Tonight a dollar could buy a lot of pleasure...Linda and I went down to Baskin-Robbins for the scoop night promo. It was busy but not as busy as I thought it would be. They were only allowing 10 people in the store at a time and there were another 10 probably ahead of us in line so we only had to wait just a few minutes before we got inside the store. When I looked through the windows at the kids scooping inside, I only saw two of them and thought "Oh my, why didn't they schedule more people to work on a night like this". But when we got up to the counter another young lady appeared from out back (must have been on break) and waited on us. I got a waffle bowl in a cup with Raspberry chip, pralines and cream and some sort of coffee flavored ice cream with nuts in it for my three scoops. There were signs on the doors that you were limited to just 3 scoops per customer(like we could eat any more than that). Linda picked out 3 flavors of some sort and we paid $2.03 for the whole shooting match. Such a deal!
The fact that it only cost around .99 for each of us reminded me of something that happened to me many years ago when I was traveling in Canada. We had stopped at a motel to check their room rate and after looking at the room, we asked about the free breakfast they advertised. The clerk was an Asian man and proceeded to give us a lecture on "cheap breakfasts". He said, "You no fill em up on 99 cent breakfast....not like my breakfast. Not 99 cent where you no fill em up". Apparently a competitor was giving him a run for his money with a .99 breakfast and he didn't like that. He got a little worked up over it...
But for our 99 cent it sure did "fill em up"....I was stuffed. They weren't tiny scoops of ice cream like I had envisioned but good sized ones. We let the boys lick the bowls when we were done. They were grateful for the little bit that they got. Based on the turnout at this store I bet that a lot of money was raised for the firemen tonight. What a fun time ! Who will be next ? We've had the free breakfast at Denny's and the cheap ice cream at Baskin-Robbins....maybe free donuts at Krispy Kreme... :)
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Help out a Good Cause...
Remember that today is the day when you can go to your local Baskin-Robbins store for .31 scoops. Help Baskin-Robbins honor America’s firefighters with a $100,000
donation to the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC)
National Junior Firefighter Program.
Participating stores will reduce prices of small ice cream
scoops to 31 cents*. At some locations, you may also have
an opportunity to make a donation to local fire charities.
We've got a store just down the street from us so when Linda gets off work at 6 tonight, you know where we're headin'....
donation to the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC)
National Junior Firefighter Program.
Participating stores will reduce prices of small ice cream
scoops to 31 cents*. At some locations, you may also have
an opportunity to make a donation to local fire charities.
We've got a store just down the street from us so when Linda gets off work at 6 tonight, you know where we're headin'....
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Hot Stuff...
Last night Linda decided that today we'd go to Avery Island....home of the Tabasco bottling plant. After some puttering around the house this morning, we headed out.
Tugboat hard at work...
As we crossed a bridge that passed over a swamp and then a lake, it seemed that it all ran together. Not sure if it's supposed to look this way or if it has flooded recently...
I saw on the news tonight where Texas had some hard rains yesterday and caused some flooding and I know there was a line of storms to the west of us yesterday so perhaps that is what caused all this water.
As we pulled up to the little toll shack, at the entrance to Avery Island, we got a good laugh out of this guy when he stretched this pole up to the truck window to get our money. Was a long pole with a clothespin on the end to clip your dollar bill to. Too cute !
We got to the visitor center and the parking lot was really full of cars and two buses along the side. Two bus loads of grade school kids had just gotten there and we could hear their chatter as we entered the lobby of the Tabasco building. We had a little bit of a wait before we could start our tour.
We were struck by what seemed to be a vinegary smell as we entered the building. Good reason for that....Once the peppers are ground into pepper mash, they are then placed in oak barrels that the company acquires from Jack Daniels (the distillery can only use them once and then they must be discarded). What a great way to recycle them. The pepper mash is placed in the barrels and sealed and a thick coating of salt (mined from the salt mines at Avery Island) is placed across the lid. The lids have holes in them so the gases from the fermenting peppers can escape. The salt prevents impurities from entering the barrels. The pepper mash cures in the barrels for three years and then it's opened up and mixed with vinegar and prepared into the famous Tabasco concoction. It mixes for up to 28 days in a vat before it is strained and bottled. These Tabasco folks are great at finding uses for leftover items. The seeds that are strained out of the sauce are sold to various companies that make gum and toothpaste...guess it gives them a little "zip". The barrels are reused and have a life of 22 - 100 years. Once they start to fall apart, the barrels are busted up and sold to be used in smokers (what an intense flavor that must be after having pepper mash in them for up to 100 years). After touring the plant we went over to the country store...
There we sampled many of the different flavors of sauce that Tabasco makes...I liked the sweet and spicy one the best. The others were too hot for me. We also tried the sweet and spicy ice cream....that was yummy ! It was sneaky ice cream....you'd take a bite and about a minute later you'd feel that "bite" in the back of your throat....very sneaky. By the time we got to the store all of the little kids had made it over there and were trying to find things to spend their money on...it was a zoo ! We looked around briefly and then got out of there.
On the way down I had seen this place and we decided to eat there on the way home...
They boasted the "world's best biscuits" so I thought we needed to check them out since I know my mom makes the world's best biscuits. They had three "blue plate specials" for $5.50 so Linda decided to try one. 
Evidently Linda's taste of chicken the other day made her cross over to the "dark side" as she selected Liver and Onions. She got all of this plus dessert for $5.50. I had a salad with shrimp and fresh sauteed mushrooms on it and it was very good. I had peach cobbler for dessert (asked for something that had their biscuits in it but they didn't have anything like shortcake, etc.)The cobbler was very good though. As we both climbed in the truck, stuffed from the great meal we'd just had, I reminded Linda of the long, bumpy ride back to Baton Rouge ahead of us. For any of you who have traveled I-10 west in Louisiana, the concrete seams are horrendous and we were pounded every mile that we covered. My thought is that there is no way that any of that dessert we ate had any chance of forming into fat cells with all that jiggling on the ride home..... That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Tugboat hard at work...
As we crossed a bridge that passed over a swamp and then a lake, it seemed that it all ran together. Not sure if it's supposed to look this way or if it has flooded recently...
I saw on the news tonight where Texas had some hard rains yesterday and caused some flooding and I know there was a line of storms to the west of us yesterday so perhaps that is what caused all this water.
As we pulled up to the little toll shack, at the entrance to Avery Island, we got a good laugh out of this guy when he stretched this pole up to the truck window to get our money. Was a long pole with a clothespin on the end to clip your dollar bill to. Too cute !We got to the visitor center and the parking lot was really full of cars and two buses along the side. Two bus loads of grade school kids had just gotten there and we could hear their chatter as we entered the lobby of the Tabasco building. We had a little bit of a wait before we could start our tour.
We were struck by what seemed to be a vinegary smell as we entered the building. Good reason for that....Once the peppers are ground into pepper mash, they are then placed in oak barrels that the company acquires from Jack Daniels (the distillery can only use them once and then they must be discarded). What a great way to recycle them. The pepper mash is placed in the barrels and sealed and a thick coating of salt (mined from the salt mines at Avery Island) is placed across the lid. The lids have holes in them so the gases from the fermenting peppers can escape. The salt prevents impurities from entering the barrels. The pepper mash cures in the barrels for three years and then it's opened up and mixed with vinegar and prepared into the famous Tabasco concoction. It mixes for up to 28 days in a vat before it is strained and bottled. These Tabasco folks are great at finding uses for leftover items. The seeds that are strained out of the sauce are sold to various companies that make gum and toothpaste...guess it gives them a little "zip". The barrels are reused and have a life of 22 - 100 years. Once they start to fall apart, the barrels are busted up and sold to be used in smokers (what an intense flavor that must be after having pepper mash in them for up to 100 years). After touring the plant we went over to the country store...
There we sampled many of the different flavors of sauce that Tabasco makes...I liked the sweet and spicy one the best. The others were too hot for me. We also tried the sweet and spicy ice cream....that was yummy ! It was sneaky ice cream....you'd take a bite and about a minute later you'd feel that "bite" in the back of your throat....very sneaky. By the time we got to the store all of the little kids had made it over there and were trying to find things to spend their money on...it was a zoo ! We looked around briefly and then got out of there.
On the way down I had seen this place and we decided to eat there on the way home...
They boasted the "world's best biscuits" so I thought we needed to check them out since I know my mom makes the world's best biscuits. They had three "blue plate specials" for $5.50 so Linda decided to try one. 
Evidently Linda's taste of chicken the other day made her cross over to the "dark side" as she selected Liver and Onions. She got all of this plus dessert for $5.50. I had a salad with shrimp and fresh sauteed mushrooms on it and it was very good. I had peach cobbler for dessert (asked for something that had their biscuits in it but they didn't have anything like shortcake, etc.)The cobbler was very good though. As we both climbed in the truck, stuffed from the great meal we'd just had, I reminded Linda of the long, bumpy ride back to Baton Rouge ahead of us. For any of you who have traveled I-10 west in Louisiana, the concrete seams are horrendous and we were pounded every mile that we covered. My thought is that there is no way that any of that dessert we ate had any chance of forming into fat cells with all that jiggling on the ride home..... That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
The Other Side of Town..
Linda had today off from work so we went for a ride and took the dogs with us. She wanted to show me a couple of places that she drives by when she works on the west side of town. We went to a farmer's market type of place and saw lots of fresh mustard greens, sweet potatoes and a variety of other veggies. We had to cross this bridge that has a railroad track running right through the middle of it. It's the oddest arrangement. From there we drove to the west side of Baton Rouge to a little restaurant where Linda always sees so many cars in the parking lot. For some reason they were closed...although the sign on the door said they should have been open at 12:30 on a Saturday. From there we drove back towards home and I suggested that we grab some lunch from a fast food place that originated in Baton Rouge.
Now typically we are vegetarians but sometimes in the interest of "food research" I deviate and want to check out something that someone has suggested to us. This place touts fresh chicken fingers (never frozen) and served with alot of love....Hmmm...so I punch up the address on the GPS and as luck would have it we were just a short distance from one of the locations. We follow the directions and were pleasantly taken past Lakeshore Drive to an area near LSU...There was a tiny little parking lot outside of "Cane's" so Linda stayed with the truck while I ran in and got some food. I got the "Caniac combo"...6 fingers, 2 things of a unique dipping sauce,coleslaw, bread, krinkle cut fries and a drink. We drove back towards the water we had seen and found a cute park where we could have a picnic.
It was wonderful ! A great breeze was blowing to break the humidity from the 85 degree day and there were kids and dogs playing on the little beach in front of the truck...the food was really tasty too. The chicken fingers were very moist and there was a great coating on them that made them crunchy. After lunch we decided to let Boomer go for a swim since it's been so long since he's had the opportunity.
Oh my, he had so much fun ! We hooked him to a long lead and then I held on to him as he dove into the water...chased the ducks and just had a grand ole time. Doesn't he look so happy ? Was good to see him playing. Schroeder on the other hand always runs the opposite direction of water....when Boomer got all frisky and wanted to come out of the water and play with him, Schroeder would have none of that. It was so much fun to get out and enjoy the outdoors plus we got to see some gorgeous houses along the water. I was beginning to think that there weren't any in Baton Rouge...am so tired of looking at slums and run down areas but it seems that right around the university that there are some really nice areas. Not sure how big a perimeter that encompasses but at least we saw SOME nice ones before returning to the other side of town. We did see another RV park that was way worse than this one....I told Linda to remind me the next time I start bellyaching about how bad this one is to remind me of that one....might cheer me up.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Pork At Its' Best...
Did you guys see the ABC news last night and the story about the airport John Murtha got government funding for in Johnstown, PA ? Here's an excerpt:
"The John Murtha Johnstown-Cambria County Airport has an impressive $18 million runway made of reinforced concrete that's big enough to land any airplane in North America. The airport also has a $7 million air traffic control tower, a $14 million hanger and $8 million radar. Most of the time, the only thing the airport doesn't have is airplanes."
Only three flights (no, you read it right..no numerals are missing from that number) a day go out of there and guess where they all go....Washington. Hmmm, wonder who that benefits ? Twenty passengers on average use this high tech, beautiful facility each DAY. Isn't that ludicrous ? Our tax money at work...And the great thing is there are more stimulus funds set aside ($800,000 dollars to be exact) to pave an alternate runway. What a joke...they barely use the main one and they want to spend more money to pave an alternate one. In addition to all of this, the cost of every ticket out of there is subsidized by the govt with even MORE tax payer dollars. $100 per airline ticket.....
I always thought of John Murtha as a pompous blow hard....this absurd use of U.S. tax dollars for a Pennsylvania project makes me embarrassed to admit that I'm a "Pennsylvanian" by birth. Another fine example of poor representation in Washington by a sitting house member who isn't in touch with our country's financial concerns but is only looking to get his face on the bronze plaque near the door. He needs to be shown to the door.
"The John Murtha Johnstown-Cambria County Airport has an impressive $18 million runway made of reinforced concrete that's big enough to land any airplane in North America. The airport also has a $7 million air traffic control tower, a $14 million hanger and $8 million radar. Most of the time, the only thing the airport doesn't have is airplanes."
Only three flights (no, you read it right..no numerals are missing from that number) a day go out of there and guess where they all go....Washington. Hmmm, wonder who that benefits ? Twenty passengers on average use this high tech, beautiful facility each DAY. Isn't that ludicrous ? Our tax money at work...And the great thing is there are more stimulus funds set aside ($800,000 dollars to be exact) to pave an alternate runway. What a joke...they barely use the main one and they want to spend more money to pave an alternate one. In addition to all of this, the cost of every ticket out of there is subsidized by the govt with even MORE tax payer dollars. $100 per airline ticket.....
I always thought of John Murtha as a pompous blow hard....this absurd use of U.S. tax dollars for a Pennsylvania project makes me embarrassed to admit that I'm a "Pennsylvanian" by birth. Another fine example of poor representation in Washington by a sitting house member who isn't in touch with our country's financial concerns but is only looking to get his face on the bronze plaque near the door. He needs to be shown to the door.
Get The Scoop - Mark Your Calendars !
Join us for 31 Cent Scoop Night at Baskin-Robbins®
and help us honor America’s firefighters with a $100,000
donation to the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC)
National Junior Firefighter Program.
Participating stores will reduce prices of small ice cream
scoops to 31 cents*. At some locations, you may also have
an opportunity to make a donation to local fire charities.
and help us honor America’s firefighters with a $100,000
donation to the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC)
National Junior Firefighter Program.
Participating stores will reduce prices of small ice cream
scoops to 31 cents*. At some locations, you may also have
an opportunity to make a donation to local fire charities.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Waste Stream
On today's Oprah episode the whole show was on Earth Day and there were tips to save money while being conscious of the environment. There was also a lot of information on the sheer volume of waste that we create that was mind boggling.
Did you know that there is a line of garbage off the coast of California that extends all the way to Japan. They estimate that there is 3.5 million tons of garbage in the ocean. This "swirl" of waste is twice the size of Texas and in some places it is 90 feet deep. Marine life often mistake the plastic bags and floating debris for food and consume it, causing certain death to many animals. I wondered as I first saw this video footage how there could be so much garbage in the ocean but as was explained anything that we throw along the side of road or blows off a landfill site eventually makes its way to the ocean. Everything flows to the ocean. An item tossed along the road, goes in the ditch, gets picked up by rain water and taken to a larger stream, until eventually all streams wind up in the ocean. Now you might think that cruise ships, who we've heard horror stories of dumping their waste in the ocean, are the culprits. Only 20%, of this garbage, can be attributed to any type of ships that are out there and throw their garage overboard. The rest comes from us on land. Plastic is the biggest problem....100 billion plastic bags(or 300 per person each year) are used in our country each year. We've all seen them along the highways, caught in trees and underbrush, etc. Several countries have banned their use but they are heavily used in the U.S. If there is one thing that each of us could pledge to do to help our environment, it would be to reduce (or eliminate) the amount of plastic we use in our daily lives. Everything from zip-loc bags (we are big offenders of this), plastic shopping bags, etc. Anything that has a one time use and then winds up in a landfill or in our ocean. Use washable, re-usable containers...don't buy the individual bottled water...Buy a water filter and make your own filtered water and put it in a reusable container.
There was so much more information given today and if you want to learn more, go to oprah's site. Let's make smarter choices for our planet. It's the only one we have. The next time you have something plastic in your hand, think about the giant stream of garbage flowing from California to Japan. Not the kind of legacy we want to leave for our children, eh ?
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Jolly "Green" Giants
Fortune 500 Challenge
The Green Power Partnership works with a wide variety of leading organizations — from Fortune 500 companies to local, state and federal governments, and a growing number of colleges and universities. The following Top Partner Rankings highlight the annual green power purchases of leading organizations within the United States and across individual industry sectors.
These green power purchases help reduce the environmental impacts of electricity use and support the development of new renewable generation capacity nationwide. Purchase amounts reflect U.S. operations only and are sourced from U.S.-based green power resources. Organizations can meet EPA purchase requirements using any combination of three different product options (1) Renewable Energy Certificates, (2) On-site generation, and (3) Utility green power products.
Purchase figures are based on annualized Partner contract amounts (kilowatt-hours), not calendar year totals. These rankings are updated on a quarterly schedule. Find out how your organization can partner with EPA today! To view a top partner list, go here:
See how some companies are going to great lengths to reduce their giant "footprint" on our planet....Support these companies in their efforts to do the right thing !
The Green Power Partnership works with a wide variety of leading organizations — from Fortune 500 companies to local, state and federal governments, and a growing number of colleges and universities. The following Top Partner Rankings highlight the annual green power purchases of leading organizations within the United States and across individual industry sectors.
These green power purchases help reduce the environmental impacts of electricity use and support the development of new renewable generation capacity nationwide. Purchase amounts reflect U.S. operations only and are sourced from U.S.-based green power resources. Organizations can meet EPA purchase requirements using any combination of three different product options (1) Renewable Energy Certificates, (2) On-site generation, and (3) Utility green power products.
Purchase figures are based on annualized Partner contract amounts (kilowatt-hours), not calendar year totals. These rankings are updated on a quarterly schedule. Find out how your organization can partner with EPA today! To view a top partner list, go here:
See how some companies are going to great lengths to reduce their giant "footprint" on our planet....Support these companies in their efforts to do the right thing !
Be Lean and Green
Happy Earth Day !
Why Reducing Your Carbon Footprint is Important
What exactly is a carbon footprint? Every human being impacts the environment through simple practices that you may or may not realize are harmful. Though the effects themselves may seem minute or insignificant, the cumulative effects of wasteful habits add up to a significant factor in global warming.
Ten Simple Ways to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint
1. Change at least three light bulbs in your home with Energy Star® approved bulbs. Help the environment by reducing your energy consumption by as much as 90 percent, which in turn helps reduce the consumption of fossil fuel and carbon emissions. It doesn't hurt that it saves money on your energy bill as well.
2. Properly insulate and weatherize the interior and exterior of your home.
3. Walk, ride a bike or use public transportation whenever possible.
4. Buy renewable energy.
5. Reuse containers, paper and other conservable items, and participate in your local recycling program. Consider donating unwanted items to local agencies rather than adding to your local landfill.
6. Purchase Energy Star® appliances. Efficient appliances will help conserve both water and electricity in your home.
7. Start a paper recycling program at work.
8. Before purchasing a vehicle, research emission standards and gas mileage. The number of clean and fuel-efficient vehicles currently available is growing by leaps and bounds.
9. Hang your clothes to dry rather than using your dryer.
10. Educate others about the effects of greenhouse gas emissions, and try to encourage friends, co-workers, family and students to adopt a few green practices. One person telling a few friends and family members could spread the power of green like wildfire.
Catching Up...
Our computer is once again acting up so consequently I haven't posted recently. Right at this moment it is behaving so I figured I'd get a quick post on here.
Weather is great this week. In the high 70's to low 80's. Linda's work seems to be thinning out a little. The one place she had been working at quite a bit has now hired more nurses so she has had two cancellations of shifts this week. Today was one of those days so we ran out to Lowes and at 1:30 her agency called and needed her at a new location so we hurried back as it will take her 45 min. to get there. She is still waiting to here on the job in Virginia that she applied for. It's a govt. job and they hope to submit her paperwork, along with two others by Friday and then it will take about another week to hear anything back on it. So that one is still on hold....She got a call from her other agency, wanting her to go to Alaska for a travel nursing assignment. While this might sound ideal, this town has no roads in or out so would have to fly in...work for 13 weeks...go to work by taxi and there's still snow on the ground there. Is in the town of Bethel...which is near Bering Strait....the summer high would probably be around 60. Everything you need to buy (groceries included) would need to be ordered in and are very expensive. So after working the numbers, she decided to pass on that job. Although I could go I would probably not be able to find work there due to small size and the cost would outweigh the benefits and then we'd have to figure out something with the rig and dogs. While we would like to go to Alaska at some point (perhaps to work) this isn't the time or place to do that.
In other news we did get to try crawfish....everyone has been telling us to make sure we try it before we leave LA. Bought a package of it that was already cooked, deveined, etc. and made stuffed portabella mushroom caps out of it. Was amazing !! Diced some onion, mushroom stem, fresh garlic and sauteed...added some wine and then the crawfish to warm through. Few breadcrumbs to absorb the liquid and put on top of the caps which I had cooked slightly in a pan....Packed the mushrooms with the filling and topped with parmesan cheese. It was yummy !! The crawfish remind me of langostinos...would probably have been a little sweeter if they had been fresh but we figured it was a safe way to try them to see if we liked them. Not sure I'd have the patience to pluck and dig that little bit of meat out of them but we can say we've had them.
On the FEMA/disaster side of things....PB is on stand-by (although I haven't had a call) for four states now. Florida, Georgia,Indiana and Alabama are the states for stand-by. FEMA has required even more "stuff" for inspectors....extensive background check,etc. Not sure if that will slow down getting people ready to deploy (like me)or not. We'll see what happens.
Guess that is the latest scoop....computer starting to get jittery..more later..
Weather is great this week. In the high 70's to low 80's. Linda's work seems to be thinning out a little. The one place she had been working at quite a bit has now hired more nurses so she has had two cancellations of shifts this week. Today was one of those days so we ran out to Lowes and at 1:30 her agency called and needed her at a new location so we hurried back as it will take her 45 min. to get there. She is still waiting to here on the job in Virginia that she applied for. It's a govt. job and they hope to submit her paperwork, along with two others by Friday and then it will take about another week to hear anything back on it. So that one is still on hold....She got a call from her other agency, wanting her to go to Alaska for a travel nursing assignment. While this might sound ideal, this town has no roads in or out so would have to fly in...work for 13 weeks...go to work by taxi and there's still snow on the ground there. Is in the town of Bethel...which is near Bering Strait....the summer high would probably be around 60. Everything you need to buy (groceries included) would need to be ordered in and are very expensive. So after working the numbers, she decided to pass on that job. Although I could go I would probably not be able to find work there due to small size and the cost would outweigh the benefits and then we'd have to figure out something with the rig and dogs. While we would like to go to Alaska at some point (perhaps to work) this isn't the time or place to do that.
In other news we did get to try crawfish....everyone has been telling us to make sure we try it before we leave LA. Bought a package of it that was already cooked, deveined, etc. and made stuffed portabella mushroom caps out of it. Was amazing !! Diced some onion, mushroom stem, fresh garlic and sauteed...added some wine and then the crawfish to warm through. Few breadcrumbs to absorb the liquid and put on top of the caps which I had cooked slightly in a pan....Packed the mushrooms with the filling and topped with parmesan cheese. It was yummy !! The crawfish remind me of langostinos...would probably have been a little sweeter if they had been fresh but we figured it was a safe way to try them to see if we liked them. Not sure I'd have the patience to pluck and dig that little bit of meat out of them but we can say we've had them.
On the FEMA/disaster side of things....PB is on stand-by (although I haven't had a call) for four states now. Florida, Georgia,Indiana and Alabama are the states for stand-by. FEMA has required even more "stuff" for inspectors....extensive background check,etc. Not sure if that will slow down getting people ready to deploy (like me)or not. We'll see what happens.
Guess that is the latest scoop....computer starting to get jittery..more later..
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