Some good stories here. Mom and Dad were both WWII Navy veterans. That is how they met. Dad enlisted in '39 and was at Pearl Harbor on the cruiser Helena. He stayed in for 20 years and when he retired got a job as an employment counselor at the Virginia Employment Commission and helped a whole lot of people before he passed away in '68 from brain cancer. He rarely spoke about anything war related. But as we sat around the dinner table I enjoyed hearing the stories about all the folks he helped with employment. He was 48 when he died. Mom just turned 98 in Feb. and still lives in her own home here in town. Pretty good mental state. Gets up every morning - dresses - has breakfast - reads the paper. We don't talk on the phone - we use email. And I see her each week when I drop off her provisions. And I take care of the landscaping there so I see her then as well. And when I take her to doctor appointments. My late stepfather was Coast Guard WWII vet and instrumental in establishing the CG facility at Canaveral. He was born in Titusville. Never went to college like my Dad but worked for his Dad at the service station in Oak Hill and learned how to run that business. Also ran a wrecker and worked with the highway patrol, Bill. That service station had a little self service ice house out front that he kept when he sold the station and a few times I went with him to Titusville to pick up ice. Those huge blocks of ice they'd slide into the Chevy Apache bed. He taught me how to fix a blown head gasket on that same truck. He became the post master of Oak Hill also for quite a few years. I did some custodial duties their as well for a few dollars. Kinda neat to work behind the counter in a post office where no one else is normally allowed. Dad is buried at Hampton National Cemetery.
My Dad was in the S Pacific...."island hopping" as he called it. When I got old enough, past 25 yr old, I asked him about being on an island and knowing Japs were hiding. He kind of smiled and said "We can smell them and they can smell us. Depends on the wind" I thought for a second then realized what it meant. I asked if he had enough ammo and he said yeah, but we had more beer and cigarettes behind us than we needed. He and a man named --- Kennedy became very close, after the war they wrote, never visited since we were in FL and Kennedy was in Calif. Funny, how today they would have done Facetime, visited, FB, etc. When Kennedy wrote, he would read the letter aloud at dinner. I didn't get it until I grew up for real. Then I got what they meant to each other.
My dad had really bad eyesight and was rejected for service over and over again when he tried to enlist. He even memorized the eye chart, but then they switched it on him to do it again. I think that he finally got in sometime in early 1943.
Tonight my wife and MIL are flying to St Louis where we have a SIL with serious medical issues. I am staying home to tend to both dogs. My son and I ate sushi (him) and sashimi (me) take-out. My wife doesn't like it, but we do. And it is pouring rain in Gainesville in what seems like forever!
Hoping for a positive outcome for your SIL, @GatorLurker ! Send some of that rain this way! We've gotten some spits and spats but not what I'd like to see. Today I was picking up provisions and wanted to get some whole food for my dog. Looked at the chicken and just tired of it so over at seafood I see this Ahi - two nice pieces. One for Winkipop and one for Winkipop's Daddy. So that's what we had. Not quite sushi but in the same neighborhood, I guess.
My dad did the eye chart memorization thing. He eventually was drafted. When I took my Vietnam draft physical they were giving us the color blind test. Showed the image with the different color dots—10 or 12 of us standing there. They asked one guy what color a dot was, he answered and they asked the group—“Everyone agree?”
My FIL was drafted at the end of WWII and made it as far as Monterey before the war ended. He was color blind or, as he liked to say, color confused. So of course the Navy sent him to electronics school where he would have no idea what the color codes on resistors were.
Dinner tonight will be really simple: dirty rice with leftover chicken and Italian sausage. Not exactly the way they do it in Nola.
We’ve been smelling a big pot of spaghetti sauce simmering and boy does it make you hungry. A fresh Romaine salad topped with vine ripe tomatoes and garlic and Parmesan Texas toast for sides. A nice bottle of red Cav will be on the table. Back porch ice cold longnecks and chilled wine will preempt supper. Life is good in Gator Nation!
Because I am cooking for my son (who very often will eat taquitos or microwaved breaded chicken tenders instead of what I make for my wife, MIL and myself) and myself only it will be tacos tonight. But when I made oxtail ragu on my birthday and convinced him to try it he thought it was great so there is hope for him. I thought about firing up the KJ today, but I just couldn't do a 2 and Q.
OK, Growl said we switched over to new servers yesterday so let's give it a try. Early 90's grilling kabobs in the lanai at my Lehigh Acres home.
We have had strong thunderstorms off and on since 3AM this morning and that’s great because we really needed the rain as it was very dry here…(We are showing 4+” in the rain gauge). We are making fresh Cobb Salads tonight adding grilled boneless chicken fingers cut up and cut up fresh vine ripe tomatoes. Back porch ice cold longnecks and chilled wine go great with an afternoon/evening of watching non-stress D-1 post season baseball. Life is good in Gator Nation!
Today is the last day my wife and MIL are away from visiting a very ill SIL. And today is Monday so we had our house cleaned. Long and sad story about why. Just helping out some nice people. So to keep the kitchen clean my son and I ate Thai take-out from Wah Ha Ha. Not the best every Thai I have ever eaten, but surprisingly good for Gainesville.
We went to Bangkok Station on Archer Road Sunday afternoon with a group of friends including a former colleague and her husband who were in town. Mediocre at best, although my wife liked the coconut ice cream
Last night was a chopped salad and tonight is a spicy sesame peanut noodle soup. I had to go to the local Asian market for the Vietnamese egg noodles and the Thai basil.
Tonight I’m going to be grilling bone-in country cut ribs indirect over cherrywood smoke. Pat’s Homade on the last two turns. Baked potatoes on the top rack. Sides will be a fresh pot of crowder peas along with taking some fresh yellow squash, thin sliced, brushed with olive oil, then lightly shaken on Italian seasoning, and parmesan cheese. Run them in the air fryer until crispy. Good stuff. Ice cold longnecks and chilled wine are hard at work on the back porch. Life is good in Gator Nation!
Sounds great. Still trying to know when I can fire up the KJ so it has no stink of 2 and Q. Maybe Saturday.
