We passed on spending the night in Little Rock, and ventured to Hot Springs last night. The fuming over being interrupted by several phone calls about niggling work-related matters was more than mitigated by a generous swilling of some of my brother-in-law’s beer, and a trip to the Little Rock airport this morning, where we picked up Elder Daughter, who arrived safely, soundly, and on-time. She, SWMBO, and SWMBO’s Mom are having girl talk now, and all’s right with the world.
-k-
Tonight finds SWMBO and I west of Nashville, on our way to Hot Springs AR. Normally, we would be in Hot Springs by mid-afternoon tomorrow, but we’re staying in Little Rock tomorrow night. Elder Daughter is taking the red-eye from California, and arrives on Friday morning. So, we’ll stay close to the airport there, and meet her flight on Friday. It’ll be nice to see her again, even though the purpose of the whole trip is a little bittersweet. SWMBO’s mom is beginning to fail noticeably, at least mentally, so this could be the last time they’re all together in some semblance of the way things have always been. I plan to consume my brother-in-law’s beer, watch his TV, and generally hang out.
There are no Buick fuel economy numbers to report; Avis was out of Buicks, so we were stuck with a Mercury Grand Marquis, a supposed equivalent. I made so many snarky comments about the Merc on the drive over that I feel like I’ve blogged them already. I will recognize the efforts of Drew, the Avis agent on duty at Dulles airport this morning. He turned over every Avis inventory for 30 miles in search of Buicks, to no avail. I appreciate his efforts; he did proffer a Lincoln Town car. I told him I’m a GM guy, and asked if they had any Cadillacs. Nope. If I’m going to go funereal when it comes to driving, make mine Cadillac.
The Merc accomplished one thing worthy of note; it maintained my no-fly streak. And that’s worth something, I guess.
-k-
Goodbye Speakeasy. My first webhost. Like one’s first date, first kiss, first more-than-a-kiss, and first beer, one’s first webhost will always have a special place in an old geek’s heart.
Hello, Host My Site. As suspicious as I am of places named verb-MY-noun, your signup process has been efficient, your services more than sufficient, and your support right on top of things. I look forward to a long and happy association. Or until my one year’s agreement expires. 
-k-
Technorati Tags: hostmysite, speakeasy
A beautiful day, weather-wise (57 degrees, clear, sunny), for the carpet guys, who completed their carpet removal, installation, and clean-up in 3 hours flat.
And they were here early enough that I could have and should have humped everything out of the POD, and back into the house. As it happened, a too early beer break, followed by viewing a Kansas basketball game, derailed that idea. Plus, the weather tomorrow is a magnificent “wintry mix”, highs around 40; I guess I figure I need to suffer some more. So, tomorrow, the rest of the POD gets cleaned out, rain/shine/snow or pestilence.
It’s a great feeling, though, to know that no other contractors are scheduled to show up for a good while.
-k-
Everybody knows that Robert Scoble was invited to tail along with the John Edwards campaign for the 2008 presidency. And that’s a great thing. A blogger, a real blogger, with enthusiasm, the naivete of geekhood, along on a Big Media Excursion.
And damned if the first 24 hours weren’t good. And then this gem, wherein it is shown in in-your-face detail, how insignificant those who weren’t included really are:
The problem is how do average citizens do trips like this and get access if they have to pay their own way? That’s going to be a problem. Maybe bloggers should start an association to pay for their own representatives to go on trips like this. That way we’ll make sure we keep our independence and credibility, while getting access to things like this.
Average citizens?? Sheesh, dude, average citizens keep this country going, working, paying their bills, drinking a few beers on the weekend. And us average folk don’t really give a rat’s patoot about going on some cross-country boondoggle 18 months before the election. And, there’s no way any association is gonna form, since it’s foreordained that the A-listers in their little fuzzy echo chamber who are going to provide the “independence and credibility”. They’ll look a lot like the Big Media we already know and hate.
Sorry, Robert, but I’ve got better things to do.
-k-
Technorati Tags: scobleizer
The color of roux for gumbo. This year’s is the best batch ever. I’ve said that before. This year I really mean it. I don’t know what is the best practice method for stopping roux from cooking when it’s ready. A cast iron pot will continue to cook even after being removed from the stove.
My method is:
That works well for us. And this year, it turned out to be a 1.5 beer roux. Now, what am I gonna do with half a beer. Oh, wait, I know. To the teevee, then.
-k-
1 – the trinity = onions, bell pepper, celery.
UPDATE: The seasonings are in the pot, with the previously-browned chicken. I laid off the hot sauce a bit this year, the andouille being more spicy than usual. It’s hard to adjust seasonings early in gumbo cooking. Last year, I leaned a little heavy on the hot sauce early on. It was a little hot. SWMBO said that at the time. I’m admitting it now.
SWMBO and I prepare a non-traditional, though extremely tasty Christmas meal, consisting of shrimp remoulade, chicken and andouille sausage gumbo, and a dessert. When you’re empty nesters, you can do things like this. We’ve had this meal on Christmas day for 6 or 7 years, so it’s our tradition now.
We’re kicking the meal ahead a day this year, Christmas falling on a Monday, and having other things to attend to tomorrow. So, the shrimp are boiled, seasoned and peeled, the cast iron pot is warming up, and in a few short minutes, I’ll be doing one of Emeril’s legendary two beer roux.1 Sometimes they turn out to be three beer roux. They have always been good roux, and I’m hoping to continue the streak.
-k-
According to Merriam-Webster the plural of “roux” is also “roux”.
SWMBO is off at her hen dinner Christmas celebration with her female coworkers, so I’m scavenging for myself this evening. Even though there are plenty of home-cooked leftovers from which to choose, and several varieties of microwaveable bounty in the freezer, tonight I opted for a Brooklyn style pepperoni pizza from Domino’s.
I have no idea how authentically Brooklyn the pizza is; what I like about it is its thin but sturdy crust. Thicker then thin crust, much thinner than pan style and regular. And like the ad says, the slice can be folded. Mmmmm….
Domino’s doesn’t deliver beer, however. I took care of that situation on the way home. Now to find the remote for the teevee..
-k-
Technorati Tags: brooklynpizza, dominos, pizza
As I reported here last year, the state of Connecticut had banned a Holiday beer called Seriously Bad Elf, because it depicted Santa Claus on the label.
Not to be outdone, Maine has banned another offering from the same company. This one is called Santa’s Butt. The bottle, pictured here, depicts a Santa quaffing a beer while making his list and checking it twice.
The reason given by both states in banning the potables was that “the labels might be attractive to children.” OK, that’s good enough for me. I guess the inflatable NASCAR Budweiser cars, and stand-up cardboard cutouts of Dale Jr, that grace displays are not similarly attractive. News flash to Maine and Connecticut: children are attracted to lots of things, both good and bad. It’s the parent’s place to parent and provide guidance, not yours.
The brews are all imported by The Shelton Brothers, of Belchertown MA. They also have a blog, which unfortunately doesn’t support any kind of syndicated feed that I could find. The blog entry about the Maine case is here. The Maine Civil Liberties Union is representing the Sheltons, and the contention is that the labels have expressive value over and beyond identifying the contents of the bottle. It seems obvious to me that that’s the case; if they sold posters of either or both of the labels, I’d buy one. And if I see the beer for sale around here, I’ll buy a six-pack, at least.
-k-
Technorati Tags: mainecivillibertiesunion, MCLU, sheltonbrothers
When I left for Raleigh last Sunday, I had hotel reservations through tonight. In the back of my mind, I thought I’d leave after today’s exam, and roll on home. Rain was in today’s forecast, I’m tired, and hence I stuck to the original plan, and will be heading north tomorrow early in the day.
So, tonight, I’m gathering up and packing my stuff in the room, watching the World Series, and liquidating the unconsumed beers that have accumulated through the week.
Travel light, that’s my motto.
-k-