What Manly Things Did You Do Today?

Hard to beat the gratification that comes with fixing something yourself.

 

I fixed the loose wheels on my bow bag, after 3 e-mails and 2 calls to the company failed to yield any instructions on how to do it.

 

The nice thing about being retired I can sit around and smoke all day long. No - not that type of smoking - I mean smoking meats, cheese, fish et cetera. Below is today's adventure in smoking. I got a very nice fillet of steelhead (a member of the salmon family) which is abundant here in the northwest rivers. Got up at 5 a.m. to dry brine the fillets (I cut them into about 4 inch strips). Brine = 4 cups brown sugar mixed with 1 cup kosher salt, 1 tablespoon of ground black pepper and 1 tablespoon of granulated garlic. Cover and let sit in the refrigerator for about 6 hours, air dry to form a pellicle for about 2 hours, and then smoke at 180 deg F for about 3 hours until internal temperature of the thickest parts reaches 140 deg F. Used only apple wood for the smoke and a light brushing of honey mixed with bourbon during the last 30 minutes. Photo 1 is the end of the air drying with the pellicle formed on the surface. Photo 2 is the smoker smoking away. Photo 3 is the finished product. Now to vacuum seal and put in the freezer - except for one fillet that doesn't really exist anymore.

 

Designed a neighborhood cable plant, coordinated 5 underground crews to place cable in the ground at jobs to meet deadlines. Took my daughter to dance class. Had a couple brews, showered, and shaved. Had a man to man talk with my son about his behavior at school that resulted in a referal, then issued him a list of manual labor.

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Skids R Us?

 

Reclaimed-coffeetables.com

 

That's not palletable.

 

Wish i'da thought of that!

 

I showed up for work.

 

I walked down ahead of an expected fierce storm with a 55 gallon trashbag of recyclables. I was the first one there and helped Victoriano, the guatamalan attendant
clean up before opening at 10. By 9:55 there must have been 7 guys, mostly young, looking at their cells for the time with deep sighs of angst and rolling of eyes having to wait. Senorha Delgado walked up, 70 something and tired from lugging TWO sacks of recyclables and a canvas backpack not unlike my old W German rucksack. She speaks about as much english as I do spanish. Victor announced he was opened and reached for my bag. I interceded. 'Ladies first' and placed her two sacks in front of mine.
Deep grumbles from the earnest young men on digital devises. I think we stole a whole 3 minutes from their lifespans. She received her receipt, placed the pack down and produced TWO premade lunches of handmade chile rellanos, tamales, rice and beans with a dangerous looking pepper, patted my arm and walked away.
Did I mention racing out without any breakfast? Madre a Dios! muis bueno! and I left the line hungry to spend their gains at McDonalds on a egg mcmuffin.

 

I built a recycling station for discarded targets, from a lighting panel (the plastic grid that covers fluorescent fixtures), wooden dowels, glue & duct tape.

 

Changed the oil in the woman's car. Then watched a M*A*S*H marathon.

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Finished a drawer to hold my table saw blades and dado set. Began preliminary work laying out a drawer for the push sticks, table insets, and feather boards. The drawers fit in a cabinet that fits under the table extension. The cabinet has been finished for a few weeks. One drawer done, four to go.

 

I envy you. I was that guy in wood shop, that everything I made looked like a book stand.

 

Worked. Parent teacher conference to talk about my son's behavior. He's 150% boy with 200% energy. Shower, full 2 pass head shave, and a 2 pass face shave in under 45 minutes. Came out of the bathroom and everyone is asleep, which is a good thing so I don't have to hear the complaining about watching the M*A*S*H marathon. Lol

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The M*A*S*H set is near me, or was until a fire destroyed it.The show went on longer than the actual war.