Leinenkugel beer

Let me tell you what I think about Leinenkugel beer. On second thought, I better not. I might get arrested.
I should add they sent a very courteous letter responding to my complaint.

SOME MEALS ARE BETTER THAN OTHERS

Since there's no one else around here to tell this to, it must be told to you, Blog.
Some of my best meals are not in fancy restaurants, but are here at home. Tonight was one of those exceptional days.
The meal consisted of Tilapia and spinach. I don't get fancy with fish. I believe it should taste like fish, not like the added spices and flavors. Just buttered, artificial salt, pepper and a little Old Bay. Then let it simmer in the ceramic wok skillet and watch it carefully.
The spinach brought back to mind when I bought it at Publix. Approaching the Stouffer section of the frozen foods the same time as a short lady prompted me to joke "Now don't take all the spinach soufflé". She laughed and asked if I wanted her to reach it on the top shelf. I must present a helpless sight to these little old ladies who make offers of help. Anyway the Tilapia was ready when the spinach was done and they needed no more additives. It was a meal that I would have complemented the chef for in a restaurant, so I'll take the credit. Bon appétit.

I CAN'T RESIST POSTING THIS.....

You all have had spam mail inviting you to become a millionaire from a foreign country. Well I've seen some very inventive ruses to get one to participate in their scheme but this one made me burst out laughing. It goes like this:
From: Chief Remittance Officer of
United Nations Office of International Oversight Services
Internal Audit, Monitoring
Consulting and Investigations Division
Attn: Beneficiary (unless you would like it to be you) from Nigeria, where the hell else?
and here's the sign off:
Director ATM Payment Department Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) General for Internal Oversight Contact Agent: Mrs. Tina Walters
Isn't that impressive?
Don't you just LOVE it?
Oh how I hate to give up those millions!!

A DISCOVERY...

This story muct be told even though the ending is not yet known. It starts with many attempts through the years to find the whereabouts of a long lost girlfriend. When I say long I mean 70 years ago.
On Holy Thursday, a significant time, I found an Ancestry Family tree listing the 'object of my affection' in the early 40's. The tree showed her death to be in 1960 at age 32, a mystery to be revealed later. It saddens me to realize she and husband Ray had four sons and a daughter all had to be under 11 years old.
This finding was nothing short of amazing since all searches in the past yielded nothing. I recall a rumor that she married about 1949 and moved to Ireland. That almost dashed my hopes of finding her.
So the info on the web family tree was a great epiphany and gave me hope. However, the problem with some family trees is persons still living are listed as private' and information is not available.
Further digging into Google and other information sources finally revealed the name of the host person who is a son-in-law of my subject person. Also found was the younger sister is still living and is about 83 years old. She is my target now and I have dispatched a fax to the host asking for help to contact the sister and for more information and confirmation of what I now believe.
Stay tuned....
A death certificate received 4/26/13 shows my first girlfriend succumbed to bacterial endocarditis after a 41 day battle. I have no words at this moment, my heart is heavy.
The host of the tree reports the younger sister declined an offer to make contact. Too bad, a great story never before told will have to remain silent. One more contact possibility remains, the daughter who is active of Facebook and a message has been sent to become a friend. We'll see, stay tuned.

Enough time has elapsed and daughter has not responded to request for being a Facebook friend so it has been retracted, I'm sorry to say. Some pleasant memories instead of the sad ones will have to remain silent.

FACEBOOK

What is it about Facebook that every time I try to quit, someone shows up that I want to connect with. I'll just stay onboard but keep my yap shut :)
Yeah...

LATEST TOY

Why a new phone? Well, the previous one was a cordless phone and people often complained our connection was not good. Turned out that cordless phones and computer routers conflict with each other. So back to old cord style technology and I couldn't be happier. Each call since has been clear and no complaints from callers.

Next on list of new toys is a single handle, pull-out spray kitchen faucet with soap dispenser.
It was not easy getting the right one. Multiple searches on Home Depot, Lowes, Amazon, Davis Plumbing and vast internet suggestions led to an online purchase at Home Depot. It took about five days to arrive and I discovered it was not for me. Their description of Mediterranean bronze turned out to be plain BLACK. It was also too tall for my counter. A provision of the online purchase is to allow return to local store for refund if accompanied by barcode receipt from email confirmation.
So off to Home Depot and waiting my turn in line finally got to an agent who took a long time, I mean long, to tell me the system wouldn't accept the return. She went to her supervisor who also tried on another computer with no success. She did offer a store credit which I declined. Then she made a call to the support service where she was put on hold. On hold last 40 minutes. I kid you not. She talked to more than one person and because of my already one hour wait offered me a seat, a bottle of water etc. and continued to request help. Finally she offered a cash refund which I accepted.
Now back to square one I realized a learning experience has taken place. For example, bronze means different things to people, photos online can be deceptive, online returns can be aggravating. A new and informed search resulted in a selection of a nice faucet online at Lowe's. The checkout system allowed for pickup at the store, which I chose. However, the close order after taking all my information did not allow final checkout. A trip to Lowe's following day was successful in the purchase of a nice Pfister Shelton faucet which will be installed tomorrow.

The benefit of this experience reminds me of what Edison said when he was asked what it felt like to have 1000 failures of making a light bulb. His reply was "Now I know 1000 ways how to not make a light bulb". So my failures to buy the right faucet were teaching me about faucets with ceramic vs metal valves, pull down vs pull out sprays, height of spout, bronze finishes and of course how to purchase and return a product.
It was the hard way but I'm thankful for it.

THE JEWISH DELI

On a road trip passing through West Baltimore, Helga and I wanted to buy some lunch meat. I remembered the area as being popular with Jewish Delicatessens and we found one right away. The memory of Helga discussing the meats with the owner sticks in my mind to this day. He was so delighted with her knowledge of foods, having grown up in Berlin, he encouraged more and more talk to hear her opinion. I enjoyed seeing him so pleased with her and finally gave her some free samples. It was a treat and the lunch we had from the meats was fantastic.