The mySugr app stopped being updated with my daily blood testing data a couple of weeks ago. Later I noticed that when I was in my car, the phone wasn’t connecting to the Toyota app. I finally came to the conclusion that some kind of update, to the phone, had broken the Bluetooth connectivity. *That is why I bought the new phone. Got the new phone yesterday afternoon, late. Couldn’t get the Blood Glucose Meter to pair effectively with the app on my new phone. Finally today late, I went into the mySugr app on the phone and found a place for adding a new device. This got connectivity working and the data from the meter got added to my new phone (not sure if the previous data was copied over from the phone or was trasferred from the web). But, all previous data, and the data for the last two weeks in now in the mySugr app on my new phone.
OCASE Case for Samsung Galaxy 23+Lock Screen Background from My ApartmentmySugr Screen After Successful Upload of Data
I had bought some ground beef and brought it in with some other groceries. But, instead of putting it in the refrigerator, I left it in a bag at room temperature for several hours. At some point, and this isn’t the first time for various things that need refrigeration, I make a mental note that “I don’t recall putting that item in the fridge.” At which point, I go to the refrigerator, look in, and often see that I’ve not put the item in the cold environment. Now, I haven’t read on how people can “air cure” a steak by leaving it out of refrigeration without it getting moldy, or spoiled.
So, I had some lately refrigerated ground beef that I felt the need to cook. I put some of the ground beef in my large pot, with some chopped onion and bacon fat to start vegetable soup, and the rest I put in a smaller 3 Qt. pot with chopped onion to make spaghetti sauce.
Most of the ingredients that I put in vegetable soup require about “half a can.” I don’t need a whole can of diced, fire roasted tomatoes, or a whole can of green beans, or a whole can of corn. So, I tried the following: The previous batch of soup that I made, I put half a can of several veggies in that soup, and the other half I put in a Tupperware container (all mixed together) and then placed in the freezer. It didn’t make any sense, but I used a black marker and wrote on a sandwich bag the date and that this was Vegetable Soup Starter, and listed the veggies: carrots, corn, green beans, tomatoes, & okra. I put this reminder on top of the veggies, and placed the Tupperware lid on top. Not sure how I could have put the note on the outside of the container, but it did look neat, when I took the lid off. *I did also cut some fresh okra for this soup, and after the soup was almost done, I peeled and diced a potato. I like to add the potato at the end so that they do not get too “mushy.” I probably should also do this with the carrots, but they don’t seem to become as mushy with a longer cooking time. What else: Bay leaf, S&P, sweetener, Agave Nectar, thyme…
I’ve mentioned previously that after years of using the $1 a can spaghetti sauce starter from Del Monte or Hunts, that I tried the Rao’s starter and really liked the difference in flavor. And, I only use half a jar of the Rao’s and add half a can of diced, fire roasted tomatoes. Combining these two ingredients gives the sauce a nice texture. But, I also like to add sweet bell peppers (preferably not green which aren’t as sweet), some fennel seeds, dry basil & oregano, Bay leaves, S&P, red pepper flakes, sweetener and Agave Nectar.
The finished products are about 3 bowls of vegetable soup and 2 or 3 helpings of spaghetti sauce.
I found a set of 4 Stove Drip Pans at WalMart, online, for about $18. The site seemed to say that these were available at my local store location on Ramsey Street. But, when I got there, and went in, this set of drip pans were not on the shelves or on display. There was a 2 set drip pan item, but it cost more than the 4 set I had seen advertised online. *I used the WalMart app to order & pay for a pickup order at the Ramsey Street location for later this afternoon. But, in a short while I checked my email, and saw that my order had already been filled, but a “substitution” made. They had switched my order from 4 pans to 2 pans, and at about a dollar more total. Ordering online appears to usually be cheaper. I had forgotten to specify that I did not want any substitutions, so I cancelled my original order.
I may have been out in my car when I found that the Spring Lake location of WalMart was also supposed to have this 4 pan set of stove drip pans. I ordered online, because it was supposed to be cheaper and I saw that my order should be ready sometime after 2:30 today. I went on to Pate’s and bought a few okra, a couple of smallish zucchini, some raw peanuts and found a package of pork stew meat that had been reduced. I think this was only a couple of bucks, it was cut up like I might want for the jalapeno & pork dish that I’ve been trying to make at home. Haven’t quite found the flavors, but it was very good at the restaurant… until the restaurant went out of business.
I went to Sprouts and bought some Turkish Dried Apricots and a small bag of Pretzel Crackers.
The first time I tried to use the WalMart “pick-up” app, I didn’t see any option to notify them that I was “on my way” or to let them know, “I’m here.” But, this time, and since that previous time, I have re-installed the WalMart app on my phone, so I may have been using an old app that didn’t include those options. This time while checking to see if my order was “ready” I did see the button to let them know, “I’m on my way.” And, once I was there, I saw another button to let them know, “I’m here.” And, with the “I’m here” option there was a place to enter which parking slot I had stopped in (#2 in this case) and what the color of my car was (white).
A young may, polite, came out carrying my order in his hands. He didn’t come around to my window, but I rolled down my front passenger’s side window and he asked my name. I said, “Gibson” and he handed me the drip pans, saying,”Have a blessed day,” and he quickly disappeared back inside the store.
I think you can see from one of the photos above, that they had printed out a sticker to go on my order, “B. Gibson.” Yes, when you have the right version of the app, it does work fine.
Months ago, the large front burner on my stovetop broke. I don’t know if it got too hot, but I know I didn’t smash anything down on it to break it, and it broke in one of the middle turns (this burner had 4 coils, but I see some have 5). Instead of calling maintenance to replace it, I just moved the large back burner coil to the front and then used the back burner slot to rest my unused pots & pans. I’ve noted since moving the back coil up that the large front burner seems to run hot. A 5 or 6 setting boils items, where on other burners it seems to be about an 8 or higher for boiling water.
Well yesterday, I finally broke down and ordered a replacement coil from Amazon.com. The replacement coil is supposed to arrive today by 10 pm. The coil was about $15. I think when I checked a long time ago, I didn’t see that I could order just the one coil, but there was a whole set of 4 (2 large & 2 small) at about $35 for the set. *Apparently these coils come in standard sizes, also differing by number of turns to the coil (mine only had 4 turns, but I see others have 5… and maybe 6 turns), and fitting Kenmore (mine) and other manufacturer’s stoves.
A few days ago, I ordered a new Samsung Galaxy 23+ phone from Consumer Cellular. I also ordered a new OCASE phone case for the new phone from Amazon.com. The new case arrived yesterday. When I opened the package and took out the new case, I immediately noted that it felt much lighter (and this I equated to more “cheaply made”). The OCASE case that I’ve used for my Samsung Galaxy 10+ feels much more like “real” leather, and it has lasted very well. I’m beginning to see wear in the corners & folds finally, but for several years it looked brand new. The 23+ case does not fit the 23 phone, you have to specifically buy the 23+ case for the 23+ phone. *Just checked on Amazon.com and both cases were faux leather.
I actually don’t remember the order of things as they occurred this morning. I went out grocery shopping. But, it seems like I heard a package being dropped at my front door, at some point, and when I looked there was an Amazon package (my replacement stove top burner coil) and on the door a notice from the US Postal Service at a failed attempt to deliver a package (my new Samsung Galaxy S23+ phone). As I read the USPS notice I noted that it said I could pick up my package tomorrow (10/28/23 Saturday).
I opened the Amazon package and took the replacement coil to the kitchen and took the front coil (which I had previously moved from the back) off, and moved it to the back. I then put the new coil in the front and turned the burner knob to “ON”. Sure enough, the new coil started to heat up and I turned it off quickly. This isn’t “rocket science” and only goes to make me question why I hadn’t done this sooner. But, from my original search, I might have overspent and bought a set of 4 replacement coils for $35 from Lowes. *So, now I have 4 working burner coils, and 4 brand new, shiny black drip pans.
The day slipped away and it became a little after 4 pm. I called to Alexa from my perch on my commode and asked how late the Post Office at Tokay was open today. I heard an answer that sounded like 5pm. I got dressed and headed to the Post Office. I know the notice said I could check tomorrow, but I seem to recall having checked a day early for some other item, a couple of years ago and they found the item, and I got it a half day early. That may have been a phone also, now that I think about it.
There was just a few people in line at the Post Office and I quickly made it up to the one postal clerk. He said he would check in the back to see if my package had come back from the delivery postman. It had, and I showed him my license that had both my name and current address on it. I took the package out to my car and opened it. I quickly placed the phone in the new OCASE case and noted that the phone was only about 50 percent charged. The charging cable for the new phone only had USB C Type connectors on both ends. My car has a Toyota charging cable that has a Type C connector on one end and Type A below the dash. So, I plugged my new phone into the Toyota USB cable and it started charging slowly. *But, once I got home, I plugged the new phone into my Chromebook charging cable, and it charged like lightening 100%. Well, maybe 20 minutes or so.
Got to check on putting the old SIM card into the new phone. Not sure if the old phone is working as a phone any longer. The old phone stopped working with Bluetooth to connect to my Blood Glucose Meter, and my car says no phone is connected although it is physically connected. Not sure if there was an upgrade that broke this. But, these things stopping was the impetus for purchasing the new phone.
TOTALLY UNRELATED [ 10/ 28/23 ]: Last year WalMart had bunches of corn on the cob for sale until I think November. This year they cut way back and only have a small cubicle of corn on the cob for sale. But I finally looked at it and decided to buy a couple of ears. Microwaved one tonight and boy, I do love corn on the cob. Also had some okra, and diced that up with a little sliced onion and fried that in a small skillet on the stove top. I had taken a sandwich bag of frozen chicken out to thaw a couple of days ago. Wasn’t sure if it was chicken or pork, because I had bought some thin pork chops a little while ago.
It was chicken and I diced it up, and started frying it with some onion in a pan, with a little bacon grease and some grapeseed oil. I also sliced up several of the colorful peppers that I had bought from the State Farmer’s Market last week. I checked in the fridge and there was a jar of pineapple chunks. I added most of these to the chicken & peppers. S&P and a little Agave Nectar and this chicken concoction was satisfying. The peppers were mildly spicy but not hot. The pineapple was sweet.
Publix didn’t have any White Mountain Bread for sale this afternoon, which is unusual. But, they did have a loaf that had the word “Tuscan” in the title. I bought a loaf. It is darker, but delicious. The chicken, peppers, pineapple, fried okra & onions, the corn on the cob and the bread all worked really well together. You might not think so, but I would have this again… and am not certain that I haven’t fixed something like it before.
I sliced some raw cabbage thinly, and then cut those strips into smaller sections. I diced some sweet onion, and cut up some of the sweet bell pepper (purple) and a yellow/orange pepper (not hot, or not very hot), added some Duke’s Mayo, Splenda sweetener, garlic powder, celery seeds, Indian Long Pepper (ground) S&P, and a few drops of Lime juice and Avocado oil. I would have added some Half-n-Half, but what I had was spoiled. *This made a beautiful slaw and a tasty one.
I had a couple of thin boneless pork chops that I had cooked a couple of days ago. I used some sweet BBQ sauce on the pork chops & diced up some of the little red peppers (look like mall Patty Pan squash, but red) and onion. I ate two of the pork chops and had two left over.
Heated a slice of White Mountain Bread (about 10 seconds to warm & soften it). The pork chops, slaw and bread all worked really well together. The slaw was perfect with the pork chops. Also, I want to remember to try this again next year, if I can get the purple bell peppers (at Farmers Market – Lee’s Produce) and the yellow/orange peppers from the vendor that sells all those colorful peppers, both mild, hot and in between.
[04/27/25]: Funny how things develop. I am now eating either Sourdough bread (from Publix) or “Knock Your Sprouts Off” from Aldi’s. Tonight it was the Sourdough. I had broiled a couple of thick cut pork chops from Lee’s Fresh Market in Benson, North Carolina with some onion, orange bell pepper and jalapeno. And I had the Red Cabbage Slaw below, with the Mung bean sprouts. I also had some steamed cauliflower, savory, with Spicy Chili Crisp and Toasted Sesame Oil. That all works together! [end]
Red Cabbage Slaw
Red Cabbage (thinly sliced)
Sweet Onion (finely diced)
Mung bean sprouts
Dukes Mayo
Half-n-Half
Garlic powder
Fenugreek powder
Equal Sweetener
S&P
*I noted that one item I’ve left out of this recipe is the yellow corn. But I’ll make a link to the other Red Cabbage Slaw, because it looked better, but I recall that it didn’t have the right flavors to satisfy with the seared scallops and green pea mush. The above does satisfy.
My Fire TV controller allows for voice commands. Usually, I say, “Alexa, what time is it,” or, “Alexa, what is today” when I can’t remember what day it is. Today is Thursday.
This morning I was in the bathroom, reading the Bible on my phone. I’ve recently just finished reading all of the New Testament (KJV) and have started on the Old Testament again. *I’ve read the Bible completely through at least 12 times. Well, I am rethinking that I may have only read the New Testament completely through 12 times, because I had an 8 translation copy of the New Testament that I read through quite some time ago. I’m not sure if I tracked down the other translations for the Old Testament, but I’ve read at least four or five different translations of the entire Bible. But, as I read, I was also listening to the television in my living room. I had left it on, while watching the movie, “The Night Digger,” a 1971 film featuring Patricia Neal. The character, Billy, is a disturbed youngish 20 year old, who arrives riding a motorcycle and eventually we find he is a serial killer, killing young women, about his age, after raping them.
Patricia Neal and Nicholas Clay “The Night Digger” 1971
There is a large number of years difference between the Billy character & Patricia Neal’s character, but eventually they marry (or at least go off to Ireland or Scotland, and take up residence in a stone cottage on the rocky ocean coast). She does love him, but she knows he must be “the killer”. And at the end of the film, Billy has kidnapped (or perhaps even killed) a good looking (young woman) neighbor’s dog in order to get her to come looking for it. This is a part that we don’t see on screen. We don’t see him snatch the dog, or what he does or doesn’t do with it. We don’t see him rape the young neighbor woman, although Patricia Neal hears him playing a harmonica, and she is then standing by a window, which she may see him raping the young woman, or not, when she looks in the window. But then we see her walking along a stony road undulating along the rocky coast away from this event. We also see Billy riding in the same direction, come up just short of her, she’s turned around to face him. And they both look into each other’s eyes and he sees tears in her eyes. At which point, realizing how much she loves him, he “guns the motorcycle” and heads up the road past her, and then off the rocky ledge. We see the motorcycle and Billy start to tumble down the rocky ledge to his death. THE END.
Well, we knew it couldn’t end well. He was a serial killer, and there was a great age difference between them. But, a nice ending anyway. Very “old school”.
So I’m reading the Bible on the toilet and listening to the audio on the TV in the other room. And, I then think that when I am in the Living Room, I can tell Alexa to stop the movie or show and it will. I figure it is worth a shot, I say loudly, “Alexa, stop the movie.” And, to my surprise, Alexa stops the movie upon my audio command. As an additional test, I speak in my normal voice and ask Alexa what the temperature is. And from the other room, Alexa answers the current temperature. I then whisper, “Alexa what is today,” and Alexa tells me the day, just as if I were in the living room.
*Think about it. In 1960, the cartoon character, Dick Tracy, the famous detective, wore a watch that had video & audio for communications. This was totally unbelievable. I don’t recall exactly when Jim & Mary Ann built their nice home in Hubert, but the 1970s I’m pretty sure. And, when they built their home, they installed a “wired” internal communications system. In each room there was a visible Speaker mounted on the wall with audio controls, and a hidden microphone. You could talk to someone else, in another room of the house. I mentioned this “wired” setup yesterday to Ray. Those wired boxes have been removed, and only the light switches and electrical boxes remain (not sure if the phone jacks are still there, I did not take note). But who would have thought back then (just 50 years ago) that in 2023, you could communicate wirelessly, with audio, video and text not only from room to room, but from house to house, from town to city, and country to country, around the world, and probably even from world into space, if the setup, which is entirely possible exists.
If you watch old Twilight Zone or original Outer Limits episodes, sometimes there is a reference about future events in some future year, to them, which is long past to us in the current year, 2023. Something to happen in 1987, or 1992, 1999, etc. And, you may think when you hear these references that, in 2023, we are nowhere near accomplishing these predicted futuristic tasks. Still, with personal computers and cell phones , and the Internet, our world speeded up greatly and extended vastly. I can watch a live video feed of San Francisco Bay, which pans from the Golden Gate Bridge to the bridge across to Oakland, and watch cargo vessels passing by. I can watch ships passing by the Port of Gdansk, Poland in real time, or going into the Kiel Canal from either end, or video of what is happening down at Southport, NC, or Southampton, UK.
Telephone booths have disappeared because of “die Handys”. And now, who has to rely on memory when trying to remember old movies or actors/actresses?
I honestly don’t ever believe we will ever travel at “warp speed,” or “time travel,” or be able to “teleport” long or short distances. Still there are probably unbelievable surprises for humanity, given time. I recall an image from an old comic book, “Lost in Space” in which the mother figure was fixing a meal, and she held a plate of food beneath a single light beam to heat it. I think cooking with microwaves goes back at least to the 1940s, so this beam of cooking light was not so “far thinking” but I’ve used a microwave oven to cook food, defrost various items, and heat water for hot tea, for years.
So, after going shopping in Raleigh today, I returned home… with assorted colorful peppers from the State Farmer’s Market, some white peppercorns from Savory Spice in Lafayette Village, and some Seeded Rye Bread, Castelvetrano olives & Swiss Cheese from Wegman’s. But, I was tired. Recall that I was down in Hubert, Swansboro, Havelock, Minnesott/Cherry Branch, New Bern, and Jacksonville yesterday.
I started to watch some TV, but then realized that I was very sleepy. I got up from my easy chair and was so tired that I walked into my bedroom, all the time thinking that I needed to cut off the TV but so o o o tired. I rolled into bed, and then I thought. I said in my normal voice, “Alexa, turn off the TV.” And, it seemed that I didn’t hear the TV any longer. But, the oscillating fan was going beside my bed, and I wasn’t really sure if the TV had turned off (it had) and so o o o tired, that I went to sleep. *Awaking later, I felt better, and got up to go to the bathroom. But, I did a quick “poke my head into” the living room, and sure enough, Alexa had turned off the TV. Wow, what an interesting find. In a normal voice, not like I am having to yell back into another room to a real person, to have them understand me, I can ask Alexa to do various things for me and she does, just like I am sitting beside my Firestick next to my easy chair.
**Oh yeah, Mary Ann gave me some tomatoes, shrimp and frozen, cooked collards (she makes a really good “mess of” collards) yesterday. These were normal sized red tomatoes but when I tried them at home, they had really good flavor. It’s been a long time since I had a full sized red tomato that had good flavor. I have been buying Campari tomatoes, and those little Cherry tomatoes (both red & yellow) and most of them have consistently good flavor.
Had made a tomato & bacon sandwich last night when I got back home. The bacon was a little “off” but the tomato had good flavor. I made another sandwich (with the Seeded Rye Bread) tonight, and had a different batch of bacon, and this sandwich was “spot on”, perfect, deeelischious!
So, I’ve just learned from Alexa that she can learn my voice. She now knows that I am Bill. I think that as the AI interface gets better, we will probably have a human face, on the TV or phone, that talks to us. Maybe we can even put a familiar, personal face on to interact with, or maybe buy or rent a person, famous or otherwise to become our Alexa (or whatever other name we might choose to become our personal AI assistant). That will be fun!
And as I continue to think on the AI possibilities, why not a whole body, and not just a face. And, why not create a whole personality for this AI assistant. In “Settings” we can say that this personality has Yoga on Tuesdays and Thursdays at a certain time. Then, if we are asking for the AI’s assistance during that time, we see them in their Yoga outfit, doing Yoga, and stopping to ask how they can help us. At another time, they might be shopping, or sleeping or eating. Why would I want an AI assistant with that level of detail? Hmmm… I’m not sure, but I’m also not sure that I wouldn’t. It would be almost like having a pet that looks forward to you coming home, that you become enamored of interacting with, and with each encounter, you become less aware that this is just an AI, and begin to act as if it were a real assistant. *Sounds like something out of a SciFi movie? But, also something that lonely people would spend money on, to be “no so” lonely. Children have played with dolls for years. You start a child out with a digital doll. But this doll has a personality. This doll can answer many of your questions. This doll can make you feel, “more human”.
The above plastic serving trays are close to what I have, but not exactly the same. I bought a bunch of these at WalMart years ago for the purpose of putting my potted plants & herbs on each tray. That way, if I over-watered a plant, the plastic tray would keep the water from seeping into my carpet. I probably used these trays for a couple of years and then as I grew fewer and fewer plants (the last few years only Basil) I stacked the unused trays and left them in a corner.
I’ve always been unorganized in my refrigerator except for the trays in the refrigerator door and the larger spaces in which I would place my milk and orange juice. And my fridge did get gunky, which I normally ignored. But a few months ago, I suddenly thought, why not see if those plastic trays would fit in my fridge and they fit perfectly. They have a deep lip so that most spills would not spread into the rest of the refrigerator, and two trays fit perfectly, side by side on each level, and one slides out easily without dragging on the other tray.
So, I cleaned out my fridge, for the first time in several years (not perfectly, but a major cleaning for me), and I organized the items in each tray (not perfectly either). Cheeses, sour cream and margarine go in one tray. Left-overs go into the tray beside that tray. Next row down, I have one tray which houses pickles, olives, and even Apple Butter. One bottom tray has most/all of my liquids, such as milk, cranberry & orange juice, half-n-half, and tomato juice when I have it. There is a little confusion as to which liquid item needs to be at the front of the fridge, and sometimes I have to reach far back, but that is because half-n-half needs to be near the front at breakfast for hot tea or coffee. OJ & cranberry juice need to be toward the front when I am making my special juice drink (which is about twice a day). Maybe I want milk, if I have a small blueberry or cherry pie from WalMart. But, I do like an ice cold glass of milk just by itself sometimes.
And, depending upon the size of the Tupperware container, a bottom or mid-level tray is used. I know Mary Ann hates to do dishes, but for me, since I use my dishwasher profusely, I often will “downsize” my storage container as I have less of each left-over. My spaghetti sauce (which I think is delicious) starts out in the quart sized container, but might end up in one of the small containers, like I use for margarine. I also found that if I had left-over noodles, I could mix them with some spaghetti sauce in a single container. Then just heat the whole plastic container in the microwave and voila;-) **I normally use my dishwasher every two days. I am surprised at how quickly my dinner plates fill the bottom rack. But I also go through a bunch of dirty glasses (beer mugs that I bought at the “Hem of His Garment” about 30 years ago. There was a set of six mugs (a classic glass mug, that I have even seen in old movies for the 40s & 50s – Sherlock Holmes in a pub…) that Russ & Deborah donated to the Hem, and I bought them. I’ve broken other glasses and dishes during that 30 years, but not these. They are sturdy though.
I had a set of Libbey Catawba water goblets. I like the shape, and still see something very similar is still for sale at Dollar Tree (more than 30 years). But I mention these glasses, because several years ago, and I do not recall the reason why, but I broke several when washing them in the dishwasher. They are sturdy, and I still wash the 3 that I have left in the dishwasher, and haven’t broken them in the last couple of years. Not sure if I was placing them next to another item.
Styled like the LIbbey Catawaba Water GobletHomemade Shrimp, Kielbasa, Zucchini Concoction in 1978 Revere Ware pan.1970s Vintage Dimpled Stein Beer Mug
But, this also reminds me of my old work horse of a skillet that is a Revere Ware pan from 1978. The old Revere Ware is stamped on the bottom of their skillets, pots & pans with the year that they were manufactured. And even though this skillet has a dark, almost unreadable bottom, when held at the right angle to the light the 78 is definitely readable. 1978. That would have been about three years before mom died. We would have been living at 204 Johnson Blvd., in Jacksonville, NC at the time.
NOTE: I’m pretty sure that if I were married, the 1978 Revere Ware pan would have been discarded years ago, but as an old batchelor, it has proven to be a “damned good pan”.
I bought a set of these measuring cups & spoons recently from Amazon.com The spoons stick together magnetically, and the cups have a metal holding ring. I’ve used a cheap, red plastic set of measuring cups & spoons for a while, but I’ve wanted a metal set that you could scrape off the top evenly. *Oh yeah, there is also a leveler with the set of spoons.
This morning early, I was looking through my pantry and saw a large plastic container of Jasmine rice. I decided to cook some rice, although for a long while I haven’t enjoyed the “finished product” because the rice turned out “mealy,” sort of dry crumbly. I think it is the cooking method I have been using which is to cover the rice with unmeasured water, and then when the water comes to a boil, cook for 9 minutes exactly and then strain the water off. The rice is cooked, but it may be that the method lends itself to this unwanted cooked texture. **I say this because this morning, I used my new measuring cups (1 C & 1/2 C) to measure out a cup of rice, and then 2.5 cups of water. I added salt to the water and started it to boil. I don’t recall how long it took, but I didn’t check again until most of the water was boiled off. But, when I tried the rice, it was perfect. Just like I used to like it. A little firm, but a little sticky also… and I added a little bit of bacon grease to one small container of rice and it was delicious. I also added some margarine and it was also delicious.
In the list of things I normally do not think about correcting or doing… I think this is the size of Country Crock Margarine (Original) that I usually buy, and it lasts a long time for me, although I use it when I make my Pastrami Rachel sandwiches at home, when I am cooking soups or beans, I add a little margarine (fat), etc. But, I also like to keep it out of the refrigerator so that the margarine is soft when I go to use it. But, toward the end of the life of the plastic tub, if I have left it out of the refrigerator, little spots of darkish mold start to appear around the edges of the margarine. This mold doesn’t affect the flavor, but I just work around them.
But finally, a month or so ago, I thought, “why not put some of the margarine in a small plastic container, and leave the rest in the fridge.” Now why didn’t I think of that? Ha! So, I got out one of my sturdy knives and the Country Crock container and started scooping out the cooled margarine. I filled up the small Tupperware container and put the lid on. The larger Country Crock container goes back into the fridge, and I move the smaller Tupperware container both in and out of the fridge. *And when I was almost empty in the small container, I needed some margarine for my breakfast waffle, so I put it in the microwave to liquify the margarine and then poured the liquid over my warm waffle. Took out another Tupperware container and scooped a fresh batch of margarine into it.
On Sunday, October 8th, I drove up to Cary (via Sanford, NC) to Golden Hex. I had entered my map to direct me to the Golden Hex store. As I neared the store location I noted that the GPS was directing me incorrectly, a short distance away, but not where I knew Golden Hex to be. So I turned left after entering the strip parking area instead of right as the GPS was suggesting.
To my surprise, as I neared the Golden Hex store, I saw a “We Have Moved” sign on their door. I did a “Bat Turn” and drove to the other end of the strip mall. The building at the end of this strip mall is shaped like, and probably was a Rite Aid Pharmacy. *Just found an image of the building when it was still a Rite Aid Pharmacy.
The Golden Hex store is enormous now. They have filled the entire old Rite Aid Pharmacy building with Eurpoean grocery goods and other stuff. I hope they succeed. They sure do have a large selection of items for sale.
I just took pictures of their meat & cheese counters. I bought some more Kabanosy Podsuszane thinking I might dice some of it up for a seafood chowder and I bought a hard salami. In front of their meats, they have a buffet bar that includes some potato dishes and a couple of hot soups.
I also bought a jar of Polish dill pickles, and was surprised by the flavor when I tried them at home. They have a sweetish taste (It is not sour.)
NOTE[09/14/25 ]: I just visited Golden Hex a few days ago, after a long time of not. I bought some Head Cheese, 4 links of Kabanosy Podsuszane, and a plastic bottle of Curry Sauce (from Ireland, not Germany). This is the kind of curry catchup that you put on Currywurst. [end NOTE]
I started drinking these Great Value (Walmart) flavor packets a few years ago when the 10 pack was only $1. I think the box of 10 packets are now over $2. There is a Dragon Fruit flavor that I liked, but seldom make anymore, and I have tried numerous other flavors, and other brands, but one combination that I have consistently liked is the following:
Mix the Iced Tea with Lemon and the Pomegranate Lemonade together in water. Then add a little cranberry and orange juice. For some reason I have failed to tire of these flavors mixed together and I drink an enormous amount of this concoction each day. *I even added Mandarin Oranges into this and it works well, but I don’t consistently do this.
I have glass carafes, not exactly shaped as those shown above that I use for this mixture.
NOTE: There is a competing brand of orange juice from the one shown above, but the container is about 7 oz. smaller. However, it took me a long time to recognize that these OJ containers were not the same size, but once I did, I took out my calculator and determined that the 59 oz. carton was just a little cheaper per ounce. I think the pricing you saw was about $3.18 for the 52 oz. carton, and about $3.54 for the 59 oz. container. If they were the same size container, you would buy the cheaper one at $3.18.
ANOTHER NOTE: So, I write the above note this afternoon, and later I go to the IGA to especially buy the Homemaker Premium (orange juice) with Pulp and what a surprise. After a couple of years of carrying the Homemaker OJ, there is none on the shelf, and they have a new, even cheaper house brand of OJ. I bought the new brand, and will see if it has enough pulp and flavor to replace the Homemaker brand. If not, I’ll try to track down another grocer to buy Homemaker from.
ADDENDUM [ 10/09/23 ]: I tried the new brand of OJ and it had a good flavor and had noticeable pulp, so I don’t have a problem with purchasing it again.
There was a Great Value Limeade flavor for a while, but I think that has been discontinued. Strange for me, I didn’t like drinking this at home, but when I carried packets of these in my car, I loved to get a “water to go” and add the Limeade flavor to the water after a restaurant meal. *I guess this GV Limeade flavor packet is in a similar category to the Wasabi Soy Cashews that were/are at Fresh Market. Even though I enjoyed them, not enough other people did.
I was cleaning my apartment and what did I come across, but the “last flavor packet” of the GV Tropical Limeade. Sometimes, they get wet inside and the powder becomes a solid cake, but this hadn’t happened to this packet. I was able to open it, pour the powder into some water and make a last “taste” of the Tropical Limeade. And, as you can see above, I was watching the Cary Grant movie, “North by Northwest.” It tasted good, and I still think I would prefer drinking it after a meal at a restaurant;-)
Let’s throw a reminder in regarding the tea at Smithfield’s Chicken -n- Barbecue. Smithfield’s sweet tea tastes really good. It is sweet and flavorful. Smithfield’s unsweet tea SUCKS, BIG TIME! Their unsweet tea tastes like they use cigarette ashes and water to make it. That is the closest, honest appraisal of their unsweet tea. No amount of sugar or sweetener is going to make their unsweet tea palatable. Why? Hell if I know, but that’s the case. I’ve written at least a couple of emails up their contact/management, and no reply. But I can’t be the only person who has made note of this. I can only think that this must be a cost savings to them… and perhaps the Federal Government should test out the ingredients. They might actually find I am right. “Soylent Green is PEOPLE!” No, “SCNB’s unsweet tea is made from cigarette ashes.”
from ####### on September XX, 20XX Little seepage during delivery It was a 2 pack and one of the extinguishers had leaked slightly, an ammonia type smell on the discolored box, but the safety tabs were still in both units. I decided to keep them, and hope they are alright.
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NOVETE Fire Extinguisher, 5-in-1 Fire Extinguisher for Home, Car, Kitchen, Boat, Small Fire Extinguisher, 2-Pack
Had purchased a 2-Pack of NOVETE Fire Extinguishers from Amazon.com and when they arrived the Novete box was slightly discolored on one side, and there was the smell of ammonia. *I am thinking that the extinguishing fluid has ammonia in it. The safety pins were still in each extinguisher, but it was obvious that there had been some leakage from at least one of the units. *I decided to keep them, and hope they were both still good. But, I see that is some honesty that I cannot share in my Amazon review.
Bill Gibson, II 