USMB Coffee Shop IV

[Nosmo King]

Kind of a pudding made of apples, raisins, currents, cranberries, brown sugar and chunks of stale bread. Mix them up in a Dutch oven and bake it in the coals of a campfire. It tastes better if you are not slathered in Off mosquito repellent, but it is not a seasonal dish.

Contemplating whether a Kansas or New Mexico troop would take currents and cranberries on a camp out. Somehow I don't think so. Must be a regional thing.

I don't think green chilis would go well in Hudson Bay pie. Maybe it's because there is a shortage of green chilis in Hudson Bay.

Green chilis would not be found on anything in Kansas. But they are a staple everywhere here in New Mexico.

I'll swap some currants and cranberries for some green chilis! My gastroenterologist might wince, but what the hell!

Green chilis can be pretty spicy but they can also be very mild. And it is interesting that those who eat a regular southwestern/Mexican/New Mexican cuisine rarely have any gastroenterological distress. Those with such conditions probably should avoid that cuisine though.

You know the cuisine in the northeast. Starchy, doughy comfort food. Think Thanksgiving dinner all year round.

But a regional cuisine that features spicy food might just wreck my digestive system so used to processing relatively bland fare.

The occasional plate of doughy pasta is augmented by spicy marinara. A simple baked potato slathered in sour cream is occasionally garnished with chopped chives. Salt and black ground pepper is about as adventurous as we get.

 

[Hossfly]

Our son was a scout (daughter was a Brownie but didn't go on to Girl Scouts) and hubbie was a scoutmaster for many years and then was on the district team often volunteering to be the cook for the staff. The night in the woods wasn't too tough in Kansas, but when the camps were in New Mexico bear attacks were a concern. So unbeknownst to the OA candidates, there were guards posted out of sight of the candidate just as a precaution.

My specialties on the training sessions were cooking and orienteering. Our course ended with a winter camp out... 2 nights in tents in mid December in Connecticut. I cooked Sunday dinner. The menu was always the same: Roast beef corn or string beans and baked potato. Desert was apple pie. Everything was cooked in site in Dutch ovens. I brought a Dutch oven with me when I shopped to test fit the roasts. It took 10 ovens to prepare the meal. I did cheat a bit and used charcoal and oven thermometers. Controlling the temperature of everything in 10 ovens in a camp fire 8 feet by 4 feet was nearly impossible.

We had Polar Bear camp during the winter. Our tents were WW II or Korean War surplus. Anyway, they had twenty years of stale, mildewish air about them. There were two upright poles and a ridge pole that weighed about fifteen pound. The sides were secured by stakes and ropes. Inside the Scout Masters provided three bales of straw per tent. We bedded down like barnyard animals, and enjoyed it thoroughly.

One particularly harsh winter weekend, our provisions froze solid during the long, moonless night. #10 cans of peaches were prized as a frozen dessert. Eggs were cracked and frozen, pancake batter could not be prepared for the water was ice.

There was an early 19th century stone house on the campground we had access to. We quickly built roaring fires in the fireplaces, stoked up the coal stoves and hunkered down on the wide pine board floors. Scout Masters drove into town, about twelve miles away, and brought back groceries. We made beef stew and Hudson Bay pie in Dutch ovens on the hearths. Boxes of raisins and bags of apples were distributed as we sang camp songs.

Later that afternoon, we donned our warmest clothes and broke down our tent camp. Someone had cobbled together sledges upon which we heaped tents, sleeping bags, backpacks and the remainder of our frozen fare. Then we shlepped everything back to the stone house and sorted through what could be salvaged and what we needed to dispose of.

By Sunday morning, we were warm, fed and happy. But the first night (Friday) was an experience!

What is Hudson Bay pie? it doesn't come up in any google searches.

I know that Eskimo Pie is a plant and Hudson Bay is a strain of Eskimo Pie so I doubt if Nosmo is referring to that.

Eskimo Pie

Hudson Bay

Edible hosta?

My wife plants them in shady spots and they spread and keeps down weeds. Plus the rabbits don't eat them so I don't know if they are edible.

 

[Ernie S.]

I was a Boy Scout and a good one. I did not earn the Eagle rank, but I was in the Order of the Arrow. OA, as it is known, is the society for Honor Campers, boys who were avid campers.

Initiation into the OA involves something called Tap Out. That happened on the last night of the summer camp week. Our camp was on the shores of Leesville Lake, one of the Muskingum Watershed lakes built by the WPA during the Great Depression and nestled in the rolling hills of east central Ohio. Leesville Lake had a restricted motorboat horsepower of 9.9 so there were small sailboats and canoes plying the tranquil waters.

On the last night during our nightly campfire confabs, members of the OA would paddle aluminum canoes across the lake. They were illuminated by torches made from broomsticks with a coffee can containing a roll of kerosene soaked toilet paper. The OA members were clad in buckskins and slathered with 'war paint'. They landed the canoes on the bank of the lake within sight of the roaring campfire.

All the campers were assembled in a semi circle as the imposing older boys took their spot in the center. Then silently the older OA scouts would walk around the semi circle of nervous younger scouts. When they came upon a prospect (usually three or four out of the 70 to 90 campers) they would pause, face the now terrified young prospect, and tap them on the shoulder three times.

Now I used the word 'tap'. These were not the tap a wife might give a husband as he grumbled through dinner conversation. These were not taps a stranger might apply when seeking one's attention. No. These were taps given by a larger, older intimidating boy to a smaller, more impressionable one. Smacks, slugs, hits that might dislocate a shoulder would be more appropriate.

My 'taps' were given to me by Donnie Raber who would go on to be named All State in high school wrestling in the heavy weight division. Forty eight years later and I still remember the impact of his massive paws on my shoulder.

I rose through the ranks of the Order of the Arrow finally achieving the rank of Vigil, the highest rank in that group.

During the Vigil ceremony, one must take to the woods alone, build and maintain a campfire all through the night until you are retrieved to obtain your sash and Vigil Lene Lenape Indian name. Mine was Kaak. That means 'wild goose'.

For the next few years, until high school activities (read 'girls') took my attention, I was very active in the OA. During Vigil ceremonies, current Vigil rank members would approach the Vigil candidate's campfires throughout the night. We would make sure that their fires were burning and they were still awake. Hiding in the shadows, we would read motivational passages to the candidate, calling them out by first name.

One of my candidates was actually a Scout master from another troop. His name was Bernard Casto.

"Bernard" I began "I too have kept the Vigil!"

It was the first time I had ever called an adult by his first name. I'm quite sure that I was more impressed by the circumstance than he was.

Amazingly similar to my tap-out! A lake built by CCC during the depression, indians in canoes and tapped so hard I almost fell. A friend who was tapped out the same night was just getting over a broken clavicle. A big guy stood to his left and grabbed the Vigil's hand as it came down and whispered, "right shoulder". Both Franky survived and I survived out night in the woods except that I awoke about 50 feet down hil from where I was left.
20 some odd years later, I tapped out my son.
I rose from Cub through Explorer to Scout Master and finally to Council Adult Leader Training Committee. I was a Boy Scout for 38 years

Our son was a scout (daughter was a Brownie but didn't go on to Girl Scouts) and hubbie was a scoutmaster for many years and then was on the district team often volunteering to be the cook for the staff. The night in the woods wasn't too tough in Kansas, but when the camps were in New Mexico bear attacks were a concern. So unbeknownst to the OA candidates, there were guards posted out of sight of the candidate just as a precaution.

My specialties on the training sessions were cooking and orienteering. Our course ended with a winter camp out... 2 nights in tents in mid December in Connecticut. I cooked Sunday dinner. The menu was always the same: Roast beef corn or string beans and baked potato. Desert was apple pie. Everything was cooked in site in Dutch ovens. I brought a Dutch oven with me when I shopped to test fit the roasts. It took 10 ovens to prepare the meal. I did cheat a bit and used charcoal and oven thermometers. Controlling the temperature of everything in 10 ovens in a camp fire 8 feet by 4 feet was nearly impossible.

We had Polar Bear camp during the winter. Our tents were WW II or Korean War surplus. Anyway, they had twenty years of stale, mildewish air about them. There were two upright poles and a ridge pole that weighed about fifteen pound. The sides were secured by stakes and ropes. Inside the Scout Masters provided three bales of straw per tent. We bedded down like barnyard animals, and enjoyed it thoroughly.

One particularly harsh winter weekend, our provisions froze solid during the long, moonless night. #10 cans of peaches were prized as a frozen dessert. Eggs were cracked and frozen, pancake batter could not be prepared for the water was ice.

There was an early 19th century stone house on the campground we had access to. We quickly built roaring fires in the fireplaces, stoked up the coal stoves and hunkered down on the wide pine board floors. Scout Masters drove into town, about twelve miles away, and brought back groceries. We made beef stew and Hudson Bay pie in Dutch ovens on the hearths. Boxes of raisins and bags of apples were distributed as we sang camp songs.

Later that afternoon, we donned our warmest clothes and broke down our tent camp. Someone had cobbled together sledges upon which we heaped tents, sleeping bags, backpacks and the remainder of our frozen fare. Then we shlepped everything back to the stone house and sorted through what could be salvaged and what we needed to dispose of.

By Sunday morning, we were warm, fed and happy. But the first night (Friday) was an experience!

I did the Year Round Camper thing for 4 or 5 years Tent camping frequently well below freezing, We maintained a site about 1/2 mile from the road and packed everything in. 3 of us camped there. A guy that made Eagle, the fore mentioned Franky and I. We had ample firewood cut, split, stacked and covered. I remember one Saturday morning hiking in in about 30 inches of fresh snow. Everything looked different and the same. When we arrived at the tent, it looked like a big lump. the fire pit was hidden, fire wood was hidden and we had one folding camp shovel. Once we had a fire going, we were fine. We left the tent mostly buried and were toasty warm with a big fire with a large flat rock reflecting heat back at the tent at -15.
I regret not making Eagle. I was Life with 20 Merit Badges when I turned 18. I simply ran out of time after starting the final push about 6 months earlier.

 

[Gracie]

For Gracie and all the Ol' Folks. I found out why I've been so tired lately.
Anyone else have this problem?


AAADD

KNOW THE SYMPTOMS.....PLEASE READ!

Thank goodness there's a name for this disorder.
Somehow I feel better even though I have it!!

Recently, I was diagnosed with A.A.A.D.D. -
Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder.

This is how it manifests:

I decide to water my garden.
As I turn on the hose in the driveway,
I look over at my car and decide it needs washing.

As I start toward the garage,
I notice mail on the porch table that
I brought up from the mail box earlier.

I decide to go through the mail before I wash the car.

I lay my car keys on the table,
Put the junk mail in the garbage can under the table,
And notice that the can is full.

So, I decide to put the bills back
On the table and take out the garbage first.

But then I think,
Since I'm going to be near the mailbox
When I take out the garbage anyway,
I may as well pay the bills first.

I take my check book off the table,
And see that there is only one check left.
My extra checks are in my desk in the study,
So I go inside the house to my desk where
I find the can of Pepsi I'd been drinking.

I'm going to look for my checks,
But first I need to push the Pepsi aside
So that I don't accidentally knock it over.

The Pepsi is getting warm,
And I decide to put it in the refrigerator to keep it cold.

As I head toward the kitchen with the Pepsi,
A vase of flowers on the counter
Catches my eye--they need water.

I put the Pepsi on the counter and
Discover my reading glasses that
I've been searching for all morning.

I decide I better put them back on my desk,
But first I'm going to water the flowers.

I set the glasses back down on the counter,
Fill a container with water and suddenly spot the TV remote.
Someone left it on the kitchen table.

I realize that tonight when we go to watch TV,
I'll be looking for the remote,
But I won't remember that it's on the kitchen table,
So I decide to put it back in the den where it belongs,
But first I'll water the flowers.

I pour some water in the flowers,
But quite a bit of it spills on the floor.

So, I set the remote back on the table,
Get some towels and wipe up the spill.

Then, I head down the hall trying to
Remember what I was planning to do.

At the end of the day:

The car isn't washed
The bills aren't paid
there's a warm can of Pepsi sitting on the counter
The flowers don't have enough water,
there's still only 1 check in my check book,
I can't find the remote,
I can't find my glasses,
And I don't remember what I did with the car keys.

Then, when I try to figure out why nothing got done today,
I'm really baffled because I know I was busy all day,
And I'm really tired.

I realize this is a serious problem,
And I'll try to get some help for it,
But first I'll check my e-mail....

HA HA!! But, that is not me. I finish what I begin, then start the next project. NOTHING moves me from what needs done and if I do happen to get sidetracked, I take with me what I was originally doing, do the sidetrack, then go back to my list of Things To Do. See, I write everything down, then check it off after its done. And i don't budge from it until it IS done.

 

[Nosmo King]

I was a Boy Scout and a good one. I did not earn the Eagle rank, but I was in the Order of the Arrow. OA, as it is known, is the society for Honor Campers, boys who were avid campers.

Initiation into the OA involves something called Tap Out. That happened on the last night of the summer camp week. Our camp was on the shores of Leesville Lake, one of the Muskingum Watershed lakes built by the WPA during the Great Depression and nestled in the rolling hills of east central Ohio. Leesville Lake had a restricted motorboat horsepower of 9.9 so there were small sailboats and canoes plying the tranquil waters.

On the last night during our nightly campfire confabs, members of the OA would paddle aluminum canoes across the lake. They were illuminated by torches made from broomsticks with a coffee can containing a roll of kerosene soaked toilet paper. The OA members were clad in buckskins and slathered with 'war paint'. They landed the canoes on the bank of the lake within sight of the roaring campfire.

All the campers were assembled in a semi circle as the imposing older boys took their spot in the center. Then silently the older OA scouts would walk around the semi circle of nervous younger scouts. When they came upon a prospect (usually three or four out of the 70 to 90 campers) they would pause, face the now terrified young prospect, and tap them on the shoulder three times.

Now I used the word 'tap'. These were not the tap a wife might give a husband as he grumbled through dinner conversation. These were not taps a stranger might apply when seeking one's attention. No. These were taps given by a larger, older intimidating boy to a smaller, more impressionable one. Smacks, slugs, hits that might dislocate a shoulder would be more appropriate.

My 'taps' were given to me by Donnie Raber who would go on to be named All State in high school wrestling in the heavy weight division. Forty eight years later and I still remember the impact of his massive paws on my shoulder.

I rose through the ranks of the Order of the Arrow finally achieving the rank of Vigil, the highest rank in that group.

During the Vigil ceremony, one must take to the woods alone, build and maintain a campfire all through the night until you are retrieved to obtain your sash and Vigil Lene Lenape Indian name. Mine was Kaak. That means 'wild goose'.

For the next few years, until high school activities (read 'girls') took my attention, I was very active in the OA. During Vigil ceremonies, current Vigil rank members would approach the Vigil candidate's campfires throughout the night. We would make sure that their fires were burning and they were still awake. Hiding in the shadows, we would read motivational passages to the candidate, calling them out by first name.

One of my candidates was actually a Scout master from another troop. His name was Bernard Casto.

"Bernard" I began "I too have kept the Vigil!"

It was the first time I had ever called an adult by his first name. I'm quite sure that I was more impressed by the circumstance than he was.

Amazingly similar to my tap-out! A lake built by CCC during the depression, indians in canoes and tapped so hard I almost fell. A friend who was tapped out the same night was just getting over a broken clavicle. A big guy stood to his left and grabbed the Vigil's hand as it came down and whispered, "right shoulder". Both Franky survived and I survived out night in the woods except that I awoke about 50 feet down hil from where I was left.
20 some odd years later, I tapped out my son.
I rose from Cub through Explorer to Scout Master and finally to Council Adult Leader Training Committee. I was a Boy Scout for 38 years

Our son was a scout (daughter was a Brownie but didn't go on to Girl Scouts) and hubbie was a scoutmaster for many years and then was on the district team often volunteering to be the cook for the staff. The night in the woods wasn't too tough in Kansas, but when the camps were in New Mexico bear attacks were a concern. So unbeknownst to the OA candidates, there were guards posted out of sight of the candidate just as a precaution.

My specialties on the training sessions were cooking and orienteering. Our course ended with a winter camp out... 2 nights in tents in mid December in Connecticut. I cooked Sunday dinner. The menu was always the same: Roast beef corn or string beans and baked potato. Desert was apple pie. Everything was cooked in site in Dutch ovens. I brought a Dutch oven with me when I shopped to test fit the roasts. It took 10 ovens to prepare the meal. I did cheat a bit and used charcoal and oven thermometers. Controlling the temperature of everything in 10 ovens in a camp fire 8 feet by 4 feet was nearly impossible.

We had Polar Bear camp during the winter. Our tents were WW II or Korean War surplus. Anyway, they had twenty years of stale, mildewish air about them. There were two upright poles and a ridge pole that weighed about fifteen pound. The sides were secured by stakes and ropes. Inside the Scout Masters provided three bales of straw per tent. We bedded down like barnyard animals, and enjoyed it thoroughly.

One particularly harsh winter weekend, our provisions froze solid during the long, moonless night. #10 cans of peaches were prized as a frozen dessert. Eggs were cracked and frozen, pancake batter could not be prepared for the water was ice.

There was an early 19th century stone house on the campground we had access to. We quickly built roaring fires in the fireplaces, stoked up the coal stoves and hunkered down on the wide pine board floors. Scout Masters drove into town, about twelve miles away, and brought back groceries. We made beef stew and Hudson Bay pie in Dutch ovens on the hearths. Boxes of raisins and bags of apples were distributed as we sang camp songs.

Later that afternoon, we donned our warmest clothes and broke down our tent camp. Someone had cobbled together sledges upon which we heaped tents, sleeping bags, backpacks and the remainder of our frozen fare. Then we shlepped everything back to the stone house and sorted through what could be salvaged and what we needed to dispose of.

By Sunday morning, we were warm, fed and happy. But the first night (Friday) was an experience!

I did the Year Round Camper thing for 4 or 5 years Tent camping frequently well below freezing, We maintained a site about 1/2 mile from the road and packed everything in. 3 of us camped there. A guy that made Eagle, the fore mentioned Franky and I. We had ample firewood cut, split, stacked and covered. I remember one Saturday morning hiking in in about 30 inches of fresh snow. Everything looked different and the same. When we arrived at the tent, it looked like a big lump. the fire pit was hidden, fire wood was hidden and we had one folding camp shovel. Once we had a fire going, we were fine. We left the tent mostly buried and were toasty warm with a big fire with a large flat rock reflecting heat back at the tent at -15.
I regret not making Eagle. I was Life with 20 Merit Badges when I turned 18. I simply ran out of time after starting the final push about 6 months earlier.

The winter after the big freeze at Polar Bear camp we built a half dozen Adirondack shelters. These are three sided lean to type shelters with the roof line high at the open end and slanting downward toward the back. In the open end we crafted stone fireplaces, actually a three sided stone wall. The wall reflected the heat into the lean to. We finally had a wooden floor and could put inflatable mattresses there instead of frozen ground.

Once we had a fire built in front of the walls and the heat came pouring in, we could sleep without shivering.

 

[Ernie S.]

Two plus years ago when we bought our washer and dryer and hooked them up I noticed the dryer wasn't drying as well as any others I've ever owned or used. Never really paid that much attention until about a year and a half ago when it would take up to four hours to dry a load. Figured it was something in the design and determined not to buy another Kenmore........ That was until we disconnected it to move it and found the house dryer vent packed full of lint as hard as concrete. Checked the house dryer vent here before hooking it up and it seemed to dry better the first time we used it. The second time it took longer and today it's taking even longer so I disconnect the hose from the dryer to the house vent and the hose was packed full of lint. It was all the lint that had built up in the dryer over those years and I should have figured that out much earlier, I know how these things work....... Now it's time to take the dryer apart and clean it, and get a new hose...........

Buy a vent that is smooth on the inside. Vents that look like a spring wrapped in aluminum foil have too many nooks and crannies. These act as speed bumps, slowing down the flow and giving lint space to accumulate. Smooth vents can be installed like a periscope. Hook up the less accessible connection first and extend or contract it to fit the easier.

No charge.

The other possible problem is in the house dryer vents, too many right angles and too long of a run will cause the same problems.

As is a design like ours when the vent goes up through the roof. As Dancare, the guys who clean our carpets and also vacuum out the dryer vent explained, the dryer just isn't equipped to force all that lint straight up 16 feet so it accumulates in the tube pretty quickly.

my drier vent goes straight out the back of the machine and out through the cement block wall. Smooth sided galvanized steel tubing 10 or12" long. It was tough cutting the hole, but I've punched pipes through walls for a living in the past. Of course, since it was MY block wall, I did get king of anal about the hole. It's nearly perfectly round and I doubt an ant could squeeze through the largest gap BEFORE I calked it. I check it periodically and the worst I've seen it is a pinky finger sized clump clinging to the louvers.I can pop the cap off and reach right into the drier from my back yard. The vent exits the garage just off the floor but about waist high outside. The yard is far from level. Nosmo would feel at home on my 3.5 acres.

 

[Foxfyre]

Two plus years ago when we bought our washer and dryer and hooked them up I noticed the dryer wasn't drying as well as any others I've ever owned or used. Never really paid that much attention until about a year and a half ago when it would take up to four hours to dry a load. Figured it was something in the design and determined not to buy another Kenmore........ That was until we disconnected it to move it and found the house dryer vent packed full of lint as hard as concrete. Checked the house dryer vent here before hooking it up and it seemed to dry better the first time we used it. The second time it took longer and today it's taking even longer so I disconnect the hose from the dryer to the house vent and the hose was packed full of lint. It was all the lint that had built up in the dryer over those years and I should have figured that out much earlier, I know how these things work....... Now it's time to take the dryer apart and clean it, and get a new hose...........

Buy a vent that is smooth on the inside. Vents that look like a spring wrapped in aluminum foil have too many nooks and crannies. These act as speed bumps, slowing down the flow and giving lint space to accumulate. Smooth vents can be installed like a periscope. Hook up the less accessible connection first and extend or contract it to fit the easier.

No charge.

The other possible problem is in the house dryer vents, too many right angles and too long of a run will cause the same problems.

As is a design like ours when the vent goes up through the roof. As Dancare, the guys who clean our carpets and also vacuum out the dryer vent explained, the dryer just isn't equipped to force all that lint straight up 16 feet so it accumulates in the tube pretty quickly.

my drier vent goes straight out the back of the machine and out through the cement block wall. Smooth sided galvanized steel tubing 10 or12" long. It was tough cutting the hole, but I've punched pipes through walls for a living in the past. Of course, since it was MY block wall, I did get king of anal about the hole. It's nearly perfectly round and I doubt an ant could squeeze through the largest gap BEFORE I calked it. I check it periodically and the worst I've seen it is a pinky finger sized clump clinging to the louvers.I can pop the cap off and reach right into the drier from my back yard. The vent exits the garage just off the floor but about waist high outside. The yard is far from level. Nosmo would feel at home on my 3.5 acres.

Not sufficient thought put into the design of ours I'm afraid. If we vented the dryer straight out the back it would be straight into one of the back bedrooms. And since they didn't allow enough room to vent out the back of the house by using a right turn angle from the dryer, through the roof seemed like a logical option to them. But it really sucks from a functionality and safety standpoint.

 

[Ernie S.]

For Gracie and all the Ol' Folks. I found out why I've been so tired lately.
Anyone else have this problem?


AAADD

KNOW THE SYMPTOMS.....PLEASE READ!

Thank goodness there's a name for this disorder.
Somehow I feel better even though I have it!!

Recently, I was diagnosed with A.A.A.D.D. -
Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder.

This is how it manifests:

I decide to water my garden.
As I turn on the hose in the driveway,
I look over at my car and decide it needs washing.

As I start toward the garage,
I notice mail on the porch table that
I brought up from the mail box earlier.

I decide to go through the mail before I wash the car.

I lay my car keys on the table,
Put the junk mail in the garbage can under the table,
And notice that the can is full.

So, I decide to put the bills back
On the table and take out the garbage first.

But then I think,
Since I'm going to be near the mailbox
When I take out the garbage anyway,
I may as well pay the bills first.

I take my check book off the table,
And see that there is only one check left.
My extra checks are in my desk in the study,
So I go inside the house to my desk where
I find the can of Pepsi I'd been drinking.

I'm going to look for my checks,
But first I need to push the Pepsi aside
So that I don't accidentally knock it over.

The Pepsi is getting warm,
And I decide to put it in the refrigerator to keep it cold.

As I head toward the kitchen with the Pepsi,
A vase of flowers on the counter
Catches my eye--they need water.

I put the Pepsi on the counter and
Discover my reading glasses that
I've been searching for all morning.

I decide I better put them back on my desk,
But first I'm going to water the flowers.

I set the glasses back down on the counter,
Fill a container with water and suddenly spot the TV remote.
Someone left it on the kitchen table.

I realize that tonight when we go to watch TV,
I'll be looking for the remote,
But I won't remember that it's on the kitchen table,
So I decide to put it back in the den where it belongs,
But first I'll water the flowers.

I pour some water in the flowers,
But quite a bit of it spills on the floor.

So, I set the remote back on the table,
Get some towels and wipe up the spill.

Then, I head down the hall trying to
Remember what I was planning to do.

At the end of the day:

The car isn't washed
The bills aren't paid
there's a warm can of Pepsi sitting on the counter
The flowers don't have enough water,
there's still only 1 check in my check book,
I can't find the remote,
I can't find my glasses,
And I don't remember what I did with the car keys.

Then, when I try to figure out why nothing got done today,
I'm really baffled because I know I was busy all day,
And I'm really tired.

I realize this is a serious problem,
And I'll try to get some help for it,
But first I'll check my e-mail....

HA HA!! But, that is not me. I finish what I begin, then start the next project. NOTHING moves me from what needs done and if I do happen to get sidetracked, I take with me what I was originally doing, do the sidetrack, then go back to my list of Things To Do. See, I write everything down, then check it off after its done. And i don't budge from it until it IS done.

Lost my cane just yesterday while looking for my favorite coffee cup that I found later on my pick-up.
Yesterday was my partners 34th birthday Come July 30, I'll be twice her age. The plan was cocktails at Max and Lori's, out to dinner at a new Brazilian place in town and back to Max and Lori's for desert and cigars. Remember my cane earlier? I didn't. I get around pretty good without it, but I still have my limits. Max to the rescue. When he's hurting or needs to walk on the beach, he will sometimes use a cane. It was mine until I left his place around midnight

 

[Ernie S.]

Two plus years ago when we bought our washer and dryer and hooked them up I noticed the dryer wasn't drying as well as any others I've ever owned or used. Never really paid that much attention until about a year and a half ago when it would take up to four hours to dry a load. Figured it was something in the design and determined not to buy another Kenmore........ That was until we disconnected it to move it and found the house dryer vent packed full of lint as hard as concrete. Checked the house dryer vent here before hooking it up and it seemed to dry better the first time we used it. The second time it took longer and today it's taking even longer so I disconnect the hose from the dryer to the house vent and the hose was packed full of lint. It was all the lint that had built up in the dryer over those years and I should have figured that out much earlier, I know how these things work....... Now it's time to take the dryer apart and clean it, and get a new hose...........

Buy a vent that is smooth on the inside. Vents that look like a spring wrapped in aluminum foil have too many nooks and crannies. These act as speed bumps, slowing down the flow and giving lint space to accumulate. Smooth vents can be installed like a periscope. Hook up the less accessible connection first and extend or contract it to fit the easier.

No charge.

The other possible problem is in the house dryer vents, too many right angles and too long of a run will cause the same problems.

As is a design like ours when the vent goes up through the roof. As Dancare, the guys who clean our carpets and also vacuum out the dryer vent explained, the dryer just isn't equipped to force all that lint straight up 16 feet so it accumulates in the tube pretty quickly.

my drier vent goes straight out the back of the machine and out through the cement block wall. Smooth sided galvanized steel tubing 10 or12" long. It was tough cutting the hole, but I've punched pipes through walls for a living in the past. Of course, since it was MY block wall, I did get king of anal about the hole. It's nearly perfectly round and I doubt an ant could squeeze through the largest gap BEFORE I calked it. I check it periodically and the worst I've seen it is a pinky finger sized clump clinging to the louvers.I can pop the cap off and reach right into the drier from my back yard. The vent exits the garage just off the floor but about waist high outside. The yard is far from level. Nosmo would feel at home on my 3.5 acres.

Not sufficient thought put into the design of ours I'm afraid. If we vented the dryer straight out the back it would be straight into one of the back bedrooms. And since they didn't allow enough room to vent out the back of the house by using a right turn angle from the dryer, through the roof seemed like a logical option to them. But it really sucks from a functionality and safety standpoint.

In my house in Connecticut, the laundry was on the 3rd floor/ improved attic and the only way to vent it outside would have been out the roof. What I did was go to the store and pick up a 3 pack of lady's stockings. I rubber banded one over the vent tube and was good to go. I just had to change the stocking about once a month. I used them as long as I could by turning them inside out, the majority would fall away and the rest came out in the wash.

 

[Ringel05]

Two plus years ago when we bought our washer and dryer and hooked them up I noticed the dryer wasn't drying as well as any others I've ever owned or used. Never really paid that much attention until about a year and a half ago when it would take up to four hours to dry a load. Figured it was something in the design and determined not to buy another Kenmore........ That was until we disconnected it to move it and found the house dryer vent packed full of lint as hard as concrete. Checked the house dryer vent here before hooking it up and it seemed to dry better the first time we used it. The second time it took longer and today it's taking even longer so I disconnect the hose from the dryer to the house vent and the hose was packed full of lint. It was all the lint that had built up in the dryer over those years and I should have figured that out much earlier, I know how these things work....... Now it's time to take the dryer apart and clean it, and get a new hose...........

Buy a vent that is smooth on the inside. Vents that look like a spring wrapped in aluminum foil have too many nooks and crannies. These act as speed bumps, slowing down the flow and giving lint space to accumulate. Smooth vents can be installed like a periscope. Hook up the less accessible connection first and extend or contract it to fit the easier.

No charge.

The other possible problem is in the house dryer vents, too many right angles and too long of a run will cause the same problems.

As is a design like ours when the vent goes up through the roof. As Dancare, the guys who clean our carpets and also vacuum out the dryer vent explained, the dryer just isn't equipped to force all that lint straight up 16 feet so it accumulates in the tube pretty quickly.

my drier vent goes straight out the back of the machine and out through the cement block wall. Smooth sided galvanized steel tubing 10 or12" long. It was tough cutting the hole, but I've punched pipes through walls for a living in the past. Of course, since it was MY block wall, I did get king of anal about the hole. It's nearly perfectly round and I doubt an ant could squeeze through the largest gap BEFORE I calked it. I check it periodically and the worst I've seen it is a pinky finger sized clump clinging to the louvers.I can pop the cap off and reach right into the drier from my back yard. The vent exits the garage just off the floor but about waist high outside. The yard is far from level. Nosmo would feel at home on my 3.5 acres.

In this house it would vent directly into the living room if we did that.......... great for the winter........

 

[Hossfly]

I was a Boy Scout and a good one. I did not earn the Eagle rank, but I was in the Order of the Arrow. OA, as it is known, is the society for Honor Campers, boys who were avid campers.

Initiation into the OA involves something called Tap Out. That happened on the last night of the summer camp week. Our camp was on the shores of Leesville Lake, one of the Muskingum Watershed lakes built by the WPA during the Great Depression and nestled in the rolling hills of east central Ohio. Leesville Lake had a restricted motorboat horsepower of 9.9 so there were small sailboats and canoes plying the tranquil waters.

On the last night during our nightly campfire confabs, members of the OA would paddle aluminum canoes across the lake. They were illuminated by torches made from broomsticks with a coffee can containing a roll of kerosene soaked toilet paper. The OA members were clad in buckskins and slathered with 'war paint'. They landed the canoes on the bank of the lake within sight of the roaring campfire.

All the campers were assembled in a semi circle as the imposing older boys took their spot in the center. Then silently the older OA scouts would walk around the semi circle of nervous younger scouts. When they came upon a prospect (usually three or four out of the 70 to 90 campers) they would pause, face the now terrified young prospect, and tap them on the shoulder three times.

Now I used the word 'tap'. These were not the tap a wife might give a husband as he grumbled through dinner conversation. These were not taps a stranger might apply when seeking one's attention. No. These were taps given by a larger, older intimidating boy to a smaller, more impressionable one. Smacks, slugs, hits that might dislocate a shoulder would be more appropriate.

My 'taps' were given to me by Donnie Raber who would go on to be named All State in high school wrestling in the heavy weight division. Forty eight years later and I still remember the impact of his massive paws on my shoulder.

I rose through the ranks of the Order of the Arrow finally achieving the rank of Vigil, the highest rank in that group.

During the Vigil ceremony, one must take to the woods alone, build and maintain a campfire all through the night until you are retrieved to obtain your sash and Vigil Lene Lenape Indian name. Mine was Kaak. That means 'wild goose'.

For the next few years, until high school activities (read 'girls') took my attention, I was very active in the OA. During Vigil ceremonies, current Vigil rank members would approach the Vigil candidate's campfires throughout the night. We would make sure that their fires were burning and they were still awake. Hiding in the shadows, we would read motivational passages to the candidate, calling them out by first name.

One of my candidates was actually a Scout master from another troop. His name was Bernard Casto.

"Bernard" I began "I too have kept the Vigil!"

It was the first time I had ever called an adult by his first name. I'm quite sure that I was more impressed by the circumstance than he was.

Amazingly similar to my tap-out! A lake built by CCC during the depression, indians in canoes and tapped so hard I almost fell. A friend who was tapped out the same night was just getting over a broken clavicle. A big guy stood to his left and grabbed the Vigil's hand as it came down and whispered, "right shoulder". Both Franky survived and I survived out night in the woods except that I awoke about 50 feet down hil from where I was left.
20 some odd years later, I tapped out my son.
I rose from Cub through Explorer to Scout Master and finally to Council Adult Leader Training Committee. I was a Boy Scout for 38 years

Our son was a scout (daughter was a Brownie but didn't go on to Girl Scouts) and hubbie was a scoutmaster for many years and then was on the district team often volunteering to be the cook for the staff. The night in the woods wasn't too tough in Kansas, but when the camps were in New Mexico bear attacks were a concern. So unbeknownst to the OA candidates, there were guards posted out of sight of the candidate just as a precaution.

My specialties on the training sessions were cooking and orienteering. Our course ended with a winter camp out... 2 nights in tents in mid December in Connecticut. I cooked Sunday dinner. The menu was always the same: Roast beef corn or string beans and baked potato. Desert was apple pie. Everything was cooked in site in Dutch ovens. I brought a Dutch oven with me when I shopped to test fit the roasts. It took 10 ovens to prepare the meal. I did cheat a bit and used charcoal and oven thermometers. Controlling the temperature of everything in 10 ovens in a camp fire 8 feet by 4 feet was nearly impossible.

We had Polar Bear camp during the winter. Our tents were WW II or Korean War surplus. Anyway, they had twenty years of stale, mildewish air about them. There were two upright poles and a ridge pole that weighed about fifteen pound. The sides were secured by stakes and ropes. Inside the Scout Masters provided three bales of straw per tent. We bedded down like barnyard animals, and enjoyed it thoroughly.

One particularly harsh winter weekend, our provisions froze solid during the long, moonless night. #10 cans of peaches were prized as a frozen dessert. Eggs were cracked and frozen, pancake batter could not be prepared for the water was ice.

There was an early 19th century stone house on the campground we had access to. We quickly built roaring fires in the fireplaces, stoked up the coal stoves and hunkered down on the wide pine board floors. Scout Masters drove into town, about twelve miles away, and brought back groceries. We made beef stew and Hudson Bay pie in Dutch ovens on the hearths. Boxes of raisins and bags of apples were distributed as we sang camp songs.

Later that afternoon, we donned our warmest clothes and broke down our tent camp. Someone had cobbled together sledges upon which we heaped tents, sleeping bags, backpacks and the remainder of our frozen fare. Then we shlepped everything back to the stone house and sorted through what could be salvaged and what we needed to dispose of.

By Sunday morning, we were warm, fed and happy. But the first night (Friday) was an experience!

I did the Year Round Camper thing for 4 or 5 years Tent camping frequently well below freezing, We maintained a site about 1/2 mile from the road and packed everything in. 3 of us camped there. A guy that made Eagle, the fore mentioned Franky and I. We had ample firewood cut, split, stacked and covered. I remember one Saturday morning hiking in in about 30 inches of fresh snow. Everything looked different and the same. When we arrived at the tent, it looked like a big lump. the fire pit was hidden, fire wood was hidden and we had one folding camp shovel. Once we had a fire going, we were fine. We left the tent mostly buried and were toasty warm with a big fire with a large flat rock reflecting heat back at the tent at -15.
I regret not making Eagle. I was Life with 20 Merit Badges when I turned 18. I simply ran out of time after starting the final push about 6 months earlier.

 

[Sbiker]

For Gracie and all the Ol' Folks. I found out why I've been so tired lately.
Anyone else have this problem?


AAADD

KNOW THE SYMPTOMS.....PLEASE READ!

Thank goodness there's a name for this disorder.
Somehow I feel better even though I have it!!

Recently, I was diagnosed with A.A.A.D.D. -
Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder.

This is how it manifests:

I decide to water my garden.
As I turn on the hose in the driveway,
I look over at my car and decide it needs washing.

As I start toward the garage,
I notice mail on the porch table that
I brought up from the mail box earlier.

I decide to go through the mail before I wash the car.

I lay my car keys on the table,
Put the junk mail in the garbage can under the table,
And notice that the can is full.

So, I decide to put the bills back
On the table and take out the garbage first.

But then I think,
Since I'm going to be near the mailbox
When I take out the garbage anyway,
I may as well pay the bills first.

I take my check book off the table,
And see that there is only one check left.
My extra checks are in my desk in the study,
So I go inside the house to my desk where
I find the can of Pepsi I'd been drinking.

I'm going to look for my checks,
But first I need to push the Pepsi aside
So that I don't accidentally knock it over.

The Pepsi is getting warm,
And I decide to put it in the refrigerator to keep it cold.

As I head toward the kitchen with the Pepsi,
A vase of flowers on the counter
Catches my eye--they need water.

I put the Pepsi on the counter and
Discover my reading glasses that
I've been searching for all morning.

I decide I better put them back on my desk,
But first I'm going to water the flowers.

I set the glasses back down on the counter,
Fill a container with water and suddenly spot the TV remote.
Someone left it on the kitchen table.

I realize that tonight when we go to watch TV,
I'll be looking for the remote,
But I won't remember that it's on the kitchen table,
So I decide to put it back in the den where it belongs,
But first I'll water the flowers.

I pour some water in the flowers,
But quite a bit of it spills on the floor.

So, I set the remote back on the table,
Get some towels and wipe up the spill.

Then, I head down the hall trying to
Remember what I was planning to do.

At the end of the day:

The car isn't washed
The bills aren't paid
there's a warm can of Pepsi sitting on the counter
The flowers don't have enough water,
there's still only 1 check in my check book,
I can't find the remote,
I can't find my glasses,
And I don't remember what I did with the car keys.

Then, when I try to figure out why nothing got done today,
I'm really baffled because I know I was busy all day,
And I'm really tired.

I realize this is a serious problem,
And I'll try to get some help for it,
But first I'll check my e-mail....

I'm a bit melancholic today, let's look on my clip:

 

[saveliberty]

Started Monday on a Bluestone patio project. I almost have all the plant material removed and grading complete on the 26 x 25 area. All by hand in 90 degree weather. Wednesday I will complete the grading by bringing some fill dirt and do some compacting. My middle daughter was here last week and the youngest will be here in another day or two. Super busy with all that and hiring an attorney to sue my prior employer. My last two checks are being held hostage. He wants me to sign papers, which I can only conclude absolve him of wrong doing. Not happening.

Unless you signed a contract specifying that you would sign papers at the conclusion of your employment or that you would give X days/weeks/months notice, you owe him nothing. And if you have to sue to get your pay, be sure your attorney sues for enough to cover his time and expense too. The fact that he arbitrarily decided to pay you less than you agreed to work for won't look good to a judge.

Maybe you can get your case heard in front of Judge Judy?

I will learn more on Thursday of next week. That is my attorney appointment date. At this juncture, he is jamming up my unemployment too. It is very unwise to tick me off...I'm officially ticked.

 

[saveliberty]

We had Polar Bear camp during the winter. Our tents were WW II or Korean War surplus. Anyway, they had twenty years of stale, mildewish air about them. There were two upright poles and a ridge pole that weighed about fifteen pound. The sides were secured by stakes and ropes. Inside the Scout Masters provided three bales of straw per tent. We bedded down like barnyard animals, and enjoyed it thoroughly.

One particularly harsh winter weekend, our provisions froze solid during the long, moonless night. #10 cans of peaches were prized as a frozen dessert. Eggs were cracked and frozen, pancake batter could not be prepared for the water was ice.

There was an early 19th century stone house on the campground we had access to. We quickly built roaring fires in the fireplaces, stoked up the coal stoves and hunkered down on the wide pine board floors. Scout Masters drove into town, about twelve miles away, and brought back groceries. We made beef stew and Hudson Bay pie in Dutch ovens on the hearths. Boxes of raisins and bags of apples were distributed as we sang camp songs.

Later that afternoon, we donned our warmest clothes and broke down our tent camp. Someone had cobbled together sledges upon which we heaped tents, sleeping bags, backpacks and the remainder of our frozen fare. Then we shlepped everything back to the stone house and sorted through what could be salvaged and what we needed to dispose of.

By Sunday morning, we were warm, fed and happy. But the first night (Friday) was an experience!

It was so cold on one of our polar bear camps, we burned all the wood we could find. Unfortunately some had poison ivy on it and turning the oil into a smoke was terrible for me.

 

[saveliberty]

I know that Eskimo Pie is a plant and Hudson Bay is a strain of Eskimo Pie so I doubt if Nosmo is referring to that.

Eskimo Pie

Hudson Bay

I hosta agree...

 

[Foxfyre]

For Gracie and all the Ol' Folks. I found out why I've been so tired lately.
Anyone else have this problem?


AAADD

KNOW THE SYMPTOMS.....PLEASE READ!

Thank goodness there's a name for this disorder.
Somehow I feel better even though I have it!!

Recently, I was diagnosed with A.A.A.D.D. -
Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder.

This is how it manifests:

I decide to water my garden.
As I turn on the hose in the driveway,
I look over at my car and decide it needs washing.

As I start toward the garage,
I notice mail on the porch table that
I brought up from the mail box earlier.

I decide to go through the mail before I wash the car.

I lay my car keys on the table,
Put the junk mail in the garbage can under the table,
And notice that the can is full.

So, I decide to put the bills back
On the table and take out the garbage first.

But then I think,
Since I'm going to be near the mailbox
When I take out the garbage anyway,
I may as well pay the bills first.

I take my check book off the table,
And see that there is only one check left.
My extra checks are in my desk in the study,
So I go inside the house to my desk where
I find the can of Pepsi I'd been drinking.

I'm going to look for my checks,
But first I need to push the Pepsi aside
So that I don't accidentally knock it over.

The Pepsi is getting warm,
And I decide to put it in the refrigerator to keep it cold.

As I head toward the kitchen with the Pepsi,
A vase of flowers on the counter
Catches my eye--they need water.

I put the Pepsi on the counter and
Discover my reading glasses that
I've been searching for all morning.

I decide I better put them back on my desk,
But first I'm going to water the flowers.

I set the glasses back down on the counter,
Fill a container with water and suddenly spot the TV remote.
Someone left it on the kitchen table.

I realize that tonight when we go to watch TV,
I'll be looking for the remote,
But I won't remember that it's on the kitchen table,
So I decide to put it back in the den where it belongs,
But first I'll water the flowers.

I pour some water in the flowers,
But quite a bit of it spills on the floor.

So, I set the remote back on the table,
Get some towels and wipe up the spill.

Then, I head down the hall trying to
Remember what I was planning to do.

At the end of the day:

The car isn't washed
The bills aren't paid
there's a warm can of Pepsi sitting on the counter
The flowers don't have enough water,
there's still only 1 check in my check book,
I can't find the remote,
I can't find my glasses,
And I don't remember what I did with the car keys.

Then, when I try to figure out why nothing got done today,
I'm really baffled because I know I was busy all day,
And I'm really tired.

I realize this is a serious problem,
And I'll try to get some help for it,
But first I'll check my e-mail....

I'm a bit melancholic today, let's look on my clip:

Interesting but more raunchy than most Americans would be comfortable with in a public setting. . .possibly even illegal?

 

[Sbiker]

For Gracie and all the Ol' Folks. I found out why I've been so tired lately.
Anyone else have this problem?


AAADD

KNOW THE SYMPTOMS.....PLEASE READ!

Thank goodness there's a name for this disorder.
Somehow I feel better even though I have it!!

Recently, I was diagnosed with A.A.A.D.D. -
Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder.

This is how it manifests:

I decide to water my garden.
As I turn on the hose in the driveway,
I look over at my car and decide it needs washing.

As I start toward the garage,
I notice mail on the porch table that
I brought up from the mail box earlier.

I decide to go through the mail before I wash the car.

I lay my car keys on the table,
Put the junk mail in the garbage can under the table,
And notice that the can is full.

So, I decide to put the bills back
On the table and take out the garbage first.

But then I think,
Since I'm going to be near the mailbox
When I take out the garbage anyway,
I may as well pay the bills first.

I take my check book off the table,
And see that there is only one check left.
My extra checks are in my desk in the study,
So I go inside the house to my desk where
I find the can of Pepsi I'd been drinking.

I'm going to look for my checks,
But first I need to push the Pepsi aside
So that I don't accidentally knock it over.

The Pepsi is getting warm,
And I decide to put it in the refrigerator to keep it cold.

As I head toward the kitchen with the Pepsi,
A vase of flowers on the counter
Catches my eye--they need water.

I put the Pepsi on the counter and
Discover my reading glasses that
I've been searching for all morning.

I decide I better put them back on my desk,
But first I'm going to water the flowers.

I set the glasses back down on the counter,
Fill a container with water and suddenly spot the TV remote.
Someone left it on the kitchen table.

I realize that tonight when we go to watch TV,
I'll be looking for the remote,
But I won't remember that it's on the kitchen table,
So I decide to put it back in the den where it belongs,
But first I'll water the flowers.

I pour some water in the flowers,
But quite a bit of it spills on the floor.

So, I set the remote back on the table,
Get some towels and wipe up the spill.

Then, I head down the hall trying to
Remember what I was planning to do.

At the end of the day:

The car isn't washed
The bills aren't paid
there's a warm can of Pepsi sitting on the counter
The flowers don't have enough water,
there's still only 1 check in my check book,
I can't find the remote,
I can't find my glasses,
And I don't remember what I did with the car keys.

Then, when I try to figure out why nothing got done today,
I'm really baffled because I know I was busy all day,
And I'm really tired.

I realize this is a serious problem,
And I'll try to get some help for it,
But first I'll check my e-mail....

I'm a bit melancholic today, let's look on my clip:

Interesting but more raunchy than most Americans would be comfortable with in a public setting. . .possibly even illegal?

Underground life... Somewhere illegal, but are American bikers really more lawful?

 

[Foxfyre]

For Gracie and all the Ol' Folks. I found out why I've been so tired lately.
Anyone else have this problem?


AAADD

KNOW THE SYMPTOMS.....PLEASE READ!

Thank goodness there's a name for this disorder.
Somehow I feel better even though I have it!!

Recently, I was diagnosed with A.A.A.D.D. -
Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder.

This is how it manifests:

I decide to water my garden.
As I turn on the hose in the driveway,
I look over at my car and decide it needs washing.

As I start toward the garage,
I notice mail on the porch table that
I brought up from the mail box earlier.

I decide to go through the mail before I wash the car.

I lay my car keys on the table,
Put the junk mail in the garbage can under the table,
And notice that the can is full.

So, I decide to put the bills back
On the table and take out the garbage first.

But then I think,
Since I'm going to be near the mailbox
When I take out the garbage anyway,
I may as well pay the bills first.

I take my check book off the table,
And see that there is only one check left.
My extra checks are in my desk in the study,
So I go inside the house to my desk where
I find the can of Pepsi I'd been drinking.

I'm going to look for my checks,
But first I need to push the Pepsi aside
So that I don't accidentally knock it over.

The Pepsi is getting warm,
And I decide to put it in the refrigerator to keep it cold.

As I head toward the kitchen with the Pepsi,
A vase of flowers on the counter
Catches my eye--they need water.

I put the Pepsi on the counter and
Discover my reading glasses that
I've been searching for all morning.

I decide I better put them back on my desk,
But first I'm going to water the flowers.

I set the glasses back down on the counter,
Fill a container with water and suddenly spot the TV remote.
Someone left it on the kitchen table.

I realize that tonight when we go to watch TV,
I'll be looking for the remote,
But I won't remember that it's on the kitchen table,
So I decide to put it back in the den where it belongs,
But first I'll water the flowers.

I pour some water in the flowers,
But quite a bit of it spills on the floor.

So, I set the remote back on the table,
Get some towels and wipe up the spill.

Then, I head down the hall trying to
Remember what I was planning to do.

At the end of the day:

The car isn't washed
The bills aren't paid
there's a warm can of Pepsi sitting on the counter
The flowers don't have enough water,
there's still only 1 check in my check book,
I can't find the remote,
I can't find my glasses,
And I don't remember what I did with the car keys.

Then, when I try to figure out why nothing got done today,
I'm really baffled because I know I was busy all day,
And I'm really tired.

I realize this is a serious problem,
And I'll try to get some help for it,
But first I'll check my e-mail....

I'm a bit melancholic today, let's look on my clip:

Interesting but more raunchy than most Americans would be comfortable with in a public setting. . .possibly even illegal?

Underground life... Somewhere illegal, but are American bikers really more lawful?

Americans have some pretty strong pornography laws and restrictions on what can be easily accessible to kids, etc. It isn't that the video you linked is so bad or overly graphic, but it does have some clips in it that probably wouldn't pass the censors as suitable for family viewing. Admittedly I suppose most Europeans would think it okay.

 

[gallantwarrior]

The day started out light, couldn't get my act together but eventually I set up the living room, moved all the bookcases that have been blocking the front window in the large foyer so the house no longer feels like a cave. Once I had the living room set up I confirmed my suspicion that the huge coffee table wasn't going to fit........ Rearranged a couple of other things in the kitchen, basically moved my hutch over to another wall so I had to put the microwave temporarily back on the limited room kitchen counter until I can find or make a "table" that will fit there and allow me to put the trash/recycle cans there with the microwave on top, it's the only place to put both.

Finding a place for all the stuff--toaster, toaster oven, microwave, wireless telephone base plus the blender/food processor, juicer, etc. is a challenge in a small kitchen. My kitchen isn't teensy but it is galley style and counter space isn't unlimited.

One super nice thing about running off-grid, you have to be selective about your electric appliances. Everything is analyzed for power usage and lots is left off the roster. Microwaves, toasters, trash compactors, automatic dishwashers, and so many superfluous machinery can be deleted from the roster of "must-haves". I use a cast iron dutch oven instead of an electric slow cooker. Coffee is left on the wood stove, or re-heated as needed. Anything you can heat in a microwave can be heated using other means. I have a wonderful hand-powered washer (I've posted photos before) and hang the laundry on the line to dry. If I need something dry faster in the winter, I hang it inside, near the stove. Lots of comforts are not really necessary, but we are spoiled, I find. (I do like my JD 410, though!)

 

[Foxfyre]

The day started out light, couldn't get my act together but eventually I set up the living room, moved all the bookcases that have been blocking the front window in the large foyer so the house no longer feels like a cave. Once I had the living room set up I confirmed my suspicion that the huge coffee table wasn't going to fit........ Rearranged a couple of other things in the kitchen, basically moved my hutch over to another wall so I had to put the microwave temporarily back on the limited room kitchen counter until I can find or make a "table" that will fit there and allow me to put the trash/recycle cans there with the microwave on top, it's the only place to put both.

Finding a place for all the stuff--toaster, toaster oven, microwave, wireless telephone base plus the blender/food processor, juicer, etc. is a challenge in a small kitchen. My kitchen isn't teensy but it is galley style and counter space isn't unlimited.

One super nice thing about running off-grid, you have to be selective about your electric appliances. Everything is analyzed for power usage and lots is left off the roster. Microwaves, toasters, trash compactors, automatic dishwashers, and so many superfluous machinery can be deleted from the roster of "must-haves". I use a cast iron dutch oven instead of an electric slow cooker. Coffee is left on the wood stove, or re-heated as needed. Anything you can heat in a microwave can be heated using other means. I have a wonderful hand-powered washer (I've posted photos before) and hang the laundry on the line to dry. If I need something dry faster in the winter, I hang it inside, near the stove. Lots of comforts are not really necessary, but we are spoiled, I find. (I do like my JD 410, though!)

Yes, I have lived for some time in conditions that seem rather primitive in these times--wood stove, minimal electrical and no conveniences like microwaves, toasters, blenders, etc. And we made it fine.

But I really wouldn't want to do that again.