What's your life like?

It’s Tuesday and Thanksgiving is almost here. I just delivered my annual turkey load to the food bank (207lbs thank you). I started reflecting on the past year and the changes that occurred and got to thinking about my life. I try not to reflect on my life too much because it just depresses me. Then I looked around the food bank and the nearby homeless shelter and realized how ridiculous I can be. Sticking with the theme of self-reflection I decided to take stock of my life and look for ways to improve and areas to be thankful. When I write I can be wordy and wandering and sometimes get off topic. So I’m approaching it like a college entrance application. The assignment is to describe your life and accomplishments in 500 words or less. This is far easier as an eighteen year old than at fifty one, but it’s still worth the effort. Feel free to play along. Post yours in the response area (if you dare) or share them with your friends (true courage).

In the thirty years of my adult working life I’ve had eleven jobs that lasted at least two or more years. Those jobs were in five different career areas; sales, law enforcement, state government, the insurance industry and marketing. I’ve worked for minimum wage (or close to it) and if I’m honest with myself I’ve actually been overpaid for my performance at least twice. Since I’m being honest, I’ve also been under paid for my performance about four times. It all balances out though, so I’ve given good value. If I were a car I’d be either a station wagon or an SUV. I’m kinda slow, not really pretty, a bit of a rough ride and good for the long haul.

My personal philosophy breaks down into “there are X kinds of people in the world”. For instance there are two kinds of people in the world, dog people (me) or cat people. I also believe that there are three kinds of people in the world “wolves, sheep and sheep dogs (me). My final philosophy states that there are two kinds of people in the world, those who listen to me and those who are doing it wrong (I’m only half kidding here).

Politically I’d say I’m a Demoliberapublican. I believe in personal responsibility and accountability. I think government should be fiscally responsible (there IS more government waste than you can imagine), but provide for the general welfare while simultaneously allowing for certain individual freedoms. That’s not asking too much from our elected officials, is it?

It was only since my son was born that I realized I wanted to give back to the community (or something like that). So, I volunteer in the community when I can and contribute monetarily as my resources permit. I coached youth sports in Tallahassee for eight years, volunteered at my son’s elementary school for four years and now I’m a volunteer firefighter. I also participate in one time volunteer service activities such as feeding those in need during the holiday season and supplying Christmas gifts to less fortunate families.

But what have I really accomplished? That’s a tough question, which I’ll answer broadly. I believe I provided a positive adult role model to kids through my coaching. In my friendships and romantic relationships I’ve given as much or more than I’ve received. I developed the framework and rules for the Attorney General’s Office to fight price gouging in Florida during periods of disaster. I worked hard to instill in my son a strong moral code and high ethical standard for him to build his life on. I rescued two dogs from the shelter, but I believe they’ve given me more than I’ve given them. Finally, I’ve matured as a man and continue to strive in my life without compromising my ethics and principles.

How about you?

In Praise of Cheap Wine

Ah wine, you make me so happy with your fruity notes, tannic, highlights and hints of... Oh who am kidding. I like wine, red, white or pink. But I like them cheap, cheap like $6 a 750ml bottle cheap. Why does wine have to be so expensive? Well it doesn't plain and simple.

First a little background. I spent five years in the wholesale end of the business working for a distributor and importer. I know a little bit about what makes wine good and I know a little bit about what keeps wine expensive. A big part of the expense is due to the taxes, the so called sin taxes. Tobacco and alcohol are taxed to the max because there's very few people protesting against them. As opposed to say tea or stamps (check your history).

But here's the secret, wine is expensive because it can be. This is called selling the "sizzle" not the steak. Now there's a lot to appreciate in a nice glass of wine I'm sure. My favorite wine observation comes from Robin Williams mocking wine snobs "abusurd, yet flaccid".

I've had hundred dollar bottles of wine and bottles that cost five bucks. I can honestly say I wasn't 20 times happier drinking the $100 stuff, but I was at least 10 times sadder when it was gone.

So several years ago I started "dumbing down" my wine selections. I likes my Krug, but I'm just as happy with Korbel. Now I buy wine the way I buy cars. I look for the right year, make and model and shop price. A bottle of wine from the right year, growing area and trusted vintner is twice as good when it's buy one get one free.

I drinks what I likes and happier still when it has a screw cap (cork trees are endangered you know). You should too. Don't let the winos intimidate you with their fancy swirling stuff and glass snorting slurps. Be proud of your choice and when they run out Chateau Smelly Feet, offer em a glass of Gallo. After all you shouldn't drink alone.

Who's afraid of roasting chicken?

I think every good blog (and some bad ones too) should have a few food entries. This blog will have many. I mean look at me. I don't miss many meals, that's for sure.

Okay, so are you afraid of roasting chicken? Not roasted, I mean doing the work yourself. Well cast aside your fears my friends I'm here to help. Food ain't cheap, but I am. That's why when the roasters are 99 cents a pound I stock up.

One of the great things about roasting is how easy it can be. Fire up the oven, get a pan, toss in the chicken and voila (that's french for "did I do that?") dinner! At my house I do a bit more than that. First of all there's my non-patented chicken rub. Hey, hey, this food we're talking about. All my rubs start with salt and some kind of pepper. For chicken it's white pepper (this time). So it's salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, thyme, paprika for color, a little cayenne cause it's there and voila (I don't need to translate voila again do I?).

Oil up the chicken (it's gonna get tan), then rub away. I use canola, but lite olive oil works too. The heat from roasting is a bit much for EVOO (extra virgin olive oil). Chickens are social animals so I throw in half a pound of carrots and 3 or 4 russet potatoes. I quarter the carrots and the potatoes are in sixths. I have no idea why. This particular bird was over five pounds so a 375 oven for an hour or so will do the trick. Now my little secret is to save some of the rub and sprinkle it over the veggies and pour about a half an inch of chicken broth in the pan.

An hour and ten minutes later voila, roast chicken and root veggies. Remove the chicken to a cutting board. Spoon the good juices over the veggies and cut up a salad while your chicken rests. Apparently roasting is hard on the chicken. Quarter the chicken (or smaller) and serve.

A great one pan dinner with minimal clean up. Jake and I had rice as well (cause it was there smart guy). I poured some of the juices from the bird over the rice too. Now this was some good eats and leftovers too boot.

Try it, if you like it let me know. If you don't like it then buy a dog, but don't give him the bones.

In for a Penny

There's a saying "In for a Penny, In for a Pound". My those Brits are clever. So, I'm all in here. I've wanted to write seriously for a while, but didn't know how to start or when to stop. So I'm in for a Pound. At least for a while. I hope you enjoy your time here. Even if you don't that's ok and thanks for stopping by. I'm writing this for me so don't try to understand, just go with it.

Thanksgiving approachs

I'm thankful:

For my great son,

My two dogs, "Almost Perfect Dog" and "Pain in the ass devil dog",

for friends,

that I have a job and a home,

and plenty to eat,

that I'm not a Yankee fan,