MacGyver

Jill and I were traveling in Ireland recently and had returned to our hotel with some adult beverages, Irish goat cheese and crackers to snack-upon.

We packed a Swiss Army Knife specifically for the purpose of pulling a wine cork or removing a crown cap from a bottle.  However, the knife we packed was the one without a bottle opener.  Who knew there was such a thing?

In any event, a happen to have a wee bit of MacGyver in my bloodlines and  a brief survey of the hotel room revealed this lock on the bathroom door. 

Perfect.....

Keeping Score

Snow Plow 1 - Mailbox 0

First snow of the season and the county plow came roaring down the road out front at likely 75 miles an hour sending-up a wall of snow that sheared the mailbox from the post.  The four sheet metal screws holding the plastic mounting bracket held firm - however the bracket self-destructed.

So I drilled a couple of additional holes in the floor of the box, placed it back on the remains of the bracket and drove a couple of lag bolts thru the base of the box directly into the horizontal member of the post.

Stay-tuned....

Friday Music

This song was released as a single from the eighth studio album by the same name by the Who in August of 1978.  The album charted at number 2 and the single at number 14 on the US charts.

Featuring lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist John Entwistle and drummer Keith Moon - as near as I can tell this exceedingly high quality performance was filmed live and in studio. 

Who Are You was the group's last album to feature Keith Moon as drummer.  Moon was dead three weeks after release of the album.     

This was filmed as a promo at The Who’s Ramport Studios in Battersea, London on 4 May 1978 by Jeff Stein Stein for inclusion in his documentary The Kids Are Alright.

Enjoy...

Illegitimi Non Carborundum

It was likely a good strategy initially - Trump fatigue was a terrific way  to wear down the president’s critics. 

Alas,  it has ended up a way to wear down the president’s friends. 

And with friends like Trump - who needs enemies?

You Too Might Save a Life

Two hillbillies walk into a restaurant.  While having a bite to eat, they talk about their moonshine operation.  Suddenly, a woman at a nearby table, who is eating a sandwich, begins to cough.  

After a minute or so, it becomes apparent that she is in real distress. One of the hillbillies looks at her and says, Kin ya swallar?   

The woman shakes her head no.  

Then he asks, Kin ya breathe?      

The woman begins to turn blue, and shakes her head no.    

The hillbilly walks over to the woman, lifts up her dress, yanks down her drawers, and quickly gives her right butt cheek a lick with his tongue.    

The woman is so shocked that she has a violent spasm, and the obstruction flies out of her airway.       

As she begins to breathe again, the hillbilly walks slowly back to his table.   His partner says, Ya know, I'd heerd of that there 'Hind Lick Maneuver' but I never seed nobody done it.

Canned Flatulence

The title of this post is a lame attempt at a joke.  Actually, this is canned goodness.



click on the jars for a closer look

I made a ginormous batch of navy bean soup last evening using a couple of smoked pork hocks from Marchant's butcher shop as the foundation.

Rather than freezing it I canned it in a pressure cooker.  Twenty pints to be exact.  This saves precious freezer space with a shelf-stable product. 

It should keep for a couple of years without skipping a beat - but I don't think it will last that long.

Armistice Day

On the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918, there was a temporary cessation of hostilities on the Western Front of World War I as a consequence of the armistice signed by the Allies and Germany.

American troops in France celebrate the armistice

We just returned from a trip across the Big Pond to visit Ireland where this day in history is celebrated as Armistice Day.  

On its first anniversary President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed November 11, 1919 as the first celebration of Armistice Day.  In 1938 this day officially became a federal holiday.  Later, in the aftermath of World War II and the Korean War, Armistice Day became known as Veterans Day in the United States.  And while the allied nations honor members of their armed forces on Armistice Day – we commemorate it as Veterans Day. 

Sure, we call it something different here in America – nevertheless the sentiment is the same.