The Ice Maiden...

Just got back from a wonderful day walking through Antwerp, and enjoying the annual Ice and Snow Fête. We managed to miss a rain shower just as we arrived in town, then there was yet another while we spent some 90 minutes wandering following the long queue through the sub-zero exhibit tent. We dressed warmly, and were very glad that we did.

The theme this year for the exhibits was Peter Paul Rubens. And, of course, in the classic Rubens style, there were lots of plump, naked ladies (and some plump, naked guys, to be fair). The ice sculptures were marvelous, and if you ever get the chance to go to one of these, you simply must. The artistry is fabulous, and the works are magical, especially with the play of light through the ice.

And, of course, they had the obgligatory ice-bar, where you could get a shot of Stoly or Jaeger, served in a glass made of ice.

While in Antwerp, we also enjoyed a wonderful lunch of steamed mussels, accompanied by some wonderful Belgian beer. We managed to get a window-seat, and enjoyed the parade of humanity walking by while we plucked our tender treats from their shells. Mmmmmmm!

We ran a bit short of time, and even ended up running (quite literally) to catch our train. But it was such a nice city that we decided that we simply must go back. In particular, we want to visit the beautiful cathedral, located near the grand place. It is a beautiful old structure, and sits as a landmark visible from most of the city. And so many other places to see, too... But that's for next time!

In all, it was a great day!

Aaahhhhhh! Christmas!

We've had a beautiful Christmas, here in Belgium, and have been quite fortunate with the weather.

Yesterday, Christmas Eve, it was dreary, with rain showers off and on for most of the day. The weather finally eased up in the late afternoon, and then came the wind. Gusty, blustery, cool but not icy, and no more rain.

We drove to Mons for the Christmas Eve vigil mass held on SHAPE, and enjoyed a lovely service. The parish choir was assisted by some young local musicians, including a beautiful harp, a couple of cellos, a flute, and a violin. And, of course, the usual piano accompaniment. All very wonderfully arranged and delivered.

After mass, we drove home on nearly-empty roads, getting battered by the wind that had been steadily picking up through the evening. Not enough ever to cause damage, but you would certainly need to hold on to your hat when out in it. And not long after we reached home, than the rain started again. We had to round up the cats, who had wanted out when we got home. And Stuart, as usual, was the stubborn one and wouldn't come in until he could no longer keep dry in the bushes. And then it began to pour!

For about and hour, as the Belgians say, "it rained ropes!" We had to check on all the windows to make sure everything was securely closed, as the wind was battering the house and would blow the rain into the smallest openings. We finally headed to bed and listened to the storm for a while before dropping off to sleep.

When we awoke this morning, we found it was a gorgeous day! A beautiful sunrise, with blue skies, puffy little cumulus clouds, and just enough wind to keep them scudding across the sky. We opened our packages, then after enjoying a little buche de nöel (a log-shaped cake), we enjoyed a pleasant walk around the neighborhood. We haven't had many days this nice for quite a while, and we just had to enjoy it while it lasted. Tomorrow we will probably return the fog, drizzle, and rain that is more typical of our winter weather.

Holiday Eating Tips...

Thanks to David McC for passing this on... It was so good that I just had to share.

1. Avoid carrot sticks. Anyone who puts carrots on a holiday buffet table knows nothing of the Christmas spirit. In fact, if you see carrots, leave immediately. Go next door, where they're serving rum balls.

2. Drink as much eggnog as you can. And quickly. Like fine single-malt scotch, it's rare. In fact, it's even rarer than single-malt scotch. You can't find it any other time of year but now. So drink up! Who cares that it has 10,000 calories in every sip? It's not as if you're going to turn into an eggnog-aholic or something. It's a treat. Enjoy it. Have one for me. Have two. It's later than you think. It's Christmas!

3. If something comes with gravy, use it. That's the whole point of gravy. Gravy does not stand alone. Pour it on. Make a volcano out of your mashed potatoes. Fill it with gravy. Eat the volcano. Repeat.

4. As for mashed potatoes, always ask if they're made with skim milk or whole milk. If it's skim, pass. Why bother? It's like buying a sports car with an automatic transmission.

5. Do not have a snack before going to a party in an effort to control your eating. The whole point of going to a Christmas party is to eat other people's food for free. Lots of it. Hello?

6. Under no circumstances should you exercise between now and New Year's. You can do that in January when you have nothing else to do. This is the time for long naps, which you'll need after circling the buffet table while carrying a 10-pound plate of food and that vat of eggnog.

7. If you come across something really good at a buffet table, like frosted Christmas cookies in the shape and size of Santa, position yourself near them and don't budge. Have as many as you can before becoming the centre of attention. They're like a beautiful pair of shoes. If you leave them behind, you're never going to see them again.

8. Same for pies. Apple. Pumpkin. Mincemeat. Have a slice of each. Or, if you don't like mincemeat, have two apples and one pumpkin. Always have three. When else do you get to have more than one dessert? Labour Day?

9. Did someone mention fruitcake? Granted, it's loaded with the mandatory celebratory calories, but avoid it at all cost. I mean, have some standards.

10. One final tip: If you don't feel terrible when you leave the party or get up from the table, you haven't been paying attention. Reread all tips; start over, but hurry, January is just around the corner.

Remember this motto to live by:

"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, martini in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO HOT!!"

And then there is... As sharp as bailing wire....

In my part-time job, I look after our local woodcrafts shop a few days every month. And, of course, one part of the job is tool maintenance.

Well, I had a slow day (everyone seems to have finished holiday project) and started looking through the wood chisels in the tool cabinet. It seems the chisels had suffered a bit from an occasional drop to the concrete floor, and needed more than a little sharpening. Of course, the first part of the project was to build a new chisel rack, so they would no longer jump to the floor (and attack your toes, by the way) when the cabinet door was opened.

Then the real work started... I had to grind back nearly 1/8 inch of steel from the 1-inch wide chisel, just to get to where I could shape a decent edge (thank god for power tools for that little chore!). Then it was just the time-consuming work of forming a new edge. I spent about 2 hours of hand-sharpening before I had to quit and close the shop. Fortunately, there is only a little left to do. Probably another 30 minutes of forming the edge, then honing it to where it is truly sharp. The blade geometry will not let it become as sharp as a razor, but it will still slice hairs off the back of your hand when I'me done with it.

Sharp as a Jedi Lightsabre!

This is an old razor, from my Mom's side of the family, which I have repaired by replacing the handles...

For a long time I had been interested in Straght-razors, but until about a year ago, I had not taken the plunge. New ones were expensive, and I'd heard lots of bad things about shaving with them (though, lots of good things, too). Then I discovered some internet resources on straight-razor shaving, and finally, I discovered e-bay.

What I learned on the internet is that there are three important considerations to getting a good shave from a straight-razor. First, you simply must have a good-quality razor to begin with. The metalurgy is extremely important. With the edge so fine, the metal has to be very stiff to keep the cutting edge from curling over when it encounters a whisker. But it also has to be tough enough that you don't get brittle chips falling out of the edge. And, of course, it needs to be in good condition. There are lots of used razors out there (and a few new ones, too) and some are bad, some are good, and a few are really, really good. It takes luck and perseverence to find them, however.

Second, you have to get the razor sharp... really, really sharp, but not "oversharp." That takes practice and time. But after a while, just like most simple skills, you get the hang of it and it comes naturally. And of course, along with getting the razor sharp, there is the challenge of keeping it sharp. [an aside here... actually, you can get any razor sharp. But if the metalurgy is poor, the razor will not stay sharp to even complete the first shaving stroke. Really good metalurgy will get you through a couple of shaves without needing a trip to the strop.]

And finally, you have to learn how to shave. Little that you learned from safety razors will apply. You will cut yourself (though I've had far worse cuts and nicks from a so-called safety-razor). But the cuts actually don't usually bleed a lot, and stop quickly without even using a styptic pencil. Unless you get really careless, that is.

If you get a good razor, then master the arts of sharpening and shaving, you will be rewarded with the smoothest shave you have ever experienced.

But I've digressed....

Here's the real story I wanted to tell.

When I was home this past summer, Mom had rummaged through her cupboards and presented me with 3 old razors that came from her side of the family. All have broken handles, so couldn't be used very well. But I was able to sharpen a couple of them, and they have the characteristics of being really good shavers. So, I decided to put new handles on them.

I was able to find a source of pins (and even replacement handles) on the internet, but wanted to craft the scales (what they call the handles) myself. I recently located a source of stabilized "exotic" woods, and ordered a bit of stabilized wild cherry burl. And after a few days in the woodshop and some careful finishing (along with fixing a few mistakes I'd made), the first razor was finished. It is, indeed a thing of beauty.

After some additional sharpening and honing, I tried the razor this morning, and yes... it is a good shaver! Perhaps not quite as sharp as a Jedi lightsabre, but it does mow down the whiskers pretty nicely.

It's so satisfying to be able to use a tool that your grandfather (or perhaps great-grandfather) used so many years ago. And it has a lot more years of life left in it still.

A lovely crisp morning...

When daylight finally broke here in Belgium, I was greeted by this lovely scene in the back yard. The skies were temporarily clear, and everything was coated with a thin layer of frost. The past few days have been cold and dreary, so it was nice to get the dreary part over with, if only for a little while. Rain is supposed to return by the end of the day.

Now, THIS is cool...

If you ever wanted to get a real bird's eye view, this is the place to do it! Follow Tillie's adventures!

And thanks to ACE for finding this site.

Just a little juice, please...

Electricity in Europe is different... Ok, this is a long story, so bear with me.

One of the things that really appealed to us about the house we rented in Tertre is the wonderful kitchen. It is huge by Belgian standards, and pretty nice by American standards, as well. Nice convection oven, vitroceramic cooktop, an electric grill, a steamer, and a deep fat fryer... all built in. Well, the problem turned out to be that we never use the deep fat fryer, and because the steamer is missing its lid (a little glass thing that happens to cost over 100 Euros!) we rarely use the steamer. And the vitroceramic cooktop had only two elements, so we never had enough room to really do much cooking. Imagine that you could only cook in two pots at a time, and then only if they were both relatively small. Use a big pot, and there's no room for another one, even tiny-sized.

After doing a survey of how things were put together and looking at what was available on the market, I got the bright idea of changing out the deep fryer and the steamer for a couple of ordinary electric cooking units (the little two-burner, "modular" things). I looked in the local market and didn't really like what I found, but then saw that the IKEA store happened to sell these things. So off to Brussels we drove, and a few hundred Euros later (no, the cooktops were not that expensive, but you have to remember that IKEA is a very dangerous place... lots of temptations) we drove back to Tertre with our loot. Minus the cooktops, however, because those are never "in stock" and would be delivered in about 10 days.

Well, the appointed day finally came (after a delay caused by my scheduling conflicts), and the delivery truck arrived, as promised, with the cooktops. IKEA is very good about things like this, and the delivery guys even spoke really good English (I could have managed in French, but it would have been a real struggle).

And then the battle started...

I decided that I should go ahead to remove the deep fryer and steamer, so cleared out the drawers below, unplugged them from their outlets, and then tried to lift the units out.

Nope, no go. More looks using a bright flashlight, knocks on the head, things falling into the eyes, and I see the little screws that hold the retaining clips in place. Out comes the little phillips screwdriver, and the first set of clips comes undone. Then I go to the second set of clips...

Oops. The screwdriver is nowhere near long enough, so I go searching through the tool bin for one that will work. Voila! And back to the knocks on the head. I manage to get all the retaining clips removed, take a short break and have a beer to congratulate myself on a job well done, then get back to work.

Ok, lets start lifting these puppies out! I said, lets start lifting these little sons of female dogs out! Nope, ain't happening. I could lift the front of the units out, but the back was firmly held in place. Yup, I think there's another clip to undo, but it is in back and I can't see it (remember, these are deep units). So I go search out a mirror and with the help of the flashlight, I can see those darned clips. I get out my trusty screwdriver to release them...

And the screwdrive will not reach. Try as I might, the screwdriver will not reach far enough to engage the screw. I go rummaging through tool bins to no avail. I find a long rod and try to bash the clips out of the way (they rotate in and out of position). This is a significant effort, since I can't see the blasted things without the mirror, nor without a flashlight. I have to prop the mirror just so, prop the flashlight just so, and then move the rod into position, while watching in the mirror. This is a really, really hard hand-eye coordination exercise. I finally manage to get the rod into position and can tap it with the hammer, but the clip will not completely disengage.

Now I'm getting upset. I fear I might have to go to the store and actually buy a really long screwdriver (one of those 14-inchers, I think) to do the job. But I still have hope. I start rummaging again through the toolbox and manage to find some assorted parts... a half-inch-socket wrench extension... then a quarter-inch-socket extension... then the half/quarter inch adapter... then a screwdriver tip, and finally, the quarter-inch socket that would fit the screwdriver tip.

So far so good. Now comes the really hard part... how do I manage to get a Rube Goldberg screwdriver to engage a screwhead that I cannot even see without a flashlight and a mirror held at an odd angle? After some more bashes of the head, the flashlight or mirror falling over separately or together several times, and some new scars-to-be on my knuckles, I finally figure it out... you've got to close your eyes!

Yes, that sounds counterintuitive, but it works. You use the mirror to get things reasonably lined-up, then get a good picture in your head of which way you need to move things, and how far, and then you do it without looking in the mirror. After you have made the move, then you look to see how well you did. A series of small steps and you are there. And the final one, well, that's by feel... you line the screwdriver tip up with the slot, close your eyes, then press it into place. If it feels like it dropped into the slot you give a little twist...Voila!

Finally, after about 3 hours of bad language, I managed to get the fryer and steamer removed from the countertop. And then it was time to start on the electrical end of things.

As I said at the beginning, European electricity is different. The good thing is that they use plugs for virtually everything. Nothing in our house is hard-wired into an invisible box in the wall. This makes it really easy to change appliances, especially since most things are standard sizes.

The bad thing... well, it starts with everything being 230 volt/50hz. If you have American appliances, you have to buy a transformer. If you have an appliance with an American electric clock, you can't use it, because the clock will lose nearly 10 minutes every hour. Fortunately, I didn't have to deal with these issues, as the cooktops were very standard Euro-spec. I double-checked the circuit breakers, just to make sure I wasn't over-amping the lines, and I could see that I would be OK. The existing cooking unit had at least another 18 amps of capacity on it's circuit, and there was capacity on the circuit that had held the fryer and steamer, as well. All looked good so far.

Now, I've got to make a little aside here... Some months back the landlord had some electricians in to do some necessary repairs. I was very attentive during this, as I knew European wiring was different, and that I could learn something by watching and asking an occasional question. Unfortunately I had an American electrical paradigm in place, so even though I got good answers to my questions, I managed to miss something.

When I looked at the circuit breakers to check capacity, I thought it odd that each one had two wires. In North American systems, they all have one wire (for the 110 volt circuits), except for your 220 volt circuits, which have 2 wires to the breaker. What should have clued me was that a few of the breakers had 3 wires... And one of the plugs I had to use had four prongs... but I was still thinking in my American paradigm and blithely went on.

To explain my confusion, it may be helpful to explain (for the unitiated) how American wiring works... The standard American house runs most of its circuits on 110 volts, and a handful of large appliances on 220 volts. To do this, there are two "live" lines that come into the house, plus what is called a "neutral" line. You get 110 volts by running current between either of the live lines and the neutral line. You get 220 volts by connecting the two live lines. You try to balance the loads on the lines by putting about half the 110 volt circuits on one live line, and the rest on the other one. Pretty simple system, actually.

Now to put the one new cooktop onto the circuit with the other cooktop, I have to change the plug, because the existing one is not rated for the amperage I need (the breaker and the wires are fine, though). So imagine my surprise when I pull apart the plug and outlet and find that I have a 4-prong plug and there are 4 big wires running to the outlet. I check the plug internals and find that one of the prongs hasn't been wired. I scratch my head some, then get the voltmeter out again (I had use it to make absolutely sure that the circuit was absoloutely dead before I tore into it), flipped the breaker back on, and started to probe...

Ok, Black to Blue, I've got 230 volts. Black to Brown, I have 230 volts. Blue to Brown... Ditto, 230 volts... this is getting strange. Then any one of them to the Green wire show 130 volts... definitely strange. I double check and it is the same. It appears that I have no neutral wire... It appears that no matter which pair of "live" wires I choose, I have 230 volts. I think about this strange thing for a while, and finally figure out what is going on... I check in the circuit breaker box, by pulling the cover off the panel and look at the wires coming in from the meter... Yup, 4 wires. Yup, the Europeans are using 3-phase wiring, which I know only a little about (I've got to confess that I managed to avoid taking the Fundimentals of Electricity course as I went through Engineering school).

Anyway, I finally decided that there were a couple of ways I could hook up the second cooktop, but there was thankfully enough capacity that I could just do it in parallel with the existing one. I finished the wiring, flipped the breaker, turned on the units, and it worked, and the breakers didn't pop, and the wires didn't get hot. The third cooktop, thankfully, just plugged right in to an existing outlet, and that was really, really easy.

I guess I've got to inquire of some friends who are a lot more familiar with this 3-phase stuff and find out what I need to know. In the meantime, the new cooktops are working nicely. (PHEW!) And now, we can finally cook with more than two tiny pots at a time. There's a little more finish work to do, but that's a job for tomorrow. And the steamer and deep fryer have to go to attic storage, since I'm sure the owner of this house wants them back in place before we leave in a few years.

Now, as an aside, in looking at the wiring, you might think that you don't need those silly transformers to run your 110 volt appliances... you can just run a circuit from the live wire to ground, and voila! 130 volts! You still have the 50hz issue to contend with, but most American appliances will actually run nicely on 130 volts. Unfortunately, the Europeans have figured out how to prevent this from happening... And what they do is to put a ground-fault interrupter that goes between the meter and the circuit breaker box. Any teensy little circuit that goes between a live wire and the ground wire will shut down the entire house! I suppose it is technically a safety issue, but at the same time it sure keeps those pesky North American appliances out of the European economy.

Simply delicious...

I'm off to the Christmas gathering of the Crafts Center, where I'm occasionally doing something I actually get paid (a little) for. Since this is a pot-luck affair, I am taking my apple crisp, which seems to go over pretty well. I'm always tinkering with this particular recipe, so I guess you could call it a work in progress.

The origins of this recipe go back a few years to when I was living by myself in Jubail, Saudi Arabia. The local market had lots of produce, and the apples were a good price. I remembered fondly my Mom's apple crisps, so I decided to make one for myself. And it was, well, not a disaster, but nothing like my Mom's crisp, nor any other crisp I'd had. It was more like an apple pudding with a bit of cinnamon flavor.

I eventually broke down and made a call to my Mom (at about $2.50 per minute for the call, by the way) and asked her about her recipe for apple crisp. And she said something like "Oh, I really don't have a recipe for that. I just sort of put it together." So then I had to have her just describe what she puts in it. And she said "Oh, some apples, sugar, cinnamon, some oatmeal in the topping, a little bit of flour."

This sounded just like the tasty, non-crisp disaster I had created. And then she said, "Oh, and a little butter, too." And at that point the light-bulb went on... and I started to wonder if I was undergoing premature senility by not just forgetting butter, but not even letting it enter my thought process for the dish.

Anyway, after that, the crisps were pretty good, and I would make myself one about every other week. And I could always count on regular invites over to someone's place for dinner, especially if I could provide the dessert.

Like I said, this recipe has evolved over time, and still changes a little with every batch. Feel free to experiment with it yourself, as it is a pretty forgiving dish. Different spices, maybe some almond slices in the topping, and so on.

But I digress... So here's the recipe for my "famous" apple crisp.


Dave's Famous Apple Crisp

Warning, may be habit forming!
Warning, may be fattening!
Warning, this makes a big crisp, so it is going to be extra fattening if you don't share!


Topping
3/4 cup sugar
1 Tbsp molasses
1/4 cup flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup rolled oats (more if you like)
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick)

With a fork, blend the molasses into the sugar until it is evenly mixed. Add the flour, cinnamon, salt, and oats, and blend together. Add the butter in little pats, then blend it in with a fork, or use a mixer. If the mixture turns out too "stickey" you can add more rolled oats.

The "filling"
8 medium granny smith apples, peeled and sliced
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup rolled oats
2 Tbsp butter

Mix the dry ingredients, then use the mixture to coat the apples. Put the coated apples into a baking dish and add any of the mixture that remains. Dot with little dabs of the butter. I use a 10-inch deep-dish pie plate for this, and the apples pile up pretty high. Don't worry, they'll settle as they cook.

Put the dish of apples into a microwave on high, and cook for about 12-15 minutes. You want the apples to start to cook, and settle some, but not to turn to mush. When it's done to your satisfaction, pull this out, mix it a little with a fork, then set it aside.


Putting it all together
Sprinkle the topping mixture over the partially cooked apples, making a nice even layer on the top. Pop this into a preheated oven (about 350F) and cook until the topping starts to brown, about 30 minutes. Don't let it burn!

Pull the finished crisp out of the oven, let it cool to serving temperature, and then serve with a nice scoop of french vanilla ice-cream. Enjoy!

Optional step: Once the topping is mixed, put it into the refrigerator to chill... just long enough for it to firm up a bit. Then roll it out between two sheets of waxed paper into a shape the size of your dish. Then just plop this down onto your apple filling.

Cooking option: You can skip the microwave step, but you are likely to have to cook this at 300F for about an hour. This recipe is pretty big, so you have trouble getting the interior to cook without burning the topping. I think it comes out better with the pre-cooking in the microwave, followed by a finishing step in the oven. It's a bit faster, too.

The Spirit of Christmas...

Maurine Dowd recently published what one might call a particularly spiteful piece on what she thinks of the Christmas season. Depressing stuff, and I'm not going to link to it. However...

The Anchoress has posted a particularly eloquent and moving response to Ms. Dowd's column, which you can read here. It is truly a wonderful reminder of the spirit of Christmas. A warning, though... you are not likely to get through it with dry eyes.

This weather could be depressing...

I'm glad that I grew up in the Pacific Northwest, where foggy days were common. The fog here in Belgium, today, is terrible.

I was out driving earlier today to take a friend to a doctor's appointment, and later to attend a short meeting. If anything, the fog has become worse as the day has progressed. And it really messes up the traffic.

The A-7 Autoroute passes through our area, and traffic there has suffered from all the low visibility. This is a major trucking route from Brussels and Rotterdam, so during the day there are lots and lots of big rigs travelling the roads. Mix in the cars with impatient drivers, and then add this fog and you have a recipie for a mess. And, in fact, there was a bad accident this morning just south of Mons, involving several cars and at least one large truck. It took around two hours to remove all the crunched vehicles.

The Alphabet...

Just finished reading Sue Grafton's recent book R is for Ricochet. Stayed up to near-midnight last night, then finished it off in another couple of hours this morning. A good read, and Grafton is definitely back in her stride with this book. An outlook for a better future for most of the "good" guys at the end (while the most of the bad-guys get their just desserts). Although she has slowed the pace of her publishing, her books are better for it. She has apparently avoided the trap of many "series" authors, who either make the stories become all too trite and predictable, or change the ambiance of the stories to somber, gloomy, and depressing.

Four stars for this book!

Guilt free!...

I found this wonderful thing while browsing a favorite weblog, and just couldn't resist it. It's pretty good, and satisfies at least part of the craving. If only they could provide the tactile experience to go with it!

Drive your co-workers crazy!

And a hat tip to Ace

Ah, yes... I did used to have a beard!

A Christmas Musical Matinee...

Just got back from the Christmas Concert presented by the SHAPE Jazz Orchestra. A very enjoyable mix of traditional and contemporary Christmas music. I'm always pleased by the quality of the musical talent, and this show was no exception. Though the orchestra is mostly American, Italy and Estonia were also represented.

A little humor...

My brother Ted sent me an e-mail the other day, with a list of puns. I thought they were pretty funny, so I'll share:

1. Two vultures board an airplane, each carrying two dead raccoons. The stewardess looks at them and says, "I'm sorry, gentlemen, only one carrion allowed per passenger."
   
2. Two fish swim into a concrete wall. The one turns to the other and says "Dam!".
3. Two Eskimos sitting in a kayak were chilly, so they lit a fire in the craft. Not surprisingly, it sank, proving once again that you can't have your kayak and heat it too.
4. Two hydrogen atoms meet. One says "I've lost my electron." The other says "Are you sure?" The first replies "Yes, I'm positive."
5. Did you hear about the Buddhist who refused Novocain during a root canal? His goal was to transcend dental medication.
6. A group of chess enthusiasts checked into a hotel and were standing in the lobby discussing their recent tournament victories. After about an hour the manager came out of the office and asked them to disperse. "But why?" they asked, as they moved off. "Because", he said, "I can't stand chess nuts boasting in an open foyer."
7. A woman has twins and gives them up for adoption. One of them goes to a family in Egypt and is named "Ahmal." The other goes to a family in Spain and is named "Juan." Years later, Juan sends a picture of himself to his birth mother. Upon receiving the picture, she tells her husband that she wishes she also had a picture of Ahmal. Her husband responds, "They're twins! If you've seen Juan, you've seen Ahmal."
8. These friars were behind on their belfry payments, so they opened up A small florist shop to raise funds. Since everyone liked to buy flowers from the men of God, a rival florist across town thought the competition was unfair. He asked the good fathers to close down, but they would not. He went back and begged the friars to close. They ignored him. So, the rival florist hired Hugh MacTaggart, the roughest and most vicious thug in town, to "persuade" them to close. Hugh beat up the friars and trashed their store, saying he'd be back if they didn't close up shop. Terrified, they did so, thereby proving that only Hugh can prevent florist friars.
9. Mahatma Gandhi, as you know, walked barefoot most of the time, which produced an impressive set of calluses on his feet. He also ate very little, which made him rather frail; and with his odd diet, he suffered from bad breath. This made him ..(Oh, man, this is so bad, it's good).....A super calloused fragile mystic hexed by halitosis.
10. And finally, there was the person who sent ten different puns to her friends, with the hope that at least one of the puns would make them laugh. No pun in ten did!

Well, I thought they were funny.

Morning Visitor

Looked out the back window this morning, and saw a pic vert poking around in what passes for our lawn, looking for grubs. The pic vert is a largish woodpecker, with georgeous green (almost parrot green) feathers and a brilliant red patch on the top of his head. They are pretty shy and wary, so I don't worry too much about our cats catching one.

I'll have to look them up in a bird book to figure out whether they are just passing through on a winter migration, or if they stick around here through the year.

The Smell of Christmas!

Oh, how I love the smell of Christmas... especially the aroma of butter, vanilla, and spice wafting out of the kitchen. Dorothy is making her first batch of the season, and I can't help but sneak in an grab a couple fresh from the oven. Mmmmmmm!

A beautiful day in Belgium...

Woke up this morning to clear skies and frost on the ground. The mercury dropped to about -3C as the sun came up. Considering the weather we've had for the past few weeks, this is pretty nice!

Dorothy and I switched cars for the day, as the Volvo has a burned-out headlamp (and it's pretty dark when she heads out in the AM). I had to go find the owners manual, then spend quite a while working my way through it (alas, it's in Italian, so it really is a struggle) until I finally found the part about the headlamps. I feared it would be as bad as the old Ford Aerostar that we used to own (and I never did really figure out a good way to do those... it would take me literally hours), but it turns out they are amazingly easy. Just don't touch the glass of the bulb.

After the morning ablutions and getting decent, I headed off to the local PX at Chievres. They had the bulbs, and I was lucky enough to get one on sale... a packaging phase-out, I guess, because the other bulbs looked just the same but cost about $1.00 more.

And then it was off to Mons and the bank at SHAPE. The Euro account was running low, so I had to exchange some dollars... OUCH! The dollar has hit a record low against the Euro, but there are bills to pay and there's little choice.

Finally, back home to enjoy the Friday afternoon, and a bit of Belgian beer. Life is so good!

And so it begins...

Just got signed up for my own blogging page. A little bit of a journal, a little bit of a rant, and (I hope) a little humor now and then