I just keep plugging away and making the best of each day I have left in this so-called life of mine. I ain’t complaining. Much. I do what I please when I please, and I’m getting better at not caring about the things I’m powerless to change. There is freedom in that attitude, and I’m going to embrace it as much as I am able.
Ha! Brave words, I know. And it might appear that my reality is not always in accordance with my objectives. But I take comfort in my routines, and I’m always keeping my eyes open for the next big thing. In the meantime, this is what I’ve been up to:
I only took one photo on the hike. I was doing my standard walk through the Naugsol valley when I noticed the landscape had recently changed.
A quiet afternoon at home, then it was time to see what was happening in my little town. I started out at It Doesn’t Matter, where I usually find a friendly face or two. Yesterday it was Chris and his lovely lady. As I was sitting there, my gaze turned towards the bar across the street named Chill. It opened a few months ago, and I’d never been there before. With nothing better to do, I decided I’d visit and write up a review. You can read about the experience here.
When I was done Chill-ing, I moved on to Wet Spot. They were just opening up when I arrived, so I had the honor of being the first customer. They have a promotion called the “passport,” and every time you buy a drink, you get a mark on your card. After six drinks, you get a free drink, and for the remainder of the night, all your drinks are half-price. The passport is also honored in the Green Room venue. Welp, my passport was full, so I settled in to get my money’s worth. During the course of my evening, I had a nice chat with Brett, the manager, about bands we had seen live in the 70s and 80s (he’s also a California boy). Then Jeff, the owner of Treasure Island, arrived, followed shortly after by Wet Spot owner Dave and one of my neighbors here in Alta Vista. It was a good evening of socializing with some folks other than bargirls. Although Aine, my regular who’d been missing in action during my last couple of visits, wound up making an appearance.
I went home a little drunker than normal, but at least my trike driver made it all the way to the house. I was still in good enough condition to concoct a batch of strawberry-banana smoothies that I enjoyed with my helper.
I’m still dealing with some lung issues, nothing as severe as the other day, but I did wake up at 3 a.m. wheezing, so I got up to use my nebulizer and started my day a little earlier than normal.
It was a rainy morning, and Lucky said, “fuck that,” refusing his daily walk. Buddy doesn’t care; sniffing the smells on the streets of the neighborhood is his favorite part of the day.
I still had an hour before the Friday group hike, so I decided to spend some time in the kitchen. It seemed like a good morning for a burrito breakfast.
I’ll post about the hike tomorrow. Time for me now to shower up and prepare for this week’s SOB. It’s being held at Voodoo, a smallish venue, so I don’t want to be late.
And if you said, "This life ain't good enough." I would give my world to lift you up I could change my life to better suit your mood Because you're so smooth And it's just like the ocean under the moon It's the same as the emotion that I get from you You got the kind of loving that can be so smooth, yeah. Gimme your heart, make it real Or else forget about it
Burritos! We were supposed to have burritos at work today, but they turned out to be tacos. Still dingle-damn delicious.
As for browning the tortillas: I guess I should have clarified that you’re generally supposed to get the burrito into its classic cylinder shape before you brown it. Lay out the tortilla, put in the filling, wrap the thing up, then brown away on both the top and the bottom. If you’ve laid down cheese on the inside, then the cheese will usually melt deliciously. I’m pretty sure that, in previous comments, I’ve linked you to some videos that show what I mean. If not, check this video out. The guy in the video does some things I disagree with as he’s prepping his meal (not using cumin or cilantro, for example, and adding way too much lemon juice to everything), but his browning technique is on point.
I think we’re all waiting for Gandalf to invite us on an adventure. But while we wait, we can entertain ourselves by planning and going on adventures of our own.
That said, I don’t envy you that hike you did through knee-deep water… and whatever mud lay underneath it. Talk about sucking—the suction of that mud could lead you to lose your footwear!
HaHa! Yes, I did misunderstand the browning method, but it still turned out better than warming in the microwave. Actually, the way I tend to overfill the tortilla would make it difficult to use your method without spilling some of the contents. Yeah, I could just make two smaller burritos, but where’s the challenge in that? Thanks for the link; I’ll give it a look-see and try and learn something.
Sounds as though you need larger tortillas to make a proper burrito. Get the huge ones if you can. Pile your filling in the middle, and have at least five inches of space all around so you have enough material to fold and roll. Sam the Cooking Guy’s folding technique is shown here. Note the quantity of filling and the size of his tortilla. (He also weighs the thing!) If you don’t want to make a huge burrito, use a smaller tortilla, but don’t overstuff it with filling—you need less filling than you might think. If you’re still hungry, then make two burritos. Or three.
Yeah, I’m using the large tortillas, just overloading the hell out of them. Going to go with the “less equals more” method you suggest and do two smaller ones in the future. I’ll learn to wrap better, too; thanks for the tips and link and for that.