bigsombrero

Interesting to hear about your geneology stats, soberclover! It's pretty fascinating stuff. You too Mesa. I love that kind of thing, and I can also trace my ancestry back to 4 different countries. What's even more interesting to me is how Americans (and possibly Aussies) are UNIQUELY fascinated with this, because we grew up on colonized terrain.

To a Swede, I'm sure as hell not Swedish. I worked for a company based in Stockholm when I was back in Chicago, and we saw a lot of Swedes in the office there on business. They told me that when they come to America, there is always someone named Johnson or Anderson who will say "I'M SWEDISH TOO!". The Swedes will look you up and down, ask where you grew up, ask if you speak Swedish, and then confirm that you are indeed not Swedish. When we giddily run up to an Irishman on the street and say "I'm Irish", I think it's kind of weird for them. What are they supposed to say? Can you imagine traveling to Poland and having a man come up to you, speaking Polish, telling you that he's American?

Maybe a European (and yes, to us British folk ARE European) can chime in with their thoughts? Have you ever been approached by an American who says "I'm English" or "I"m Scottish"? What would you say to them?

Weasel1966

Wow... Soberclover I would love to do that... MM... kewl bio... Love both your posts. Thanks!


OK... have big thick beef short ribs roasting in the oven. They come out and I get the veggies together... fennel, carrot, celery, taters, onions... soften them up and add fresh tyme and sage... and good beef broth... here is the trick ingredient... Pomegranate juice in place of red wine... Oh wow is this gonna be a great meal.

I love things that I cook slow and have lots of steps so I can stay busy all day.

Hope everyone is doing well!!!

Gilmer

Nope--I'm triple-layering! I'll whip out the Snuggie New Years' Eve! I'll be safely indoors, here on SR!).

Gilmer

.

Gilmer

Wow! I just heard "Gimme Shelter!" It's my favorite Stones song!

Conquest

Let the holiday baking begin!

Mrs. Claus' Cookbook

The chocolate crinkle cookies are first up.

LBrain

BigS - I agree, I'm American, but not Native American. I used to laugh when I lived in California at the people who would say "I'm a native Californian." OH? What tribe was that? I more identify with the weirdos who when asked just say, "Earth." Because it pretty much is the only true answer.
If you believe in 'creation' then we are all related... I should be able to trace my lineage all the way back to Adam. And I don't mean Adam West - maybe though...

Well now, the thread has taken on a life of it's own lately. Newbies are starting to steer the bus

My main mission for the day is to pick up a music stand. Wearing bifocals and laying music on a coffee table is not good for the eyes or the posture. I feel it in my neck and back. Plus it's time to sit in a proper chair too. A strap is also in the near future. So just like when starting guitar, before I learned the instrument I am already writing songs - doh! Or just making up tunes.

One of the things I do if I haven't gone hunting in a while is to read the rules first - good thing I did this yesterday. Hunting is CLOSED until Dec 26. Deer get a two week vacation after gun season. I was good and stayed away until the Elmer Fudd types got it out of their systems.
Happy Saturday All!

Fandy

I have a small boneless pork loin in the crockpot with red potatoes, carrots and onion.
lemon/garlic/balsamic and honey...found the recipe online...low and slow, a good 8 hours....although I did leave it on high for the first hour because the pork was still 1/2 frozen, I didn't take it out of the freezer until last night.

bit of appliance humor here....you all may remember the saga of my LG dishwasher and fridge (that cost more than my first car) and the ongoing battle I had with LG customer service with the 6 repair calls before they replaced everything except the shell of the dishwasher....they swapped out the computer board and the back wall of the freezer in one shot and fixed the icemaker fan.

I was talking to my hairdresser last week as he was cutting me, I was lamenting the problems and before I could finish he tells me ..."it's an LG"? SAME THING happened to his brother out in California......pretty to look at and what a giant PIMA to get help from them....next time I will bite the bullet and go for Bosche or Kitchen Aid.

classypants19

Hi, thanks for asking. It went very well. We enjoyed raw oysters and fish fajitas. It was wonderful. I ended up just ordering a herbal tea for dinner. My husband had a beer and I wasn't the least bit tempted. I guess that's what over a week of sobriety does. The first couple of days I probably would of been tempted but not last night. I feel fantastic to have this control over saying no to alcohol.

Hope everyone is having a great Saturday.

trachemys

Best Stones tune EVAH!



And I'm going to weasel's for dinner

MesaMan

Here's the Strap Mechanism you need, LBrain, just after Time Mark 1:45 in the ZZ Top Vid. Hee hee... My Solid Body, all-Maple 'Music Man' Bass weighed a ton. So, I got a nice Strap w/padded Sheepskin Shoulder section.

When in various Euro Countries, we were mistaken for Canadians. A huge compliment. No Lime Green Athletic Shoes & Sweats at Breakfast, and we kept our Voices down. Didn't ask for a buncha Ice in our Drinks. No Coffee Refills in some Countries kinda bummed me out, but there ya go...

We absolutely 'looked' [North] American. Da Wife was sitting on her wheeled Samsonite Suitcase one Trip to S.W. Scotland in 'Campbeltown'. I walked over a few Blocks from the Park where she was to snag our Rental Car. A Fella came up and said to her: 'You the American with the Hire Car'? She laughed and said 'yes'. The Buses and Ferries arrive at the same time each day, so they know to look around for those who couldn't find the Hire Car location.

Part of that Trip was to take her up just North, and show her Sir Paul McCartney's Sheep Farm I'd found prior while 'Geocaching' Rock Star Properties. It was the Site of the Pic on his Disc 'Ram', and the basis for the Song 'Junior's Farm' with 'Wings'. 'High Park Ford' was just what is says. It was the place long ago to 'ford' Sheep over High - non-flooded - Ground to put them on Ships bound for Glascow, and other Markets.

Scots would ask us, in all sincerity, if we'd ever run into, say, a Brother 'Bob' who Emigrated to NYC 30 years ago. Uh, well, no. Lotsa 'Bobs' there. One old Scot we met was a real 'Man Of The World' because he'd gone to London to Rivet on WW 1 Ships. His Pal at this Pensioner's Hotel Bar was 86 yrs old and had never left the County! He said: 'Why should I [leave]? Everything I need is right here'. No argument.

Lotsa Americano Travel Stories...


Paul McCartney @ High Park Ford ~ 1971

Mando Strap inspiration...

'Legs' ~ ZZ Top

-----

Tetra

Great day today...I love having a job and I love having money

I got up early and did some Christmas shopping, (and got myself a few treats!). Then I got my hair done. When I made the appointment I forgot to ask if my usual hairdresser was in today (she wasn't). So when the other girl asked me what colour I wanted, I said "the last time I was in, Mary told me that a few highlights would be nice, so I would like that please". Then she said "oh I remember you now. Are you in a rush today?" I said no, and she went to make a phone call. Then a few minutes later Mary came in...I felt kinda embarassed that she came in on her day off, but she just said "you're alright darlin"...

I love her She always knows what I like and I've gotten a lot of compliments.

My new work laptop arrived yesterday as well. Now I feel like a proper member of the team

Brother has arrived and is staying with his in-laws and was on his way to mass when I called. My parents were amused...he never goes to mass. Maybe he's getting ready for the wedding.

Hope you are all having a wonderful weekend!!

closetlobster

Hey weekenders,

Weekend #16 now. I didn't manage to fire in a comment in the last weekend thread. However, I'm back logging my progress with you guys.

Today, I had a little trip to one of London's monster shopping centres to buy a Christmas present for the girlfriend. Was too busy and I ended up buying nothing...

Instead, I've decided to book a surprise holiday for her (she has 5 days leave from New Year's Day) so I've taken some too. She won't know where she's going (Venice and Milan) until they announce our gate at the airport!

I think the experience of that will beat any material gift!

Have a good one SR'ers.

PS. I've also just noticed that this week I hit my 100 day mark. Flew past.

Instead

Gilmer

Congratulations, Closetlobster!

trachemys

Ok, I've got to go get ready for work. Enjoy.

happyandfree

Closetlobster, your surprise holiday to Venice and Milan sounds wonderful! What a great idea - congratulations on 100 days.

bigsombrero

Cool story Mesa, that's a great story about the guy who never left the country at 86 years old. Reminds me of a story a few years back. I was on some remote islands off Panama, there's a group of around 100 islands or so off the coast. Some of those islands are called the "dark islands" because there isn't electricity or anything, and they are about the size of a postage stamp. One local tells me there's a man on one of these islands that hasn't been "to town" in 40 years! Now, "town" is just a small 2-block market on the largest of said islands. Woah, talk about a hermit!

ClosetLobster that's awesome, that sounds like it's going to be a fantastic trip!

Had a minor freak-out here today. Lots of people stopping by my door today asking what I'm going to bring to the "holiday block party". And some other people calling from la capital saying they're going to be in town, and can they park their car at my place, etc. Uhhhh....I stayed home today so I could take care of my own business, not so I could cook weenies for the holiday party and run a parking garage! Anyway, it stressed me out for a bit, but it's resolved. Done, over, in the past.

Moving forward here with the only reality we have, which is the present. Cooking some chicken, potatoes, and corn on the cob and having a seltzer. Packing is almost finished. Plants are watered, shopping is done. Just need to keep putting one foot in front of the other and get my behind from GUA-SJO tomorrow. One day at a time!

Ruby2

Wow, hopping here! I've been running, running. What a day.m on the way home some woman turned into my lane without looking and I nearly smashed her passenger side door. Honked at the idiot and then spent the next fifteen minutes soothing crying little miss "she could have killed us mommy!" Got home, cleaned and then went on a search for my cookie cutters which proved fruitless except for the dead possum the little miss spotted laying on the garage floor. That was some more crying and answering questions about whether the poor baby possum's mommy would be looking for it. She wants to be an animal doctor so is tender hearted. I like possums because they eat mice but they aren't good in the garage. Mr. Ruby puts out poison for mice in the garage and the poor thing probably ate it.

All of my grandparents were first generation so I know where all my immigrant ancestors came from. My dad and grandfather attended a machine show about ten years ago and got separated. My dad was wandering when he heard these guys talking in a language he didn't really recognize and stopped to listen. It was one of the vendors conversing with my grandfather in Swedish. Apparently he didn't speak English until he was five and went to school. I'm the mutt mix. Swedish on my dad's side and Slovak, German and northern Italian on my moms.

MM, the American traveler story made me remember my one trip to Paris. My then boyfriend didn't go on the trip but was jealous. He studied French and was disappointed that on his trip there everyone always addressed him in English. He was bent out of shape when I told him the shopkeepers always addressed me in French until I told them I didn't speak French.

Ok. I've dithered enough. Since no cookie cutters we are going with plan B. Snow balls, Mexican wedding cookies, butter pecan balls, whatever you want to call the same cookie.

LBrain

Trach - laying down on the job? This thread disappeared into the second page.

lunar

We could all use a helping hand, at times.

Make that a helping tortoise.

Have a great Sunday, my friends!