Sunday Morning News from the dining room table

[Vince]

Originally Posted by FoZzMaN

So, how many people in the theater applauded you? Know damn well I would've!

No one , I was QUIET about it, just a Shhhuuuussssshhhhh was all I said to the asshat, but I guess he could see the ANGER in my face , I might not be as big as I was a few years ago but with the full biker beard & the Navy Anchor on a gold chain arround my neck I guess he thought I might bite off his head , & had he said anything I might have, but he knew he was WRONG & figured if I didnt kick his ass the little old lady in front of him would have, & it is better to shut up & take it than have a 75 year old grandmother going wild on his ass ! hahaha Enjoy, Vince

[Vince]

HO Ho HO , it is Sunday December 23 ,2007, almost time for the over commericilized Christmas season to come to an end ! , Personally I have had it up to my nose with the flagrent over commericalizing of a wonderful holiday , I love getting to gether with friends & family , but why do we all wait till Christmas to be nice, why dont we celebrate all year long & be extra nice to our fellow man ??? Hummmm ???? well enough of the rant lets get down to the businenss at hand, it is just a little cool & raining this morning here in da Burgh , & since the Steelers played Thursday night , No game today, ( as I would be watching anyhow hahaha ) , I did have the wireless network working for a few days but thiuas morning I am back to the computer in the house as the one in the Qtr.Deck has lost its signal from the wireless router, well back to the drawing board & time to call in the geek squad hahahahaha , hey its a trem of endearment
, Barb is in the kitchen making Banaba bread , I will be granted cooking privilages later today & put in a nice roast for supper tonight , , I did pick up the Christmas Ham & it is soaking as I post here , I will be changing the water this afternoon, a great old time smithfield style ham , there will be a Honey glaze on it when it is done in the oven, , , I havent had a dry cured ham in a long time , this one will be the center piece in the Christmas feast, , I was going to do a stuffed veal breast , but after visiting 3 different shops no one cold get one for me , dammmm I hate the big Mega martsd & long for an old fasshion Butcher shop , sawdust on the floor , the saw & chopping block right behind the counter , Beef , Lamb , Pork all hanging inn the cooler , chickens & turkeys in the display case all plump & full of NATURAL goodness , not the caged birds with a synthitic taste & bland flesh, big bucks mega marts, gone are the old fashioned CRAFTSMEN who cared about there work. well here I go back on the soap box , enough of that ,


we had a great day at the shop on Saturday, Randy was Kicking ass & taking names , sold a lot of Product , but one thing I just dont understand, NO HUMIDORS are selling this year, I got 40 Humidors in for the Holiday smokers all different prices ( from 25 bucks to 750 ) selling a few of the low end travel boxes BUT N O N E of the big cabnets & desk tops, , looks like an after Christmas markdown , dammmmm I hate that , but got to move them out to pay off the credit card they were bought on ! robbing one account to pay off an other , Businenss , it Sucks big time , but where else can I go sit smoke , sip coffee , swill a bit of single malt, listen to Jazz all day 7 get paid for doing it , I ask you is this a GREAT COUNTRY OR WHAT< Youkov Sminoff had it right, WHAT A COUNTRY
we had our Christmas party Friday night , I went through 3 bottles of single malt with a lot of help from my "Friends" , I hope they enjoyed it as much as I did , we closed at midnight & I didnt finish cleaning up till 1:30 AM, needless to say I had to stop a few times to get rid of all the coffee & scotch I had comsumed over the evening , allmost all the food was eated or taken home by greedy guests, I did manage to get a few cubes of cheese to put in my eggs , but a lot of Beer was left over , dammmm left over beer, How did that happen, ?? all I know is next year , I am not springing for the single malt, when I saw some DIPSHIT ASSHOLE mixing it with Mountain Due , I told the Dumb MFER that was 70 bucks a bottle & was ment to be sipped, STRAIGHT , if you want to mix it use the Cheep blends , DAMMMMM people will take advantage of a good thing , oh well there I go back on the soap box,

breakfast was a baked egg with a little creamed spinich , there was left over spinich dip, so I made a little nest of in the a bake proof cup , cracked an egg in the center of the nest & put it in a roasting pan with a few inches of water, 375F for 25 minutes & a nice egg , Just slightly done a few bits more that I like but still slightly runny, I should have taken it out abouit 3 moinutes sooner , But thats just the way it went this morning , , some banana bread toasted along side & that was breakfast, Yummy


Not a lot going on here , just tieing up all the loose ends for the big celebration on the 25th, , all the welll most of the stuff is rapped, , Thank God for the guy ( & it had to be a guy ) who thought of the Gift bag instead of the gift WRAP , I used to save the Sunday Funnys from the news paper to RECYCLE as wrapping paper, But before it was PC to reclcle I was thought of as a cheep bastard who didnt want to spend the $$$ for wrapping paper , nope just my way of being on the edge of eveloutiuon & being ahead of the curve & getting the Jump on everyone by "recycling " the Sunday funnys , back when I was in 8the grade , I had a science teacher who was a Train Buff, I saw this great Steam locomotive tie pin & wrapped it in the funnys , as a joke, well it cought on & I have been doing it ever sice, from way back in the 1850's paper was a great thing to hide stuff in , & who can say they never payed Rock PAPER sissors , dammm my brain hurts when I try to remember stuff that happened that Long ago, hahahaha


I have a pot of Kona almost finished this Sunday Morning , I have a pot of Mayorga ready to put heat under in a few minutes, then it is out to the Qtr.Deck for my Sunday meeting time with my Buddy Don Carlos III , I was in a bit of a hurry & grabbed a DC President Friday morning & WOW , a real EYE opener hahaha, the corona sized #3 is great but the President , NOW that is an EYE opener @$$ kicker of a way to start anyday , , I think I just might stick with the 3 this morning,m I have a PSD #4 for this afternoon from the qtr.Deck or I might just head in to the shop & help out a bit if needed, I will be closing at 3 on Monday & CLOSED on Tuesday, , back open Wed. at 10:30 & putting the humidors on sale ! , dammmmm they all ready are on sale , well looks like I need to sell them so I will do what ever it takes other than selling them for less than I paid for them , dammmmm that would be DUMB, but if you buy enough cigars I might sell the humidor at cost just to get it OUT of the shop.


well not much more to say, I am heading for the shower as soon as I get off the computer, then it will be time for the hunk of beef to hit the oven, should be ready by 4"30 or 5 , depending on what the Boss wants , time to batten down the hatches wer getting 50 MPH winds today , so I will be out in the yard picking up decorations later hahahaha
Enjoy, Vince

MERRY CHRISTMAS

[terrasco-cl]

Merry Christmas and good luck with those humidors! Made me hungry with that real ham!

[Vince]

Good morning , it is Sunday Dec 30 2007, the snow is all gone & the cold has settled in the skys are gray , but the mood is sunny & bright, I hope you all had a safe & sane Christmas , Chaunaka , and or Quanza , or winter solstice if that is your bag, , the reason I say sane is when ever familys get together , to celebrate anything & when there is a lot of food & everyone over eats (& drinks ) soon a family member will find fault with an other family member & thats when the mashed potatoes start to fly across the table hahahaha , this year I didnt have any prpblrms at all , ( my wife & I went talking ) hahahaha & since it was just the 2 of us , it was a quiet meal hahahahaha , she was ticked off about some thing stupid like I was a first timer having a weeeee dram of scotch before we had supper, well she bought it for me so I was "sampling " it just for quality assurence , (& by the way it was A #1 ) , Dalhwinnie , great stuff, & a bottle of single malt WELSH wisky Penderayn , the only distilery in Wales , they make a fine single malt unlike Scotch or Irish whisky , but you can taste the malted barley, great sipping whisky IMHO, , it went very well with the PSD#4 & the Don Carlos #3 , a fine breakfast whisky hahahaha , well that was the start to a great day , I flew through the day with a smile on my face & a warm glow in my belly, she on the other hand was not as Jolly as I was , hahahaha , dammmmm after 37 years you think she would know what I was going to do , , lets face it when you were a kid & got a new toy , well you wanted to play with it , well I am just a BIG kid, I got a new toy & I wanted to play with it hahahaha , I did score a box of Bahia maduro torps & a sampler box of CAO , so I have NO complaints, she got a nice assortment of stuff from Bath & body, soap, hand cream, shower jell,shampoo & candles & all that crap the ladys like, along with some sweaters to show off the clevege ( hey I like to look at the sweater meat ) , so it was a gift for both of us, well she wanted , high neck style, so it was back to the store to exchange the next day, dammmm I hate that trip, it is worse than shopping, BUT I had all the recipts so it was a little easyer thatn I thought it would be , 25 minutes to but it 2.5 hours to exchange it , we got NO returns at the cigar shop, , a 100% satisfaction rate, the only minor problem was a bag of coffee, it was sold as whole beans & it was given to some one with out a grinder, so I hooked the guy up & ground it for him, & would have sold him a grinder but I didnt have any left ! so thats the way it went here I hope you all had a great day , now lets ramp it up for NEWYEARS EVE !

I got a little creative in the kitchen this morning, dont know where thr idea came from , I must have had a dream or some thing, well I cut up 2 onions & browned them in a garlic infused oil , made a cream sauce added a bit of garlic infused goat cheese then added the sauce to the onions, cracked a few eggs on top of the garlic saused onions & covered the pan , let the eggs steam & served it on a slice of 12 grain toast , not bad , but a real mess to clean up, , I just cant get used to going with just one pan to make any meal, , I miss havenig a person to was all the pots & pans I get dirty, , , now I do it my self just like when I was learning at my grandmothers knee, I was the pot washer , now 50 years later, here I am still washing pots , dammmm did I miss some thing along the way, I thought I would never need to wash an other pot again in my life hahahahaha what a joke, I have a friend who is the Chef at a great place in Beaver Pa called the Wooden Angel , he says he is the Highest paid dish washer in the Pittsburgh Area , hahahaha, drives a Benz so I know he is making a few bucks as a dish washer hahahaha
welll the breakfast was a big thumbs up from the boss so I guess I did good, as long as she is happy if you know what I mean !!


today I am fixing some King Crab legs & some shrimp , the legs are cooked so I just need to warm them up & I will boil the shrimp in beer & a little old bay, , havent thought about any side dishes yet, , got to look & see what is here & looks good, Imight need to take a quick trip to the produce market & see what they have this morning , well maby this afternoon as the morning is all most gonenow , I ws still in bed at 10 am today, just didnt get motavated enough to get up, ( didnt have to pee ) hahaha till then, thats one I dont understand, with all the coffee 7 scotch I drank last night you would think I would have been up at 6 am just like always , that call of nature is the best alarm clock ever made , No snooze button, I MUST GO N O W , but it didnt kick in this morning till 10, I guess the kidneys & bladder needed a rest so they must have shut down over night to resume prossesing this morning , so I was able to sleep right through the shift change & didnt get a wake up call till they went to lunch with the hoppers full ! hahaha
well thats that & now I am ready to head out to the Qtr.Deck & have my morning (whats left of it ) Cigar

well thats about all I have this morning , not much to report , just busy all the time with work, family & finding ways to piss off the wife, seams like that is getting easyer as I go, I must be getting real good at it or she is getting a little short tempered with me, maybe a bit of both , but thats why I have the Qtr.Deck, , a place to go & escape the wrath of the wife & enjoy a fine cigar & scotch when doing that , works for me hahahaha !
Happy new year to all, dont drink & drive, you might hit a bump & spill it !
samr time next year !!

Enjoy, Vince

[slkr4life]

How I missed your posts is mystery to me. Good to hear from life in NW PA. Went out today and got the pork and sauerkraut for the new years. Wife is a southerner and still doesn't get how every year since I can remember that is the mandatory New Years feast. At least now I am in a fireworks friendly state. Dont think the neighbors would appreciate shotgun blasts at midnight. Cheers to all, have a great day and GO STEELERS!

[Vince]

welcom to the zoo, Enjoy, Vince

[Vince]

Good morning , it is Sunday , Jan 6 2008 , Christmas eve for you who are fallowers of the Orthodox Church , & to all of you , Merry Christmas, , well it has been a verrrry fast paced week here in da burgh, seam like I just posted a few days ago & here it is Sunday again, the week went fast at the shop but the days went slow, , dammmmm Time it is not your friend as you age , the days drag on but the weeks months & years just fly by , , next Monday is Grandson #2's Birthday, he will be 10, dammmmmm I I think of my self at that age & it dosent seam all that long ago , BUT now my Grandson is 10 , I feeeeeel OLD hahahaha, well I guess I am , last time I looked I had a medicare card in my wallet !
After a cold & snowfilled week it warmed up over night & all the snow has melted & we are looking at a high in the 50's today, , not a bad way to start the week, but dammmmm 50+ in January here in da Burgh, & it is supposed to be warmer on Monday, , I like it cold in the winter, that way it is to cold to smoke outside, & the guys show up at the shop more often to enjoy a cigar & a cup of coffee & smoke in the nice warm smoke free room , but when its nice outside , they sit on the back porch or open the garage door & sit on a lawn chair to enjoy a cigar , & they deplete the stock in there Humidor instead of getting a fresh one from the shop, well sooner or later I will get them for a box but right now I have all the Christmas Cigars to pay for hahahaha , not the ones at the shop , but the ones I got for my self hahahahaha , dammmmm credit cards, some one should shoot the bastard who thought of them, pay cash for it or dont get it , thats the way our Grandparents did it , & I hope to go back to it as soon as American Express gets paid off then I can work on the Visa & Mastercard , its just so easy to pull out the plastic money when you see a box of Fine cigars or a great bottle of single malt that you want to try , & if a few pair of sox or underware show up on the bill , dammmm who bought them ? hahahahaa
I pulled the left over christams ham out of the freezer this morning & it will get cut up & the BOSS is making scalloped potatoes today, I am staying out of the kitchen , after I cut everything up for her, she is damgerous with a knife , so I will do all the prep & she will build the reputation of having the best ham & escalloped potatoes in the house , & when she is happy , EVERYONE is happy ! , you know what I am getting at dont you ! hahaha

I have a pot of Kona almost gone & will be brewing up a pot of Kenya AA for later today , I have been drinking a lot of Columbian Supermo latly & I have a few pounds of Indian Malabar that need roasted , & I alway like a nice rich cup of MocaJava with a cigar late in the evening, BUT I have so much coffee sitting here I am at a loss to pick one, I got quite a bit this past Christmas season, from friends & relatives , , there are a few private labels that I am wanting to try asap , but I just never get to them as they are all ready roasted & I hope to get to them this month & I did change the rotation of the coffee to allow for the new stuff, , if I dont write it down I might miss one alltogether & that wouldnt be good , Got to drink it FRESH, coffee isnt like a fine cigar or wine that gets better with age , No sir you got to get it asap ! ,
I had a wonderful breakfast this morning , Shrimp & tofu , I had 9 shrimp still in the chillchest left over from Christmas, eve , so a quick thaw & into a bit of garlic & oil along with a slice of tofu , dammmmmm I will be farting garlic all day hahahaha , dammmmm that is Aeromatic hahahaha
but not as nasty as the sour kraut ! hahahahaha

We went for a littlew cigar ride lkast night but at 3.19 a gallon for gas the saturday Night cigar rides are a lot shorter than before so last night I had a Habanos R&J corona , I figured I should go Quality instead of Quanity so the BIG domestic Double corona or Chruchill went by the wayside to the small high quality corona , it was very good but it was just a few minutes over an hour, just not enough time , but it was enough gas out of the tank, , the only thing I dont like about smoking a fine contraband cigar in the car is that smoking of the BUTT, I just cant drive & fiddle with the pipe to burn the butt or even use the roach clip , it just takes to much concentration to get both the smoking & driving done with out scaring the living $hit out of barb & the people in the oncomming lane of traffic hahahaha
the Football season has come to an end here in da Burgh, Steelers are out of the playoffs loosing last night in a close one to the Jaguwires , I didnt listen to the game last night but it was on the front page of todays paper , hey there is always next year , some of the fans get upset no matter what city your from you have a favorite team, we have a few NE pat fans at the shop , complete with shirts , & they were in full dress before the season started, well it looks like they just might hae backed a winner this time, as for me, I have no care in the world who wins or looses , just so they watch the game at the shop & BUY a lot of Cigars ! hahahah, yes I am a Capatilist , I believe in FREE Enterprise & am against Government interference in Free Enterprise, BUT I do like the Embargo on Cigars, the Quality remains high & the supply is low creating a Higher price for the goods ( a slightly bigger markup ) I work on a 30% markup & most stuff , but when I can get a few contraband sticks to sell, ( few & far between as I keep them for myself ) I cann get a 35 or 40% markup , what I want is 1000% but dammmmm I dont want to kill the guy when he looks at the price sticker hahahaha
Just think if I could fill the shelves at a buck a stick , charge 25 ot 30 bucks a stick & sell out my quota every day for a year, , Dammmm I could retire AGAIN hahahaha
lets see how many times have I retired , only to have thew wife tell me to get out of the house , Hummmmmm , the 4 years on 1460 WMBA, radio, the part time job at the Cigar shop in Rochester, & now in Monaca , back to full time again, dammmm I should have never retired in the first place, I did the retirement thing to spend more time with the wife & grandsons, seams like she had a different idea, GET OUT OF MY HOUSE, go to work , Go SOMPLCES & OUT OF MY HAIR , I have things to do & your in the way, Turn off that dammmm TV I want QUIET when I read, so back to work I went hahahahaha , so I guess retirement is out of the question, unless I move to the Qtr.Deck full time hahahahaha , I thought about it but there is no bathroom out there & if I need to come in the house to use the bathroom, I might as well be at the cigar shop & makinga few bucks & have some one to BS to all day long & I do know how to do that hahahahaha , lets face it I have it made in the shade, I start at 10:30 am so I dont need to be up at dawn , but I am anyhow, & I smoke , drink coffee sip single malt scotch & listen to Jazz all day long & get paid for doing it, dammmmmm I am RETIRED hahahahahaha
welll its almost time for the Don Carlos #3 & the rest of the kona , Enjoy, Vince

[JohnRider]

For some reason or other, I was under the impression the "golf ball tested" toilet was in the quarterdeck.

[Ceedee]

Nice to hear from you again Vince, as always a pleasure! Sorry to hear about the Steelers! (sorta)

CD

[slkr4life]

Originally Posted by Ceedee

Nice to hear from you again Vince, as always a pleasure! Sorry to hear about the Steelers! (sorta)

CD

Why must you hurt us so?

[Vince]

yea the steelers took it on the chin, BUT we do have 5 count them, 5 lombardi trophys , not bad for being there 6 times , just getting there is a great season, but winning football teams dont pay my bills , now I can close on Sundays & save the heating & lighting, & the payroll for who ever works on Sunday, the income for Sundays isnt worth the time , but it is CUSTOMER relations , when you count the beer & food, I loose $$$$ every game unless we sell 500 bucks worth of Cigars during the game its not worth the time or the trouble , the Pizza shop loves us as well as the beer distributer, but the best Sunday we had during football season was sgill a bust, , I guess we will be open for the superbowl ni matter who is in it & I doubt if we will make any moneythat day but its a good day to watch the game on the big screen, kick back a few beers , eat some pizza & wings & have a mess to clean up after the game , hey thats why I am in Business even if I loose money one day, I might get a new customer & soon he will bring in a friend & the cycle will grow,
after 40 years in the kitchen this is EASY , I enjoy doing it 5 or 6 days a week but 7 is one to many & right now I am taking weekends off till spring, limiting weekend hours & closing at 6 every evening but Friday ( 10 on Friday) , I do need a home life & time in the Qtr.Deck ( I am there now posting from the qtr.Deck ) the boss is in the house watching TV , & I am having a nightcap, (caol Ila 12 yo) & a padromo Silivio robusto, with the end of todays 4th pot of coffee , got the radio on the local JAZZ station & am enjoying life
cant get much better than this, IMHO well maybe a little more cash in my bank account might help , but then I would just buy more cigars & single malt scotch

Enjoy, Vince

[Vince]

Good morning it is Sunday 13 Jan. 2008.... it was a SLOW week here , not much going on the weather was FANTASTIC monday & tuesday we had record high temps of 70 on Tuesday, but Wed was a big downwer never got out of the 40's the next day, ahhhh yes Pittsburgh innthe winter, dont like the weather, just wait 10 minutes & you might get some thing you like , hahahaha, Wed. was so slow at the shop I almost fell asleep, but since no one was in the shop at the time it didnt matter, the worst day sales wise since we opened ! , like some one put up a closed sign for the entire town, No one was out & about the street was void of traffic & people ,the phone didnt ring, I was wondering did the tallaban invade or some thing, but since I didnt have the TV on , & was listening to CD's & didnt have the radio on I didnt get any news , well it sort of got to me after a few hours & I turned on the cable network news & it was the some old $hit , nothing earth shattering , so I went back to the Jazz, coffee & cigars , poured my self a snifter of scotch & enjoyed the QUIET !

I have the heat on in the Qtr.deck & will be out there this afternoon , I just finished up the Sunday Morning pot of Kona & made the second pot of the day , a little Christmas blend from starbucks & a bit of Sumatra mixed in to make the pot , didnt have enough of either to make a pot so it is a blend & not as bad as you might think, , it will match well with a Islay single malt & a Camacho diploma I have all ready to go to the qtr.deck with as soon as I get fisished posting this Sunday morning BS ! hahahaha ,

I made a MAJOR Blunder this morning at breakfast, , dammm I had the fire up a little high & chared the bacon on one side , I havent done that in years , just got the grill to hot & that was that, I like my bacon just slightly crisp, but this was as dry as leather 7 crumbles when you tryed to cut it in a bite size piece, well just pick it up with your fingers & pop it in your mouth, it was the only way to fly, I guess I got my fill of charcoal today , I will be farting gray clouds hahahahaha

I have a nice set of T Bones defrosing right now they will be hitting the grill about 4 PM , it is going to be about 40F today so I figured , with the grill hot I might just have a cigar on the back deck when I am grilling the beef, a Fonseca 2-2 maduro is the cigar of the day for outside smoking , I hope to time the cigar to the beef, , 2 minutes on one side, flip ,rotate 90 Degrees , 2 minuts on the second side , rotate & flip , 2 more minutes & back to the front flip rotate & in the last 2 minutes a splash of redwine with some herbs , & then take it off before it gets past rare , then I put Barbs in a few HOURS so hers is well done & like a hunk of old boot, , dammm after 37 years of cooking for her I still cant understand why she will eat well done beef , but thats the way she is so I diont think I will change her anytime EVER

I went to lunch with the Pittsburgh Fellows club this week & the live enternment was GREAT , Jimmy Sapenza & 5 guys named Moe , was the feature band, the really swing, & , Jimmy is the only one in the band who isnt blind, , he is a true believer of Hire the handicapped , the Piano player , the sax, & calrnet , base & drummer are all blind , but they all start together & finish together , & what happened in the center is all GOOD , they did have a guy who is a member of the club bring his trumpet & sat in a little , but he isnt part of the band , just wanted to play with them & he fit in nice, maybe Jimmy will pick him up as a driver for the band, he has a van hahahaha ! , Jimmy has this OLD Buick Roadmaster with 200K on the clock & is looking to replace it , but cant figure out what he wants, , he wanted a town car , but he needs a van , so get a Lincoln VAN or cross over , what ever you call them but he wants a car not a van style daily driver , so he is between a $hit & a sweat , but that is HIS problem & not mine, I have a big enough problem figureing out what shirt to put on , what cigar to smoke, what coffee to brew & what whisky to drink, , but buying a car or a truck, thats tuff, all I want on the daily driver is a power seat, ( that I never move ) power windows , so when I stop at the drive through window for my morning coffee refill I dont spill the coffee winding the window back up, I need a sun roof to get ride of the cigar smoke when I am going down the road , I need cruse control to keep from speeding , & I need a remote starter so I can go out & get into a warm car in the morning , now if I built a heated garage , in front of the Qtr.Deck , that would stop the wind from hitting the west dide of the Qtr.Deck, but it would also cut out the settinbg sun , & the stained glass windows would never have the setting sun playing off the "smoke " patina on the glass , well when I hit the lottery I will build a heated garage with cut glass in the doors just for show hahahaha
dammmm I am late getting posted , the clock just rang NOON & now this is a Sunday afternoon not Morning post ,,,, dammmmm welll thats about all I have, right now, I need to get dressed & head back out to the Qtr.Deck & fire up a second cigar for the day, Enjoy, Vince

[Vince]

good Morning , it is the 20th of Jan.2008 & it is C O L D here in da Burgh , single digets last night & the high today is 17 F , if you didnt bring in the brass monkey last night , I will bet the balls are frozen off by now ! , for some of you younger & less inmormed , Freezing the balls off a brass monkey has nothing to do with a brass door srop & its testicals like you would think, back when the jolly roger was the flag being flown by Black Beard & his kind the cannons were hand loaded with large round cannon balls , they were stacked right beside the guin on the deck , well round balls have a tendency to roll , welll the orginal idea was put down a plate of iron with dents in it to allow the cannon balls to sit in the holes & then stack up the balls to allow for a greater number of shot in a smaller area , well it being salt water , the shot being made of Iron , & with the sea spray they would RUST & stick them selves to the plate holding them in place , & when you did break it loose , the hunk of rust would make the projectile off balance & score the inside of the cannon it self, , causing a delema for the Pirates & the Royal Navy alike, well the solution to the matter was replace the iron plate with Brass, , the plate was called the Monkey, well that solved one problem, rusting together, BUT as we all know different metals expand & contract at different speeds & tempatures , well the brass & iron were shall we say not compatable in the tempature range & when it got Cold the brass would contract & the iron sisnt contract as fast ( or vise versa) & the cannon ballls would roll off the monkey , hence the term Freezing the balls off a brass monkey, why the brass plate was called a monkey welllll thats for an other posting hahaha * ( & I HAVE NO IDEA WHY )
so kids there your history lesson of un related trivia for this week,
I have a pot of Ham broth to get made into Soup today , be right back got to go cut up some onions ! .......
OK the onion is in the pot along with a little garlic, carrots ,celery, lima beans , broccolli & califlower will go in some time later , along with the green beans & potatos , just a big pot of ham, veggies & a little herbs & spices , all I need to do now is go to the bakery & get a loaf of hard crusted bread & that will be all we need to stay warm on this COLD day here in da Burgh, oh yea I almost forgot the whole tomatoes & cabbage to go in the pot , & I think I might add a weeee bit of beer just to help the cabbage digest hahahahaha , serve it with the bread , a hard boiled egg or 2 & a hunk of cheese, dammmmmmm dont be down wind of me anytime soon hahahaha

the Boss made a pot of kona this morning just like clock work Sunday morning its Kona, well the second pot is a mix of a starbucks morning blend & a little home roasted sumatra , not bad at all , not as smoooooooth as the kona , it is a lot darker roast & a lot more full body but silky smooth to the taste buds , the cigar this morning was a Don Carlos #3 asit should be , but the Qtr.Deck is COLD this morning , didnt turn on the heat, at all went for the walk with the coffee & cigar this morning & got about 10 homes doen the street & said to my self, SELF, it s COLD out here , lets head back to the car & turn on the heater , so I did , & with the remote starter the car was warmed up a bit by the time I got back & dammmmmmm it was COLD , the heater was blowing warm air BUT the heated seats stopped working a year ago & the fuse is ok, so I havent had a heated seat to warm my formerly fat @$$ for a year now, dammmmm I miss the heated seats, but the car is old , 160K on the ticker & I just dont want to get rid of it , burn hols on the seat, the console, carpet & dash, headliner is a nice color of cigar smoke & the sun roof has a nice yellow// Brown tint to it that didnt come from the factory hahahaha
this morning when I made breakfast the boss & I had a grilled apple with fresh ground cinamonn , I hgave never been a BIG cinnamon fan, its OK but I just dont do back flips for it , well thats because I have been eating the JUNK we get in the suppermarket all ready ground up in the little red & white tin can , well I got some reallllllllly good Sticks from a wholesaler & a micro plane grater, & grind this stuff FRESH, man what a difference , the volitile oild just explode in the mouth & the nose, a REAL taste of a spice that I have felt so so about all my life & here is the first time I can remember ever tasting it this FRESH , all the time I spent in the kitchen, I stayed out of the bakery, , I figured cinnanon was just cinnamonn , well I apploigise to the workers at Cinnabun, you rolls are OK but get ride of that canned stuff, go FRESH & see how well the product will be , But the general population will most likley want the canned stuff back as thats what there taste buds are accostomed to , well you cant fight city hall & the customer is always right & why should a company change anything if the sales are going up , hence the old addage , if it aint broke dont fix it , well maybe the congress should take that to heart & let thing alone that they have no idea what they are doing to the general population, Ben franklin said that when some one finds out they can LIVE off the taxpayers they will do what ever it takes to keep the gravy train flwong, well not so much in those exact words but you get the idea of what I am trying to say , well I hope so anyhow, ! , we had a fair week at the shop, last friday night was a realllllllllly good time , I was all set to close & 2 guys came in & picked up a box each, well I had allready set the cash regester for the next day, , dammmm sales will be great on Saturday if we dont even open hahahaha, I might stop in later today just to see how things are going , today, its just to cold to try & get the Qtr.Deck up to temp, , it would be cost prohitive to set the temp up & let it run with the wind blowing we have a below zero wind chill, & even though it is R22 in the walls & R 38 in the roof , the floor is only r8 & it is Cold on my feet, & when your feet are cold your cold all over, , , , maybe thios summer I will do some thing about it , ..... like it took me 4 years to get the high neck kitchen faucet installed after I bought it hahahaha , well at lest I am thinking of a way to warm up the flooe, hey is a start ! hahaha
My check engine light has been all week, the idle will not drop below 1200 RPMS , its tuff on gas but it warms up dammm fast hahahaha, I should take it in & have it looked at but its COLD out & I drive to work every day, , I should take it in & have then take me to work, & bring the car to me when its done, But I have no idea what it will take & how long, & I dont want to get stuck at work over night hahahaha,, dammmm sitting watching TV, smoking & drinking all night & all the next day, dammmmmmmmmm hummmmm maybe thats a better idea now that I think about it , I dint need to go home, I can stay up all night , doze in the chair, the door has a chime on it , I could stay open all night, .... No I would get filled up with all the drunks & hookers looking for a warm place to hang out after the bars close, welll let me think, NAW bad idea, I dont think I would get enough sleep that way, & I get cranky when I dont get my 8 hours of down time
the Grandsons are spening the weekend with there mother & not me , dammmm I miss the fighting & bickering all ready, He looked at me, No I didnt , he is breathing my air , No Im Not , & thats just me , they get down right diabolitical ,

almost time for lunch, a little mental jogging to find out what to make , the soup will be ready, about 5 so I should make a little some thing .... But what I have no idea till I go look & see whats available , maybe a grinola bar 7 more coffee, dammmmm thats soulds like a good idea, just open the pack & pour the coffee, dammmm I can do that ! hahaha Enjoy, Vince

[sofaman]

Great post Vince, I allways wanderd whare the term Brass Monkey came from.

[Vince]

Originally Posted by sofaman

Great post Vince, I allways wanderd whare the term Brass Monkey came from.

I am just full of usless information!!!!