While Moonlighting As A Security Guard...

July 2011
Walmart Neigborhood Market
2305 North Central Expy between Lemmon and Hall, Dallas.

Nissan SUV parked on the sidewalk, specifically the wheelchair ramp.

This House Was Not For Sale

555 and I came across some interesting things while house hunting.

9/11 Dinner and A New Holy Day Is Born

555 and Tim have decided to do this every 9/11 - Feast to proclaim prosperity, blessedness and joy, the character opposites of the murderers.

Saturday, September 10 2011
555 arrived home from work and said "We're going to Meat Mania at Kroger."  I was behind the wheel with the car running when she finally caught up to me.
I typically purchase chicken or ground beef because these steaks are like ten bucks each (She had just gotten paid). Tomorrows dinner was going to be special.


Sunday, September 11 2011 
The tenth anniversary of the Twin Towers attacks -  We decided to celebrate life in opposition to those who celebrate death.

555 would be home in an hour so it was time to get to work.
I started by marinating the steaks in a mixture of pineapple juice and fig squeezin's (I reserved the pineapple chunks and simmered figs for the cake below), liquid smoke, and Worcestershire sauce -  80 minutes total, turning them every 20 minutes.  I didn't use the vinegar in the upper left of the pic.

I baked a cake from a boxed mix that has been on my shelf for over a year.  Recently, I've eliminated many carbohydrate sources from my diet but decided to pull this relic from the pantry as party(Freudian slip) of the celebration menu.

I texted 555 asking if the cake mix would cook properly in her Pampered Chef pan.  She wasn't sure.  The pan looks rather poor but I'm told it develops that patina naturally from use. (I'm gonna give it a good scrubbing later.)

This was the result.  The recipe said 25+ minutes at 350F. I lowered the temperature 25 degrees at the 15 minute mark and pulled it from the oven at 35 minutes. 555 demonstrated the toothpick poke for me.  

This is a fig/pineapple upside down cake from a Betty Crocker Carrot Cake mix.  You're seeing caramelized brown sugar with butter. It tasted GREAT.  Making this cake was fun.  I like power tools in the kitchen.

After marinating the meat got patted down with a mixture of powdered garlic, ground white pepper and salt.  Preheat the propane grill on high then ten minutes per side on low.

Steak, cherry tomatoes, sweet potatoes, poblano pepper, carrots - All from the grill.  Because of its size I microwaved the sweet tater about 3/4's done before moving it to the grill.

This was the table setting.  555 (you can see her hands) likes her A1.  My schools says "Don't add any extraneous flavors to the meat after cooking".  

We had ample supplies of canned beer, merlot by the mug, water in fruit jars and the Union Pacific lidless tankard containing my personal coconut water based electrolyte replacement beverage.

Join us next 9/11.

We'll be eating expensive steaks and celebrating not death but LIFE.

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New House Foundation Repair

Our pre-purchase inspector found a small gray water leak in drainage pipes beneath the master bath sink. Moisture had damaged some load bearing wood between the piers and the floor. We took a credit on closing costs and moved in a few weeks later.

555 took a snow day to oversee the repair. The crew arrived early, worked like slaves adult, family men being paid a fair wage and were very grateful that 555 provided pitchers of ice water. It was one of the hottest days of the 2011 summer. They replaced damaged joists and sills and also replaced all of the original wooden shims with modern steel shims.

 The men entered the crawl space through an interior closet manhole. This vent was opened to pass tools, shims, lumber and electrical cords.  Several plants were temporarily moved. I'm pleasantly surprised that they've re-established themselves.  These guys were pros.

These bags are filled with trash removed from the crawl space - old shims, wet wood, old concrete castings and other debris.  A clean crawl space makes a safe and happy house.  My front lawn took a beating that day.

555 asked a worker to hold a piece of the damaged wood for a picture.  Now I'm wishing we'd saved this relic - I would tell people I'd smuggled it from Mount Ararat.

THANK YOU, 

Alpha Foundation Repair !!!

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The American Power Pyramid