Anejo - memories of old tequila

I was just in the local liquor store, buying some beer, and a label caught my eye - Anejo. Now, for those of you who know Spanish, you know already this just means "old". But when you apply this label to booze - it means smooth. I remember being in Mexico and seeing a bottle of Anejo tequila, and I bought it - just to check it out. For those who like hard liquor, this was grand stuff. You couldn't even buy it in the US - there was no market for it then. The same was true for aged rum - I could get anejo rum down there, but not in the US. It was damn good stuff.

But, you know, what this brought to mind were some really fine memories of some good times drinking. Not tequila, but what they call, in Mexico, risya (rye-see-a), the local moonshine version of tequila. Let me tell ya, this stuff was anything BUT smooth. If it was smooth, it was so strong it would peel paint. We had some GOOD times, let me tell ya! Fire pits on the beach in the middle of the night - going to the cock fights - midnight camping in an orange grove - we had some good times. But risya is moonshine - and sometimes it was nasty stuff. I remember one night, we took a ferry out to this isolated fishing town - there were no passable roads to this town. We stayed there a couple of days in thatched huts - talk about getting away from it all! But the risya, it was bad stuff. Everybody was drinking it - but it was nasty. I swear getting drunk on that stuff took 5 years off my life every time I got drunk. Fortunately, we only stayed one night! I like a little adventure, but generally not to the point of being suicidal.

And, of course, thinking about moonshine, brought to mind memories of Arkansas, and a family cousin who was in law enforcement, whichever bureau was in charge of moonshine. I have to chuckle - we got some of the finest confiscated moonshine. This stuff was about as potent as Everclear, but it had a definite BODY going down. Yup, that's the word - a body. It would only have been pretty good at peeling paint - and it had some of the texture of bourbon whiskey. The same kind of character to kinda tingles the old taste buds as it goes down. It was clearer than water in the bottle, but definitely had texture in the throat. Whoeh.

Anejo.

"I make a goddamn difference" - and some insight into the human character

Two links - 2 links to a deeper understanding of what it is to be human.

First - this is about teachers, and we should remember it EVERY time the government budget is discussed. Why? Truism: you get what you pay for.

http://front.moveon.org/the-most-aggressive-defense-of-teachers-youll-hear-this-year

Next - did you ever wonder how Darwin's theory - survival of the fittest - manages to cover niceness? I know I have - and personally, I think it should be survival of the possible-est, because I think that there is something of "if it is POSSIBLE to survive" for a permutation - then we have seen that permutation at some time. However - nice behavior - being a good neighbor, the good samaritan, altruism, have often been the topic of a deep conversation about mankind. Here are some links that shed scientific light on how these things came to be.

http://www.radiolab.org/2010/dec/14/one-good-deed-deserves-another/

http://www.radiolab.org/2010/dec/14/

These are mind-enriching material. Enjoy!

World Bikes

She maybe lucky - he could make her pedal while he rides the back.





Flooded in Bath - generous delivery service!









Just what I needed on my bike - a little extra fridge space. Amazing what people can carry on a bike!

When it's gotta get there, it's gotta get there.






Just one to show a beautiful photo, the bike is incidental, the graffiti is great!

Glorious fall colors

We have just had a spectacular and glorious fall color display. The peak was yesterday and the day before. It is amazing to me, how the colors can slowly build up, and then, so suddenly, every tree is riotous in color. The leaves begin to fade the very next day. It was a perfect season for it this year. We've had plenty of rainy days lately, which I understand helps the color, and now, when the color is peaking, it has been blue skies and cool weather. I took a few pictures of the dogs, on part of our usual run path, but they are VERY bad pictures. Phone camera - you know. They are here anyway, just so you can take a look. You can even judge the rapid progression of the colors from these photos. They were shot from almost the same spot. The first one, with Klinger only, was shot 4 or 5 days ago. The second one, with Klinger and Sara, was shot today. Yesterday the colors were even brighter than today.

Hope you are having a great fall season.

Bringing it all back home

Closing up one loose thread -- we still had stuff in storage in Memphis, ten years after we left. So I finally brought it home. Flew down on Wednesday, stayed the night with Fred and Judy - had a MARVELOUS time talking with them. Their son Peter was there, also, and doing well. Thursday morning we got an early start - but a bit later than planned, forgot a key, and had to backtrack a bit.

Sean picked me up at Fred and Judy's, and we were out of the truck rental place by half-past 8. The storage unit was 5 minutes away, and we were loading before 9. It was just Sean and myself, but we got the loading done by just after noon.

I found a Mexican restaurant, got 2 burritos to go. Went to a grocery and got a twelve pack of Lipton tea drinks, and a couple other items, and I was off. I covered 550 miles that day (Thursday), which put me in Wytheville, VA. I had said I was only hoping to clear TN by end-of-day on Thursday, so that was better.

My initial predictions were that a best possible case was 2 days driving - but the distance is about 1300 miles, so the time for driving would be about 26 hours. Tough to do in 2 days, so I was predicting 3-4. I had also figured I might sleep in the truck, but the truck cab didn't have a bench seat, so that idea was a no-go.

But, late on Thursday, I was still doing well, and not tired. Fatigue, for me, usually manifests in my eyes. They will want to close when I'm too tired. I was fine, with very little fatigue, but it got late, and I figured a good sleep was better than trying to go straight thru.

As I turned off the truck, the engine alert light came on. I figured screw that for the night - and called in the morning. Since it was only the "check engine" light - the renter said to continue, and not worry, unless the truck showed performance problems - which it hadn't.

Voom, Friday, and I was on the road by 8. It was hot out. Traffic was moderate all the way so far, and continued so. Some brief backups when I got to the WashDC, NYC areas. I stayed inland, not going thru NYC. Cost 100 miles, but saved at least 2 hours.

By evening, I was thinking I might be close by "quitting time", whenever that was. Energy levels maintained, tho, with some generous help from the Starbucks factor. By late evening, I was looking at arriving in Harvard around midnight.

Which is what I did. Got here shortly after midnight, maybe half past. Dogs were glad to see me. Sprocket the cat was too. We parked the truck, and went inside.

I was too wired from driving - couldn't sleep, and I had an interesting book to read: "Who Fears Death". So I quit reading, and slept, about 3 AM.

Stats:
1325 miles (approx)
22 hours driving, 7 hours parked (doesn't count overnite)
Average moving mph = 60.1
Avg Mpg = 10.9
Avg gas $$per gallon = 2.57

That was easy! [Lucky, lucky me!]

Facebook security

Most of you know computer security is something I follow a bit. Here's my little bit to encourage a little FUD about Facebook - this describes a scam that takes advantage of Facebook's working patterns. Like the sergeant on Hill Street Blues says: Be careful out there folks.

PhacePhish: New Facebook Attack gives a One-Two Punch

Le Tour - on Resonance FM London, Bicycle Thieves, etc

Resonance FM in London has a nice little bicycle related broadcast that gets podcast as well. They did a nice little post-Tour commentary show - and covered a new play out in London. The play is titled "Bicycle Thieves" and it is roughly inspired by the famous 1940's Italian classic movie, "The Bicycle Thief".
Go to Looking back at Le Tour and ahead to ‘Bicycle Thieves’>