Happy New Year

2014 is destined to be better...we get to VOTE!

so anyway, Happy New Year!

ICYMI, Dave Barry's Year in Review post can be found here.  I haven't read it yet, I usually save it for around 10:30 PM New Year's Eve, when I'm sober enough to focus but drunk enough to laugh out loud.  H/T to Mike Hendrix of Cold Fury fame for the link.

As for me, this should be the best New Year's Eve / New Year's Day that I've had in years decades.  TheMissus™ and TheChildren™ are off to western Pennsylvania to visit with her family, and I have the house to myself.  There's much to appreciate about being home alone.

The black-eyed peas have been rinsed and are soaking; the requisite ingredients for cornbread are lined up on the counter; and there a several big honkin' ham steaks in the ice-box.  Tomorrow will be the first time in a long time that I've had a proper New Year's Day meal.  I've already made the Executive Decision that I'll split up the black-eyed peas and have straight up black-eyed peas with one half, and make Hoppin' John with the other.  There will be enough cornbread to cover both.  (If you want my wicked-cool cornbread recipe, just ask in the comments.  This offer expires at Noon on 01JAN14 [not really, ask anytime])

more soon

Travelling Tales

Greetings from Walker, Michigan...

so anyway, tonight finds me holed up in a hotel room with a couple of hand guns, a bottle of Val-U-Rite Vodka, and an internet connection, so all is well and right in my world.  I laced up my steel-toed boots at 0547 this morning; I just sat down thirty minutes ago (Business Travel!  It's just like being on Vacation!).  I actually did manage some "me" time in the interim, so it's not like I've been slavin' away for the past sixteen hours.

There were some highlights: as I was merging on to WB I-96 from NB US-23 this morning, a short caravan passed me:  (turn your sound off, 'cause the audio is nothing but road noise)
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Tales from the road

Travelling, I am....

so anyway, tonight The Stoopid Business™ has parked me in Midland, Ontario for a visit to the tool shop tomorrow morning, then another arduous six+ hour drive back to Detroit (Rock City).

We had a fine dinner at Kelsey's (think of a Canadian variant of Chili's / Applebee's / Fridays); and now I'm back in the room with marginal internet service and NO ALCOHOL, thanks to the goofy way Canadians sell beer.  Government run beer stores that close at 8:00 PM.  That shouldn't happen in a civilized nation.

more soon

Scene from a Sunday afternoon

just 'cause it amused me...

so anyway, Sunday afternoon found me in the laundromat washing a few over-sized items.  About half way through the dryer cycle, I wandered down the sidewalk to the little Chinese food place for a steamin' bowl of hot and sour soup:

Seeing my lunch in that context just struck me as funny, in a curious sort of way.

It wasn't a long walk:

Gui Lin restaurant, Saline, Michigan (just a thirty second walk from the laundromat)

As far as Hot and Sour goes, it was pretty good

more soon