Some Things Are Funnier 20 Years In The Future

I met a friend for lunch today at a restaurant I had never been to before called P.F. Changs.  When I arrive she is there waiting for me.  I slide in next to her in the booth to give her a hug and she is laughing.  She is not only laughing but she is laughing so hard she has tears in her eyes.  So this is a little confusing.  I give her a hug and she whispers in my ear, "Take a look at the guy on your left."  I casually glance left.  Seated with his back to us is an elderly man with a pinkish bald head and a green shirt.  There is nothing unusual about him at all.  So I glance around at the other customers before returning to him.  My eyes take in his complete figure.  He is seated in a chair with his back to us.  As with many typical restaurant chairs there is a gap between the seat of his chair and the back of his chair.  OMG.  This guy's waistband of his pants must be down around his thighs because from this angle all I see is creamy white skin, a crack, and, I kid you not, cellulite. Ai yi yi!  How can he not feel the breeze?  Is he oblivious to his exposure or is he deliberately taunting all the customers and workers at PF Changs?  We debate. I vote perverted. She is nicer than I am and votes disabled. We consider moving to another part of the restaurant but all the other tables are taken. I can't stand it and deliberately keep my eyes pointing in the same direction away from the exposure of flesh.  When he gets up to leave the motion attracts her eye and she groans.  Things got worse before they got better.  After he left I felt free to look around at the PF Chang decor which is actually pretty nice.  And we had a delicious lunch and enjoyed catching up with our lives.  PS I highly recommend the vegetarian lettuce wraps at PF Changs - just the perfect amount of cellophane noodles, seasoned tofu and spicy sauce with lettuce leaves on the side to use as bread.  This is a lunch we will probably remember fondly 20 years from now. 

Last Day of February

This morning when I went out to take care of my chickens it was cold out.  I got an ice cream headache from the cold.  And I didn't get any ice cream making it a double injustice.  The chickens know what to expect. I start out by putting a long quarter of cucumber into the coop.  They take a bite or two but the entire thing will be gone soon. When I pull back the tarp that keeps their run free of snow they come out of the coop.  They watch me carefully as I lift the rubber water dish out of the run and slam it repeatedly against the picnic table to knock the ice out of the dish.  Under my picnic table there are a dozen or more round solid chunks of ice from previous water dish changes.  I put their water dish back down and pour fresh, liquid water into the bowl.  My chickens know they have to take advantage of the water while it is still liquid.  This is when the chickens get excited.  Ever since a trip to the Anoka Independent Feed Mill in late December where I bought a $20 bucket of dried mealworms and crickets, my chickens have been getting a treat with their fresh water in the morning.  They know it is coming and their behavior becomes worried and agitated in anticipation of their treat.  Winter is getting long for the chickens and for me.  I don't think we've broken the back of winter yet.  But I did hear a song of spring today.  I heard the cardinals singing their love song.  The cardinals are singing longer and louder.  I imagine that in human English the lyrics to their song would be like Marvin Gaye's "Lets Get It On."

 

Correction - Bright Orange is My Favorite Color

Tuatara

When I emptied my mailbox today, mixed in with the ads, the credit card offers, and the other junk mail was a postcard from New Zealand!  This is my first postcard from New Zealand ever.  On the front is some reptile called a tuatara.  I've never heard of a tuatara before.  If even a postcard from New Zealand can be informative, just think of all the cool things I could learn if I went there.  On the back of the postcard it says that the tuatara grows very slowly reaching sexual maturity at 20 years of age.  In any case I felt honored to get a handwritten note in the mailbox.  I should send more notes out myself.

My New Favorite Snack

This is not much of a recipe but my new favorite snack is white cheddar cheese curds from Ellsworth Cooperative Creamery.  You can buy a bag of these delicious curds at your local grocery store.  I was buying them once in a while.  This past holiday season Offspring #1 was home and read the words on the bag that suggested putting the curds on a plate and microwaving them for 20 seconds.  These cheese curds are good cold; salty and creamy.  Warmed up in the microwave they are make-you-drool delicious.  I have experimented with the time and my preference is for 30 seconds in the microwave.  These curds are so good - greasy, salty, creamy and gooey.  Since New Years I have kept some on hand nearly all the time because they seem like a guilt free snack.

L O N G Day

Yesterday was my first full day of work since December 19 and it was a l.o.n.g. day.  Really long.  Eight and a half hours has never been so long.  But I made it all day.  I wasn't too tired physically but exhausted mentally I guess.  I went straight home to take a hot shower and sit on the couch.  Today was much better and the day wasn't half as long as Monday even though I worked the same hours.  I guess I have to face the fact that I still like working.  I am not ready to retire.  I like the schedule.  I like seeing a bunch of people and socializing.  I like having a big difference between the week days and the week ends.  I like the feeling of responsibility and accomplishment I get when I get a big stack of paper work completed.  I enjoy getting things organized and scheduled.  I like preparing for meetings.  I like going to meetings.  I like it when people ask my opinion.  I like being involved. I really like it when the clock turns to 4 o'clock and I can shut off my computer, put on my coat and go home.  This is a good thing to know because I've only got 4 to 5 more years to work so I may as well enjoy it while I can.

Appalled

The first time I heard about this issue was 1977 and the wage discrepancy was women made 59 cents for every dollar a man made.  Now, 38 years later, the difference is 78 cents for every dollar a man makes.  I've worked every year since 1969 and I am appalled that this continues.