Weekend Report...

Well, my week of R & R is over, sadly to say, it's back to work next week. It's not as bad now since we are back on a normal shift again, but work still sucks. Yes...at least I still have a job, unlike a lot of folks out there.

But having a job and enjoying a job are two different things entirely.

At my age now, I should have a job I enjoy going to everyday. As much stress as we have had to endure over the last several years, this is not that job I use to enjoy anymore.

It has always been said: Treat people the way you want to be treated.

How do I want to be treated? Provide the tools and materials that I need to preform the job, let me do the job, and leave me alone. Don't treat me like a four year old in a prison camp. Show me and my family some respect.

You're not God so quit acting like it...

We stayed with this company out of respect for what it stood for years ago. Sadly...that respect was never returned to us. Our willingness to help was stepped on. Our loyalty was cast aside like yesterdays trash. And now another chapter is about to unfold by years end.

The only answer we get is you'll do it and like it.

I'm getting too old for this Days Of Our Life drama...

Damn, that was a short week off.

B.D.

Black Friday...

Welcome to BLACK FRIDAY...BWAAAHAHAHAHAhahahaaa!!!

Just what the hell is Black Friday? Here's this old country boys' take on it...

It was a dark and stormy night...

Knock it off Jethro... Years ago as a kid, we got excited to see Christmas stuff coming out at the END OF November. We knew December meant Christmas was coming. There was no such thing as Black Friday back then. Each holiday got its time in the spot light and wasn't pushed aside for the next one.

One at a time...

Let us fast forward in time shall we?

Modern day shopping...A few years back, some genius came up with a plan.

People get excited about Christmas, so let's start putting things out just a tad early to build excitement and get some money in the cash register. Then on Christmas Eve we can run huge mark downs for that last minute gift. It'll be a hit...

And so it went...until corporate boards got involved and share holders demanded a bigger slice of the pie.

And the monster was born...

Yes Jethro, it was.


This monster, always hungry for more, started devouring other holidays. Their limelight darkened by this beast that no longer lurked in the shadows. Hunger and greed could no longer be content with its limelight.

It must feed...

Working backwards, this beast consumes the holidays of Thanksgiving and Halloween.

Hurry up and EAT your CANDY and your BIRD. Then come feed MMMEEEeee...

Soon...

The beast will devour Labor Day and the 4th of July and so on until...all is lost to the beast.


“Perhaps they are not stars, but rather openings in heaven where the love of our lost holidays pours through and shines down upon us to let us know they are happy.”


Black Friday...yes indeed. The sales are first this time and if you don't act now...

...the crowds are like the beast. We must have it, we must, we must have it...under the trance of illusion that you will lose out, if you don't feed the beast...the sales will be gone forever.

FEEEEED MMMEEEE!!! Cries the beast...


God help us all.

B.D.

Wordless Wednesday...

Well sort of...

First and foremost, we here at MacDaddy's Grill want to wish all of you a Happy Thanksgiving!

Enjoy the food and parades and football games. Be thankful and don't forget to kiss the cook (or cooks) on this splendid day of giving thanks for all and everything we have.

This is one of the days I don't cook something.

My mother-in-law has that honor of being in the kitchen and working her magic to feed all of the family that invade the house on this day. Being about 14 hungry stomachs if everybody shows up.

And believe me, when Mom's in the kitchen, they will be there.

Her special days are:

Thanksgiving
Christmas
Easter

The rest of the year is left up to us brothers-in-law that master the grills and smokers. And sometimes the sisters will surprise the boys and fix up a mean meal as well.

So, I'm sure whomever wears the apron on this day in your house, the food will be great and the "Thanks" will be a blessing...

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

B.D.

Simply Tuesday...

Storms came through about 3:30 this morning. Plenty of thunder and lightning...

Weekend Report...

Ever feel like you're lucky? Or feel like God, really is taking care of you?

Yes, I believe in God.

I believe God still looks out after drunks and fools.

And that he really looks out for us fool drunks that have our hearts in the right place.

Lucky? Well, yes...

Believe me...me and God have had our fair share of problems and knockdown drag outs. But, he's still there for me.

Now, I'm sure you're saying: Okay, where is this leading?

Well like I said, do you ever feel lucky? I backed our Tahoe out of the garage (which had been driven all week) and turned it off while I went about my biz. When it was time to ride...

...it was deader than a doornail. I'm like: What the...?

Anyway, long story short...the battery had crapped out. Now, it was a good thing it died in the driveway and not on the road or a parking lot because I would have been pissed and it would have been junked.

And if Julie had of been out some where like they were in Birmingham last week.

My motto: You make me walk, your muffler is toast.

The Tahoe is a 2008 so the battery was not that old. But that accounts for nada...

I've had OEM batteries last 10 years. And some only last 2 years. I've had OEM tires last 65,000 miles and some only 25,000. So, it doesn't matter if the car is new or old. Sometimes you get your moneys worth...

...and sometimes you don't. This battery cost $154.

Now, what has this got to do with God?

He knew I'd be pissed and use more than a few choice French words. And, I'd throw his and his sons name in there as well...

...so he just said: Don't let it start. He'll cuss a little, but he won't have to walk and he'll figure it out.

Thanks Big Guy...

B.D.

Wordless Wednesday...

"The nicest thing for me is sleep, then at least I can dream."

Simply Tuesday...

Well...

Sister Rain has been at the party all day. Old Man Winter is trying to crash the party. But he ain't got his foot in the door yet.

But he's trying...

B.D.

Favorite Food Groups...

Favorite food groups...

That, can make you think for a moment. What are food groups? And what are my favorite?

Is beer in any food group B.D.?

Jethro my friend, beer fits into them all. So don't worry about that...

What are food groups? Well, it's pretty simple.

Meats
Veggies
Grains (that's how beer made it into the food group)
Cheeze Whiz
Crackers
Potato chips
Peanut butter
Mayo
Mustard
Hot sauce
BBQ sauce

That makes up your major food groups.

I don't see chocolate covered strawberries or bananas, is there not a food group for them B.D.?

Why yes there is Jethro. How could I have forgotten the most important food group of them all?

Chocolate...

Here's a recipe that incorporates some of these food groups.


Chocolate-Peanut-Butter-Banana Upside-Down Cake
From Food & Wine

3 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for the pan
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup milk
3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted
3/4 cup chunky peanut butter
1 cup dark brown sugar
4 bananas, halved lengthwise

Preheat the oven to 350o F and lightly butter the sides of a 9 x 13 glass baking dish. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour with the baking powder and salt.

In a standing electric mixer fitted with the paddle, beat 2 sticks of the butter with the granulated sugar at medium speed until very fluffy; 5 minutes. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then add the vanilla. In 3 alternating batches, beat in the flour mixture and the milk. Transfer one-fourth of the batter to the medium bowl and stir in the melted chocolate. Beat the peanut butter into the remaining batter.

In a small bowl, blend the remaining stick of butter with the brown sugar and spread it in the baking dish. Arrange the bananas, cut side down, in the dish.

Spoon dollops of the peanut butter batter into the dish and fill in the gaps with the chocolate batter. Gently swirl the batters together with a table knife.

Set a baking sheet on the bottom rack of the oven and bake the cake on the center rack for 60-65 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let the cake cool on a rack for 10 minutes, then invert it onto a platter.

Let the cake cool slightly, then cut into squares and serve. The unmolded cake can be refrigerated for up to 3 days.

Wordless Wednesday...

I guess I just prefer to see the dark side of things. The glass is always half empty. And cracked. And I just cut my lip on it. And chipped a tooth.

Weekend Report...part II

I believe we are OK now here at the Grill. There are still a few bugs to be worked out, but we are (as they use to say on the CB radio) Wall to Wall and Tree Top Tall.

That means: "I hear you loud and clear" in trucker lingo...

I do want to say "Thank you" to all of you that stick with us when we have trouble, or have not posted anything in a while. I'm no rocket scientist when it comes to computers. I'm a dinosaur in a world that has passed me by...

I can figure things out, and it takes time because I don't understand all the lingo. It's like Spanish, I know a few words but I will never know the full language. Same with computers. I know just enough to be dangerous...

To the computer...not to myself.

Now this blog, I did pretty much on my own. Blogger provided the template and I did the rest because I learned how to read and write some code for HTML. But things have progressed way beyond that these days...

iphones and ipads and ihops and iwill and iaint's...you get the picture.

I need help sometimes...

Now, I ain't one of those guys that is too proud to ask for help when need be. Nor am I one of those guys that points fingers at someone else when I screw something up.

I'll ask for help and take full blame. But this old dinosaur does know a few things.

I'm grateful for my readers...

That keep coming back everyday, to check up on me and leave comments and laugh along with me, or cry with me. Readers, that don't mind if this ole country boy makes spelling mistakes or grammar mistakes because you see...

This dinosaur ain't perfect...



Technology has passed this ole boy by. But it's you...that makes me come back everyday and tell a story, or get you to laugh for awhile, or think for a minute...What the?

That's me...not the computer.

So...

I believe we're OK now, after some setbacks and a few choice French words (that I do understand) from Julie, our new home computer is plugged and primed and ready to go.

Mr. Sulu take the helm...stand by Warp Engines Mr. Scott...

B.D.

Weekend Report...

Yep, it's that time of year again...

Time for the chili pot to come out and fill the house with the aroma of smells from cooking on the stove top because the weather has grown cold outside. Does this mean cooking outdoors is over this season?

No...

It ain't that cold yet.

But still, it is just around the corner. You know, when you don't fix something after a period of time, your memory is not what it used to be. In my case, I forgot what went into my chili.

Yes...I brain farted.

I had to go back and look up my own recipe that I have made for years. I guess that's why we lowly creatures must write everything down or it will be forgotten forever.

We, the smartest of the food chain, can't rely on our own brains to remember things.

Is that why we write down history?
Is that why we keep records?
Is that why man invented pen, pencil and paper?

I tend to say yes to all three...

We trust many things, but we can't trust our own brains to remember anything. Like myself, I couldn't remember what my own recipe was that I have made a thousand times.

Too many beers and too many years.

Oh well, at least I was smart enough to write it down...

B.D.

Testing...