Proving My Potato Salad Point

Remember a month ago, when Genius asked for my potato salad recipe, to take this tasty dish to a BBQ? And I concluded the tale by saying: "Give a man potato salad and he eats for a day. Teach a man to make potato salad, and he gets invited to BBQs for life." Well. The proof is in the potato salad.

I got a text from Genius on Friday night:

"Made another batch of potato salad for a pool party we're hosting tomorrow! [Okay. So technically, Genius is invited to his own pool party, which is similar to a BBQ...] Forgot to buy eggs, so no eggs this time." 

"Mmm. I've made it without eggs, and didn't notice until the next time that I made it. Maybe you can send me a picture of it."

The picture came on Saturday morning:

"I make it with way more mayo and mustard than you say to. 3lbs of potatoes, roughly half a cup of mayo, slightly less mustard, and still added some celery seeds and apple cider vinegar. Everyone really liked it last time so I'm sure it will be a hit again."

"I'm sure!"

Man does not live by potato salad alone. Genius also sent another picture:

"Look how cute my swim trunks are!"

"They are very cute. Looks like a hamburger over a palm tree logo!"

"LOL. I do see that."

I have a feeling that Genius's potato salad recipe will last many more years than his swim trunks.

Rush, Rush, Sweet Scarlett!

Hick is working hard to get our new dog Scarlett released from captivity. Even though we are the ones holding her hostage. After Hick had to track her down on two separate occasions, he plans a window for Scarlett's next trial at freedom.

Such a sweet girl! If only she would stay here! Surely she can forgive Hick for her near decapitation when he dragged her under the Gator with her lead wrapped around the axle! She doesn't seem to hold it against him. Scarlett adores Hick.

Wednesday afternoon, Hick let Scarlett off her lead. He petted her a few minutes. Then proceeded to mow the BARn field and the cleared portion of our 10 acres next to it. I saw Scarlett come up on the porch a couple times. Jack was following after her, but they did not seem to be acting like buddies. Hick mowed for three hours.

"I put Scarlett back on her lead for the night. She did real good. Every time I turned to look, she was laying down where I could see her. She made a trip down to the house by my blacktopped hill, then came back. She made another trip across the road to our neighbors where I had to pick her up last time, but she came back. I think she's starting to realize that she lives here."

Hick didn't let Scarlett loose on Thursday, because it was so hot, and he didn't want to chase her if she ran off. Also, he had his SUS2 (Storage Unit Store 2) business on Friday, and didn't want to drive all the way back home if she decided to roam. But Friday afternoon, he let Scarlett go, with plans to tie her back up for the night.

When I came home from town, Scarlett came to the side porch to greet me. I petted her. She jumped up on me, but when I said, "NO!" she got down. She went in the garage, and came out when I called her. I went back in to get my purse, and as I closed T-Hoe's passenger door, it made a THUMP and balked. Huh. I think I might have closed Scarlett's head in the door. I apologized and petted her. That's what she gets for sneaking up behind me! She didn't seem to hold it against me.

When I took some of the groceries in, Scarlett did not bother the bags I had left on the chair on the side porch. Jack was there. He did not seem jealous. No barking or growling. I had pats for both of them. Scarlett did not run in when I opened the kitchen door. I tossed out a hamburger-grease-soaked bun for Jack, and another for Scarlett. She looked at it like it was something foreign. I guess she never got table scraps in her old home. After a sniff, she ate her treat.

While sitting at the kitchen table perusing the innernets, I saw Scarlett go around the porch several times over the course of 90 minutes. Both directions. I spoke to her through the windows. 

Around 6:00, Hick got a phone call. "Yeah. I'm home. Okay. I'll be right up."

I'm sure you know what THAT was about! Scarlett was up the gravel road at another house. The man called. He said his wife thought she had seen something about Scarlett being our new dog. Hick drove SilverRedO up to get her. About a quarter-mile. Scarlett had been in their driveway when they called, and was on the porch when Hick turned in. She came running to SilverRedO, wagging her stub tail, and jumped right in. Her reward was being put back on the lead.

I really wish Scarlett would hurry up and learn to stay home! It's not like she's running off wildly the minute she's let go. I think maybe she's just exploring, and might eventually come back. She seems glad to see Hick when he goes to fetch her. As Hick said, she at least went in a different direction this time. Perhaps she's mapping out the area for future reference.

Val PENNYfully Declares, "Enough is NOT as Good as a Feast!"

I know, I know... I should be counting my blessings. Or in this case, BLESSING. I can't help but feel cheated, with only a single coin donated by The Universe towards my Future Pennyillionaire Fortune.

MONDAY, May 29, I ventured into the Backroads Casey's to find no interesting people ahead of me in line, with no captivating tattoos, footwear, or posture, but only this:

I prefer it when the coins present themselves right out in the open, not under a rack, tempting my shoe-toe, nor in front of a door, asking for a noggin'-knockin'.

It was a face-down 2012 penny, revving up my hopes for more to come through the week. Alas. It was false hope. Either somebody's snatching my pennies, or people are using too darn much plastic.

________________________________________________________________

That's 1 COIN this week, for 1 CENT towards Val's Future Pennyillionaire Fortune!

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2023 RUNNING TOTAL

Penny           # 55.

Dime             still at 9

Nickel           still at 1

Quarter        still at 1

2022 FINAL TOTALS

Penny           124
Dime              21
Nickel              7
Quarter             9

2021 FINAL TOTALS

Penny        124
Dime           14
Nickel           7
Quarter         6

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A Modern-Day Evel Knievel

Back in the day, humans were a hardier bunch. As toddlers, we stood on the front seat of the Olds 98 with only our mother's flung-out arm for a seatbelt. School-age, we climbed into the back of the 1963 Chevy Stepside, burning our bare feet on the metal between the boards of the bed. By the end of grammar school, we were swinging our legs off the tailgate of a GMC pickup, seeing the world backwards at 70 mph on the interstate.

These days, kids are raised in bubble-wrap. Not saying it's a bad thing. Just different.

Present-day daredevils have probably never heard of Evel Knievel. Like the kid on a motorbike over in Sis-Town on Thursday.

He was on a side street by the lumberyard, across from the park and a Chinese place where The Pony gets delivery. You couldn't say This Kid was riding a motorcycle. It was too small for that, but too big for a mini-bike. Maybe a 100cc. As for "Kid," he was probably early 20s. Old enough to know better.

This is not a blind intersection. Not really an intersection at all. I was on Main Street, and he was waiting his turn to pull out onto Main Street from a side street. Nothing was blocking his vision. He could clearly see traffic coming in both directions. Not even a helmet to obstruct his sight.

Did he wait his turn as per the unwritten rules of traffic? Not-Heaven, NO!

This Kid stopped his motorbike, and walked it with his feet until the FRONT TIRE was OVER THE LINE. That's right. His entire front wheel was in the roadway. I had to swerve into the center turn lane to avoid hitting it.

Not quite a jump over the Snake River Canyon, but dangerous just the same.

Daredevils. They don't make 'em like they used to.

Val Did NOT Cut Her Wrist

If you hear of Val's demise by slashed wrist, please keep in mind that I'm pretty sure Hick is trying to kill me, and that my hard-headedness will not allow me to assist him.

Wednesday evening, I prepared Hick's supper of a taco salad to eat with Scoops. I served it in Chinese Tupperware. Layers of hamburger with taco seasoning, refried beans, shredded cheddar, shredded cabbage (half the price of shredded lettuce!), salsa, diced onions, and sour cream.

Because Hicks eats supper earlier, I set aside the remainder of the can of refried beans to use later for my own meal. I rinsed the spoons for the salsa and sour cream, and laid them across the lid of Hick's Chinese Tupperware, along with the lid I had can-opened from the refried beans.

Little did I know that Hick wouldn't eat the whole thing in one night. He came back to the kitchen later to get the lid and put his leftovers in FRIG II for the next night.

"There's your container lid beside the sink. You'll have to take the stuff off of it."

Well. That sneaky Hick turned murderous right before my eyes! Not even trying to hide it now! He took the jagged-edged metal lid I had removed from the can of refried beans, and DROPPED IT IN THE WASTBASKET!

"Hey! What are you doing?"

"Throwing away the lid. There's no reason for you to be saving that!"

"I'm not SAVING IT, you doofus! I'm waiting until the can is empty so I can put it in there and NOT CUT OFF MY HAND if I have to reach in the trash! Even if it doesn't kill me, it will cut its way through the trash bag when it gets carried up to the dumpster."

"Fine!" Hick rummaged around and took out the jagged lid.

"I don't know how you've managed to live this long."

Hick was probably thinking the same thing about me...

Val, the Invisible Woman

For one so ample in the rumpus, Val sure gets a lot of overlooking. It's like I'm one of those house-owners in Beetlejuice. I can be standing RIGHT THERE, and people totally ignore me. Perhaps I need to make a suit of work-zone-yellow-green, and wear a beanie with spinner on my noggin.

Tuesday at 4:10 p.m., I was minding my manners in line at the Liquor Store. The customer ahead of me had just left. As I took a step towards the counter, a young girl strode through the door. She was about 10 years old, holding a styrofoam cup. Girlie stepped up beside me, and the 20-something clerk looked right past me, and asked how she could help Girlie! I know she noticed her just come in. She was moving, and I had been standing there.

Here's the thing. No good can come of making a child feel special in a liquor store!

"My mom just bought a Diet Mountain Dew at the drive-thru, and the guy gave her a regular Mountain Dew."

"Okay. Give me the cup. I'll pour it out and put Diet in it."

Clerk then proceeded to leave the counter, go to the back room where the drive-thru soda fountain is located, and leave us standing there side by side. She was gone quite a while. The guy at the drive-thru turned to face us, leaning his skinny rumpus insouciantly against the window. I have no idea what THAT was about. The drive-thru line was so long that it was blocking one entrance onto the parking lot. He made no move to come wait on the counter people. Which now numbered five.

Clerk came back and gave Girlie the soda. It was not MY mistake. I am a paying customer same as Girlie's mother. I am unaware of any unwritten societal rule that says you get cuts if you leave the store and find out your order was messed up.

I will stop short of throwing elbows like a rebounding Dennis Rodman at a young girl not-in-line at the Liquor Store. But that doesn't mean I think her behavior was justified.

A License to Shed

Hick has been spending time working on his latest shed. I'm not sure it has a theme yet. It has been sitting on Shackytown Boulevard for months. Maybe even a year. I think one wall needed to be completed, and the roof. Hick suddenly became consumed with finishing it, because he had things he needed to store inside. So he brought Old Buddy out here to help. For pay, of course.

Anyhoo... Monday morning, Hick sent me a picture: "My morning project."

I'm guessing this shed is finished now. It might be the one Hick planned on being a schoolhouse. I remember complaining about using that nice window that could have been better suited to Pony House. Though I don't know if any of the existing windows in Pony House had dimensions that would have been compatible with this replacement. Or maybe it could work in the Double Hovel flip house. I just think putting this window in a SHED is wasteful, no matter what the theme of the shed. Even if it was a special Nice Window Shed...

I'm not a fan of those license plates. I guess that was Hick's morning project. No idea where the street sign came from. Nowhere around here. Probably from an auction.

Now I'm on edge, waiting for the groundbreaking of the next new shed.