She saw my dark side.....

Rocket stoves and video was involved....

My nomadic "the world is in the brink of disaster" dealio involves rocket stoves.... they're simple cheap, effecient.. they burn twigs and stuff, grass, paper..leaves...charcoal

Which facinates me... cause Im a camp fire guy.. fire ring, 3 rocks to hold a pot, griddle, grill or what ever...

Cept some places don't have wood.... at least not campfire fodder... but nearly everywhere has twigs.. So Im interested..

There is a demo on you tube.... "how to feed your family on flour, water, oil, salt and twigs"....or something like that.... I got that the twigs were to cook the bread... not eaten.... and since it was a rocket stove video... I figured it wasnt a boy scout wrap dough around a stick vid....

I know what flour, water, olive oil and salt bread is.... I know what a rocket stove is... and everything related to what he was doing...... I just wanted to see how he did it...

OMG... I kept hopeing hed catch fire it was soo bad.... the second I saw the bag of cheap ass wall mart, white flour and funky canola/rape seed oil.... I knew this guy didnt like what he was doing.. it started bad and got to worse fast....

Granted my breads arent perfectly round but at least they look like I was paying attention..... and they look nice.. I add a little cumin.. some red pepper flakes an olive oil or garum.. even a tapenade when its done.. and its good stuff..

Then theres hummis... whole wheat flour and chick peas last a long time as do anchovies... so I keep all that stuff on hand... same with cumin and red pepper flakes.. but thats my idea of how its done..

This guy was talking about feeding his family on the "bread" he made.... talking stupid shit about jelly... and peanut butter... which isnt made from peanuts its hydrogenated oils that has peanut flavor in ....  looking at that $4 a ton white flour he was using.. you know the cheap bastard wasn't going for the good stuff...... and besides... where was he planning on buying it?

His senario was no power..armageddon, bare survival mode... yeah, good luck with that... best get a jack rabbit for dinner... or some pigeons..

It was demeaning to bread..... if he tries to feed his family that, I bet he gets shanked... and I noticed, he didn't eat the "bread" he took a sissy bite an that was that... it was kinda fugly.. but well made bread "hot off the rock" is good stuff which gets wolfed down not nibbled..

Bastards.... I relly need to have a "what cha gonna do now" cooking school.... replete with solar ovens, retained heat, pressure cookers and Rocket stoves... and teach how to catch a rabbit/pigeon or the neighbors dog...

A 50# bag of beans lasts a long time... and you can have pintos, pinks, northerns, lentils, and on and on.. black beans, navys,  black eyed peas.. chick peas add a bag of white and another of brown rice or 12.. whole wheat flour.. or better still the wheat its self and a hand mill....

I know where this guy lives..... its on the coast and lush... he can scrape whelks, muscles and barnacles off the piers and rocks... get a seal... gull eggs.. seaweed.. crabs.. mushrooms, all kinds of stuff and he goes on about preparedness and feeding his family?

Hahahaa... better work at it.... cause there won't be a wallmart around...

I kept sending her the link so she had to watch it..... it was all sad....

The stove was cool though..... he had it on his truck tailgate just like I cook... kinda made the same bread dough... I just use good ingredients....and tend to be sort of horrible about knowing what I can eat in the neighbors yard...

Man cannot live by bread alone...... Hahahahaha.. he needs a quail, a rabbit, mb a pigeon or dove... some mesquite beans and nopalitos... a lizzard or big ass rattlesnake...

Give us this day our daily bread.... is just lazy and ungreatful...

Gotta have skills...

"You know, like numchuck skills, bow hunting skills, computer hacking skills. Girls only want boyfriends who have great skills."

--Napolean Dynamite

Which reminds me....

The juggeling act goes on....... hustle, scramble, hustle.. avoid the yawning pits in the road and the big assed bear traps...  then maybe you have a grab at the brass ring... or at least thats the thoery...

Razors... if you get the best you can find.. your set for life...

Not the most expensive... the best and.... there is a difference...  I try hard to find the best whatever... I dont want 5 cheap anything.... I want one...

I live in small areas...mostly under 200 square feet.....it began when I was a kid living in flea bag hotels with one washroom per floor.... I kept it up working rennfaires and craft shows.. it was all about trucks, tents and tarps, there was the occasional apartment.. they mysterys of which I never did figure out..  

However thats not the point..... I've never had the luxury of wasting money on shite....or the room to store said shite.... everything has a destiny and purpose..there are no string collections, drawers full of dead batteries, old cell phones or cheap flashlights that never work... no ink pens that are dead... none of it... 


I'll spend $20 on a pen..... but it's gonna work no matter how long it sets.... I have paid over $100 for a Mont Blanc..... but my $7 papermate was a nicer pen....so I sold the Mont Blanc to some guy who hated the idea of me owning one.... can't have the lower classes being all uppity now can we.....

So... papermate is good.... I do like waterfords and Cross pens.. but the agenda is different.. its more an art thing.... I still want the right feel and flow... which is ironic given my hand is anything but beautiful....something about broken bones, misspent youth and nerve damage ending in penmanship no amount of pratice will fix...

Still... I like pens with silver barrels... maybe ivory if they aren't totally gay.. horn, ebony.. all things interesting... not that I collect or buy them.... its just a fancy... a notion... Im not bent to take pen in hand...or ceremonially sign anything... and the $7 pen is just as good for my purposes..

I keep thinking about the fluffy one......and 200 square feet... then I study actual floor plans, thinking... this could be art... its not like Im not a tricky bastard....  Think Vardo... gold leaf, carving, stained glass.. wheel engraved.. etched.. glue chipped.. hard wood everything.. leather this an that... custom whatever...

Not to mention solar panels an a neon kit.... pneumatics...

Mobility, 10 acres in some green Eden... and a garden shed.

I keep stirring around...making notes... and sooner or later its going to come together...

Today was the day I unveiled one of my ridiculous habits.... aside from keeping stuff in cigar boxes... having more than one set of scissors.  and a silver thingy for aspirin.... The issue of having  16 or so straight razors on hand wasn't addressed the one on the left is ivory...some are collectable an kinda pricey.. Puma, Double Duck and HenckelsTwins..

I like the notion of shaving as zen.... the razors themselves as art and old school bad assery ..

Talking to the fluffy one it occours to me her son is getting to be that age...and I need to be introducing him to the proper rituals or want to at any rate....nobody gave enough of a fuck to show me the good stuff when I a young guy....so I had to chase it...but whatever.. it worked out, he wants to know stuff.... an I know stuff...

 Im thinking maybe I might get my hustle on and find him something amazing... and maybe rebuild and sell a few while Im at it... a good razor ready to shave is a couple of hundred bucks.... so I think I can make a few bucks... what with access to ironwood, ivory and some other material for scales... not to mention some silver smithing....and a little scrimshaw....Hobby stuff... cause I don't really have a lot of time for actually earning a living...or know what to do with money in my pocket

Live by the sword, die by the sword..

Eat or be eaten.....

Choke the chicken or be choked by the chicken..... in this case I was choked, not my chicken..

Rice and white meat kinda get caught half way down if Im not careful.....an sho nuff I wasn't careful.....

So I'm choking.. cant breathe.. forget calling anyone cause, its not happenin.... what am I gonna say? Gaakkkkk?

I manage to shift stuff around so I can breathe..... which was kinda good..but its sketchy an subject to being cut off...so I have to control a few impulses not panic and get my plan B together... I can't swallow the bolus or puke it up.. then I started foaming.. but Im breathing.... the block is in my chest... not throat.. so plan B comes apart... theres no way to make a hole.... then the sweat comes.. the whole diaphoretic sweat thing.. just before you die..

I'm thinking... my body is being tricked and over reacting.... so I call bullshit on the whole process... my heart isnt an issue... I am breathing...so it just is what it is...

Now the bolus is swelling.....and its 45+ minutes to a ER.... the gag reflex is a constant battle cause the lump needs to go down not up so I don't choke out...

I figure the odds and drive to the ER... I have to stay calm... move slowish...not get excited..don't spike my blood pressure or start breathing heavy....no dislodging the alien.. but theres the foam issue and Im trying not to drown....so things got fancy...but I make it to the ER.... Sweating like a pig.. trying not to wretch or drown....pass out or get too excited...

Breathe in breathe out.... you have 4 minutes once your heart stops and the clock starts ticking once breathing stops..... I'm figuring the odds are good.... I laid out the problem and things are getting ready for a little worst case action.... then I start drinking water to lube it up an maybe force things down....

Nope.... I'm gagging and wretching but nuffin good is happening.... dry heaving so hard my legs shake.... and Im dehydrating....

All good... WTF can one expect.... nothing can go either way....

They plan on giving me a shot they think will relax the smooth muscles..... I'm thinking.... and if that doesn't work?  I keep at it.... straight posture... moving.. cause you never know... then it gets bad..

So I wander off...... Im just starting to heave again and feel the lump break loose, which instantly ends the wretching..... Angels sing... I say. "I'm raizin up ya'll" "I'm Audi" "C-ya"

The nurse has the shot ready... but 5 seconds too late... I'm swilling water and on my way out the door like a stray dog on a mission... which I sorta was....

Mission being get out the door... before I get Ebola, Anthrax or the Plague.... the whole "have a seat on the exam table" creeped me out.... being as how someone left a used latex exam glove on the table.. and latex is porus, so what good are they exactly?

We wont talk about the face masks they were passing out..... I know what it takes to stop H1N1 and it wasn't these Michal Jackson costume looking things..

But I suspect everything......its my nature....and I'm a professional

Shoulda stuck with chili verde for breakfast...... not chicken..  the whole thing kinda messed up my morning....

Lunch was a caprase salad.....an my stuff is sore... my swallowing stuff.. not the other stuff...  that'll teach me not to run around feeding my face without thinking about what Im doing... or lubing the chicken....

Whos long distance now?

Increasing workloads are blamed for couples now spending less than an hour a day talking while together, with one in five of us spending just 15 minutes a day chatting in person....

You can be alone in a room full of people....... live with a stranger you have nothing in common with and when the story is all said and done...

Thats the "norm"....

But then lots of other things are the "norm" and equally fucked up....So I don't do them either..

Mine is more......15 minutes of damn you look good... is there time to see you naked? Then conversation ensues.....which has nothin to do with pink bits....

I like my GF.. I talk with her every chance I get and do it for hours cause I like her and think shes important... I can't say hello in 15 minutes much less what color panties are you wearing..

How was your day.. how goes the struggle.. what do you think that light at the end of the tunnel is? Daylight or a train? What do you want, need, hope and think... hows the kids doin.. OMG hes old enough to shave? Lets look at straight razors and start him out old school cool...

15 minutes...... they don't mention 12 of the 15 norm is evasion and bullshit...then the remainder is anger....

But I don't like fast food either...even if its the norm to have X times a week..  My GF is younger than me... and maybe thats out of the norm except for rockstars and politicians.. we never asked about that..... we just like what we like.. the norm at my age is to bond with the couch.. not a woman....

Forget school, degrees, changing ones profession.... or doing much of anything.. its not the norm...

Except...... I question who decides what the norm is? I can't remember delegating that authority in my little world....so Im thinking someone needs to fuck off...

15 minutes isnt enough.....and I wonder who bought that con... who made silly shit more important than the person whos willing to live with you.... wear the duck mask and dress up like tinker bell to get you off.... not to mention conspire towards a better life together...

I dunno....I claim the right to decide my own norm....and not make the GF cry...or feel like shes a fringe element rather than my bestest pal... 

I like hearing about work, kids, plotting and scheming...random herbalisim and arcane bits of the day...  Granted Im a yup/yep type conversationalist.... but Im paying attention...and in the same room..

Seeing the GF smile an be happy is way more important than anything I can think of off the top... I go "huh" a lot....cause Im not a relationship control freak.. she can have opinions, argue the point ask anything...say anything she wants...ask me what color boxers Im wearing... be herself cause thats how it needs to be.... I want her, to be her with no fixin, no "you'd be perfect if" bullshit.....I figure I can keep her interested in me without mind fucking her into submission...

I blame the hat.... the hat knows its the shit....and doesnt need to prove it is...

So... we have fun.. we like talking and make time for it.... all night some nights.. all day other times.... I think yesterday it was whey, tofu, chili verde, lilac vegital, work, kids, a request for me to connect with the youngest on a site I cant ever remember.... working out..recovery food...weight lifter ice cream...a cute smile or two, hornyness...flea markets/flea market stick food stomach aches and life in general..

More than 15 minutes worth.... and its our daily deal... shes at top of the pyramid... everything else is..... not the top..

An shes right 15 minutes is about the start of a good smooch...... and I mean SMOOoooooch no absent minded cheek pecks....

My oh my..

Odd day yesterday.....

Drycleaner interview... seamstress interview... thrift store haunting.. truck checking up on...I got recognized at one ot those road side places by someone I hadn't seen in 10 years.... and told "your never going to blend in" "all you have to do is open your mouth"....  "even if you just stand there not saying a word..... you talk shit"..

Yeah well..... OOpsee..

Other than that... there was some comment from the cleaner.. we were talking about my suit and jackets.. I explained about them being wool summer weights and good quality... cause I sorta know what to look for and how to buy clothes....

I was told she knew I was one of those men that "knew how to dress"...even if I was uber casual in my usual black T shirt, jeans and vest.... I was well kept.....my personal matinence had been done and there was no foot dragging or slouching...shirt tucked in, clothes clean and not guyiffied... which was kinda nice...

Its easier to have good posture.... stand up straight etc....

I blame the Lilac Vegital... theres a thing I have to do.. and its business formal so having my suits in top shape is kind of critical..the hair and beard is dealt with....all trimmed up and pretty..

I need to do a photo in full regallia....rather than my day to day scramble clothes... not that it matters to me...... its mostly to amuse the G/F.... the clothes are the work "uniform" and its part of the evaluation... I can't show up in boots, chinos and a wife beater and even think about getting in the door... much less all the stuff I have to do....

Ya have to be ready.... my biggest problem is to watch how I move and stand...not let that "on the corner" thing slip in.. hahahaha...

But if youth isnt mis-spent, its not youth is it?...So I try to be aware of how I move......not all nervous and twitchy aware.. just less Doc Holiday with that one eye brow cocked..which I sorta fail at...

Work onna truck got done.. not much, but some...Im thinkin seriously about _______________
I don't really want to.."but"

Other than that, its classes..... dinner and cravings.. I've had it to easy lately, a hot plate and now gas for my stove.... I deliberately made bread in the gas flame so it would burn a little... cause I missed the taste... I need to build a fire and cook outside for a bit to get it out of my system... Im wanting that whole smoke and "char" thing.... only on the bread though.. not the stick food ..

The hat sez...."Oh?"

I tidied up my beard after this by about %50 and am now more sleek and areodynamic....... you can even see I have purty lips now.......

Another day of... I dunno

I have classes' and exams about every two days...  which I pass.. mostly because I pay attention and actually study...

So now I'm scheduled for the big show...which means, more hurdles to jump and hoops to leap through.. more full scale activity...and what not..

I get that its not as much about lab rat feeder bar stuff.. or maze cheese..

Its an elimination process... you fail, you're washed out... and ironically the consolation prize is... not much consolation..

No... real simple.. no... anything I get tasked with gets done.. period, if I have to study for weeks thats what gets done... if I have to grab my bag and run for the door in 30 minutes at 3 AM.. I do that..

I still need a new hat.....

Not that I don't make this one look gooooood....... Im just feelin some new hat lust....  fur felt, fully lined, Stetson- Homborg hat lust.... same style.... just, more...everything.. so the haters have something to talk about...

Fear the hat... feel the hat, want the hat... bow down to the hat...

you know you want to...

Dang...

Dang... my phone is jumpin and email is coming about as fast as I can answer it... Its sort of scary how things are starting to fall into place.... but that is kind of the idea innit?

I bit it off.... so that is that... its not like I can't handle it...

Im just not used to things going my way..

One day closer.. one step closer...its funny I can handle "no" over and over... or things falling apart one after the other and even deal with absolutely heart breaking dissapointment in everything that matters....

But things going my way... scares me.. not that I'll fall down.... Im just... antsy.. I wanna grab it and run...shreiking "mine biches" and bounce around in unholy glee.... but can't...

The clock is tickin.... and its no longer about "can you step up an do this" its "can you last"..sort of like being 30 seconds tougher than someone your in the ring with.... not the ultimate anything..  just 30 seconds more determined to gut it out........

Now lets see if I can make being stubborn pay....

One step at a time.. one day at a time... ya know?

The fluffy one has an interview.... I'll know stuff by the end of the month... plus I have a plan B money plan......cause Im tired of being broke.... I need a new hat...

And I like a nice hat.....

Lunch... kinda

The bread is cooked on a comal.... griddle, heavy skillet, a grate....a shovel... whatever, it puffs up in a minute or so..... then you turn it

Then you add the cheese if you want it.... parmasean... monterey jack, pepper jack.. I like parmasean... its got more flava....

In the end you can add cumin, paprika, red pepper flakes, salt and thyme... depending on your bent

thats kinda it ......yogurt, fruit mb stick food, hummis or whatevers close, an tea.. green or masala

Hahahah...

I almost had to block myself.....but I found the follow/stop following thingy in time...

Gawd...

Today is all relaxed, tomorrow I'll worry about the truck, and doing all that....

Right now I'm on a flat bread kick....usually I eat it while its still hot from the comal..but I'm thinking why can't I hold it for a few hours... granted theres no preservatives or anything but whole wheat, salt, oil and water.....but the bread should stay pliable for a little bit... like a pita or tortilla...

Basically I want to carry it with me for lunch pre-cooked rather than make it on the spot like normal.. making the bread on the spot a little too non-Caucasian for some folks and creates curiosity I don't want......... besides black business formal and flour don't mix so well....

Progress no?

I can buy "ok" bread at my pre-evaluated food stops, I just prefer my own baking... I can make it about as fast as walking into a bakery..getting the goods and waiting in line...and its cheaper..fresher, blah, blah, blah.... .30 cents instead of $3...

Not that my lunch isn't subject a of debate all ready.. 

Lunch..or is it dinner..

Caprese salad... tomatoes, fresh mozarella, olive oil an basil....thats kind of it.. I made flat bread and slathered it with the famous anchovy, garlic, olive oil concoction... and a little parmasean...

Long week.... I tried to follow a friend and ended up adding me to my own blogger.. and I'm not that into me....

One more for the dunny series....

Yeah well...... I have a thing about taking photos in dunnys.... which is disturbing on a few levels since carrying a camera into one raises eyebrows.. not that I care... I just like to document graphitti.... mirror matinence, ambiance, vandalisim...and my appearance at 3AM or whatever....

So... thats done..

And the sun comes up....this is from the parking lot at my food stop, I got lucky and found stuffed grape leaves, greek yogurt, fruit an what not for the day..

The class got dealt with....and it turns out the information is restricted.. Which seems to be a theme lately...

I ate a doughnut as an act of PD solidarity.. while the director is telling me the coffee is summatrian and ground that day..... blah blah blah... but he knows I run around on scant sleep and coffee is my substitute for the will to live.... and knows me well enough to mess with me over my habits...

It was worth doing though... even if 99.9% of it was stuff I already knew... now I get "recognition" for it....by recognition, I mean college credit.... I've researched and some colleges cost $60 per credit for the obscure JR colleges to $300 for a top 4.. the average is $150-200ish...

Class let out....

I bailed to check in at another place to get my uniform shirts and got drafted into a First Aid/CPR class.. which took 45 minutes and annoyed me..

My previous training was at the professional rescuer level/wilderness its on you type..... which took 8 hours dealing with chunks missing and multiple horrors.. this was...... meeh "put a bandaid on it"..

I dont think they'ed do well seeing a human flayed down to the bone much less dealing with it..

But..whatever.. the class met their needs.. and got my mind off dessicated corpses, who don't need first aid at all... Still it wasn't a loss because I was observing the instructors critically.. and know what not to do when its my turn...

People left with more questions than they came with.... the idea is to give folks information they trust and are confident in using... ya know? Not mystify them to the point they get confused..

Its literally life or death..... and needs to get done faster than you can think...

I didn't get my shirts, the commissary being closed...but it was Saturday so Im not all that twisted over it....Lazy fukkers..

ironically

I opted out of the crime scene class A, because I was more interested in mass care and shelter operations B...

Mass Care and shelter class B was then cancelled after I had opted out of the Crime scene class A..... But at least I didn't drive 6 hours to be told there was no class like last time...not that I flipped out my contact did...

Then I got an email saying... "you need the crime scene training" A, and I was informed the instructor is a big deal... which he is...and I've been hearing about how good the class A is for a while...

So I signed back up....for A..

Then..... Im told college credit.... paid for by them.... and retro active....for God knows how many credits are inolved for work I had no idea was even elligible college credits..  so who knows..

I have over 150 hours....of lecture, labs and practicums in the one discipline... if 15 hours of "in class" time equals 1 credit.... Im staring at about 10 credits....which are worth $150-$250 each..

And its all bonus stuff, I hadn't counted on.. The rest of the credit info relates to internships and other schemes I have going....

One 50-minute period per week for 15 weeks is less than or equal to

1 semester credit hour ...........

Laboratory, Practicum, Clinical Field, and Similar Experience

Two 50-minute periods per week for 15 weeks is less than or equal to

1 semester credit hour

Studio and Similar Experience

Three 50-minute periods per week for 15 weeks is less than or equal to

1 semester credit hour

Today..

The result if the exercise is..... a barrage of recruit email and phone calls that I didn't expect, I was just looking for a good report.....

Then later in the evening I was told a block of credits would be paid for...that classes I didn't consider as credit classes do in fact count.. even the pre-requisites count and get paid for..

Its a huge jump forward of 13 credits or more and paid...so were boys now hahahaah..a credit costs $300 sooooooo......I like the program and it just got priority..

It was Killa

The evaluators checked me out and I was found to be proficient..

The Director is excited.. there were hundreds of people running around and I knew a whole bunch of them.. I proved I know my stuff and my skills arent just on paper or in the classroom..

I am fit for my position.... so my rating/Manna/Mojo/JuJu... shot through the roof...

No photos were done.... on account of security.. the location was and is secret... there were about 100 cops running around and it was locked down... Mass decon, transport, security checks...people, animals anything...  we had to prove we were able to process X% of the population within X radius in X time.... Decon, Feed and House...

It was great.... In the beginning I was being baby sat by a more "experienced" agency rep... but I adapted so fast he was reassigned...

I ended up asserting and instructing staff about protocalls...Mainly because I was tired of hearing the wrangeling.....then it was about confirming assignments and tracking personel requests from cradle to grave.... made dozens of contacts, defined inter-agency agreements then broke it down to staff again... with a don't go around me or break chain of command..

I forgot all about being nervous.... or having any anxiety... once the bell rings, you do what you do..

If the shoe fits.... make sure it looks good..

I thought about my hat fetish and decided to do take shoe pics instead.. I have about 15 hats.. not caps, hats.. Fedoras.. Straws, a Homburg, Stetsons .."son"..a leather cowboy hat that just screams trailer park, a trilliby or two.... one or two custom jobs...and work hats I didnt count.. slouch hats and the ever present boonie hat..which I like cause I can use it like a bucket to pour water over my head and then wear it wet....

But today is shoes... the famous standard business type... with a cap toe.. I have a few new pair in boxes..cause Im a freak about having back up shoes.. dress shirts still in the packages.. etc.. which is long story.. packages of boxers, new socks.. its kind of weird really.. 30 or 40 ties.. but I never know what I'll be dressing for.... so thats how it is.. I didn't bother with the boots.. or woven pretty shoes.. which I have a few more pairs of...

Then theres these but they are more about getting my Mojo werkin going out in the big city.... not they don't need a brush up they got sort of dusty and dim from not being used... I like for them to glow in the dark...

A word of advice.. never wear good shoes to a hillbilly wedding, wet grass and mud is kind of a no-no but its not like I don't have a few more pair...The Bostonians are hidden somewhere..but Im still good... 

I got kinda stuck on wanting deer skin or elk hide, cap toe shriners... Im about due for some fun and the fluffy one in into it.. you know.. shine up, see the sights.. give people something to talk about..

Confession.....s

We were talking, she splurged on some new boots....  and has ideas about other things, mostly to do with black cocktail dresses... girly, girl heels....garters, nylons and you know..

And I get to have an opinion ...... my tastes lean towards classics, main reason being, the good stuff never goes out of style and lasts forever...

Part two is...... how its made and of what trumps who its made by...

I like lambs wool suits and silks cause the material drapes right, but that doesn't matter if its a lame cut..

I don't care whos name is on the label.... chances are Im going to take it to a tailor anyway...and past a few hundered bucks your just paying for a signature by some limp wrist..

Then theres hats... she's only seen one... I have a few.. I like fedoras but who doesnt? I have a thing for Panamas..Optimos and big brim Planters maybe a Mombasa... but they're getting popular and its messing up my sartorial self expression..

I like Homburgs.... all kinda godfatherish or notorious big lookin.. however, whatever I don't care...and the secret is fur felt is nicer than wool but it multiplys the price a few times....

The last thing was shoes.... hahahah.. its so sad, Im stuck on fully lined cap toe shriners.. Seriously.. I like Florshiems for work... Bostonians for dress up and tonight I was eyeing some Bruno Maghli cap toes....

I like elk hide and deer skin in the uppers... the cap I like to be cow hide, its all weird and funny given my lifestyle...hand made silk ties.. hahahahaha I like linen and or cotton shirts.... but wear black T shirts, leather vests, blue jeans and boots for everything but classes...

Polyester must die......

Anyway....shes all pretty an curvy...long legged, its gonna be soooooo easy.... then we go see the alterations people an OMG... something short.. something long... something black an something red...mb taupe or cream... then the cloth... same rules..wools silks and cottons..

Who knows..... or find a Chinese tailor.. hahaha

Custom tailored silk dress shirts run about $75... and once they have your info.. they can bang em out by the truck load....

Why I know that stuff I have no idea.....

Tomorrow is the day

I slept most of the day...or napped at any rate, at least I'll have some rest when 4:00  AM comes even if its the tail end of my day.... I'll have some reserves..

Then..... got the bright idea to jump jurisdictions so I can fast track and get more classes which I've done before.. I did a class last night which goes into the resume.. and have more lined up to keep me busy...

That they happen to be interesting is a bonus......

The truck is coming together... which translates into making money selling stuff.... I contacted a friend of mine, he suggested odd jobs... and Im thinking I should put up flyers... why not? I like doing different things...and know how to replace a water heater...

And its not a bad gig....... I could still baby sitting knuckelheads and making zero forward movement....

Headway

I think I have the truck issue resolved and the clock hasn't run out, so we talked about it and got things clear...

The job hunt is still crap.. but my truck is my job..and I haven't forgotten how to make money..

So its going to work.. I can carry a lot of shiny baubles hither and yon.. which has been part of my deal for years... rennfaires and road side markets... gem an mineral shows, meta physical and new age type gigs... if the money is there I can get it... one days work equals one months money at a good spot..

Who can resist henna and ankle bells.... crystal balls and incense, bugs in amber or weird stuff in general... its not like you can get anything I sell at Wallmart...

The new Disaster Services class is on the 12th..... the crime scene thing got moved to the 19th and now I get both with no stress. ... But I tend to be lucky and it resolves yet more conflicts...

I want  that Spanish class... its a priority.. I run into more Spanish speakers than crime scenes.. and I need a language for my degree so logic dictates I move in that direction...

Besides its more of that luck Im prone to... I never count on it, but I make the most of it...

carpe noctum..

You really can't panic, break down from stress, get discouraged or let yourself give up....because you never know when things are going to shift...you need to be ready for plan B or to improve plan A....

So now I relax... fill out my registration and pack.. then go into study mode.. its a different type of work but the pay off is huge on the back end..

Another day...

Truck... nothin... Job "A" nothin..... the truck is annoying me...so is the job.. if a guy is that jammed...up get a temp... Me...I have my DOT physical and Im good ta go...

I did get an apology over wasting my time and money.... but that doesn't make it all ok.....I want to be made whole as the courts say....

The new class is on the 12th..... except thats when I have a crime scene preservation exercise..

So I need to decide...... which moves me forward?

Im down for a three day symposium in April.... I get fed.. and they offer Crime scene preservation as a break out session..... but more importantly they have CPR, AED and First Aid yet again..which I need to renew.... the next thing is Spanish for emergency personel.. More mass care planning and some other classes I want...

I read the menu and the meals arent bad so I'll actually eat the stuff rather than take a basket like usual... ok I'll take a basket...just because..

Its an important gig... seminars and symposiums are part of the recruiting process.. as well as where you make and renew connections... I looked at the guest speakers and instructors lists..... I know a lot of them... so its a must...

Im still thinking about it......

Part of the trip close to the mine..and a different river..

Its all in an area I hide out at..speaking of washed out bridges, dirt roads, nearby mountians along with various nooks and crannies... the bridge was great about letting the water flow under it...but  when the water went over the top there were some problems... not that a bridge is needed most of the time..or even a road for that matter..

The road pavement kind of got washed out with the bridge.... the trak on the left goes around the bridge head

And a lone camper not that I'd really call it camping..its more like a guy parked on a flat spot.. which I might add is in a flood area 30 feet lower than the washed out road...which is why the soil is different, pale, and not much for brush.... but its not the rainy season and hes happy havin fun..

Desert Pavement looks like this.. coarse and rocky blackened by a few eaons of sun... his camp got like that from sand and silt being deposited by flood waters..

 

River trip....

It flooded, people died, houses got lost... it was even a declared disaster

Not that one would suspect since its not exactly screaming water, water everywhere

And heres a little secret no one mentions... a 40' tall pile of  tailings and dirt which (possibly)backed the waters up like a dam till it washed out....the face thats exposed is 30' high... ..which the Army Corps of Engineers somehow missed...along with the rest of the anomoly.... people died upstream in the (speculated) back up.... but commercial interests (seem to) always trump the public interest.. I had to put in the (disclaimer things) so I don't get sued or appear critical of Gov inaction then end up on a no-fly list...

                            

A little more of the river and you kinda get the idea.... things arent really what they seem and what happened last year doesnt mean its going to be like that this year...its called a flood plain for a reason...people just tend to forget.... I've seen 30 feet of liquid hell with cars floating away more than once..and you've got no chance.. your not going to drive through it.. one guy I know tried driving through 18" of water... and ended up on a 6 foot deep hole where the roads pavement had been scoured out by fast water...

The whole area is marked with flash flood warnings.. and you don't see it coming looking overhead...it can be a storm in the mountians 25 miles away and you'll never feel a drop of rain..

All that water and the fishing blows......

Busy, busy....

I have a river walk to post... but its late and Im tired and think 36 hour days might be called for....

I was making flat bread... goofing off.. rolling it thin enough to see the plate pattern through then thought how flexible it was and so close to filo....which let to speculation.. an a what if I use cheese in the folds instead of butter moment... so I did it....I forget how many times I cheesed, folded, rolled turned and re-cheesed....till it was more cheese than flour...

I chilled it... then rolled it out an tossed it on the comal..... sacrey good....it puffed up like mad and was somewhere between a cheese straw an a cheddar tortilla, soft was good and crispy better....so Im thinking a little work with a cookie cutter and I have the key to some weird ass completely wrong nachos...

I made chili verde which started with a pork roast the size of my head...... and went from there.. now I have to eat it.... hence the chedder tortillas... no photos  got made,

I was busy obsessing.... then stuffing my face.. no sleep, lots of stress, paper work glitches and getting sand bagged, the truck is supposed to be done in a week but still no work has gotten done... so I fall back on kitchen zen... which is my go-to therapy..

ahh well tomorrow is a new day....hahahahaha and Im not even close to done.. Bastards...

This was part of the day.....

I spotted a quartz out crop..which usually means mine or prospect, which was the case...

Sometimes there are petroglyphs, grind stones or stone tools and heres the prospect which didnt pay off..

And some more this.. rather than that

The day was longer and more complex than one may think....I did a river walk to show a friend how our rivers act.... a mine, a mill site, a prospect..a stone cabin, Mexican terracotta to pretty up my dinner... and amuse my GF... some wild flowers

And an old homestead... which always gave me a funny feeling and questions I have no answer for... "Why" being a biggie... What did they do?  How did they live...

No electricty.. no cooling... nothing.. no light... maybe gas lamps or kerosene... or they just went to bed early... women tended to die around 26....and I think thats a generous recollection...

It all has bearing on why I dont use A/C, I know people did without it till recently... we're just weak now 

keeping cool needed a hole in the ground behind the house..where it was shady at one time there was no road..no powerlines..just a track in the dirt.. not that its nuch better now... and prolly worse.. given the neighbor hood... trailers like the ones across the street blow up and burn all the time.. I even have a photo of one going up.... just a little further down the road, I lived out here for a couple of years and have a friend who still does..

Another one goes up in a blaze..I lived about a mile away and stuff blows up on a regular basis in that little compound....  it was special.....this time stuff caught fire and some brush went up too.....it was dandy and no fire department either..  besides a weapon I carry binoculars, they save me a lot of walking.... no zip ties and duct tape... I look for trails...mines, prospects, caves, quartz veins.. which tend to point to mines, I like to look at anything out of the norm... discolorations... geologic weirdness...shadows..... when I was a young guy... I'd climb the moutians and scan the desert floor for old camps, roads.... green areas.. trails converging on water holes.. that was some rough fun....and it was before light weight pack and camp gear...

Whats the old saying if your stupid you better be tough? I still look at the mesas and wonder whats on top.. what are those little shelves hiding...whats in those shadows... why is all the plant life dense there but not there....or different... I never really got over being curious...

Shopping..sorta

What can I say..

I need to change from Chinese blue & whiteware,  jade or stone bowls and random stuff from the Martha Stuart Collection to a more colorful type..so Im thinking looka here

and

I like little plates and bowls, meze, tappas....  and I like a lot of red and green food... which looks gooder on colorfuler plates, plus theres the whole olives, eggs, chopped onions, nuts and dried fruits thing... blown glass....oil, anchovies, civiche.. all of which is pretty food..

Sort of weird I'd think about that.... considering....

But whatever... the only things that arent complicated is my dinner and my relationship with the fluffy one... so I tend to get excited about both....

It wasn't a total loss

Once you leave pavement..... theres places to go...things to see or explore...

Mill Sites and the view....

The sun always has that bright glare when you look out from an unlit place

you might have to walk a little which is a lost art...

A prospectors cabin

More of the cabin...like its not obvious

A little pink paint to brighten it up all

I carry a gun when Im out . you never know when your going to run into a thief or someone tearing things up, a drug lab, or some hinkey situation... those bullet holes didnt get into whats left of the walls by accident.. and sometimes the assholes think its a fine opportunity for robbery or sport if your alone.....  a few years back my camp at Roseavelt lake got surrounded by some guys...who had fun in mind till they heard me work the slide on my 12 gauge then I heard one say oh shit hes got a shot gun.... which wasn't exactly what they had to say earlier... then it was "what you got for us old man" I guess deer slugs wasn't good enough....

People dissapear all the time..so you kinda need to be on your toes and fairly alert.. avoid guys carrying rifles, places giving off chemical smells...more people than you can deal with in a brawl...look out for snakes and mine shafts.. don't get stuck in the sand.. take lots an lots of water even in  winter... there isn't any 911.. besides they only show up "after" its over

Last week there were shots fired when I was in town  about the time I was getting ready to sleep before driving to Phoenix.........I asked some about it when I got back......I was told it took over an hour for anyone to show up....

Out here, it would take days if ever, so one needs to be ready for whatever.... not that Im twitchy or paranoid about it... thats just how it is... like wearing a flotation vest on a boat..

Ohh

I sent a WTF? letter in when I got back.... and it seems the big cheese is a work-o-holic since he answered on a sunday, not that I didn't send it after hours on a Saturday...

Evidently I get reimbursed......and someones head hits the floor.

I don't much care about the last part, its not like it was an act of malice..I just don't like my money or time wasted by anyone but me....

Dandy..... and a little more

Im up at 3:30 its early but going to sleep again isnt going to happen....

So I shower, check my email for time, cancellation, contact info.... the usual.. it costs $40 for fuel and 6 hours of drive time just to make the trip....I'm out by 4:00... an on my way, I stop at the usual happy place for office supplies.... its all good, I show up an hour early sign in and relax get my mind right for study notes and go into pay attention mode....

I talk to a woman from Nicaragua.... cause Im the only one who speaks any Spanish and get her a seat for her CPR class...she tells me about 2012 and how shes scared to go to Cali... and some other stuff.. which was a horror.. sandinistas.. losing her brothers, sister, cousins, friends... finding the bodies of her family.... and my Spanish isnt good enough to answer..

The Instructor for Spanish classes comes....and I double check what I understand....I was on the money...and he intreprets for me so I can answer more that "Yup" in Spanish.. which my GF knows all about.... turns out the interpeter lived only 2 miles from where I grew up.... So he kinda knew my story.... Sometimes you gotta be tough to be white...hahahahah of course now most of my cousins are cafe con leche.... but thats not the story.....

There was no class......... he calls a supervisor.. she says "that class was last week" my email says March 5th... so I sent it in.. Im not retired, but not working $40 is a big deal.... 6 hours of driving is a big deal....

I'm pretty hot...but kept it professional...

OK..... I bolt, buy fresh chilis.... shop, get some cheese.. yoghurt.. a cucumber, everything I've been bitching about..... no sense losing the opportunity...

I stop at a store I like.... take photos...  cause its worth seeing and part of my world tour fixation..

I go see the Chinese guy I worked for a few years.. but who hung me up this year and hired 4 transients instead of me.. But whatever...no hard feelings......cheap bastard... 

Still I wanted to show how great the stuff was....... the antiques and mega fossils..Theres Mosasaurus jaw set 6 feet long.... a smaller one that was a full skull... ya know..geeky cool..

I'm all happy.. taking the shots and he comes up then says "no photos" of course I say Huh?

"Security reasons"

Oh? What the Communists after you? La Migra? You back on your child support?

He said no..it can show alarm system, camera locations, how the doors are secured, a map of the high ticket items....

So I STFU and showed him the photo I'd taken, then deleted as he watched....  I said no problem I get it......it was serious... so Im fine...

Then I got a revelation......

He told me that someone broke in a year or two ago........it was after I took photos of the containers being unloaded...  the inference was pretty plain..

He didnt think of the tweaker mother fucker he kept around that worked "free" for a place to stay...

I just said "thats why you didn't call me to work..... you think Im a thief... why didn't you call the police?", "Right then so I could be cleared... search my house... whatever"...

I take drug tests, empty any bags or pockets, Im asked to..... it doesn't offend me......it just proves Im in the clear..innocent..

It made me sick...... I was there looking for something to add to my decor take some photos for the fluffy one........ I didn't expect that shit at all.....never.. no ones ever lost merchandise, money or anything else on my watch.. Im proud of my record... even breakage was nil.... now theres tons of it.... but winos do what they do...

I'm looking at this guy....Im a good friend, Im loyal..I trust the people I let in my world..... after a while haha...... all I can think is "Punk fuck you" he convicted me without even letting me know theres a problem?

I'd have drug him to my house and let him and the police look at everything and trust me I keep recipts... notes, journals, inventorys..... then graciously accepted his apology and asked for more money...

And that was that...... I crossed him off the work for list....months ago.. I crossed him off the friends list as well.... Tomorrow Im telling people what he said and its not going to go over well at all...

Today had some dandy moments......

Ready for tomorrow

I missed two questions on my test.... I didn't capatalize "Fundamental Principals" since neither began a sentence and neither word in any combination is a noun...... I answered "fundamental principals" and got marked wrong..bastards..

I answered flood on a multiple choice "disaster" question.... the fact is 95% of all disasters are weather releated.... and the testing agency maintains that the "correct" answer is apatrment fires... Ummmm ..no, a personal emergency or loss isnt a disaster to a city..

The federal govamint backs my definition of disaster... and fundamental English backs the other one.. 

Anyway I bitched about it.... I hated the materials on general principals..

Ahh the irony

Remember the rough gigs crack?

I was offered a job and said yes... there needs to be some more t's crossed and i's dotted...

But Im the guy... 

I really need the work..... or at least the money. Work I always have plenty of.... 

Scraped from the "news"

Mar 01, 2011 (The News Tribune - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Nine sixth-grade boys were expelled from Stewart Middle School Monday after officials at the Tacoma School learned about their suspected participation in a so-called "Fight club"....

I notice they learned about the suspected participation after a  parent sent a cell phone capture to a TV station of a fight in a bathroom and some random kids home....

Remember its a suspected fight club they got suspended for....rather than an actual fight club...

Not that what kids do in their own homes is the school gestapos business... since the school gestapo can't manage to deal with what happens on school property....

Not that I'd especially care to have school personel hanging out in bathrooms watching 6th graders pee... given the number of school personel that get caught boofing kids every year...

Maybe thats the issue.. gym teachers dont like the pretty, pretty boys bruised ...or maybe the idea they might learn to fight off said teacher in the shower...

Its what Tacoma teachers are famous for...google "Tacoma teacher arrested" or "Tacoma teacher molests student"

But the schools are all over kids being kids....

I dunno..

I'm still bothered by the having had the worlds worst latte.. it wasn't only a bad latte it was bad coffee..

I'm annoyed and offended....

Im really thinking about taking back some beans and a grinder and explaining the concept of espresso grind....

Then move on to the idea of the foamed milk being added to the shot rather than the reverse..

I don't want to talk about the whipped cream...... which wasn't cream but rather some cheap crap in a can.. which had no business in my latte anyway..

Unngh.. he was foaming the milk and all I could think of was its getting close, then he dumped it into a cup before it was done... Ive foamed a bit of latte milk now and then... I know what it sounds like.....

Notice I said milk? Not half and half? There is a reason most barristas use 2% or nonfat.... it prevents a pudding skin from forming on ones latte...

I do things for my own pleasure....and manage to have some standard of professional quality, if I don't get results I want on my own, I find someone to show me how via bribery, corruption or whatever, assuming I can't figure it out....

Too bad, cause the place was cute or at least could be... I eyed the work area.. and Im thinking. I could make money it has the magical 4 tables..

First thing... make real baked goods, a nice classsic cheese cake or ameretto type, macadamia nut cookies. .. cinnamon rolls or Danish, bar cookies, even chocolate truffels on date night.. which have a better shelf life than Danish.... a different thing every day of the week...

Food ...I can handle.. same rules.... a chalk board outside different special every day..so I don't get twisted...

Followed by no plastic anything anywhere, including the table cloths, cups, light fixtures or anything else... there's no plan.. I just get really interested in little cafes, it fits with my habits and cook-book/recipe writing...

Evidently  that latte pissed me off.... Hahahaha

I doubt I'd make the cut... my cooking is about dinner, not the current minimalist trend, decorating a plate with dots of deconstructed food goop surrounding a celery star fish and carrot curl...

I like bread, stuff on sticks, things that are hot, prolly dangerous, lead to excess and make you crave them... like pizza, BBQ, Chili, Salsa, cornish pasties, and salads the size of a dinner plate.. and critters.. I don't care if they have, fur, fins, feathers, scales, shed their skins..live on or under rocks....

I bet fresh pasta with a shrimp would be killer... then there is mushroom raviolli... cheese ravioli, sausage ravioli..spinach ravioli with maybe planked salmon and asparagus wrapped in Prosciutto..caprese salad.. foccacia.. pesto..

Just thinkin.... it would be interesting..