The sad conflict in Ukraine, and its potential global ramifications, has overshadowed almost everything this weekend. Here, just as COVID-19, at least as it currently stands, has finally become less a complication in our daily lives, here comes the Amazing Pootin to throw a monkey wrench into the worldworks. Today, we hear Pootin has upped the ante with his nuclear deterrent force. Just what we need to escalate a volatile situation.
In this little corner of the world, Ms. B. and I are doing our best to get
through each day with as much positive energy as we can generate, for ourselves and
our sphere of influence, such as it is.
My second week of retirement was not quite as relaxing as the first. Things
pile up, things fall apart. Such is the way of things. Mostly, I've been
spending my regular day job hours writing. Progress has been pretty good; I've
certainly been more productive than over the past year, certainly within
comparable time periods.
Friday, I took my usual trip to Martinsville, fit in quite a bit of work, and
entertained myself with Godzilla vs. Gigan,
which is far from my favorite daikaiju flick, but it sure enough features some
fun monster scenes. Saturday, I hiked a ways on the
Dick & Willie Trail
to do maintenance one of my old geocaches. It netted me a couple of miles on
the trail. Once back in Greensboro, more writing, and Ms. B. and I continued
our Game of Thrones binge. Today, it
was cold and wet, but that didn't stop friend Scott (a.k.a.
Diefenbaker) and me from going after several new caches in town. We got
first-to-find on two of them (after I DNF'd one earlier this morning on a
quick solo outing). For lunch, we visited
Fisher's Grille, which, once upon a time, was very much a favorite dining/drinking
establishment. I hadn't been there in years, though. It's gratifying to find
that virtually nothing there has changed. The cajun chicken wings were as
awesome as ever. And in the men's bathroom, the same framed newspaper spreads about the 1984 World Series that adorned the walls the first time I visited Fisher's in 1988 are still hanging there. Somehow, that's kind of satisfying.
Another stint writing this afternoon, and then I decided to try my hand
at making some hot sauce from the kit that Brugger gave me for Christmas. I
went with the smoky chipotle ingredients provided, but added some extra hot red
chilis we brought back from Italy. It was my first attempt, and I've gotta
say, it's a winner. Delicious flavor and quite hot — though not so hot that
Brugger can't tolerate it. I'm about to go roast a chicken breast and try the sauce on it.
Wish the old dude luck. Peace out.
