Eating More than Dried Food

During our annual boys' trip to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area, we had two primary goals... being old farts we didn't want to over-extend ourselves physically, and we didn't want to eat those crappy dehydrated meals all week.

We succeeded admirably in not working too hard. We paddled and portaged no more than a few miles per day on our way out. Furthermore, we had two days where we didn't really paddle anywhere. In fact, we were so lazy on our way out that we were able to make the entire trip back in one day. Don't get me wrong, that last day was a long, hard slog, but the point is that we managed to fulfill our goal of not over-extending ourselves.

Planning our meals required a bit more creativity. We could travel extremely light and eat only dehydrated backpacking meals all week, or we could add some extra weight and eat a bit better. And of course there is a happy medium. This is where my culinary expertise, creativity, and camping experience came in handy. Here are a few of the meals I managed to throw together for our trip...

-Chicken Broccoli Alfredo Pasta. Ingredients: Instant Broccoli Alfredo Pasta, Cooked Chicken Pouches, Powdered Milk, Butter Buds, Parmesan and Romano Cheese, and Lowry's Seasoned Salt

-Split Pea Soup and Spam. Ingredients: Dehydrated Split Pea Soup, 3 individual Spam pouches, Lowry's Seasoned Salt

-15 Bean Soup and Bacon. Ingredients: Dehydrated pack of 15-bean soup, Fully cooked peppered bacon, Parmesan and Romano Cheese and Lowry's Seasoned Salt

-Chili. Ingredients: Beef Jerky (which was reconstituted during the cooking process), Dehydrated Chili, 2x condensed tomato paste, Lowry's Seasoned Salt and Parmesan/Romano Cheese

We did have one evening of the dehydrated meals designed for camping/hiking/backpacking, and I must admit that they weren't that bad. With that said though, we ate MUCH better for a LOT less money. Yeah, it would have been possible to eat nothing but the dehydrated meals. We would have traveled a bit lighter, but we wouldn't have eaten nearly as well, and we would have spent a LOT more.

Let me close today's post with a picture from our trip...

Pushing the Boundaries

A few of my friends and I are leaving today for our annual boys' canoe trip. This year we're heading for the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. I'll fill you in when we get back.

Flat

Today was a bit stressful. I guess I should have known that it would be a crappy day when I blew a tire. Oh well, at least the blown tire was an old one... and I know how to change a flat... and my spare was in good shape...

But then again, now I get to go buy a new pair of tires... which is EXPENSIVE on a pick-up truck... and the blown tire DID set the mood for the day.

Hey, I couldn't be TOO Pollyanna-optimistic, could I?

But then again, at least I got to watch my awesome TV when I got home. Oh wait, not yet... I haven't really sat down long enough to watch TV.

Guess what I'm going to do now...

A Rare Opportunity... Or... Making Paulius Jealous

I had this REALLY awesome opportunity a few days ago. The whole story isn't that exciting, so I'll stick to the short version. I had a chance to buy a brand new, high-end TV for half of the Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price... 25% LESS than the WHOLESALER paid for it. Long story short, I upgraded from a 47" rear projection TV to a 55" LED TV, and spent over $1000 less than if I had purchased it at Best Buy. In fact, it's such a new model that Best Buy doesn't yet have this model in stock. I've been watching TV almost all day, and I can't remember the last time I had this many multiple eyegasms in a single sitting.

And, by the way, no, there's nothing wrong with it... no blemishes, minor defects or anything like that. And no, it's not stolen. It was used for less than four hours in a demonstration at a technical conference, and they sold it as an "opened item." I haggled with them and got the price reduced even lower.

But That Was THEM!!!

Author's Note: Today's post originally had no title, so I've opened it up to you all to come up with one. I like Sunny's so I've changed the title accordingly. That said, the offer stands, if you can come up with a title that's better than what I have now, I'll change it...


When I was younger... a LOT younger... about a third of a lifetime ago, when I was still married to wife 1.0, I had a friend who was constantly getting busted for driving without a license. In fact, he got busted so often that he did multiple stints in county jail for driving while barred. I was always a bit amused and confused as to how this kept happening to him. First off, if your license is suspended, then... ummm... maybe you should, I don't know, QUIT DRIVING. Second, it seems that if you're driving without a valid license, you should be doubly careful, so you don't draw attention to yourself and get busted for driving without a license. And I distinctly remember wife 1.0 talking about what a dumb-ass my friend was for driving without a license.

Fast-forward ten years or so. I'm still married to wife 1.0... our neighbors were complaining about how their son kept getting busted for driving without a license. The guy racked up lots of fines, because he kept driving without a license. Once again, I distinctly recall wife 1.0 talking about what a dumb-ass the neighbor's kid was for driving without a license.

Fast-forward again to today. Wife 1.0 has just had her license suspended again. I'm not exactly sure how many times her license has been suspended, but this is definitely more two... I think less than five. But I can't help myself... I find out that she's had her license suspended yet again, and I distinctly recall all of those times where she was bashing on others for driving without a license... saying shit like How stupid do you have to be to lose your license in the first place?? and It's not that tough... you lose your license and you don't drive. I guess all of her spouting off doesn't apply now that the shoe is on the other foot.

And remember, if you can come up with a better title for today's post than the one Sunny suggested, I'm open to suggestions...

Aw, Piss!

For the past several days, we've been noticing a rancid odor in the house... the stench can only be described as an evil combination of urine and dead rodent. We finally figured out that the reek came from our carpet, so guess what I spent the weekend ripping out of the house...

Come On... They Did it to Protect Us

My news article for the day... According to this AP article, the Catholic Church sent a pedophile priest to Sierra Leone twice after finding out that he really liked little boys.

My take?? Come on... give the church a break... it's not like they promoted him and sent him to New York city. Oh wait. I guess in retrospect that they could have, oh I don't know... defrocked him? Turned him in to the cops? Killed him?