Holy cow, is tomorrow Friday already?
Indeed it is.
I’ve been thinking about weekends and extending them and whatnot. At work, most folks did not use up two vacation days to give themselves a five-day weekend given the 4th showing up on a Wednesday. Had the 4th hit on a Tuesday or Thursday? I’d guess that half the building would have taken the appropriate day to give themselves a four-day weekend. As it is, we’re just given a day off in the middle of the week… and it sits there.
That said, I think that there might be something to a work four days a week kinda thing with periodic weekends.
As a culture, we should move to that.
In the short term, however, we’ve got precious little going on here. Not much, other than maybe a light tipple on Friday night, errands (and laundry!) all day Saturday, and perhaps taking Mom out to breakfast after church on Sunday… and otherwise recouperate from the crazy that was June.
So… what’s on your docket?
I want to chill out a lot and play with the cats. I think this is an achievable goal.
unless they’re our cats. in which case they play with you, whether you’re into that or not.
Yeah, I can see how that would put the two pieces of my plan into opposition rather than harmony (she says, typing around the cat who sits on her wrists if she types for too long without petting him).
Our larger cat is very, very large. When he sits in the window sill, of you see him from behind, he looks like a badger. He likes to suck on whatever shirt you’re wearing at the moment. He starts doing it and at first you’re like, “Oh, how cute!” and then he doesn’t let up and you’re like, “Walter, this is seriously creeping me out.”
It’s hard to get him disengaged without hum leaping right back to your shirt.
Like this: http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Ffeature%3Dplayer_embedded%26v%3DscczP4z9xr4&feature=player_embedded&v=scczP4z9xr4&gl=US
It’s the big 30 for me this weekend, so I’m flying up to Auckland to see my parents.
Happy birthday, James!
Thanks Tod.
Now he can no longer trust himself.
I’m going to complain about the style switch until it’s changed again. I mean, no bowler hat on the front page? How gauche
(seriously though in firefox, there’s a lot of light grey on white, or in the ‘gift of gab section light grey on light grey. Very hard to read)
Same problem in Chrome.
And in IE. (*spits*)
The key to making, rather, keeping, this blog so good does not lie in perpetual style-tweaks. It’s getting tiresome.
Date night with the wife. Going to see Brave and eat at AI.
Better than seeing AI and eating at Brave.
I’ve discovered that 3 and 4 day weekends are one of the greatest things in life. I try to use my vacation to take as many of those as possible – though I have a rule that it has to be Fri-Sun, never Sat-Mon. I can’t enjoy a Monday off for obvious reasons.
Spider Man with the daughters tonight. I have mentally set the bar low so I will be pleasantly surprised. It looks great in the previews though.
Other than that, trying to survive the heat wave. We’ve had almost 10 consecutive days of 100+ heat. It’s wearing thin.
I’m exactly the opposite. When you have Friday off, the party starts on Thursday night and it’s party party party all weekend and you’re even more exhausted come Sunday night than you’d be if it were a normal weekend. If you have Monday off, though? It’s like waking up with a second lazy Sunday, and, on top of that, it’s followed by a short week.
The former feels like an obligation to have fun while the latter feels like a found 20 minutes in which a nap would be appropriate.
I can’t believe I forgot to mention UFC 148on on Saturday night. Silva vs. Sonnen II. Going to be epic!
Maribou mentioned its existence and I wished her a good evening assuming she decided to go.
Maribou has wisely decided to do things that don’t involve leaving the house unnecessarily this weekend.
The boys and I are baching it this weekend, as knittingniki is away on biz. Tonight we’re doing Man Night.
We’ll be feasting on the T-bones that are already marinating, and we’ll be doing so on our deck now that the sun and summer have finally have to the PNW. Then some driveway basketball filled with talking smack. Finally, a showing of Sukiaki Django and The Warriors Way. High-end micro-brew rootbeers will be consumed in large quantities.
Marination philosophy question:
I’ve heard that there’s nothing good that happens with a marinade of a day that doesn’t happen with a marinade of 15 minutes but there are bad things that happen with a day that don’t in 15 minutes.
Is this true?
Since I do not believe in tenderizing a steak (or sticking a fork in over and over prior to marinating) I think it needs at least an hour or two, but an afternoon is best.
I did once try to marinate some New Yorks over night, and was not pleased. The taste of the red wine and worschteshire overpowered the meat.
I’ve moved away from marinating steak, unless it’s a particularly tough cut (I marinate flank steak, for example).
Ribeyes and filets get rubs, no marinade.
Here, here.
It depends on the meat and the marinade and the eventual cooking style and what you want the final product to look like.
Say, the smoked fish. You do it one way, you get smoked fish that’s an awful lot like lox. You do it another way, you get smokey flaky fish that’s not at all like lox.
If you want lox, then marinating it (brining it, really) longer is necessary.
+1
I almost never marinate meat. I find it rarely enhances the flavor. Instead it just covers it up. I DO like a good dry rub though and I will usually brine most wild game.
Marinade and tenderizing stopped being an issue for me after I began prepping nearly all of my meat in the sous vide.
I hear you Burt! My 45-minute commute stopped being a pain when I bought my Lamborghini. LOL!
I think your game meats would come out delightfully tender and flavorful in a sous vide, Mike. Venison at 128 degrees, with a little salt, pepper, a squirt of Worchestershire sauce, and maybe a dash of cayenne for some zazz. Yeah, the oven will set you back three C-notes, but compare that to the cost of a quality gun (of which you already own plenty).
Or, you could freeze up some venison steaks or some duck in vacuum-bags, pack’em in dry ice, and bring them out with you when you make it out to California next for whatever reason brings you here. I’ll sous vide them up here at Chez Likko while you and I drink beers, and finish them beasts up on the grill while… um… while we drink more beers. Open invite.
Thanks Burt – and I’m just joking about the cost. My main problem is really just the countertop real estate. Those dudes seem pretty bulky.
It’s kind of funny that now I have a car that is infinitely more bearable for long drives than the old Escort that I had to cram myself into, I don’t have such a long commute anymore. It’s just as well, I suppose, since the old car got better mileage and was more maneuverable around what was, in two of the three long-commute places I had, substantial congestion.
I’m throwing a “smoked stuff and homebrewed stuff” party tomorrow. Going to uncap one of the first attempts at homebrew (it’s probably not ready yet), and smoke some fish.
Other people are bringing brisket (the guy from Kansas City), pulled pork, tri-tip, baked beans. There will be coleslaw and watermelon and the pool fence will be down and it starts at noon and runs until 8pm.
Leaguer Tom and his pip of a wife will be dropping by, and Kitty and I are going to Huntington tomorrow with Burt and the missus.
Oh man, that sounds awesome.
Catch the redeye. There’s room for more peeps.
I thought we were meeting up for Huntington on Sunday, not tomorrow.
Sorry, I’m working a 9/80 and today feels like tomorrow, so my plans are set forward a day.
Yes, Sunday.
riding thomas the train this weekend. (no, really: http://thomasthetrain.net/index.php/pages/day-out-with-thomas-2012.html)
not looking forward to the avalanche of merchandising dings to and from the ride, mind you.
In-law/family-palooza continues…
Dinner tonight and then off to CT Sound for a day on the beached with extended in-law family. On top of a summer schedule that involves a commute 2-3x the usual and this is one of the crazier starts to the summer in a while. Can’t wait until Mexico!
In the sports world, we have Sox/Yanks, Wimbledon finals, and more NBA hot stove!
nba hot stove?
A play on the traditional MLB offseason hot stove… NBA offseason is going nuts right now.
First Nash – next up Dwight, baby.
LeBron Nash and Dwight Bosh?
Since it’s going to be sunny and in the 80s all weekend, I plan on putting several hundred miles on the motorcycle this weekend. I may even do a group ride with a few friends if I feel like compromising.
It’s sort of a Caribbean-themed weekend for me — did an after-work phone interview with a potential hire in Puerto Rico, then played Puerto Rico the board game with some friends, and tomorrow our daughter comes home from a couple months in the Dominican Republic (which means a 5-hour round trip to the airport for us).
Bring a walkman.
Fish is prepped for the smoker. Backyard is basically good to go. Pool fence is down. Workout done for the day, all I have to do tomorrow is prep two big bowls of veggies for the grill and then gear up the smoker and the grill and the standby. Oh, and buy real charcoal.
Kitty made the coleslaw, the pie crust is done, the deviled eggs are done.
I’m going to have a long, warm, jump in the pool and drink beer and smoke stuff day tomorrow.
Hope the trout turns out.