Going, going, gone…

February 14, 2024February 17, 2024 bgibson135

When I got over to Walmart and started to walk inside I noticed an old man carrying a bouquet of flowers, and I thought, “better late than never.” I thought this because I was actually thinking that yesterday was Valentine’s Day and that he was trying to make up for forgetting the flowers yesterday. As I was walking out of Walmart, there was a young soldier carrying out some flowers, but this time the Walmart Greeter wished him a Happy Valentine’s Day… and then it sunk in, today is Valentine’s Day, not yesterday. I said as much to her as I walked by.

Now a while later, I am eating a pear in my car, about lunchtime, having just come out of a Food Lion. In front of me, several rows ahead in the parking lot I saw a man get out of his truck. He was fiddling, but eventually, he went back to his rear door and opened it, appearing to be ready to reach in for something. But, as he opened the door, the vacuum of air pulled a bunch (about six, shiny red, heart shaped balloons) of balloons from his back seat and out, quickly above his truck. He tried to grab the string dangling down from the balloons, but they were too quick. And once they are out of reach, they are out of reach. He looked briefly, but it was obvious they were gone.

I finally thought to take a couple of pictures with my phone of his truck, and the balloons (already far away). And, here they are.

After I finished eating my pear, the man was still standing by his truck (not still looking at the escaped balloons), and so I drove over, and rolled down my window and told him, “You can tell her that I know you bought the balloons and I saw them float away.” I didn’t know him, but he smiled, and it added to the humor of the moment. *I just went online and see that six balloons aren’t that expensive. It’s not like buying red roses.

[NOTE 02/14/24]: While out today, I got a few new potatoes & small white potatoes at Pate’s Farm Market. Got a couple of cans of Cut Green Beans at Walmart and already had some bacon at home. I had made some cabbage slaw earlier and put it in the refrigerator. I included cabbage, orange bell pepper & sweet onion with some Dukes Mayo and sweetener, S&P. I pan fried a thin, bone-in, pork chop and at the end after removing the cooked pork chop from the pan, I sifted in some Wondra fine flour and added a little water (didn’t have an open box of chicken stock). Made a thick gravy. Also had a slice of White Mountain Bread. Here it is, and it was delicious.

Forgot that I also added a slice of polenta cut into quarters to the green beans, potatoes & bacon. The polenta stayed together and was reminiscent of a corn meal dumpling.

Large white lima beans and black eyed peas with ham hock or other seasoning meat are two of the classic “country cooking” sides in addition to the green beans, potatoes & bacon that might go well with the cabbage slaw. You can add potatoes to black eyed peas to extend the number of servings. Pastry goes well in the lima beans.

My “Aunt Sis” my mother’s sister, Carrie Kellum, cooked well. My mother and I lived with her for a while, and then I lived with her for a few more years, after mom moved to Portsmouth, Virginia to live with another sister, “Aunt Pete,” (Zeta Littleton) until I graduated from Swansboro High School in 1972.

Sis’ home was in Hubert and it was about an hour, each way, by school bus, to Swansboro High. So, in the afternoon it would be a few minutes past 4 pm before I made it home. All through the week, Sis would have a couple of meats cooked on the stove along with about three different sides and good homemade biscuits. I don’t recall how much sugar she put in her iced tea, but it was well over two cups full.

I would rush in from the bus, maybe getting something on a plate from the stove, and then go back to my room to watch TV. And it was Barnabas Collins, a vampire, and “Dark Shadows” that I wanted to see.

I was a fat kid most of my life, but probably during my Junior year in high school, I started drinking a bunch of lemonade without any sugar or sweetener. I had a large roundish, orange pitcher with a looping handle. The pitcher might have been an advertising gimmick from a company like Hi-C. But the lemon juice would have come from “Real Lemon.” I think Real Lemon has been around for that long. I don’t think I cut back on my eating, although I might have, but I began to lose weight. Not sure of what weight I got down to, but by the end of the weight loss, I was able to do one handed pull-ups and chin-ups on an old swing set beside the house. And, I thought of playing college football, although I hadn’t played any sport in high school. I intentionally started to “bulk up.” But, I don’t want to be physically roughed up, and I really wasn’t built to play football.

So, my love of food and riding around for entertainment both came from my Aunt Sis. Mom wasn’t a good cook, but she did fix one meal that was good and that was fried chicken. I think the meal included “store bought” dinner rolls, and whole kernel corn or garden peas from a can, maybe sliced tomatoes or corn on the cob in season. This was long before there were sweet Vidalia onions.

But after Vidalia onions became readily available, my favorite side would be some chopped sweet onion with a mess of black eyed peas & ham hock. In fact for several years I said that black eyed peas would be what I would want for my last meal before dying. And then a few years ago, I cooked some large white lima beans with seasoning meat and they were so good. But now I’m not sure of what meal I would like for my last. Not even sure if I will be able to prepare my last supper, or have the taste buds to enjoy it.

Now I use a bunch of various spices & herbs in my cooking, but growing up there were only two flavorings, Morton’s Iodized Salt, and McCormick’s Ground Black Pepper. We didn’t throw out the ground black pepper, and so the metal tin might begin to rust along the connected edges. I grind most of my pepper freshly as I cook or after the food is done. I found the Indian Pepper a year or so ago, and had to buy a special grinder because it isn’t a little round grain, but curly and hard, but the ground pepper is very pungent.

I think mom was the first, and maybe only person to fry apples for breakfast and with bacon. After they were fried, she would add some sugar and cinnamon. These were delicious! Didn’t have them often, but they were good. Now I fix a fried apple & bacon breakfast at least once a week. I now slice the apple (usually a Gala apple) in half and then use an apple corer to scoop out the hard seedy area. I then slice the halves and add them to the heated & greased pan.

I think mom cored the apple and then sliced it so that each slice was a whole apple slice, and this is what I continued to do when I was making fried apples through the years. I didn’t make them often. But some time ago, probably not more than a year, I decided that I wanted some fried apples for breakfast, and some bacon with them. Now mom only put sugar and cinnamon on her fried apples, and so did I through the years… until I started frying apples pretty regularly for breakfast. I might fry apples at least twice a week, alternating with liver pudding, a scrambled egg & polenta waffles, or egg salad, bacon & whole wheat bread, or a waffle, Cary’s Sugar Free Syrup and bacon, and finally, oatmeal with raisins or dried cranberries, Splenda sweetener.

So, once I started frying apples on a regular basis, I found that I couldn’t consistently core through the apple so that I always got the whole hard seeded part. Finally, I decided to first half the apple, from top to bottom, and then use the apple corer at a slight angle from each end to get the hard seeded part. For each half, this took two “pokes” of the corer, one from each end, and slightly heading downward to get all seeds. I then slice each half in half and then make all the necessary slices.

Once the apples are done, I don’t use sugar, but rather Splenda sweetener, and then I add all the “warm” spices: cinnamon, cloves, coriander, ginger, mace, and nutmeg. And recall it only takes about 4 minutes to cook my bacon to perfection in the microwave, saving the bacon grease for more apples or flavoring other things like pork chops, or soup.

Another meal that I enjoyed, but was probably only fixed a couple of times a year, in cold weather, was corned beef, with potatoes & onions in a broth. The broth would only be water. I think I’ve added cabbage to the mix, but it isn’t absolutely necessary. I fixed this for quite a few years, but have fallen out of love with it as much. It still has good flavor, but just not as good to me.

Mom would fix a hard corn bread, fried up in a pan (I guess.) and this might go with fried fish (Spots, Flounder) or with oysters or crabs. Of course, you could bake flounder in the oven adding onions & potatoes.

I recall mom and me going down to the Queens Creek Bridge, during the summer, and walking under it. There were large odd shaped granite stones used to shore up this area. We would have a “dip” net for catching crabs, and a bucket. Probably a 5 gallon plastic bucket for our catch of crabs. We would tie chicken necks to thick twine and throw them into the creek, and then pull the twine in slowly so as not to scare a crab, if it was on the line. You might see bubbles coming to the surface if a crab was feeding on the chicken neck.

I recall eating a “mess of” crabs one day in the little dining room at 204 Johnson Blvd. in Jacksonville, NC. There were only the two of us, mom & me, and she put newspaper down on the table top, and then a plate for each of us, with some steamed crabs on the plate. You just crack the claw shells to get to some of the meat and peel the back shell off the crab, get rid of some of the inedible guts and crack the bottom shell or pull off the little legs to get a small amount of sweet meat on the ends. Takes forever to eat crabs this way, and it is almost not worth the effort, but the meat is good. You end up with a bunch of crab shells spread around your plate on the newspaper, but this makes it easier for cleanup.

Egg salad was simple, with mayo, S&P and maybe some sweet relish. But there was only white bread. Merita. A BLT was of course on white bread, with bacon, sliced tomato, mayo and Ice Berg Lettuce. I don’t recall their being flavorless tomatoes when I was growing up. Today, there are few good flavored large tomatoes. I am guessing that making a tomato that looks good and transports well without rotting has taken precedents over a flavorful tomato.

Connelly – Lost Light

February 14, 2024February 19, 2024 bgibson135

On one end of Selma Avenue in Los Angeles is Hollywood High School

The only bungalows on Selma Ave. are on the opposite end, where Selma Ave. does a slight “S” crossing N. Gower Street. It was at the “shooting” location of one of these bungalows that “the shootout” occurred during the $2 Mill robbery.

In some ways, Los Angeles seems quite navigable. You begin to build your layout on the main routes, you add some notes of interest, and you learn the freeways that get you from point A to point B more quickly… except during rush hour.

Echo Park is just off the 101, as is the Hollywood Bowl. And you can get off the 101 onto Hollywood Blvd., or below it, Sunset Blvd. and a little further below those Santa Monica Blvd. Santa Monica Blvd. parallels Hollywood and Sunset Blvds. until it does a dog leg and heads to the Pacific Ocean. And just before you get to the Ocean, there was “Little Ruby.” But, you wouldn’t take Santa Monica Blvd. if you wanted to get from downtown. There are faster routes.

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

Federal Building – FBI Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA

Gessler heads up S. Sepulveda Blvd. from the Federal Building, buys gas, and isn’t seen again.

Los Angeles Central Library

Nat’s

Not sure where or if there actually was a Nat’s Bar, but this is the approximate location, “about a half block, south of Hollywood Blvd.” Musso & Frank Grill is behind us and to the right from here, on Hollywood Blvd. To our left if we turn around from this view.

Kate Mantilini’s Restaurant (permanently closed)

Branch Bank

Okay, I do not wear caps. Never have, or never have for very long, and rarely trying them on to see that I really don’t want to wear a cap. But, I bought this one as a test, to try and solve a problem with me reading from my easy chair. I have the floor lamp shown above which is just to the left of my easy chair. I can reach over and pull it to me to turn it on, or turn it off, but when I am reading, the light hits me “directly” at an angle;-) It’s just irritating to try to read for too long with this light glaring at me. So I’ve tried sitting up, or holding the book at a different angle, but all of that is uncomfortable also. At some point I thought that wearing a cap, and having the brim shade my eyes might work… I thought about it for a time. And, I asked Jeff about how much a cap should cost. I think he said it’s about $25. Now, at one point I might have thought $25 was too expensive for a cap, and that $12.95 plus tax was the more reasonable, but this time I went on to Amazon.com and found a cap, a “Port of Los Angeles” cap, black, adjustable (aren’t they all, and this one with a velcro adjuster), and added it to my Cart, but I didn’t complete the purchase. I left for a day or a couple and then came back to it, in a buying mood, and finished the process. Now this cap didn’t include free shipping. That was another $4 or so. And it said delivery would take about 10 days (It didn’t in reality.).

This afternoon, I decided to take a drive, and go grocery shopping for steak and a red bell pepper up toward Lillington. Lillington is about 25 minutes, one way and I’ve shopped at the Food Lion and IGA there quite a few times. As I walked out my front door, I noted a small square box (my new cap) just outside. I brought it in, and sliced it open. Looked in real life as it had in the online photos. I put it on, had to readjust the fit, and then put it back on, and then on backwards, and then on sideways. I took the cap into the bathroom before I left and put it above the Bosch novel I’m currently reading.

After I got back home, I went and got the cap and the volume of “Lost Light” from the bathroom and brought them both back into the living room to test the reading. Works fine in shading my eyes from the floor lamp light. I decide to take a few pictures to illustrate me & my new cap. Oh, and I don’t have any other caps in my apartment or in my car. As I said, I don’t feel comfortable wearing one, and except for reading, I probably won’t wear this one much.

Why did I get a “Port of Los Angeles” cap? Well, as written elsewhere, I had just finished reading “A Darkness More Than Night,” which has a good deal of it’s time spent down near the Port of LA, and Catalina Island. But also, I was watching an episode of Perry Mason and some of that show was down near the Port of LA (but probably late 50s or early 60s), with much fewer cargo cranes, and an LA Fire Station which is probably near where the current one is located very near to the Vincent Thomas Bridge and the Battleship Iowa. *And ironically, a short time after this episode of Perry Mason ended, I was watching a commercial, a Dodge car commercial with Dodge Darts (I think.) from 2023 (just last year), and they were driving across a bridge, but I recognized the bridge, or thought I did. And, later in the commercial, several cars are speeding away from a tall building with the label “Port of LA – Warehouse #1.” I went to Google Maps Street View and found that this warehouse was located right next to the Cabrillo Marina (a setting in the Bosch novel), and a building that the large container ships have to pass when entering or leaving the Port of LA. *And the YM Warranty passed it coming into port just a few days ago, and will pass it again on it’s way out in a day or so. On the opposite end of this warehouse is a large lettering saying something to the effect, “Welcome to the Port of Los Angeles.”

I think my current moustache & beard remind me of those of Michael Connelly. Not intentionally grown for that likeness, but just noted by me. I think Connelly is about three years younger than I am.

Before I forget it, I happened to look at the book cover for the current novel, “Lost Light” and realized what it was showing. I recognized it because I had just read a short time earlier in the novel where Harry, feeling paranoid, and sensing he might be, “being followed,” cuts his car sharply across traffic and into a tunnel, and Connelly through Bosch describes how the car lights, of a following car would show up in the tunnel. *Makes me wonder if the tunnel may have greater meaning that will be revealed later. Otherwise, it would be strange to choose this image for the cover of this novel. Still, I don’t see how it could have greater significance. We will see, or at least I will;-)

NOTE [02/18/24]: This is just a navigational reference that I noticed recently. I was looking at an old posting, and had made note of where the old motel was located in Pulp Fiction, where the Bruce Willis character & his wife stay, just before leaving LA for the last time. By the time I had pulled up the location on Google Maps, the motel had been torn down and a new storage warehouse built there. But I happened to see that you could head in an almost southerly direction to Silver Lake and then on to Echo Park, and then to downtown LA (with all the skyscrapers), but here’s the thing, you now have a straight line all the way to the Port of LA. It’s a long way from Silver Lake to the Pacific, but it is a straight line. And, you could come close to following that line out to Catalina Island and Avalon.[end NOTE]

Connelly – A Darkness More Than Night

February 7, 2024January 16, 2025 bgibson135

So far, this is the oldest Harry Bosch novel I have read (from about 2001), and about the eighth. It took 37 pages, not counting the prologue, before Harry is mentioned as the original detective assigned to the case. I’ll call the former FBI profiler (not sure if that is the correct term for his job), who has had major surgery (heart), and been recovering with other major changes in his life: a wife, a new born baby, and running a charter boat with a friend around Catalina Island, Terry McCaleb. I guess I have to since Michael Connelly has called him that.

So I wasn’t familiar with Cabrillo Marina, but I quickly became aware that I knew the area, pretty well. *See Footnote at bottom regarding San Pedro. In 2022, I became interested in a select group of cargo ships. I started by following the BBC Volga as she was coming into the Port of Morehead City. The Port of Morehead City is the smaller of the two Atlantic Ocean ports in North Carolina. The other NC Port is at Wilmington. It was there, that I was introduced to the YM Warranty (Yang Ming) which was just coming up the Cape Fear River and turning around just south of the “new” bridge that crosses the river near downtown Wilmington. I caught the Warranty just as she was stretched across the river, in her turn, to put her bow heading back downriver, and before she docked to begin her off/on loading.

I guess old men are childish. Okay, men are childish, but maybe old men become more childish. We choose to focus on things, perhaps insignificant things that were never important during most of our “adult” lives. Cargo ships & ocean shipping was never important to me, but with the Volga and the Warranty, a whole new world was opened to me. And, whether insignificant or not, I made an education of my journey along with these two vessels. I used Google Maps, various port & river web cams and the vessel following apps to bring the various locations to life as these ships travelled around the World.

Surprisingly the BBC Volga, a Handysize container vessel, almost travelled around the World twice in a year. Not figuratively around the World, but in actuality, around the World. Starting in Japan, she headed east. Through the Panama Canal, eventually to Gdansk, Poland, and back through the Kiel Canal in Germany. But around and through the Gibraltar Straits, across the Mediterranean, and through the Suez Canal, across the Indian Ocean, down & around Singapore, and up the Coast of China, eventually back to a port in Japan. And then, she turned around and followed much of that route from west to east, back, from east to west. And now she has headed down the west coast of South America, and around the southern tip of South America back up to Jamaica and now nearer to the west coast of Africa. West & east, east & west, south & north, and more east.

But, the Volga has nothing to do with Los Angeles, or at least not so far. However, the YM Warranty introduced me to the Port of Los Angeles, the USS Iowa and the Wilmington area nearby. The “other” Wilmington. Apparently, the Warranty was assigned to a circuitous route between Busan, Korea and Wilmington, North Carolina, USA. It has stopped travelling through the Panama Canal to the US east coast, and only travels between Singapore, China, Korea, Los Angeles & San Francisco.

The current Google Street View actually shows the YM Warranty docked near the Wilmington (Port of LA) area. And incidentally, the Warranty is once again nearing the Port of Los Angeles having travelled across the high Pacific. I call it “high” because of the northerly arc of travel that many vessels take across the Pacific Ocean, that keeps them nearer to land & islands, which a more direct route across the Pacific would leave them far from any rescue or repairs.

And another aside, when referencing the vast Pacific Ocean, what about Johnston Atoll about 750 nautical miles, southwest of Hawaii? What a surprising place! I think at one time there were about 4,000 US military and staff, employed on this island that included a large airfield. The island had been used for Nuclear bomb testing, and later as a location for decommissioning biological & chemical weapons. At one time there was a thriving community, albeit, in the middle of nowhere to the Nth degree. So, ironically, I watched a YouTube video of the island as it is today (maybe a few years ago now) and there is now only one dilapidated two story building still left on the island and some storage bunkers. The barracks and other buildings torn down, the pool & movie theater gone except for their concrete foundations, the facilities for “toys” (sailboats, jet skis, water sports) for employees gone, and tropical vegetation taken over many of the paved roads and airfield. This island is toxic, and I pity those few that get to live on the island, in rotation, to monitor the environment. I hope they are paid well (probably not) because they are putting themselves in extreme danger. Okay, a vast Pacific Ocean, so let’s cross it with as many ports of rescue as possible.

Cabrillo Marina

West Basin – YM Warranty

I’m on Google Maps Street View and heading up the 110 from just above Cabrillo Marina (passing by where the Warranty docs and is visible from the Freeway) past West Basin and

on to Farmers Market Pl and Du-Pars Restaurant & Bakery. A trip that takes a little over 40 minutes (I guess with good traffic.). McCaleb is meeting with Jaye Winston at Dupars. McCaleb and family like the pancakes there, any time of day.

Bosch and McCaleb take a working lunch at a Cupids. Cupid’s Hotdogs Est. 1946

Bird Barrier, Carson, CA

And the real Cameron Riddell, President of Bird Barrier, and his current team.

The Goodyear Blimp tethered near the Bird Barrier warehouse.

Crunch Fitness 8000 Sunset Boulevard

El Conchinito Restaurant (permanently closed)

Hollywood Forever Cemetery (on Santa Monica Blvd.) – not from this novel, but Harry attended a funeral here once.

Hollywood Forever Cemetery is a short distance from the LAPD Hollywood Division. Further down Santa Monica Boulevard, from the cemetery toward downtown and just across the 101, is L.A. City College.

Lemon Grove Recreation Center just down from Romaine Street. *Elsewhere I recall the story of a young woman who was attending LA City College, and who was murdered and later found near Lemon Grove Recreation Center & the 101. She lived a short distance away on Romaine Street. What I noted from the aerial view of this area was that the Hollywood Forever Cemetery was only a couple of blocks away, but Romaine Street did not go directly there. I think this story may have been about a murder that was never solved, but because I visited these places via Google Street View, they are burned in my memory as if I had actually been there. And from this, I know that if you head up the 101, the Hollywood Bowl & the High Tower Apartments (from “Echo Park”) are about six minutes away.

United States Post Office Hollywood Station 90028 located just up Wilcox Ave. from the LAPD Hollywood Division a block past Sunset Blvd.

If you go up one block, from the Post Office, to Hollywood Blvd. and take a left and go about 3 blocks, you have Musso & Frank Grill on the right.

IN-N-OUT BURGER on Sunset Blvd.

City National Bank

[FOOTNOTE 02/13/24]: I was just watching an episode of Perry Mason, “The Case of the Arrogant Arsonist,” and quite a bit of the show had scenes from the San Pedro area down near the Port of Long Beach. The Vincent Thomas Bridge is there at the Port of Long Beach and San Pedro and this bridge was in the background for some of the TV show’s scenes. Here is a current webcam view of the bridge. Cabrillo Marina was there, but I didn’t see anything in the show with scenes from there.

There was a scene located at a fire station (Los Angeles Fire Department) along the waterfront. It was a different structure from what is there today, but I think it was approximately the same location. The YM Warranty has arrived at this port today and is docked at West Basin as in the Streetview of this area.

Funny, I just looked up at a Dodge car commercial and I am almost sure the cars are on the Vincent Thomas Bridge. I found the Dodge car commercial on YouTube and sure enough the commercial was made down in the San Pedro / Thomas Vincent Bridge area. Warehouse #1 is included in the commercial, and this warehouse is next to the Cabrillo Marina.

[end FOOTNOTE]

Connelly – The Night Fire

February 2, 2024April 17, 2024 bgibson135

As I have mentioned elsewhere, I like that Michael Connelly uses real locations in many of his books. I understand that you can’t make a real location a “murder scene” but you can have Bosch, Ballard, or Haller meet in actual restaurants, or suggest a body was found near a public park, and have the school, streets and residence realistically real.

[NOTE 02/04/24]: I’ve read about six of the Harry Bosch or Bosch-Ballard novels, by Michael Connelly in quick succession. I just finished “The Night Fire” this morning and added the El Tinajon Cafe in Las Vegas entry to this posting. But, what I am wrestling with now, is that I have a mental image of a Google Maps “directions map” showing the route that a victim, a young college-age girl, might have taken, bicycling from Los Angeles City College where she was attending, to where she was living. And about half way between her residence and the campus is where they found her dead body, near Lemon Grove Recreation Center. *And, I cannot recall who killed her, or the ending to that story, or even in which Bosch novel the story was included.

Hollywood Forever Cemetery – Tyrone Power Memorial

But, as to why I even thought about the above geographical layout, is that I flipped back to the first page of The Night Fire in which Harry is limping his way to his mentor’s (John Jack Thompson) funeral and he sits to take a rest at the memorial of Tyrone Power. And the connections I place here is that the dead girl’s place of residence, on Romaine Street, was only a couple of blocks from Hollywood Forever Cemetery, where the funeral is being performed. And, without going back to the novel, I’m not absolutely sure that Romaine Street is the correct street. What I recall is that her street did not go the extra two blocks to get to the cemetery. [end NOTE]

The Night Fire came out in October of 2019. I’m almost three-quarters through the book and Ballard and a representative from the DA’s Office meet for a conference and breakfast at a cafe in Santa Monica, near Ocean Boulevard, called “Little Ruby.” From online this is a NY type restaurant that has an Aussie style. The two women meet briefly, discuss a case and have a breakfast of coffee and avocado toast, and Ballard brings along her dog Lola.

I see from Google Maps & Street View that “Little Ruby” in Santa Monica is now permanently closed, but there are still quite a few photos of what the location, atmosphere and food were actually like. And I now know what an Avo Toast at Little Ruby looks like, or perhaps where the two women might have sat during their talk.

Above is a basic Avocado Toast, but I see that you could top it with 1 or 2 poached, or a fried egg., and/or bacon, etc. And apparently Lola would have been quite at home there.

Dulan’s “Soul Food” on Crenshaw

I must have researched this restaurant previously, seeing it referenced on the Bosch TV Series. I can’t quite tell if they are still in business at this location or not. I do have an image in my mind from maybe a couple of years ago. Seems it was a black couple eating at a small table. I did find their current web site for the Crenshaw location. But Ballard is in the large banquet hall “surveilling a couple of perps.” The web site has a couple of photos showing the banquet hall. There are also pictures of their fried chicken, collard greens and peach cobbler. She would have gotten a couple of cornbread muffins automatically with the meal. Not sure if she got their iced tea.

Harry meets his daughter Maddie “Mads” at Urth Caffé in Old Towne, Orange, CA for a late afternoon snack of Avocado Toast and coffee. He’s catching her just before she needs to go to an evening class. He feels the need to give her “a cancer update.” The cafe, located on Orange Circle, is just a few blocks from Chapman University where Mads is currently attending, but she’s thinking about law school, and going to the “D” (the District) after tonight’s class.

NOTE [04/17/24]: I turned on ABC 7 from LA (perhaps Long Beach, CA) this evening and while watching, I caught a police accident where a fleeing car ran through the circle and crashed into a fountain. Looking at the accident, the traffic circle seemed so familiar. I thought that this looked like one of the Google Street Views that I had recorded for where the fictional character, Maddie Bosch, was attending college and the Urth Caffe was nearby. Sure enough I found the article where the fountain was destroyed back in March. [end NOTE]

Is that an Almond Cheese topping with some micro cilantro? And for only $14.50 not including tax & coffee. Oh, and those heirloom tomatoes are extra…

The Musso & Frank Grill
- Entrees
  - Filet of Sandabs Sauté Meuniere $29

So, Harry orders Sanddabs at the Musso & Frank Grill. It appeared to be lightly breaded & fried fish. At some point, I asked myself if this was like flounder. The images of prepared Sanddab didn’t appear to be wide enough to be flounder-like, but later I did find that the Pacific Sanddab was a form of flounder.

So I learned two new things. One, was that a Pacific Sanddab was a type of flounder. The other, was in looking at a picture of “Filet of Sanddabs” as served at the Musso & Frank Grill, I noted what appeared to be a covering for the lemon half served on the plate.

El Tinajon in Las Vegas, NV where the Black Widow may, or may not, have gotten her last café con leche with Cuban toast. Ballard and all were there to arrest her.

Cheeky Monkey

February 2, 2024February 2, 2024 bgibson135

I’m watching an old British made movie called “Blind Spot,” and a woman just called a man, who was being forward to her, a “cheeky monkey.” This isn’t the first time I’ve heard the term, and I thought I understood the meaning because of how I had always seen it used. It’s sort of “a mild rebuff,” usually between acquaintances, but not necessarily friends. Maybe also being a little too familiar from someone that doesn’t know you well enough, yet, or maybe never will.

The only thing I’ve added to sauerkraut is homemade Thousand Island Dressing. Maybe that’s because the only time I eat sauerkraut is on a Pastrami Rachel sandwich, and as a side for that sandwich. *The short story about me and sauerkraut is as follows: When I was in 3rd or 4th Grade, at Swansboro Elementary School, about 1963/4, we would have sauerkraut as a side for our meal that we ate in the cafeteria. It was probably served with one of those big red sausages, and maybe some applesauce.

One day there was sauerkraut on our plates. I didn’t want to eat the sauerkraut, and I noticed several other boys stuffing their sauerkraut into their empty milk cartons (the little Half Pint size) and taking these up on their trays to the little window where everyone took their dishes when they were finished eating. There happened to be a couple of teachers standing near the window, talking, and checking to see if we had eaten our sauerkraut, and drank our milk. I had drank about half of my milk, before I had stuffed my sauerkraut into the carton and closed it up. *I normally would not do this, but it seemed like a good idea.

Well, a teacher stopped me, looked at my tray and lifted my milk up, and feeling that it was still full, she directed me back to finish my milk. **I now think she probably saw me stuffing my sauerkraut into my milk carton. I went back, sat down, and tried to drink my milk… my milk, mixed with sauerkraut. I gagged. So, for many years I never would even try sauerkraut again. The incident had left a “bad taste in my mouth.”

It may have been on my Spring Vacation 2017 through Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina that I had a Pastrami Reuben, with Swiss Cheese & Sauerkraut (about 50 years later) at Macado’s in Salem, Virginia. The sandwich and experience was so good that I tried a Pastrami Reuben at two other restaurants before returning home, and then got the fixin’s and made it at home a few weeks later. Over time, I learned that adding Thousand Island Dressing to the sauerkraut in the sandwich, “turned” it and made it pleasant. I eventually began to add sauerkraut, with some TI Dressing beside the sandwich, and liked it. I’m not sure I would have ever “really loved sauerkraut” but now I am thinking I may want to add sauerkraut to some of the meals I eat. Maybe add a little sweetener & spices to it and make a delicious side dish for maybe pork chops or Kielbasa sausages.

So, I thought I was finished writing this post, still watching “Blind Spot,” and what to my surprise, the main bad guy, who we’ve not seen until almost the end of the movie is played by a very young, curly haired blonde Michael Caine. I didn’t recognize him in a framed picture at the start of the movie. Oh, and he just drove off the road, the car caught fire, and Johnny is dead, or we hope so because the car is still in flames. The End.

“Blind Spot” has quite a few British actors & actresses that I have seen through the years. Well, I probably saw most of them in the series “Danger Man” with Patrick McGoohan and maybe even “The Saint” with Roger Moore.

I love the way the Saint (Moore) would sometimes, quite often, turn to the camera and talk personally to us, letting us in on some secret about what was occurring, or was about to occur. But, I also like the Saint, played by George Sanders from the 1940s.

I liked the actor George Sanders, even if he was playing a bad, very bad guy in something like “The Picture of Dorian Gray,” with Hurd Hatfield as Gray. And with a name like Hurd Hatfield, I recognize the actor when I see him in other shows, such as an episode of Perry Mason. And I’ve also watched much of the Alfred Hitchcock series and their are many, many actors that I recognize from these episodes.

I just heard a knock on my door. I rarely have a knock on my door, but I quickly recalled that I had an package arriving today. I had ordered a 28 piece silverware set from Oneida a couple of days ago.

I’ve mentioned this elsewhere, that I especially enjoy the Bosch TV Series, and now the novels I have read. Connelly is probably responsible for both the location accuracy in his books and also on the TV series. Many locations can usually be found on Google Maps Street View. And, I like to go to Street View and get a better feel for the locations. So, I was retracing the steps that Harry, the serial killer, and the other police officers and technicians were riding along to get up to Sunset Ranch Hollywood, where the killer had supposedly buried the young woman’s body. Harry had been on the case for 13 years, and now… [This is from “Echo Park.”]

I happened to notice the Beachwood Cafe from Street View. I then went to their web site. Not sure if I saw the Greek Chickpea Salad on their menu, but something about their menu triggered me finding this salad online. For some reason, not the chickpeas, I was attracted to the long handled fork shown with the salad image above. I eventually found for sale online a set that looked “close enough” to the fork… and I ordered a set of four 5-piece place settings, which also came with two chopsticks for each setting (total of 28 piece set).

The Zephyr Mirror order arrived a short time ago. It remains to be seen if I actually enjoy using these utensils to eat my meals.

Beachwood Cafe on the way up to Sunset Ranch Hollywood

Parking for Sunset Ranch Hollywood

I checked out the Zephyr Mirror dinner knife & fork for my lunch today. The knife is shaped in some way to remind me of a doctor’s scalpel. I had a pork chop, bone in, some garden peas and zucchini & Italian tomatoes and a slice of White Mountain Bread. The knife easily cut close to the bone in the pork chop, and the fork handled the garden peas & zucchini.

At the last minute I changed the sides I was going to have with my pork chop. I was slated to have steamed cauliflower and steamed cabbage, but happened to see some garden peas and some zucchini & Italian tomatoes in the fridge. Trying to be better at portion size, I used a half-cup Tupperware container to portion out both the garden peas and the zucchini.

These half-cup plastic containers look small, but there were plenty of garden peas and enough zucchini, and I heated them up in the microwave and then dumped them out on a dinner plate. I saw that the pork chop, with bone, was .75 lbs. If 16 oz. makes a pound, then 3/4s of a pound would be 12 oz. I cut the pork chop in half, diagonally so that each portion was approximately 6 oz. But, one half of the pork chop had no bone and the other half had all of the included bone. **I ate the half of pork chop that had the bone, so now I am thinking that I could half the half and end up with two 3 oz. portions. Three ounces of pork chop with a generous portion of steamed veggies should work out just fine and reducing my calorie intake without leaving me hungry.

Now the half-cup container works for the above two items, but I couldn’t imagine measuring out my Greek Salad in these, or their equivalent. In fact 2 cups of the salad might seem a little small. Not sure if the steamed cabbage or cauliflower would be enough if measured out in half-cup sizes either. And, I think the calories in a lot of cabbage or cauliflower would be relatively low. I love the flavor of both the steamed cabbage & cauliflower. *I also like to flavor both of these veggies with margarine, or toasted sesame oil or bacon grease, or salt or a combination of it all. I’ve also enjoyed baked cauliflower seasoned with Smoked Paprika & Cumin.

Golden Juilliard by Oneida

January 29, 2024February 6, 2024 bgibson135

I don’t recall when I first started collecting this cutlery, but it was many years ago, and not having bought any in this pattern in several years, I now find that Oneida has discontinued the pattern. Golden Juilliard has a gold plated highlight but there was a Juilliard pattern, same design but without the gold highlight. I always thought this had a elegant look without being pretentious.

I have a “silverware chest” for storage. I haven’t looked at what I have in a long while, but I think I had most of the pattern, both serving and individual place settings, and maybe enough to serve 6.

I have a different pattern that I use for daily use, but the Golden Juilliard has a small “seafood/cocktail” fork that I like to use for olives and pickles. I also like the size of the soup spoon which has a large bowl, which is even bigger than the soup spoon in the pattern I use everyday. But, I only have one Golden Juilliard soup spoon out of the storage chest for daily use. I don’t recall who made the pattern I use daily, but it is much different from the Golden Juilliard, less delicate and less elegant. I had eaten at a restaurant in Thomasville, Georgia on a visit there to the “Sweet Grass Dairy” (at the time they offered both goat and cow cheeses, but now only cow). The restaurant could have been Liams, but now that I think about it, it was probably Jonah’s (right next door). Their silverware was large, in the hand, and when I returned to Fayetteville, on my next visit up to the Oneida store in Smithfield, I saw and bought the pattern I currently use. [NOTE]: In writing the paragraph, I recalled that I had bought my current pattern at the Oneida Outlet Store in Smithfield. I don’t see the pattern on their web site, but haven’t looked at all their offerings. The Oneida Outlet Store left the Outlet Shopping Mall many years ago, now.

[ADDENDUM 02/06/24]: I thought that I might not be able to find the exact Oneida pattern that I use for daily use, but I finally saw four forks online that were for sale, and I immediately recognized them as the pattern I use. I believe it is called Oneida Stafford 18/10 Satin Flatware. There is a Stafford Mirror version which appears to be shinier.

I also have a sugar spoon, and a slotted serving spoon and serving fork. I lost my regular serving spoon by taking it to work one time to serve whatever dish I was taking, but then forgetting it and never seeing it again. Not often, but more often than you might think, I have needed a larger serving spoon (not slotted) to dip something, like soup, and the slotted spoon wouldn’t work. This flatware has a hefty feel and is a little larger in the hand, which is what I had liked about the flatware I used down at Jonah’s in Thomasville, GA. [end ADDENDUM]

On my first visit to Sweet Grass Dairy, and Thomasville, Georgia, I ate at Liam’s Restaurant. Jonah’s Restaurant didn’t exist yet. I think I’ve been to Thomasville three times, and I think because Liam’s was closed on one of those visits, I ate at Jonah’s which was right next door (with a little alcove between the two). I may have had a Lobster Bisque soup at Jonah’s and enjoyed it very much. And yes, I think it was Jonah’s that had the larger cutlery for dining. *And later when looking at the two restaurant web sites, I noted a “Christian” vs “Not Christian” vibe between the two establishments. At that time, Liam’s had named some of their menu items in a distinctly, “non-Christian” jibe at Jonah’s.

On my first visit to Thomasville, I was able to drive to the dairy where there were goats (not sure if the cows were there or elsewhere), and cheeses (both cow and goat cheese at the time), and a fat, old, white bulldog lounging on the cool concrete porch. I had come prepared and bought a bunch of different cheese and had an ice chest to bring it back to NC. I met the founding couple and a younger couple, that was son & daughter-in-law, or son-in-law & daughter. *On my next visit, you could no longer drive down to the dairy. There was a newly constructed store a short distance from the dairy. I think I bought some Pecan Oil, mostly as presents for friends & family. On my last visit to Thomasville, I think the only location was a restaurant in town, and now Sweet Grass Dairy was only producing cow cheeses, which appears to still be the case.

Oh, the other thing I collected was the Pfaltzgraff “Winterberry” pattern of Christmas dishes.

Garlic Cauliflower

January 28, 2024January 29, 2024 bgibson135

Beef Liver, Sweet Potato, Steamed Broccoli & White Mountain Bread

Garlic Cauliflower I steamed my cauliflower first and in a separate small skillet I made the Garlic Sauce with Avocado Oil, Red Wine Vinegar, chopped garlic, smoked paprika & some Equal sweetener. I normally will “turn” anything with vinegar with a little sweetener, and this worked well.

[NOTE 01/29/24]: I am making a note regarding the term “London Broil”. Somewhere online, not very long ago, I read an article that said that “London Broil” wasn’t a type of meat (steak) but a way of cooking on high heat and close to the burner. I explained this idea to Jeff Mitchell yesterday when I was visiting to watch the NFL Playoffs. But this morning, early, I am not finding that article and it seems that London Broil is steak that has little fat content and needs to be cooked on high heat, near the burner, to keep the meat tender. But, I may continue to use the term “London Broil” when describing how I cook the Round Bone Lamb Chops and the Pork Chops in the oven, on high and near the top burner. Cooking it this way provides an amount of “char” on the meat, which means “flavor.” [end NOTE]

I cooked the lamb in the oven as London Broil. The round bone lamb chops normally are sold in pairs (not always) and usually I eat one and put the remaining one in the fridge for another meal. This time, I cut the larger chop so that I should now have two meals remaining. I’m trying to eat a little less, because I know that less weight makes it easier to control my Blood Glucose Level. The Garlic Cauliflower was just mildly sweet but I could see this and German Potato Salad (both have vinegar & sweetener) as being interchangeable as sides. I added some dried tarragon to my garden peas, and a little sweetener. I think I also drained the original liquid from the canned peas, and added Chicken Stock back and maybe a dollop of margarine. *I also went to the extra trouble of making a slice of garlic bread (white mountain bread slathered with margarine, and sifted generously with garlic powder). This toasts in the oven quickly.

I don’t do this always, but sometimes I add lime juice & sweetener to my steamed broccoli. I first learned of how good the steamed broccoli could be with lemon juice & sweetener at Red Lobster. I would order the steamed broccoli with the blackened fish lunch special. At some point I wanted a different flavor for the broccoli than just salt & butter and found the citric & sweet combo worked well.

[NOTE 01/29/24]: I just noted in the paragraph above, that I was writing the word “cauliflower” but actually talking about “broccoli.” And oddly enough, I had written “steamed cauliflower” three times, but the last sentence (without even noticing) said “broccoli.” [end NOTE]

I probably first had a baked sweet potato, with sour cream, cinnamon and sweetener at one of the steak restaurant chains. Maybe Longhorn. I think I first ordered it with a cheap steak and liked it. But, I also like a “loaded” baked potato (Russet) with sour cream and butter. *It was probably America’s Test Kitchen where I first learned of the trick to a tasty baked potato. You pierce the potato skin all around the potato and then roll the potato in a saline solution (salt & water). The salt in the water sticks to the skin of the potato and forms a salty skin.

I like steamed cabbage, but also like cabbage slaw (with mayo & half-n-half, sweetener, vinegar). *I don’t usually add carrots to my slaw, but I have added sweet onion before and like that. I’ve also played with slicing the cabbage into thin, long slivers but sometimes have put the chopped cabbage in a blender with plenty of water and blending the cabbage until it is all just little fine bits. The water keeps the blended cabbage from becoming total mush, and each little sliver of cabbage is a consistent size. **I do like using Duke’s Mayo and some Half-n-Half and sometimes either a little vinegar or lime juice to thin it out.

The Liver Pudding shown above is a breakfast dish for me. I heat the liver pudding up in a small fry pan, on the stove top, in a little bacon fat. I peel the skin off the liver pudding and mash it down. It softens quickly. I also slice a couple of half inch wide polenta slices and put them in my waffle iron & press them down. Sometimes the polenta waffles brown just a little, but usually they just get warmed through. Still, I like these polenta waffles with the liver pudding and with the chipotle/avocado/chicken soup I make often. The chipotle/chicken soup has Southwestern flavors, so polenta, which is corn, works well, as do adding chopped cilantro leaves, or some chili or cumin powder.

The round scrambled egg is made in the microwave in my onion cooker. Currently, I have a bag of shredded 4 Mexican cheeses and I like adding that to my egg as it cooks. The cheese melts inside the egg. *I bought the 4 Mexican Cheeses blend with the intention of making a Southwestern Salad, but haven’t gotten around to it yet, mainly because the simple salad has a lot of calories. It includes: black beans, romaine lettuce, onion, ranch dressing & the Mexican Cheese blend.

I made a Cilantro-Lime Dressing when I fixed a salmon steak about a month ago. The dressing was good, different, but pleasant, but the next day my weight & resting Bgl jumped way up. I attributed the jump in the wrong direction to the dressing, but also wasn’t sure if I had eaten a larger portion of salmon than needed. Oh, salmon is pleasant, but it’s not something that I would repeat often. I will stick to my meat rotation of ground beef, steak, pork chops, lamb and roasted chicken (which I get from Publix). I do make a delicious tasting Seafood Chowder, which I do like to repeat. But, I prefer a little heat to the chowder and the end of the summer is when I can get some delicious peppers up at the State Farmers’ Market in Raleigh.

The savory rice thins crackers are delicious. They go good with salad and soups, and as a snack they take the Nueske’s Smoked Liver Pate and the two goat cheeses I really like, Bucherondin and Capricio de Cabra (sp). I had forgotten about the Bucheron Goat Cheese until about 3 months ago when I saw some in Wegman’s. I took a hockey puck of the Bucheron cheese home and when I tried it I recalled that this was one of the special cheeses I had tried years ago and liked. It might have been more than 30 years ago when I first tried this cheese, while I was living down in Jacksonville, NC. I probably couldn’t find it after I moved to Fayetteville, almost 30 years ago, and so I forgot about it. I’ve mentioned this elsewhere, but these crackers do not get soggy quickly when moisture hits their surface, so they provide a nice crunch with either soup or salad veggies.

I’ve found that Sprouts sells a cheap bottle of Pomegranate Juice. It does have a lot of sugar, but this juice also is supposed to be good at controlling blood sugar levels. *It is difficult to find low-sugar dried cranberries, but I like these with chocolate drops & either cashews or walnut pieces. When you do find low or no-sugar dried cranberries, they are much more expensive than the sweetened dried cranberries.

I was just watching TV, as I normally am, even if I am reading or doing something else on the laptop, and I saw a phone commercial. I don’t recall which company (AT&T I think.), but they have the young woman that was rather chesty, but has toned that down. What I found exceptionally funny was that the two women were looking at wedding dresses, and there were three white dresses displayed on mannequins with a sign that said, “Buy Two, Get the Third Dress Free.” One woman asks the other woman, “Is that a good deal,” to which the reply is, “No.” I started replaying this in my mind and suddenly thought that whomever wrote this commercial was very humorous. Ludicrous to think about buying two wedding gowns, and then to offer a third gown, even more idiotic, but how funny!

Great Gravy? Maybe Not. Good Gravy? Yeah.

January 24, 2024January 24, 2024 bgibson135

Recently I have made pretty good gravy from hamburger, steak and pork chops. I pour out most of the grease from the meat I have cooked (in a pan on the stove-top), turn down the heat, and then sift in some Wondra fine flour. I scrape the bottom of the pan and remember TV chefs saying to make sure the flour is cooked long enough to lose it’s raw flour flavor. I then add some Chicken Stock and try to make a thick gravy. I may add some marjoram and/or thyme, and if the gravy is bland, some salt. Seems like the pork chops make the best gravy.

My cousin, Mary Ann, has always been a good cook, and she does make good gravy. One of her secrets to flavorful gravy was using some Morton’s Nature’s Seasons. I think she also used Morton’s Season All but I don’t recognize the current packaging for it. *But, one Thanksgiving it wasn’t the gravy but the mashed potatoes that she made that we both still remember to this day. She mashed them, and added some butter & cream, and mashed them some more, and some more butter & cream and blended them. At the end they were so silky smooth and flavorful that we had extra helpings and its something we mention on the holidays and agree those mashed potatoes were exceptionally good that year.

I heat up a slice of wheat bread (to soften it) in the microwave (about 10 seconds usually does it).

I did make a slice of garlic bread the other day, slathering margarine on it first and then sifting a generous amount of garlic powder on top, and then toasting it in the oven. I don’t recall what I ate the garlic bread with, but I do recall that it was delicious and worth the extra effort. *Without looking back at what I’ve eaten recently, I know that I would have enjoyed garlic bread with spaghetti, but I haven’t had spaghetti in quite a while.

For years, I made my homemade spaghetti sauce by starting with the $1 can of starter sauce (Delmonte or Hunts). For a while I would add a small can of mushroom bits, and some ground beef. At some point, I had some Italian sausage, and read somewhere that fennel seeds were a flavoring spice, so I started adding fennel seeds to my sauce, even if I didn’t have Italian sausage. Once I used ground beef, pork and lamb. The ground lamb was expensive. The end result was a little more flavorful, but I decided it wasn’t worth the extra money and effort so I went back to just ground beef. I do add oregano, thyme, bay leaf, S&P.

But about two years ago, I saw a chef on TV using Rao’s sauce as a starter, and not too long after that I bought a jar of Rao’s in Walmart. The jar of Rao’s was about $8. When it came time to use it, I only used half a jar, but the end result was definitely worth the extra price. I’m not sure what I like about Rao’s (and they do have an assortment of sauces) but the extra cost was worth it.

The Sesmark Savory Rice Thins Crackers go good with the Bucheron Goat Cheese and the Nueske’s Smoked Liver Pate. I like them with my Greek Salad also. They are crispy and flavorful, and they stay crisp even when wet.

I had a really good pork chop, polenta, steamed asparagus and Greek salad.

January 23, 2024January 21, 2025 bgibson135

The truth is that the Shrimp Burger with coleslaw and a side of fried okra & a cold Diet Pepsi (and a small plastic cup of Cocktail Sauce), was really delicious and… I just made dinner with a pork chop fried in bacon grease, steamed asparagus, polenta & a Greek salad and it was really delicious also. So was the gravy I made from the little bit of grease in the pork chop pan mixed with some Wondra flour and chicken stock. The gravy went well with the polenta and a little slice of pork chop, each bite.

The Greek salad was delicious, and the homemade dressing (red wine vinegar, olive oil, dijon mustard, Italian herbs, and sweetener) is spot on. The salad is simple: romaine lettuce, sweet onion, assorted olives, grape tomatoes and Feta cheese. Simple, yet easily repeatable, and consistently delicious.

And this homemade Greek salad went really well with the Lamb Gyro sandwich that I got from Pharaoh’s Legacy in Fayetteville (other side of town) last Wednesday. The next day I drove to Jacksonville, NC and had lunch at Marakesh Restaurant, and I had another Lamb Gyro there, with their small Greek salad. That was delicious also, but just a hair below the flavors of the previous day. Celebrated our birthdays, I together. I was born on Mary Ann’s 16th birthday, so she is now 86 years old, and I am 70 years old.

As far as I know I am in good health. I do have the pacemaker, to keep my heart from beating too slowly, and am taking one or more drugs to make sure it doesn’t beat too fast. Both of those seem to be working. And my Type 2 Diabetes has been better kept in check, until just recently when my resting Bgl has started to inch upward, I think because I am having trouble getting a refill for my Trulicity 4.5. Seems Trulicity is on back order across the board, not just CVS, but several CVSs, both n town and out of town (Erwin & Lumberton), and Walgreens (who said they were told not to order before February 23rd). That’s a full month from today. I’ve lost about 10 pounds in a little over 2 months, and my average resting Bgl has dropped about 30 points. My lows were just hitting about 150 about three months ago and for the last two months, just a few highs have been above 150. Quite a jump.

So, I feel relatively good. I’m able to live without assistance. Able to drive myself wherever, and daily to at least a couple of grocery stores (Food Lion, Harris Teeter, Publix, Fresh Market, Sprouts, Lidl, IGA, Walmart & Pates Farmer’s Market), and plan, days in advance, and cook my meals, with a relative sense of control of what I am eating, and varying the meats & veggies enough to not tire of any of it.

On the fly, I can change what I have scheduled to eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Today, I replaced a salad for baked beans at dinnertime.

I’m enjoying reading the Connelly’ Bosch novels and am currently on my 5th, “9 Dragons.”

Still wondering what happened to “the Overlook,” which I thought I had bought down in Washington at the Brown Library Book Sale last Friday. But, either I didn’t buy it, or I bought it and it has “magically” disappeared. I marked four novels (that I didn’t already have) on my phone as having been purchased in Washington. But, now I can only find 3 of them. I bought 10 Connelly hard backs in Washington. *Now, having mixed the books I had, with the new ones purchased, I can’t tell which is which, or even if one is missing.

From reading online, Eleanor Wish, Harry’s Ex, is murdered in “9 Dragons,” and Harry is exposed to radiation, which eventually leads to cancer, in “the Overlook.” I recall the Overlook story from the Bosch TV series. A woman’s husband is set up to steal radioactive material from a hospital, and then is killed by his wife’s lover (an FBI agent), which sets up the story to be told and the crime to be solved in that story. *The actress played a Princess of Mars (is that Barsoom) in the unsuccessful Disney movie. I liked the movie, but apparently the rest of the public did not, or at least not enough to pay for the exorbitant special effects. **The actress, Lynn Collins, who successfully played a “goddess” of Barsoom, is proof that movies can make “an ordinary looking woman” into a goddess, using makeup, wardrobe, lighting & camera angles.

So, at my age, I am facing, “the next moment” in which my life is severely changed, and in a negative way. I won’t be alive, or I won’t be able to live on my own, or cook for myself, or drive myself around (and that may be as few as five years more), or perhaps think clearly.

Sometimes I make homemade hummus (garbanzo beans, lime juice, olive oil, cumin seeds, S&P). I like to cut up some sweet bell pepper (assorted colors), a little sweet onion (Vidalia), halve a few grape tomatoes, add a few assorted olives and open a can of smoked oysters. I may even pour the oil from the smoked oysters into the hummus. I can make a meal off of this.

The replacement I bought.
Oneida Golden Julliard Cocktail/Seafood Fork.

I gave my whole Oneida Golden Julliard pattern away including the flatware box, and then I realized how dependent I had become using the above Cocktail/Seafood Fork, so I bought just one from the Replacements Showroom, just outside of Burlington. I use this fork a lot when eating olives, or the smoked oysters, pickles, or maybe even Spicy Chili Crisp out of the jar.

Birthdays, Bosch Books, Shrimp Burger & Moss Landing

January 20, 2024January 22, 2025 bgibson135

I drove down to Jacksonville on Thursday morning to meet up with Mary Ann and Ray & Jacquelyn at Marrakesh Restaurant at 11 am. Mary Ann had said they open at 11 am, but I think I saw online that they normally open at 10:30 am, except on Sundays, which I think was 11 am.

On the way down, I stopped at the rest stop where NC 24 and I40 cross paths, to use the bathroom. There were a bunch of young children all being naturally loud, some in the bathrooms and some in lines against the hall walls. As I am coming back to my car, the children and their teachers had all migrated out near the church vans they were being transported in. A sign on the side of one of the vans was the name of a church, perhaps something like “Emmanuel XXX Church Rocky Mount, NC.”

Feeling playful and sensing their excitement of the whole experience, I asked, “Are you on a field trip, from Rocky Mount.” The nearest adult, I presume a teacher, responded that they were on a trip, and that they were from Rocky Mount. I did not find out where they were going, but I could surmise that they might be going down to Wilmington, NC. I waved at the children, who had now formed a line, with two children each side by side. Their teacher had grouped them in twos before they were to cross the street to get to their van. But, as I begin to get ready to back my car out of its spot, I see the last little girl in the line and she is looking at me and starts to wave. And, I am glad that I was still looking at these children, and so I make an animated wave back to her, as she joins her line-partner.

My thought on this waving to this child, and I’m not always attentive, is that she was the last child in the line of children I had been “playing” with and asking questions of. I probably didn’t even look directly at her while I was playing. But now “my playing” had been important enough to her that she was giving me a special wave goodbye. And that gift, unacknowledged, would have sent the wrong message to her. But the message I wanted to send to someone that had just given me a special wave, was that you are just as important to me as all those others were, maybe more so, because of you thinking enough of me to wave.

I had a picture book, on my passenger seat that was about “the Ocean.” Not just one ocean, but all oceans, and all the stuff and things that swim about and in these oceans. Something interesting for a child to look at, while physically holding a book. I wanted to roll down my window and hand this book, as a gift to the teacher, but I didn’t. That is a little regret. That would have made our interaction even more special & memorable. Oh well.

So, I had asked Mary Ann if I could stay the night (I normally just go down for the day and return home at night.), since I was planning to go to Wilmington for the Library Book Sale on Friday morning. She said okay. I wasn’t sure if I was going to both book sales, one in Wilmington and one in Washington, NC, but I thought that the Wilmington sale might have more books that I was looking for. *That actually turned out to be incorrect. There were 10 hardbacks in Washington and only 6 in Wilmington, but I went to both & bought 16 books for a total of about $45. ** Some of the extra money I gave, as a donation to the libraries above the $1 or $2 prices per book.

Up on Friday morning, read just a little of “Echo Park” and then had a very enjoyable warm shower. Short trip to Helen’s Kitchen for a country ham breakfast, with one egg over medium, grits, biscuits & coffee and water, with ice. *My routine is to save one biscuit (which I love how they’re made, really flat with little insides), slice it open with a knife and then put a good portion of the good portion of country ham that they bring out for my meal. I then ask for a sandwich wrapper, and in this case the waitress also brought out a small brown bag to put the wrapped country ham biscuit in. The breakfast was good, as usual.

It takes just a little over an hour to drive from Jacksonville to Wilmington, NC. Dixon, mostly unchanged, but most of the rest of the way (Highway 17) has become extremely developed, maybe even overdeveloped. Holly Ridge and Hampstead more development and then at some point there is only development on each side of the highway… endless stores, shops, conveniences, etc.

Made it to the library location in Wilmington shortly after 10 am. It was to open at 10 am. I walked through the front door and immediately there were all the books, on tables for sale. There was another room with books also, but there was no waiting in line to get inside, as there is at the Cumberland County Library Book Sale (Fire Department Limits). I was in, asked where Connelly books might be located, was directed and found a small box, on a table with Michael Connelly novels. I think I found two or three that I didn’t already have but ended up buying six hardbacks (at $1 each). Got a card with a 6/1 on it, which meant 6 @ $1 and 1 @ 50 cents, walked to the cashier, presented my card, was told that I owed $6.50 and I gave her a $20 and said keep the change for a donation. And, I was out the door, and in a brief time, once again on Highway 17, but this time heading back to Jacksonville, and then New Bern, and eventually Washington, NC.

So, I drove up to Little Washington to go to the Brown Library Book Sale (01/19/24 – Open to the Public) in the Washington Civic Center. I’m currently reading some of the Harry Bosch (LA detective), Michael Connelly novels, and have found I can buy them at library book sales for a dollar, or two. Brown Library was selling “hard backs” for $2@. I ended up finding 10 Connelly hardbacks, and paid $20 plus a small donation. Still, “what a deal” compared to spending $35 per book, when they are brand new, only paying $1 or $2 each.

Met a couple of women, friends of each other, going into the book sale. One was asking me about the yellow bag I was carrying in. I told her it was my grocery bag, and that I had forgotten my larger, heavy duty, light gray, bag that I had used for the Cumberland County Library Book Sales in Fayetteville. She went back to her car to get her own bag, and I talked with her friend briefly. The friend said she had become interested in “detective” novels, and I told her briefly about the L.A. detective, Harry Bosch, and that Michael Connelly was a very good writer. She repeated the last name, “Connelly” and we all made it to the front door and went in. I left them and went over to the “C” section for Connelly, and other authors with names beginning with C.

At first I couldn’t find any Connelly books, the name is usually prominently displayed on the colorful book jackets. I asked one of the staff whether there was a “Connelly” section. She wasn’t familiar with the name but she was putting a long string of another author’s books together. I then found about 4 Connelly novels grouped together. I already had a couple, and two I didn’t, but I bought all four. And then I found that there were others, not in the group, but there amidst the other authors if you looked, a Connelly here, a Connelly there, and eventually I found 10 Michael Connelly hardbacks (@$2). *Surprisingly finding more of these in Little Washington than I had at the book sale in Wilmington, NC. Only six of the Connelly novels I wanted in Wilmington that morning, but I did also buy a German Language softback for 50 cents also.

Before leaving the book sale, I looked around trying to find the two women I had talked to before coming inside. Since I had bought ALL of the Connelly books that I had seen, I had left none for the woman. I had a couple of duplicate books, and thought it would be a cheap present for someone I didn’t know to introduce her to Harry Bosch, and Michael Connelly. But, I didn’t see the women, but then thought they might have already left, and the next thought was that I might be looking at them and not remembering what they actually looked like.

So, I left and drove the short distance around to “Down on Main Street“. I’ve been to the restaurant, “Down on Main Street” several times. Perhaps first with Leo Taylor, on one of our visits to Washington. I think I may have had their Spaghetti “lunch special” and immediately fell in love with their spaghetti sauce. Most restaurants, that I visit, “dumb down” their spaghetti sauces, trying to not offend anyone with distinctive ingredients, like onion, mushrooms, Italian spices, or maybe even some meat (ground beef). But this spaghetti sauce was DELICIOUS! It had distinctive flavor and the garlic bread was good with it. *The problem, was eventually “Down on Main Street” stopped offering the spaghetti special for lunch. I think they stopped serving spaghetti altogether, at least for a while.

But, yesterday, January 19th, 2024, I had a Shrimp Burger, with slaw, and a side of fried okra, with a cold, Diet Pepsi. The burger was delicious, the shrimp good, the slaw good, the Kaiser Roll (maybe just a burger bun) soft & moist. The fried okra were cooked well, and there was a little plastic cup of cocktail sauce. It all came together for a very pleasurable lunch. My waitress, Jo Jo (not sure of how she spells it), was very friendly and attentive to my drink refills, and at the last, my “to go” cup. In our banter, I asked about the spaghetti special, and she said they offered it on Tuesdays for lunch. I told her I had enjoyed it before they discontinued it, and was glad that they had started offering it again.

While I was eating lunch, I think it was a waitress coming out from the kitchen, and a female customer, coming out from the bathroom awkwardly tried to occupy the same space briefly. And, the waitress, without really being at fault, contorting to try to avoid the customer, dropped a couple of small bowls and the food made a mess of a rug and the floor in that walkway area. Someone came out with a caution sign, and someone with a broom, and someone with a mop. These someone’s were all young men, not sure if they are all waiters also, but that the cleanup duty came to them, and they stepped efficiently into the fray, and the cleanup was, in a brief time, complete… except for on small dollop of perhaps mayo, left on one edge of the throw rug. And this, only something that someone, myself, that had witnessed the whole accident & cleanup, would even notice.

I mentioned the “accident & efficient clean-up” to Jo Jo, my waitress. I said that the young men reminded me of the Roomba Robots (there is a current commercial showing the imagined, behind the scenes, chorography controlling the cleaning robot). She said that her husband had also made a comment on how efficiently they cleaned up, when necessary. They are a good working team!

After my very pleasurable lunch experience at “Down on Main Street,” I decided to drive around the town. I wasn’t going to go far, but just wanted to see if there were any changes in the immediate area, and knew I wanted to “get on the road” back to Fayetteville. I had already been on the road for three hours that morning, from Jacksonville to Wilmington, and back through Jacksonville to New Bern and on to Washington, NC.

Just a few blocks up from the restaurant, I came upon Moss Landing. I found this new neighborhood to be immediately captivating. The homes were colorful, mostly in pastels & whites, and very reminiscent of the nice “beach” homes, that you find, “on the beach.” I drove slowly through the new development and then came back taking several pictures of the homes with my phone. I liked this neighborhood immediately and thought that it was a very nice addition to “Little Washington.” Something positive and to be proud of. *I live a long distance from Washington, NC, rarely visit, but have had good experiences in Little Washington and as “Down on Main Street.” I miss my good friend, Leo Taylor. He was very good to me, as a friend, and a boss.

Moss Landing, a new community in “Little” Washington, North Carolina. Moss Landing – Google Street View

Bucheron Goat Cheese from Wegmans.

[NOTE 01/21/24]: Finished “Echo Park” early this morning. There was something about the Wait’s garage description, and the hole in the wall that jogged my memory. I must have seen this in the Bosch series, but don’t recall how many years ago. *[01/22/25 UPDATE]: This novel starts with a car being found in the small garages leading to the High Tower Apartments, and the High Tower is an icon from the 1973 movie, “The Long Goodbye,” in which Elliot Gould plays the fictional detective, Philip Marlowe. I love the “feeding the cat” sequence and now there is even a view from the tower looking down on the small garages. Brief, but if you know what you are looking at, rewarding. The High Tower (elevator) is located just over the hill from the Hollywood Bowl Amphitheater. I learned to despise Harry Bosch from reading the books, not from the TV series. [end UPDATE]

Not sure of what criteria I’m going to use to choose the next book to read. Go to the latest, well next to the last one, unless Connelly has published a new one for this year… or go to the earliest one I have, which is probably about 2001. **Not sure that I am really interested in the early Bosch, although at one time I would have enjoyed it. Sort of like all those Midsomer Murder mysteries I watched over the years (20+ seasons). I enjoyed most of them, but no longer have a desire to rewatch them and I actually began to dislike Barnaby. What a shit family man he was.

NOTE [ 01/22/24 ]: Got around to writing to “Down on Main Street” Restaurant via email, complimenting them on my good experience there (again):

I first visited Down on Main Street several years ago with a friend, who had grown up in “little” Washington. His name was Leo Taylor and his parents had managed the Trailways Bus Station for many years. I think I had your “Spaghetti Special” and thought it was so good because you didn’t “dumb down” your spaghetti sauce. There was a lot of flavor in your sauce! And, I came back several times and enjoyed this special, until you stopped offering it.

I live out of town, but last Friday had come up from Jacksonville, NC and decided to have lunch with you. My waitress was “Jo Jo” and she was excellent, friendly and attentive. I had your Shrimp Burger, with coleslaw, and a side of fried okra, with a cold Diet Pepsi. Let me say that was the BEST tasting lunch, from the first bite to the last.

While there, there was an accident between a waitress, coming out of the kitchen, and a woman, coming out of the bathroom. They both tried to occupy the same space at the same time, and unfortunately the waitress dropped some of her order on the floor making a mess in the walkway. It wasn’t her fault, by the way. Here is the compliment… there were several young men who went into action, like the Roomba Robot, and cleaned up the area quickly and efficiently. They acted as a team, one with a broom, one with a mop, etc. Floor clean, viola.

So, you have really good food. You have a really good waitress, and you have really good staff that are working as a team!

Thanks.

Bill

[end NOTE]

[NOTE 01/22/25]: As I was reading the Bosch novels, I would go online and use Google Street View to get a better feel for the Los Angeles area. It may have been “Echo Park” and I was looking at a cafe that the character might have passed in the novel. I visited the web site for this restaurant and saw their long handled silverware. This inspired me to buy some like them. Yes, it made no sense, but I did it.

However, there is something rewarding about having a set of stainless steel chop stix. Well four sets. One for each place setting. [end NOTE]