Thursday, December 11, 2025

Thursday Thoughts

 Surfing the Net, I came across this poor woman counting her blessings.  She doesn't have earthquakes, hurricanes or alligators, but damn, she has snow.  Both Belle and I lived up north during our younger years.  She in Missouri, me i Kentucky.  As far as we're concerned, that is the Frozen North.  If I ever hit the Powerball and am burdened with uncountable cash reserves, I might build a small house in Missouri near an airstrip, but I will charter a flight out before the winter starts and return to the mud in Louisiana.

My Dad kept bees, so we stole honey from the hives.  I have probably slipped in more honey than many of you have eaten in the past ten years. Honey never goes bad if it is properly stored.  It may crystallize, but can be recovered by simply putting the jar of honey into a warm water bath.

This guy found some old honey and was surprised that it is still good. I can tell by looking at it that it was winter honey.  Winter honey is much darker than spring or summer honey. Honey does not normally take a flavor from the flowers used to produce it but we learned that honey made from tallow blooms is almost as clear as spring water.  Dad once put some hives in a field of jalapeno peppers.  The farmer asked Dad to bring the hives out to help pollinate the pepper plants.  We got about six gallons of honey from that crop and the honey was very clear and had a really surprising "kick" from the peppers.  No heat, just a little bite on the back of your tongue that made the honey really special.



Wednesday, December 10, 2025

Watching the News

 This whole Somali welfare scandal in Minnesota has me intrigued and amused. It seems that the Somalis looted the welfare system while the elected officials looked on with disinterest.

Ilhan Omar thinks it is racist to point out that the vast majority of those involved are Somali immigrants.  Whatshisname Walz seems to think that he is blameless in this whole thing.  He's pathetic, he really is, both as a governor and as a man. The guy is a caricature of himself.

We really need to re-do the immigration system.  I would like to propose a few rules.

1.  Have a working knowledge of the English language when you cross the border.  Don't learn it here.  Learn it at home before you come.

2.  No government benefits or government employment for ten years. None, not rent assistance, ot food stamps, not a cell phone.  Either make it on your own or starve.

I think those two would be a good place to start.

Tuesday, December 09, 2025

Tuesday Tidbits

 We went to my friends memorial service today.  He was cremated, as is fashionable these days, and I'm not sure what the final arrangements will be for his urn, but we went to the memorial service.

He led a full life, mainly making his living as a helicopter mechanic and much of it overseas.  In his younger years he worked in Egypt, Chile, Peru, Brazil and did one tour with the Chilean government in Antarctica.

One of his more memorable photos comes from Antarctica where penguins were a contestant companion.


Yep, that's my buddy, peeing on a penguin.   Not many men can claim to have done that.

He was an avid water skier, having skied both the Amazon and the Strait of Magellan.

While working in the oil field in the Gulf, he started making tools for his own tool box. This parlayed into a company, Helicopter Work Aids which makes tools for the aviation industry.  His sons have ben running it for a couple of years and are taking it to whole new levels.

We're going to miss him.

Friday, December 05, 2025

Cloudy, Cold

 It's cloudy and cold in central Louisiana this morning. Not a s cold as way up north, but for us, cold enough. In response to the weather, I needed something heart and robust, so I decided to make a poot of taco soup.

Taci Soup

1 lb ground beef
1 lb bulk sausage
2 cans red beans
2 cans pinto beans
1 can whole kernel corn
1 can petit diced tomatoes
1 can original Rotel
1 can diced green chilis
1 pack taco seasoning
1 pack ranch dressing mix

Brown off the meat and drain the grease.  Dump everything into a slow cooker and put it on high for an hour or so until it is heated through and the flavors get acquainted. Serve over corn chips, garnish with shredded cheese and sour cream.

Taco Soup.  It's what's for lunch.

Thursday, December 04, 2025

More Grief

 This week, we're going through Mon's succession and on Wednesday we got news that a very dear friend of mine had died.  A close friend, the shot with us and would come over occasionally just to hang out in the club house.  He loved Belle's red beans and her dumplings.   When she cooked those, he got an invite and he would come eat lunch with us.

His sons report that he went to bed on Tuesday night and failed to wake up on Wednesday.  Just like that. Gone.

He led a full life.  He was a mechanic, a tinkerer and an entrepreneur. He left a thriving business in his sons hands, and by all accounts, it's doing fine. He started to back-out of the business a couple of years ago and the kids were doing well with it.

In his early days he worked a stint in Antarctica as a maintenance guy.  He had photo evidence that he once peed on a penguin.   The penguin was curious and wandered in too close. He commented that may be the only penguin that had ever felt warm water.

We're going to miss him.

Tuesday, December 02, 2025

Venezuela

 What the hell is going on down there?  I'm seeing reporting that Trump has closed the airspace over the country and that there is an aircraft carrier battle group steaming close by.

Also, the Seditious Six are going crazy. Something about a drug boat that took two strikes to kill.

I also heard one report that Maduro has un-assed the country, heading toward Brazil, but that was unconfirmed. I also heard reports of B-52s and B-2s sortieing.   Seems like it is getting kind of  sporty down there.

It reminds me of the runup to Panama back in 1989.  That was in December, too, come to think of it.

Monday, December 01, 2025

Sucession

 It's a legal tern where we clean up the property of a deceased person and distribute the proceeds to the heirs.  I had offered, several years ago, to take that on, but Mom wanted someone else to handle it.  She made a good choice, as was her prerogative.  Another of my siblings is handling it and doing a fine job.

I spent most of the day filling out forms, responding to emails and getting folks the information they needed.  All this has to be done legal and proper.

This makes me think about things that I need to accomplish before my time is over.