Extra Protein

Gotta say they get props for honesty:

Northern California restaurant informs customers about cockroach infestation

Published October 31, 2012

Associated Press

MILL VALLEY, Calif. –  A Northern California eatery is giving its customers information that most restaurants go to great lengths to cover up.

Cafe del Soul in Marin County has posted a sign near its front door acknowledging that it's infested with German cockroaches.

The organic restaurant has also reported itself to the county environmental health services department and will be closed on Wednesday so a pest control company can go to work.

Manager Sandro De Oliveira told the Marin Independent Journal the cafe's owner wanted to be honest with customers. The newspaper reports that the restaurant also wanted to put pressure on the building owner to take action against the pests.

The cafe is in a strip mall that includes other tenants.

County officials say they will send an inspector

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/10/31/northern-calif-restaurant-informs-customers-about-german-cockroach-infestation/?test=latestnews#ixzz2Attp3C1L

Reminds of a place we stopped at off US 70 near Wheeling, WV.  We had seen the billboard along the road and found a nice little Italian restaurant, obviously newly opened, in a small town.  They even had a good beer selection - I order a pint of nut-brown.  We give our order to the nice waitress and sit and chat a while.  Very nice looking Caesar salads come out.  We are eating and talking and I happen to look down at my salad.  There in the center, uncovered by my last bite, is a grasshopper, laying on its side. Nicely crusted with grated Parmesan.  Now, grasshoppers don't have an ick factor with me.  Bugs in general don't.  There are a few, like roaches, that I'm not friends with if they come in the house, but other than that we're good.  And this guy was perfectly placed, and so nicely rolled in Parmesan.  I started to giggle.  Waved the waitress over and quietly suggested she take the salad back.  Her eyes got big and she swooped it away with a "I certainly will" and disappeared into the kitchen.  My giggles are building and I keep seeing the cheese-dusted grasshopper laying so neatly in the center of the salad and every time I do the giggles get worse.  I'm not upset with the restaurant - it's a nice place, clean and new.   It backs up to a grassy hillside.  I figure Grasshopper came hopping out of that grass, in through the back door, and into the lettuce, probably when the fridge door was open.  The cold killed it and a busy kitchen putting out salads quickly just missed seeing it when they were tossing the ingredients.   So I'm trying to be quiet.  Which makes the giggles worse.  A horrified manager comes out and starts apologizing like mad.  I keep reassuring him that it's OK, I'm not upset. While laughing.  And the manager starts getting aggravated.  I guess he didn't think I was taking a horrifying situation seriously enough.

We had two very nice meals, gratis.  I haven't been out that way since then, but I would be curious as to whether the place is still there.  I'd stop by again.

I Would Need a Shower

No, this doesn't have anything to do with Sandy.

There are many, many reasons why I will not vote for Barak Obama.  The truth is, I will no longer vote for anyone who adheres to the Democrat Party.  If there is no acceptable choice from another party on the ballot, I will withhold my vote.

As I said, there are many reasons, but at core they all boil down to the fact that I find the contempt which (D) has for people, in particular the American people, to be appalling.  Republicans are waging a "War on women"?  Really, the best, most correct statement I've heard about the (D) position on women is one of opposition:  "I am not a walking vagina."  Yet that is how the party treats women, and their platform has made that clear.  It was bad enough when they elevated a professional student activist (translation - "I can't get myself together enough to finish up and actually try for a real career.") to the patron saint of free and unlimited contraception and abortion.  The reasoning used for her exultation is so shallow and empty that her supporters should be ashamed, but she has become a goddess to the (D) party.  Then came the convention.  Ted Kennedy worshiped,  yet he was notorious for his disregard of women, particularly one who never got to live as long as he did.  A keynote speech by Bill Clinton, a man equally contemptuous of women:  they are to be used and discarded, and accusations of rape have been accepted as "Oh, he just can't keep his pants zipped."  A public celebration of the predatory male.  And a whole day, with Saint Sandra involved, of promising unlimited contraception and abortions paid for by others, that payment extracted, if necessary, by threat of punishment.  As if that is THE major concern of American women.  As if that doesn't just give a free pass to every predatory male on the planet to put the responsibility on the woman.  The chronic cheater is the major beneficiary of the (D) attitude toward women.

There was much howling and gnashing of teeth when Rush Limbaugh called St. Sandra a slut.  Truth is, he did indeed use the wrong word.  The proper word is "whore".  Because  that is what the (D) party has demanded that the American woman become, whoring her vote for the promise of the Federal government supplying whatever she desires.  As if we haven't had decades since the start of the so called "sexual revolution" to watch the disease, death, heartbreak, poverty, and broken children that have been the outcome of the of the ignorant idea that unlimited sex cures all ills and that people have an unlimited right to whatever they want. 

An ad comparing voting for Obama to a girl's first sex.
A very public calling of a political opponent "a bull shitter" by a sitting president (D).
The reference to 4 dead Americans as "bumps in the road" by the same.
Ads from major supporters in which elderly people say things like "...we'll burn this motherfucker down" and "...I'm  going to track Romney down and give him the world's biggest cock punch."
A (D) vice-president who asks a grieving father if his son always "had balls the size of cue balls".
A man set up as to take the fall for the dereliction of duty, deaths, and massive foreign policy failures in Libya by a (D) administration.  The man still sitting in jail, lied about for weeks after.

That is just a small sample of their contempt for others.  There is not even space to go into the constant drum pounding that people are too stupid and too weak to do anything without the Federal government's help.  There is not even space to go into the party's demand that blacks toe their line, becoming a furious Massa when someone like Allen West goes off their (D) plantation, sending the patterollers after them to beat them down with all the ugliness of a party that is indeed liberal - liberal in spewing contempt for anyone who disagrees with them. There is not even space to go into the lawlessness of this administration, supported by people who will look at you straight faced and babble "You can't legislate morality" and at the same time argue for Obamacare, which legislates the morality of millions.  Supported by people who say that the Constitution is no longer relevant and can be disregarded by the administration but hide behind laws - and what is the Constitution but the highest law in the land?- when they happen to like them.

The (D) platform and its representatives hold people in contempt.  Anybody running in agreement with that platform, even at school board level, is saying that they agree with that contempt. And they are saying that they want political office more than they want to maintain their integrity.  There is no way I will cast my vote for that.  And I don't understand how anyone could politically associate with this without feeling they needed a shower afterward.  I don't understand how anybody can sit in a (D) party headquarters anywhere on election night.  Because the same classless, arrogant party who holds ME in contempt, hold THEM in contempt as well.  Anybody who thinks otherwise is only fooling themselves.

Pour Me Another One, Dustin!

I knew it, I knew it, and now it has been proved:  smart people drink more.

Full story from Discovery News is here.

Dang.  I must be downright brilliant!

The Biggest Crisis of the Night

Was that I spilled a perfectly good glass of wine on the carpet and had to waste time better spent snuggled up with a book scrubbing it out. 

Government is closed, almost.  Teleworkers are required to work if we have power and internet.  Fudge.  I'd rather read.

Hope all weathered it well.  I know the northeast will be cleaning up for months to come.  Lest anybody think that sometimes storms are over-hyped:  what would have happened had this one been treated casually?

Wall Street meets Sandy, Oct. 29, 2012

Winterized

Gutters cleaned - check

Drainage ditches cleared - check

Drinking water in - check

Kerosene heater filled and tested - check

Tub filled for flushing toilet - check

Camp stove from ML tomorrow - check
Oil in lamps - check
New batteries in radio and flashlights - check

Plenty of ammo - check

Plenty of food - check

Plenty of wine - check

Whether or not we get damage, I'm ready for winter now, anyway.

Leaky Umbrella

h/t www.DickMorris.com

That's My Girl!

Text from still-in-Baltimore daughter - her preparation for Sandy involved groceries, batteries, and ammo.  Yeah, that's my girl for sure.  She went to Dick's because Wal-Mart, while cheaper, requires that you fill out form with name, address, etc, to buy ammo in Baltimore and she has 4 letter words to describe that.  Text I received describing conversation at Dick's:

Daughter:  I need some 12 gauge shells.

Clerk:  Hunting?

Daughter:  Sure, or impending storm.

Clerk:  Here, if you shoot him in the face with these he'll be blind for life and his children will get a good lesson not to be like daddy.

Obviously, not all residents of Maryland are stupid.

Someday That Won't Seem Like Such a Good Idea

It's not that I have anything against tatoos, it's just that they are rather hard to get rid of.  And I know what age will do to skin.  Seen a few heavily tatooed aging motorcycle mamas and it ain't pretty.  So there's more than a few kids inking their bods that will one day regret it.  And I gotta think that someday even $15,000 will not seem worth this.

Full story can be found here.

Living Will

LIVING WILL FORM

I, ____________, being of sound mind and body, do not wish to be kept alive indefinitely by artificial means. Under no circumstances should my fate be put in the hands of pinhead partisan politicians who couldn't pass ninth-grade biology if their lives depended on it, or lawyers/doctors/hospitals interested in simply running up the bills.

If after a reasonable amount of time passes, and I fail to ask for: (Check appropriate items) ______wine ______a Margarita ____ a Scotch and soda ______a Bloody Mary or a beer ______a Gin and Tonic _______a Glass of Chardonnay ______a Steak ______Lobster or crab legs ______the TV remote control ______a bowl of ice cream ______the sports page______ Sex Or______Chocolate ...........

It should be presumed that I won't ever get any better. When such a determination is reached, I hereby instruct my appointed person and attending physicians to pull the plug, reel in the tubes, and call it a day. At this point, it is time to call the New Orleans Jazz Funeral Band to come and do their thing at my funeral, and ask all of my friends to raise their glasses to toast the good times we have had.

Signature:__________________________ Date: _________________

*P.S.: I hear that in Ireland there is a Nursing Home with a Pub. The patients are happier, and they have a lot more visitors. Some of them don't even need embalming when their time comes. If anyone knows the name of this happy place, PLEASE pass it on.

Amendment #1:
Should I become incapacitated as described above, DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES PULL THE PLUG until after I have voted against Barack Obama by absentee ballot in the November 2012 election.
Signature:__________________________ Date: __________________

Amendment #2:
If Barack Obama accidentally gets re- elected just KINDLY PULL THE PLUG AS SOON AS POSSIBLE !!!
Signature:__________________________ Date: __________________ 

 

 

 

Today's Giggle

Wedding Trip

So after finally getting my suv back on Wednesday afternoon, I pedaled over to Baltimore to spend the night, since three of us were driving to Niagara Falls together.  In my Sante Fe, which was why not having it was becoming a concern.

Thursday dawned a sterling Fall day, and we were on the road by 8:30.  I wasn't looking forward to the drive itself - 8 hours on the road just doesn't appeal.  But it turned out that the route is beautiful, with the leaves pretty much at peak, and I never got to the book I'd brought because I was too busy loving the scenery that rolled by hour after hour.   We pulled into the Four Points Sheraton at 4:30; the groom rolled in from St. Clair Shores shortly after, having been delayed an hour at the border crossing into Ontario as he left Michigan.

In the midst of all this, my sister and my nephew and his girlfriend were trying to fly up from Raleigh.  Due into Buffalo around 9 pm.  Yeah, well.  They spent the night in a Dulles Airport hotel outside of D.C.  And then spent the morning watching their flight get pushed later and later.  They finally arrived Friday afternoon, but I doubt any of them will use that airlines again.

First order of business after breakfast Friday was to obtain a marriage license.  Easily done, then another beautiful day before us.  So up to Fort Niagara, located at the mouth of the Niagara River where it empties into Lake Ontario, a site of much history and magnificent views.

We all love learning history by visiting sites like this.

I did spot something that took "concealed carry" in an unexpected direction.

Canada is right across the river, but I failed to get my passport in time so I just admired the view.

Sister and company finally got in around 2, so we grabbed lunch and then headed to the Falls.  Dwight was the only one who had been there before.  And yes, it's a serious "Wow!"

I'm assuming this is an old power station in the cliff across the river.

Hard to believe that the water flow here is only about 30% of what it was originally due to diversion for hydroelectric power.

Canada sparkles at night. Not sure what it looks like coming from the other direction. We found the tourist section of the NY a tad sketchy.




The morning of the Big Day required a trip to the spa at the Indian Casino for hair and makeup.

Then back to my hotel room to get dressed.

The weather had decided not to cooperate on Wedding Day, so it was the Falls Chapel instead.

The minister did some last minute groom spiffing.

Then my nephew Greyson walked the bride down the aisle and gave her away.

The ceremony was relatively brief, but I thought the minister did a lovely job.  Dwight started to giggle when she got to "until death do you part" - he said afterward that what popped into his mind at that moment was "Zombies".  When he started to giggle, Bronwyn started to giggle too, because she thought he was thinking of a comment he had made earlier about loving so many different cuisines that he'd be easy to poison.

And then they were man and wife, Mr. and Mrs. Dwight Johnston.

Of course, there were the obligatory staged photos afterward.

Poor Josh - always the bridesmaid, never the bride.

The sun had come out in the interim, so we dashed across the street for a couple falls photos.

It was cold and windy, though, so that didn't last long.  We headed back to the hotel, changed, and spent a couple hours in the lounge, enjoying the river view and the sunset, rehydrating, and killing time until time to go to the reception dinner.

 

Time to go home the morning after, but Megan had not gone with us to the Falls on Friday, so we made another stop there so she could oooo and awww too.

Windy and seriously misty at the edge.  And spectacular.  The Maid of the Mist seemed to be looking for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

And then it was time to head back to Baltimore.  Vibrating all the way because an axle had started to go.  Then a crawl directly back to the shop Monday morning as it got worse and worse.  But many happy memories and hopes for the future of the newlyweds.