Observations

Making Friends At Walmart

I was not in a great mood as I walked into Walmart to pick up a few produce items for the evenings fried rice. As I went thru the “exit” door on a bee line for the carts, I noticed a lady grabbing her bags out of her cart. Since it was not entangled with all of the other carts, I gave her a proposal…

“Since you have it warmed up, can I grab your cart?”, I asked. Her reply was barely a reply. It was some sort of titter or noise uttered from locked lips. Apparently, she was embarrassed by the unsolicited attention. Despite her discomfort, stretching my mood toward the more civil end of the spectrum was achieved–a warmed up cart began the warming of my mood.

As my mood continued to move to the right, I had the opportunity to go to the deli counter. As I waited for the lady in front of me to have her choices of meat and cheese sliced–she wanted everything pretty thin–I must have continued to make the shift into a happier place. Once my turn came up, I gave the attendant my meat and cheese choices. I clearly stated, “Don’t hurry too much. I prefer you keep your epidermis.” The lady behind me laughed–she must not like the epidermis either.

Lastly, as I was walking out into the parking lot, a lady was preparing to use the pedestrian crossing to the entrance. She seemed hesitant. I gave her a smile and volunteered to use my cart to block traffic so her crossing would be less fraught with indecision. Without hesitation, she refused it and stood planted while waiting for a satisfactory path to open up.

I have found my mood is quickly improved when I start looking out rather than dwelling within. It is easy to be drowning in self pity when you are floating in a current you are trying to control. When you take your eyes off yourself and look around a little at others, it is much easier to leave your rotten mood behind. Forgetting a bad mood is more about putting it in perspective than it is solving the problem that put you there. Interacting with others almost always makes it easier to smile than dwelling on what is wrong. While Walmart is not always the first place I look for a smile, it is a far better place than looking into a mirror.

Proud With a little “p”

This country is not the country of my youth. I am not blaming either political party. I know it is easy to blame others who don’t think like you for changes you don’t want to in any way be associated with. I know it is easier to assign a scapegoat than deciding to be the change you want to see. Regardless of any blame I must personally accept, I find it hard on national holidays that honor our military-whether they were killed in active duty or lived to be a ripe old age-to be as patriotic and proud as I used to be of this country.

Out of high school, I joined the National Guard to pay for college tuition. (NOT going to college was not really a choice.) Even though I received an honorable medical discharge due to injuries, it was something I am proud to say I did. My father even signed up in the Army Reserve as he anticipated retiring in 12 years. (He already had some National Guard experience in the early 60’s.) Although I didn’t love everything about National Guard weekend drills and I may have even thought some of the exercises were not very productive, it allowed me to look in the mirror and see a guy who made some small attempt to make his country a better place.

Now, in 2016, it would be convenient to blame the party of the President, but it isn’t fair to do that. Being “pro-country” is easy when the country is unified, despite some left/right differences, to make the country successful. In the past decade (9/11 did unify for a brief period), individuals have felt no satisfaction trying to compromise. They have ran to the edges of the spectrum. (An argument could be made that compromise becomes more difficult when the “center” is quite a bit further to the left than it used to be.)

One thing I think it is very fair to blame the President for–a lack of leadership. If you define presidential leadership as, “doing what you personally want to get done despite what campaign promises you made, despite what you have clear constitutional authority to do, and despite what is consistent for all Americans not just for Americans you feel deserve more attention and affection,” then you are probably pretty happy with the state of the country. I don’t take this approach. I accept a leader is going to be flawed. And, I accept a leader will not always make decisions I will like. What I have a hard time accepting is a “leader” and his sycophants who constantly tells me my opinions, faith, and priorities have no value. (I also shy away from the “talking heads” who align themselves exactly with me–I have arrived at my opinions and have NOT been programmed.)

Why am I a proud (with a little “p”) American? I still use the word proud because I believe in many of the things this country and has done and the people who sacrificed everything so I might be able to express my opinions and have the opportunity to listen to those of others. Having pride in my country and the dream it once offered is something every American should have the ability to do. Maintaining the pride is a different matter. And, it is for this reason the “p” has been demoted to lower case. I would like to hold out hope my country will again emerge as the “last bastion of hope” for those in the world who seek freedom. The past few years have nearly smothered this hope within me. The divisive nature of the political bickering has left me with a plan many may call “quitting”.

Fortunately, as I walk and as I talk to others, there are those capable of bigger hope than I am. They still put their flags-both small and big-with pride in their front yards. They see it as a responsibility to have a flag near the tombstone of every veteran. And, they realize despite the countries current path, our path would have been a far different one were it not for those who gave it all. Thank you to those who did not make it back when the US went to war. And, thank you to those who daily remind us that every life shed for the sake of our country is one worth honoring.

Fried Rice Becomes A Staple

This rice was made after our exchange students had left. It may have been an attempt to lure them back for another visit. But now, it had developed into something we make once or twice a month.

And, to make it uniquely ours, we have modified it a bit…

We usually put in as much ginger as we can…within limits. You won’t regret it.
If you put in too many pepper flakes (we have on a couple of batches), we can really notice the little extra heat.
I don’t usually measure scallions and celery by the cup–I measure them in a quantity. “3 stocks of celery and 4-5 green onions” sounds about right.
Whoops…got ahead of myself. We also add celery.
And, we are a little iffy on the quantities. If we have a 1/2 bag of peas, they all go in. And, it all works out.
We typically add a couple cups of chicken. (I suppose other meat if season correctly would also work. Our chicken is usually just cooked on the grill after being marianted with chicken.) Since we grill chicken a couple times a month, we often have some setting in the fridge waiting to be used. (It is also popular for enchiladas and quesadillas.) I probably do 3-5 OR 3-4 cups of already cooked chicken.
We like eggs in our fried rice. We usually do 2 or 3 of them right before we put the aromatics in.
We almost always pair these with Chinese dumplings. It gives the rice a side item.
The boys like to just treat the rice like it is something to stuff in their tortillas. They wrap (or double wrap if the first one tears) their fried rice burritos.

Fried Rice

Serves 4

Recipe from Grace Young, author of Stir-Frying to the Sky’s Edge

What You Need

Ingredients

Aromatics
2 tablespoons minced ginger
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Vegetables
1 cup diced carrots
1 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels, defrosted
1/2 cup fresh or frozen peas, defrosted
1/2 cup chopped scallions

For the rice
2 tablespoons grapeseed, canola, or peanut or vegetable oil
4 cups cold cooked rice

1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 large egg, beaten
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts, almonds, peanuts, or cashews
2 tablespoons minced cilantro (optional)

Equipment

A 14-inch flat-bottom carbon steel wok
A fish spatula or other thin, flexible spatula for stir frying

Instructions

1. Cut Up the Ingredients: The most important key to making a good stir-fry is cutting each ingredient to a uniform size as specified above. Cut the aromatics as directed and set them aside in a bowl. Finely slice, then mince, the ginger. Don’t grate it on a grater. Cut the vegetables and set them aside as well.

Optional Step – Egg Pancake: There are several ways of adding egg to your finished fried rice. You can simply cook in the beaten egg at the end of cooking, or you can make an egg pancake. To do this, heat the wok and add 1 teaspoon of oil. Swirl in the oil to coat the bottom of the wok. Add a beaten egg and tilt the wok so that the egg covers the surface like a crepe. Cook the pancake about 30 seconds to a minute until it’s just set. Use a metal spatula and flip the pancake and cook for 5 seconds or until set. Cut into small strips and add to fried rice near the end of cooking.

2. Prepare Your Wok Space: Set the bowls of vegetables, aromatics, rice, and soy sauce near your stove. Also, have a very small bowl of water next to the stove.

3. Heat the Wok: Turn on a stove burner, as high as it will go. Set a 14-inch wok over this high heat burner. To determine when the wok is hot enough, start flicking droplets of water from the small bowl into the pan after 30 seconds. As soon as a bead of water evaporates within 1 to 2 seconds of contact, the wok is heated and ready for stir-frying. Do not overheat the wok.

4. Pull Wok off the Heat and Add Oil, Then Stir-Fry Aromatics: Pull the wok off the heat and add 1 tablespoon of oil. Pick up the pan and carefully swirl it to coat the bottom and sides. (If the wok smokes wildly the moment you add the oil you’ve overheated the wok. Remove the wok from the heat and let it cool for a few minutes. When it’s cool enough to handle carefully remove the oil with paper towels, wash the wok, and start again.)

With the wok back over the heat, add the ginger and red pepper flakes and stir fry for 10 seconds or until fragrant.

5. Add the Carrots and Stir-Fry: Add the carrots and stir fry for 30 seconds, or until the carrots are bright orange.

6. Add the Corn and Peas and Stir-Fry: Add the corn and peas and stir fry for 1 minute.

7. Add 1 More Tablespoon Oil: Swirl the remaining tablespoon of oil into the wok.

8. Add the Rice and Scallions and Stir-Fry for 2 Minutes: Add the rice and scallions stir-fry for 2 minutes, breaking up the rice with the spatula until it is heated through.

9. Season the Rice: Season the rice with the salt and white pepper.

10. Add the Sauce: Pour the soy sauce around the edges of the wok and stir-fry.

11. Finish the Rice: Add the chopped egg pancake and pine nuts. Toss to combine. Alternatively, you can stir in 1 beaten egg. Stir-fry until the egg is no longer wet. Stir in the cilantro.

Additional Notes:

• Stir-Fried Rice in a 12-inch Skillet: If you are cooking in a 12-inch stainless steel skillet, halve the recipe to prevent rice from falling out of the pan

• Using Fresh Rice: This recipe is best with day-old rice. But if the craving hits and you don’t have any prepared rice, you can make fresh rice, spread it out on a sheet pan, and refrigerate to cool.

• Substituting Other Vegetables: Substitute up to 2 1/2 cups of vegetables in place of the carrots, frozen corn, and frozen peas. Leftover meat (shredded or diced small) can also be added.

Tree Slaying

Having trees that love to create seeds may be great if you are a squirrel, but if you are a human who does not like to have your grass smothered by acorns or deluged with elm seeds, then the battle lines are drawn.

Such was the case in the fall. During this time, we used the wet/dry vac to collect much of the squirrel food. After many tubs of acorns and stray yard materials were sucked up into the “tub of judgement”, I felt pretty comfortable the yard had been insulated, as best as I was able, from the potential saplings that could result. The little elm seeds are less able to be quickly eradicated. They are much more insidious that the obvious acorn. They nestle into the mulch. They congregate in the gutters to be tossed randomly into whatever part of the yard will embrace them as the gutters are cleared again for water flow. The elm seeds partner with the wind so they are not limited to developing friendships in just our yard.

Enter the spring…

Despite all of my efforts, the “weeds” are still coming in with no mercy. What is a weed? It is something that grows somewhere it is not supposed to grow. Weed mat installed in the flower beds did not prevent the elm seeds from germinating. I sacrificed many of the occupants of a future forest as they sprung up in my mulched beds. I pulled many a baby oak from the yard–the mother acorn providing the tail to the oak baby. As I make my rounds doing my dead heading of geraniums, I see new elm sprouts. While walking the yard to see the colors of the flowers, I will see a few more acorns attempting to extend their lives while being somewhat camouflaged by the St Augustine grass.

While this time of pulling weeds will pass and focus will shift to making sure the yard and plants receive enough water to stay vibrant, the ambitious seeds of this spring are a reminder of potential life anxious to be truly born. I do wince a bit when I grab hold of the stems and remove the plant from the life-giving soil. I wince even more when I imagine my yard without someone overseeing it. And, while calling me a tree slayer may sound a little extreme, I pale in comparison to lumberjacks.

The Cougar

At the local mall, there is a Chick Fil-A. While all jobs have their down sides, an upside at this job is both of my sons could work together. As a parent, this kept us from having to add another car to quickly to our entourage of vehicles. And, it gave the boys time together. It was interesting to hear their stories of the “name of the day” (We would need to guess what name came up the most times as the name to call when the order was ready on that day.) or we would listen to the whiny customer of the day story. (The one I remember most distinctly is the person who wanted them to double cook chicken – not a normal menu item. And, when the chicken was not overcooked to his satisfaction after they tried twice, he returned it and wanted a full refund.) Occasionally, there would be the story of a regular customer who thought my boys were nearly as special as I do.

Enter the cougar….

While their relationship started with her being a little snarky with my son when he was working the register at Chick Fil-A, they now have had a post Chick Fil-A relationship for nearly a year. Please understand, this is not the normal “cougar” relationship. She exceeds his age by probably 40 years. And, although she is married, she seems to like to be social with my little cub. She makes him tea and offers him a few snacks as they meet and discuss his recent accomplishments and/or activities.

The relationship has included a few phone calls while he is at school. When he is home for breaks, he tries to fit a visit in. The past visit involved him taking his camera to show off the pictures from our recent trip. Although some details are sketchy, it seems she is very complimentary of his ambition and the direction he is taking with his life. I have warned him to not be surprised if she attempts to introduce him to any of her daughters or granddaughters. (This would remove the cougar title and have it replaced with “matchmaker”. Since it is a family joke, the “cougar” title is likely to stick regardless of the pseudo-grandmother/grandson relationship.)

As with our recent trip, Jeff does very well talking to adults of all levels. He has told me she is Catholic. If his relationship with his “cougar” friend gives him an opportunity to show what his relationship is with our Heavenly Father, that is a good thing. If his older friend sees how my son’s relationship with God is different than her own, then it is a better thing. And, if at the end of the relationship, my son has practice talking to future mother-in-laws OR grandmother in-laws, then it certainly will not be time wasted….I think every son-in-law has room for improvement in this area.

Jet Lag Fog

After coming back from the trip with my son, not all parts of my brain have been working correctly. There is the expected restless nights and the craving of an afternoon nap. There is the attempt to ingest an appropriate amount of caffeine to help navigate those times when napping seems unnecessary. And, finally there is the complete inability to watch a show on the DVR at 9:30 PM without falling sleep–it used to be one of my favorite shows!!

Late yesterday afternoon, I needed to call a supplier. They never replied to an email I sent confirming pricing and availability of a product. Since they are a time zone to the west, they still had the lights on and they were able to answer my questions. To avoid confusion with any email issues, they advised me to change the email address I used to contact them with any future orders. This made sense and was noted somewhere in the ephemeral fog of my post-trip brain. I then went on to send the quote to my customer.

This morning after receiving a confirmation from my customer, I prepared a Purchase Order for my supplier. Some deep part of my brain said, “You need to change the email address you are sending the PO to.” At the time, it seemed completely logical. I did not question in the least this inner urging. I did a copy and paste into the email field and hit “Send”.

As the fog cleared, the realization hit me. And, the email was beyond the use of any “Recall” buttons. While my fog recalled part of my instructions, the fog conveniently forgot to gather the right email before “sending” to the supplier. As it turned out, I grabbed my customer’s email address and then sent the Purchase Order to them…not my supplier. If you are not realizing what I did, I let my customer know exactly what I was paying for the products they had purchased from me. These were not thousand dollar items, but this type of fog-induced error certainly has me ready to do a dance should they contact me and wonder why I am making such a “scandalous profit” off of them. (My discount off of my supplier’s website is 30% and I gave the customer a 10% discount, so they are still coming out ahead—it is just the guy in the mirror who will beat me up for a couple of hours.)

What did I do? I did what any reasonable person would do. I pretended I didn’t send the email to my customer. I correctly changed the email address and sent it to my supplier. My supplier confirmed the receipt and my customer remained silent. Since this is a repeat customer, the worst thing to likely happen is they will say, “We want to pay this price and NOT that one.” If they do this, I will have a concrete reminder not to commit this “middle man” sin again….

Suitcase Choices

On a recent extended trip with my son, I knew a big suitcase was a necessity. What I didn’t know was if the “existing” big suitcase with the fickle zipper was going to work out. Since my wife knows I like to travel but I don’t like hiccups, she opted to let me (really the family) purchase a new large suitcase to simplify the planning (and possible work-a-rounds) necessary for the trip.

Two days before the trip, we went to Kohl’s where my wife always seems to have a “stash” of discounts tucked away in her purse or the counter or wherever she cleverly stores or allows them to congregate. Luckily, they had a sale as well. After test driving a few suitcases and weighing the critical appearance and overall effectiveness factors, a decision was made. The winner was not to flashy, but had the necessary growth and organizational features.

Skip ahead a few days….the bag worked great. It allowed me to fit some of the items my son’s suitcase was not able to safely carry. It still had room to expand, and even on the the nights when we had to live out of the suitcase it had the pockets and corners I needed to find my stuff. At the end of the trip, it certainly seemed like the right suitcase for this trip.

On our flight home, the bag was still a winner. Since it was an international flight, we got to see our bags before the final flight home. At that time, I picked up my bag and easily rolled it to the dropoff before heading thru the post-customs security clearance.

At our final destination, the bag arrived as shown above. Yes, it still rolls. Yes, it still has cozy pockets to store my electronic and international charger needs, but it leans wrong. It does not give me a convenient place to comfortably rest an extra bag of shopping goodies or the backpack full of computer/kindle/ipad/gopro. Critique it all I want, but it still has REALLY good zippers. Somehow, a reliable level surface is likely to trump a good zipper. <sigh>

Wet Driving

Since returning from my trip earlier in the week, Texas has been wet. When Texas or any place is wet for long due to constant rains (the “flash flood” type rains have a slightly different set of rules than the standard rain driving rules), there are a set of rules common sense drivers should follow.

For your benefit…

Hydroplaning: I have found the far right lane tends to be the lane where the water congregates. What is hydroplaning? It is water deep enough that when you try and drive through it it slows you down significantly. And, if the water is deep enough, it limits your ability to control the car. (The really bad side of this is usually found under bridges or when rivers/streams overflow.) While this may be an issue with limited impact to other drivers, if you hit the water just right and shoot up a bunch of water, it may cause other drivers to need their…..
Windshield Wipers: While it seems obvious these are necessary when it is wet out, the speed of the wipers can contribute greatly to your visibility. IF someone hits a big puddle at a high rate of speed and you just happen to be next to them when the “spray” flies onto your windshield, the wipers help you to get oriented and recover quickly from the blinding spray.
Stopping Distance: IF you are blinded by a windshield flood and you don’t have a proper stopping distance, you will wish you had one. When I went thru drivers ed MANY years ago, they taught you should have a 3 second stopping distance. (Watch the car ahead of you pass a certain landmark, light pole or whatever. Count the seconds until you pass it. It should be over 3 seconds for good weather and more when wet.) While my competitive nature sometimes modifies this rule, it is still good to have a baseline. When cars are doing lots of weaving, I especially like to modify the rule to keep them from jumping into my lane.

For the benefit of others….and sometimes you

Headlights: Can you say “pet peeve”? As the rains poured down today, I didn’t see lots of cars without headlights, but they were still there. (When the rain is lighter, the ratio or headlight-less drivers seems to be higher.) As I look in the rear-view mirror, I am not blind–I see most everything. But, if the headlights are on, I see you more quickly. While lane jumping is not a great idea when it is wet out and the reaction time of other drivers might be slower, a quick glance that does not immediately reveal a car lurking on your tail may lead to a lane change with a conversation punctuated by horns. When in doubt, headlights are good.
Turn Signals: I did fail ALL of my mind reading classes in college. And, I don’t think they offered any mind reading classes in driver’s ed. (An aside….I was taught the I-P-D-E method of driving. Identify the problem. Predict what they will do. Decide what you will do. Execute your plan. I guess there is a bit of clairvoyance in there…at least an anticipation.) Turn signals are just a bit of information that allows the other drivers to go, “Oh, he is switching lanes. How does that affect my safe little cocoon I have tried to create for myself out on the road? (Cocoon is only used to express a place of comfort. It has nothing to do with butterflies or any mode of transportation other than driving.)

In conclusion, when driving on the road there is a “handshake” agreement made with all of the other drivers out there. While some days the handshake may be like a wet dish rag and other days it may be a firm “Vote for me” type handshake, the road is not your private domain. It is a shared resource for all taxpaying citizens (and non-paying) to enjoy. (Or, if you hate commutes, not enjoy. But, it is still there for you.) It is a necessary evil in places where mass transit it not readily available. So, if it not a big problem next time it rains, just keeps the lights on for me.

Green Shirt Danger

When you walk into the wrong supermarket with the wrong color shirt (read this as, “The local store we like for bulk and produce wearing a shirt very similar to the shirt worn by the store staff.”), you shouldn’t be surprised if you get questions from some of the customers.

Today was my day to get a question on the cooking of organic quick oats. As the customer struggled to open the bin (the hinge was not where he expected it to be.), I stepped in to point out the handle cleverly disguised as a handle.

The customer seemed slightly embarrassed to need help with the bin, so he felt the need to engage me with a question. “How do you cook those?”

As I prepared to answer to answer, his eyes played across my t-shirt. While it was a close kin of the store’s employee shirts, mine was a lighter shade. He quickly had another question, “Do you work here?”

Never being one to run from a conversation, I let him know it was not a problem. “I have never done the organic, but I am guessing you double the water. If you use ¼ cup of oats, you add a ½ cup of water. Set the microwave for a couple of minutes.”

He seemed to feel comfortable with that recipe. I then went on to say, “If it runs over the top of your bowl, you know you did it too long.”

He also seemed to identify with the “messy microwave” phenomenon. He spoke with an accent and has trouble bins, but oatmeal allowed us to bond.

First Flight Done

It has been a year since I have flown. Usually, I think of the pain of just flying….ear popping and confined spaces. Today, I had two people in close proximity to distract me from these things.

Before I sat down, I sad to the lady setting on the aisle of my seat row, “It looks like our paths are going to cross.” She was less than enthusiastic. The only additional question I asked her was, “Is New York your final destination?” She said “yes” and not another word was exchanged. She seemed to have some problem with her hair/head. My theory is she is an airhead. As she sat next to me numerous times she took a few strands of her hair and periodically wound it up to make sure the pressure is maintained. As I sat beside her, I am pretty sure she attempted to scan the same book twice. My guess is the air got low when she was reading a few of the chapters. She had to go back and reread those chapters to adjust for when her “head air” was to low or to high.

The little man behind me was given free reign for most of the flight. He was making sounds, banging on my chair and doing a variety of things that make it hard to concentrate during the early part of the flight. I leaned forward and leaned on the pullout table to read. Not my first choice, but it allowed me to concentrate. As the flight neared its end and my eyes grew heavy, I needed to lean back. I was barely back before the 5 year old behind continued treating my seat as one of his toys. I pushed the seat button and leaned back–quickly letting him know he was not playing in a vacuum. I also said to him, “Please don’t push on my seat.” He made eye contact and gave a sheepish expression. I had to lean the seat back one more time to keep him honest. His mother became one of my advocates and the rest of the flight was fine.

The first flight was the easy one. It is the one where I exist in time zones easily shifted between. The multi-hour change awaits me after the landing. Being in the middle seat in the middle section does mean I will have to bother people to get out, but it does mean (I think the seats are 3-3-3) I won’t have to be bothered if they want to get out. Maybe the elusive “plane” sleep will find me before we land…

Walking Down Life's Road With Andy