Back once again at the Palazzo. Still not my favorite place, but upgraded from the bottom of the list, which is now occupied by City Center (last time we were there, my SUV, a limo, and a cabby all tried to share the same space – not fun). Three events in 5 days have turned to six events in three. It’s going to be a very long night.
I rode a bicycle last night for the first time in nearly 12 years. (No, I didn’t crash). I forgot how much fun it is, how freeing it feels. While marveling at how awesome the guy was who invented the contraption, we rode 5 miles. My butt hurts, so sitting on these chairs by the bathroom, and later the slot machines, won’t be too pleasant. Also our plans to ride every night are dashed for the short term future.
Our BBQ was awesome. We had maybe 9 people show up and cooked for 20. It was outrageous until 3am, when everyone suddenly realized they had to work in X number of hours and should probably go home. As always, the coleslaw was a huge hit. I’ve found the mother of all coleslaw recipes, one that has successfully made both Honey and I now hate our once-coveted KFC slaw. Plus people are really impressed that I make my own coleslaw; they feel special. So dazzle your friends at the next potluck with the following recipe:
1 bag coleslaw mix (usually about 10 oz)
1 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup vinegar (it calls for white wine, but I use whatever I have and it’s fine)
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon celery seeds
Salt and pepper to taste
Whisk everything together and pour over coleslaw mix. Combine, refrigerate, enjoy.
In other random news, I learned and perfected the tying of the Pratt knot on a man’s tie. Should you need similar information, I recommend the following link.
I was reading on Mother Earth News the other day about a good ol’ boy that’s perfected putting tractor engines in full-size pick up trucks to drastically increase gas mileage. I’m sure the manufacturers of said tractor engines never intended their products for that purpose, but logic has it that a tractor weighs as much as a car so… Anyway, the guy believes the gas mileage hasn’t improved on American cars in the last 40 years because the car manufacturers and oil companies pay for the political campaigns of most of our elected officials; and unless the American people stand up together, nothing will change. I watched the video of him driving a Ford F-150 onto the highway and back – it sounded like an angry beast that needed to eat something, but it worked. He’ll sell you the plans with color photos for $50 bucks. See him here.
Of course, my first thought was “I want one”. A way to keep my big SUV and get nearly triple the mileage? Hell yeah! Unfortunately it may be easier to have a diesel engine put in and find that book on making my own moonshine, which is basically ethanol without the added gasoline (they did that so people wouldn’t drink it). Neither option is in my budget at present.
I’m with a lot of people: the budget can’t get much tighter. I know several folks who don’t have jobs, are out of unemployment money, and very soon will be out of options. I suddenly feel very fortunate for my $10/hr job. But what do we do? I was really waiting for the massive roads project to put thousands of people to work across the country, similar to how FDR did with the Hoover Dam, and drag us all up by our boot straps. Hasn’t happened. I don’t have the answers. I know that everyone is unhappy with what’s been done, unless they happened to work for the banks and car companies that got bailed out. I thought it would be just as well to let them collapse under the responsibility of their own mistakes. Change, more often than not, has to be violent. I just know it can’t stay the way it is nor go back to the way it was. If we can get past the greed, we might have a chance.
I’m listening to the people around me…grown ass women all dressed up with their friends reverting to their childhood, squealing and blowing whistles in public. Other women wearing clothes that I wouldn’t leave my bedroom in, and all of them gibbering about some drama amongst their friends, that when viewed against the bigger picture, doesn’t mean a damn thing. Between this and working retail for the last year, I’ve discovered that I hate people. The majority haven’t got a clue about anything outside themselves and their little bubble. The destruction that’s inevitably coming is well deserved. Statistically speaking, smaller groups of people, like tribes, don’t have the greed and problems that plague larger society. So in a nutshell, there are just too damn many of us, and we all want. You do the math.
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