 different jars of teriyaki sauce and about 30 feet, five shelves tall of different jarred salsas. There might be an Asian market somewhere but I haven't seen one yet. Must google that.
4. Libraries: thankfully, there is one close to the house. Unfortunately they have already used up their allotted book budget for this entire year so many of the new, recently reviewed books that I want to read will not be purchased. Sad.
5. Cars: So far I have spotted two Mini Coopers, one Prius, a handful of Honda's and one very small pseudo-Smart car. Everything else is big and half of those are trucks or large SUV's. No judgement here, just commenting. I am sure everyone has lumber, dead deer, passels of kids, cases of beer or large cement blocks to carry.
Finally, the heat. However, enough has been said on that subject and saying more just makes me hotter. I'll save it for later.
.
Saturday, July 9, 2011
OK, I know I am being a bit too vocal about the hot temperatures here, but there is little else to talk about. Even an on-line site says:
There has been no letup in July so far and the number of days with 100-degree temperatures continues to climb. In fact, some locations have already exceeded their annual average number of 100-degree days -- and it's only early July!
So it's not just me. I just came back from walking the dogs for the third time today. I took them out at 6:30 this morning for an hour when it was 85 degrees, then again around 4:00 because they were driving me nuts and it was 103 degrees. (There is an open space grassy area in back of the house that runs for about a quarter mile, they got to romp there before they almost fell down from heat.) And just now, at 9:30 when it is probably about 93 outside. There is no wind, it is as still as a dead cat.
We walked on the main road, nice sidewalks and street lights, past other people's backyards. Dogs barked at us, stuck their muzzles under the brick fences. They were as anxious for action as an unlit firecracker, just waiting for that match. Hot, hot, hot.
Every shower I take, including the one I will take in the next 5 minutes, is cold. Remember how it feels when you jump into the ocean or a lake or a swimming pool, when that cold water hits your stomach and takes your breath away for about 5 seconds? It's the same with a cold shower, you just hold your breath and walk into it and let out a little squeal, but 5 seconds later you are standing under the showerhead wondering why the water isn't colder.
Over and out for tonight. Current weather, just so you don't think I am making this up. Right now, at 10:10 at night, it is 93 degrees. Yumm.
.
There has been no letup in July so far and the number of days with 100-degree temperatures continues to climb. In fact, some locations have already exceeded their annual average number of 100-degree days -- and it's only early July!
So it's not just me. I just came back from walking the dogs for the third time today. I took them out at 6:30 this morning for an hour when it was 85 degrees, then again around 4:00 because they were driving me nuts and it was 103 degrees. (There is an open space grassy area in back of the house that runs for about a quarter mile, they got to romp there before they almost fell down from heat.) And just now, at 9:30 when it is probably about 93 outside. There is no wind, it is as still as a dead cat.
We walked on the main road, nice sidewalks and street lights, past other people's backyards. Dogs barked at us, stuck their muzzles under the brick fences. They were as anxious for action as an unlit firecracker, just waiting for that match. Hot, hot, hot.
Every shower I take, including the one I will take in the next 5 minutes, is cold. Remember how it feels when you jump into the ocean or a lake or a swimming pool, when that cold water hits your stomach and takes your breath away for about 5 seconds? It's the same with a cold shower, you just hold your breath and walk into it and let out a little squeal, but 5 seconds later you are standing under the showerhead wondering why the water isn't colder.
Over and out for tonight. Current weather, just so you don't think I am making this up. Right now, at 10:10 at night, it is 93 degrees. Yumm.
.
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Friday, July 8, 2011
Carrots and radishes
I was thinking about planting some carrots and radishes from seeds in a planter box. It might be too hot for them, but there is shade in the front yard and that might be a better choice. But then there are bunnies in the neighborhood and they might be tempted by the succulent baby produce. Maybe that's alright, they need to eat, too.
This has made me think about my Dad and the garden he always had when we were kids. Every spring he would plant a fenced off area in the backyard, maybe four rows about twenty feet long. Carrots, radishes, green bush beans, beets, turnips, sometimes lettuce, and always tomatoes that he tied up against the fence. Oddly, I don't remember the planting process, I think Dad just went at it for a weekend or two and got the crop in the ground. He would go out every night after dinner and hand water it, sometimes an after-dinner beer in hand.
Radishes grow quickly, they are the instant gratification of the produce world. A couple of weeks would go by and it was obvious that the seeds he planted were sprouting and poking through the dirt. But by then the radishes were two or three inches tall. The carrots, with their distinctively feathery tops, were not as tall but we could identify them and therefore they were worth watching. A month after planting Dad would carefully pull a couple of the tallest radishes, wash them off with the garden hose, and hold them out to any of us kids who happened to be in the yard at that moment.
There are few things better than eating something right out of the ground or right off the source plant. We all know how amazing tomatoes are just off the vine, or apples and peaches from the tree. But those radishes were, to me, a perfect taste of the beginning of summer. They were snappy crisp, still warm from the dirt, spicy and almost sweet at the same time. Some varieties (Dad always planted a couple of different kinds) had a good kick to them, some were a lot milder. It's one of my best memories of Dad, garden hose in hand, rinsing the dirt off and handing it off to one of us (or one to each of us.) He planted enough so that this ritual would go on for several weeks.
We also had plenty of radishes to bring into the house, to slice into the salads. Now people, me including, saute radishes sometimes and serve them as a side-dish. Dad would have laughed at that.
When it was time for the carrots, the same procedure took place. A tiny, slim carrot would be washed off, we would eat it and marvel at how sweet and tender it was, so different from the cooked carrots we grudgingly ate. When you grow your own carrots, or get them very fresh from a good source, there is a particular carrot smell that you never get from grocery store carrots. Carrots with those feathery tops, fresh from the garden, smell like summer.
So while it might be folly, it might be too hot or the bunnies might feast on them, I think tomorrow I will get a little planting pot and some seeds and attempt to be a short-term urban farmer with carrots and radishes.
.
This has made me think about my Dad and the garden he always had when we were kids. Every spring he would plant a fenced off area in the backyard, maybe four rows about twenty feet long. Carrots, radishes, green bush beans, beets, turnips, sometimes lettuce, and always tomatoes that he tied up against the fence. Oddly, I don't remember the planting process, I think Dad just went at it for a weekend or two and got the crop in the ground. He would go out every night after dinner and hand water it, sometimes an after-dinner beer in hand.
Radishes grow quickly, they are the instant gratification of the produce world. A couple of weeks would go by and it was obvious that the seeds he planted were sprouting and poking through the dirt. But by then the radishes were two or three inches tall. The carrots, with their distinctively feathery tops, were not as tall but we could identify them and therefore they were worth watching. A month after planting Dad would carefully pull a couple of the tallest radishes, wash them off with the garden hose, and hold them out to any of us kids who happened to be in the yard at that moment.
There are few things better than eating something right out of the ground or right off the source plant. We all know how amazing tomatoes are just off the vine, or apples and peaches from the tree. But those radishes were, to me, a perfect taste of the beginning of summer. They were snappy crisp, still warm from the dirt, spicy and almost sweet at the same time. Some varieties (Dad always planted a couple of different kinds) had a good kick to them, some were a lot milder. It's one of my best memories of Dad, garden hose in hand, rinsing the dirt off and handing it off to one of us (or one to each of us.) He planted enough so that this ritual would go on for several weeks.
We also had plenty of radishes to bring into the house, to slice into the salads. Now people, me including, saute radishes sometimes and serve them as a side-dish. Dad would have laughed at that.
When it was time for the carrots, the same procedure took place. A tiny, slim carrot would be washed off, we would eat it and marvel at how sweet and tender it was, so different from the cooked carrots we grudgingly ate. When you grow your own carrots, or get them very fresh from a good source, there is a particular carrot smell that you never get from grocery store carrots. Carrots with those feathery tops, fresh from the garden, smell like summer.
So while it might be folly, it might be too hot or the bunnies might feast on them, I think tomorrow I will get a little planting pot and some seeds and attempt to be a short-term urban farmer with carrots and radishes.
.
Movie Review: "Super 8"
A quick review, no spoilers. I went into this expecting lots of suspense, scary scenes, monsters, jump-out-of-your-seat shocks. While there were a few "in your face" scenes, it was more like "ET" than "Aliens." The PG-13 rating sort of gives it away, not too much blood, no guts, no obvious beheadings. Even some nice family resolution moments, which you know will happen from the very first scene. It's sort of a feel-good monster movie. It's done quite well, the dialogue of the kids (it involves six young teenagers as the main protagonists) rings true as do the music, cars and clothes. The movie takes place in 1979 and they paid close attention to the details of that time frame. It's even funny, which I wasn't expecting.
I gave it a B. Just know that it isn't "Alien" but then it's pretty tough to top that movie in terms of the creep-out scare factor.
Temp: it was 106 today in Grand Prairie. Suppose to cool down to 85 tonight.
I gave it a B. Just know that it isn't "Alien" but then it's pretty tough to top that movie in terms of the creep-out scare factor.
Temp: it was 106 today in Grand Prairie. Suppose to cool down to 85 tonight.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Groceries
Yesterday I went out of the house (gasp!) early in the morning to scope out a couple of locations, like the dog park, and I also went to the local grocery store. It's a nice store, part of the Safeway chain, called Tom Thumb. Everyone in this grocery store is incredibly friendly, everyone you encounter asks how you are, if you are finding everything, how's your day going. Nice folks.
But there is very little local produce or protein and almost no organic produce. There are a few plastic containers of salad mix and herbs, but that's really about it. There was one area that had organic produce but it was very small and very expensive and very limited, choice-wise.
I wanted to buy a piece of fish for fish tacos (more on those below) and my choices of simple white fish were two, one from Vietnam and one from China, both of which had been previously frozen. Even the salmon was previously frozen, and although it did indicate "wild" it was also from a foreign country, and I don't mean Alaska. There is no organic meat, no organic poultry. Even in a red state like Texas, I know there are organic farmers, but their products do not appear in this market. There is a large, very upscale market in Dallas, the Central Market, that I have visited a few months ago with Jennifer, and they definitely have organic and local everything but it is very expensive. There is also a Whole Foods market that I may visit today, but I doubt that Tom Thumb and Safeway shoppers go there. In fact, there is probably a three-tier shopping pyramid here. One tier does the bulk of its shopping at Wal-Mart, Sam's Club, Target. The second shops at Safeway, Tom Thumb and Alberston. The third, and the smallest by far, frequents the high end spots such as Whole Foods and Central Market. Nothing unusual in this, it's typical of most urban and suburban areas. It's just that the difference between what is available at each place is so great.
There is a Super Target near here and I stopped there to see what they had regarding organic stuff. They had one shelf of several varieties of apples and some pears, all organic, and one kiosk of organic celery, green onions, romaine, broccoli and cauliflower. That was it. All their meat had a notation on the packaging that some sort of solution ("not exceeding 12%") had been added for flavor. There was some chicken that didn't say organic but did say it had no hormones, came from a family farm, etc. Who knows.
Now, I am not a person who buys all organic food, that's for certain. But it is nice to have that option. Here in Texas that option is rather limited. I am now quite curious what sort of prices I will find at the Whole Foods market. The organic celery in Target was $2.29 a bunch, the green onions were $2.99 for a package of about two dozen, the cauliflower and broccoli were around $2.69 a head. A lot more than the non-organic, obviously.
Regarding my tacos (changing the subject a bit here) they were delicious and pretty much fat-free. I heated the tortillas in a hot cast-iron skillet, then sprayed it with non-stick spray and plopped the tilapia in and sauteed that for a couple of minutes til done. Chopped that into a couple of chunks, put it onto the tortillas, added some fresh pico de gallo (but any salsa would do), some cilantro leaves, a little chopped tomato and a squeeze of lime (essential.) Rolled them up and ate them and they were very good. No added fat, no sour cream, just good eats.
That's all for this day.
But there is very little local produce or protein and almost no organic produce. There are a few plastic containers of salad mix and herbs, but that's really about it. There was one area that had organic produce but it was very small and very expensive and very limited, choice-wise.
I wanted to buy a piece of fish for fish tacos (more on those below) and my choices of simple white fish were two, one from Vietnam and one from China, both of which had been previously frozen. Even the salmon was previously frozen, and although it did indicate "wild" it was also from a foreign country, and I don't mean Alaska. There is no organic meat, no organic poultry. Even in a red state like Texas, I know there are organic farmers, but their products do not appear in this market. There is a large, very upscale market in Dallas, the Central Market, that I have visited a few months ago with Jennifer, and they definitely have organic and local everything but it is very expensive. There is also a Whole Foods market that I may visit today, but I doubt that Tom Thumb and Safeway shoppers go there. In fact, there is probably a three-tier shopping pyramid here. One tier does the bulk of its shopping at Wal-Mart, Sam's Club, Target. The second shops at Safeway, Tom Thumb and Alberston. The third, and the smallest by far, frequents the high end spots such as Whole Foods and Central Market. Nothing unusual in this, it's typical of most urban and suburban areas. It's just that the difference between what is available at each place is so great.
There is a Super Target near here and I stopped there to see what they had regarding organic stuff. They had one shelf of several varieties of apples and some pears, all organic, and one kiosk of organic celery, green onions, romaine, broccoli and cauliflower. That was it. All their meat had a notation on the packaging that some sort of solution ("not exceeding 12%") had been added for flavor. There was some chicken that didn't say organic but did say it had no hormones, came from a family farm, etc. Who knows.
Now, I am not a person who buys all organic food, that's for certain. But it is nice to have that option. Here in Texas that option is rather limited. I am now quite curious what sort of prices I will find at the Whole Foods market. The organic celery in Target was $2.29 a bunch, the green onions were $2.99 for a package of about two dozen, the cauliflower and broccoli were around $2.69 a head. A lot more than the non-organic, obviously.
Regarding my tacos (changing the subject a bit here) they were delicious and pretty much fat-free. I heated the tortillas in a hot cast-iron skillet, then sprayed it with non-stick spray and plopped the tilapia in and sauteed that for a couple of minutes til done. Chopped that into a couple of chunks, put it onto the tortillas, added some fresh pico de gallo (but any salsa would do), some cilantro leaves, a little chopped tomato and a squeeze of lime (essential.) Rolled them up and ate them and they were very good. No added fat, no sour cream, just good eats.
That's all for this day.
Monday, July 4, 2011
Dogs and peaches
Why is it that dogs can remember the meaning of "sit" or "stay" and they know that when you reach for the leash it means going outside to play but they can't remember, from hour to hour, that it is too hot outside for any living creature? They will get up from the couch every hour or so and hop merrily to the door, waiting for me to open it so they can go outside. They walk happily out the door, stop about three feet into the yard and the recognition hits them: oh, my! It is too hot to be out here! They turn around and come back inside immediately, disappointed once again.
I keep thinking they will equate the door with the heat, since this has happened every day since I have been here. But no. They continue to expect a nice, breezy afternoon out there and they are once again shocked that not only is there no breeze, there is no breathing either. Sadly, they keep trying.
On a different note, I bought Texas home-grown peaches at the little Grand Prairie farmers market on Saturday, thinking that they would be like most peaches I have eaten in the summer: peachy. But these peaches are unlike any I can ever recall eating. These are quintessential peaches. These are what peaches are supposed to taste like, pure peachiness, all juicy and luscious, fragrant, sweet, the perfect fruit. I only bought three, thinking that would quell my stone fruit need, but I am definitely going back next Saturday and buying more, many more. At last I have found something that Texas excels in, something that is good and positive instead of sad and depressing. Hurray for these peaches!
.
I keep thinking they will equate the door with the heat, since this has happened every day since I have been here. But no. They continue to expect a nice, breezy afternoon out there and they are once again shocked that not only is there no breeze, there is no breathing either. Sadly, they keep trying.
On a different note, I bought Texas home-grown peaches at the little Grand Prairie farmers market on Saturday, thinking that they would be like most peaches I have eaten in the summer: peachy. But these peaches are unlike any I can ever recall eating. These are quintessential peaches. These are what peaches are supposed to taste like, pure peachiness, all juicy and luscious, fragrant, sweet, the perfect fruit. I only bought three, thinking that would quell my stone fruit need, but I am definitely going back next Saturday and buying more, many more. At last I have found something that Texas excels in, something that is good and positive instead of sad and depressing. Hurray for these peaches!
.
Friday, July 1, 2011
HOT
Quick post. I am in Texas. It is hot. Right now it is getting close to 11:00 at night and it is still around 95. Tomorrow it will be over 80 when I get up to walk the dogs around 6:00 am. 85 by 7:00. And then hotter and hotter. Triple digits all next week. Thank god for air conditioning. Or thank Tom Edison for the electricity to run the thing. I am not complaining, I am trying not to complain. Just commenting. For those of you in the SF area, enjoy your summer fog. Trust me, enjoy it.
A couple of photos attached, Gumby trying to monitor my speed, James Dean as I drove from SF to LA on Sunday last. A photo of Jenn's backyard here in Texas, Cooper sleeping on a blanket on the couch, Bebe on the other couch, Jenn doing a jigsaw puzzle instead of smoking. YES! Those sorts of things in no particular order.
I bought a cheap BBQ today, $30.00, put it together and grilled some dinner, but I almost think I could have just put the food on the outdoor metal table and it would have cooked just as fast. You get what you pay for. It should last me two months or a little more, depending on when my Texas parole hearing is, but I must say, it certainly isn't a Webber grill. But it will do the job, keep me from turning on the oven in 105 heat.
And that's all for tonight. Adios, amigos.
.
A couple of photos attached, Gumby trying to monitor my speed, James Dean as I drove from SF to LA on Sunday last. A photo of Jenn's backyard here in Texas, Cooper sleeping on a blanket on the couch, Bebe on the other couch, Jenn doing a jigsaw puzzle instead of smoking. YES! Those sorts of things in no particular order.
I bought a cheap BBQ today, $30.00, put it together and grilled some dinner, but I almost think I could have just put the food on the outdoor metal table and it would have cooked just as fast. You get what you pay for. It should last me two months or a little more, depending on when my Texas parole hearing is, but I must say, it certainly isn't a Webber grill. But it will do the job, keep me from turning on the oven in 105 heat.
And that's all for tonight. Adios, amigos.
.
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