And winter reminds us once again, that it is unstoppable. There was actually snow in the forecast for today, and still is for the morning.
It was 30° when I rolled out of bed at 11:30. I noticed the bird bath was frozen over except for a little hole where the water still drips into the basin.
Forecast for today shows a high of 37…it’s 32 now and cloudy.
I noticed the trash people have already been here and gone. Last week it as 3 pm before they arrived. Wish I had their schedule.
My fried chicken and beef strips came out well last night. The roast too was a thing of beauty.
My BS was up this morning to 133; likely because of the breading I used on the fried meat strips and of course, the gravy. It was a risk I was willing to take.
I am still cleaning up the cast iron and the stove. The ceramic top stoves are OK, but kind of a pain to clean after a meal like last night.
After using this type of stove for years, I discovered a way to clean them. Since last night was mostly deep fried food, then pan gravy, the stove took some hits.
First, I begin with a cold stove top. Take all your pots and pans off. I use a half sponge, half Scotch Brite to do the initial clean. Using very hot tap water with Dawn on it, I clean the stove top allowing sudsy soap on the stove. Don’t be afraid to use the Scotch Brite side to grind off the hard to clean spots that may be burned on. Rinse the sponge well and clean off said suds. I then go to those Clorox wipes (3 is enough), and run them over the stove top until is wet and shiny with whatever chemicals are in there, and then I take 3 sections of a paper towel folded on itself, and making one swipe up, then back, then flip the towel to a clean surface, to again until stove surface is shiny with no smears. Will last until the next round of frying; rinse, repeat. One must use a clean surface on the paper towel, or it will smear. I fold mine so that I get six clean sections to wipe the stove surface dry.
I tried that bottle of liquid abrasive they sell you, and it does work, but one still has to provide a sponge then paper towels to finish cleaning.
The wife did our taxes, and we will be getting a refund. It seems when we pulled money from the wife’s 401k, we had them take 20% out for taxes, and 20% is too much. The guy who “handles” her money thought it a bad idea too, but I would rather get a refund, then get surprised with a $2000 tax bill…but that’s just me.
I have misplaced my lancets for getting that drop of blood for BS testing.
Sigh. No good deed and all that…
extexanwannabe 
Good move on the 401K withholding; had you owed more than $1,000 the IRS would have clobbered you because you got “too much” money and they don’t like that. Cannot tolerate “rich” people anymore-or wage earners for that matter.
Whenever we have need for an abrasive-like for the waffle iron I cleaned yesterday for well over an hour-I start out with a dab of Colgate toothpaste and just enough water to make a paste, then start rubbing the smudged area slowly, particularly if it is a painted area like the Sunbeam waffle iron. Not a whole lot different than using McGuire’s automotive products to revive a faded or scratched painted area. In the past I have at times even used woodworking abrasives (pumice and rottenstone).
Dawn-yep, I’ve fallen in love (and not with the female variety). Was helping the kid deal with a backed up kitchen drain that turned out to be over 100 feet from the septic tank, which of course was exactly where the blockage was (not the first time I have ever experienced the “end of the sewer line” blockage. Had to call a plumber who was a friendly old bird; he was surprised at how far out the blockage was. We could hear his rooter in different parts of the house as it slowly made its way out to the septic. Of course he had to stop and install a 2nd 50′ section. When it was all over he gave this timeless hint: If you’d rather not have to ever call me again do this at your kitchen sink: run some cold water down the drain first, then put in half a cup of dawn and turn on the disposal and watch it suds up-turn disposal off when the suds just come up into the sink. Let sit for half an hour, then add a little water and a couple tablespoons of Dawn, rinse and repeat as often as you think is needed. Do it once more before bed time and let it sit over night. Apparently Dawn is the best dish detergent for cutting grease, and the bubbles insure all the surfaces of the under counter plumbing are in contact with the bubbles for a decent period of time so any grease is exposed and eventually washed out. Do this monthly he said.
There’s more-yellowjacket wasps love it here and there is a 6-8 week period after the hatch when they are meaner than a scorned woman. Dawn to the rescue: the wasp has some kind of protective layer on her exoskeleton and dawn destroys that layer, leaving her unprotected and soon to die. Why say “her”? Many insects that swarm are females (the workers)-the male insects are kind of like male lions-they sit around, try to look important, have sex, then generally are left to fend for themselves. Male lions do okay, but male insects usually have pretty short life spans after doing the only thing for which they are useful. Had a wasp nest just underneath a small bush next to the house foundation. Flooding with water didn’t work; wasp sprays would help, but only with the wasps you could see and hit. Brainy idea: got out the shop vac and water hose, filled the hole with water, and did exactly like with the kitchen sink recommendation. Did it 2 nights just before it got dark-even used a flashlight-shoved the exhaust hose from the shop vac into the dripping wet hole and started making bubbles-wouldn’t stop until there was a foot high mound of bubbles. Why do this at the end of dusk? Most importantly because the wasps cannot see in the dark and will not leave the nest, plus it is a little cooler and they prefer warmer temperatures. Rinse and repeat-about as much fun as when we were kids playing in the mud. For the next week there were a few dazed wasps trying to figure out what had happened to their nest. Did the same thing in a sprinkler pit and about a month later pulled the cover and there were still a few drunk wasps inside that could barely move. Moral of the story for the wasps: sting me if you will, but there will be hell to pay starting that night.
Last night was the coldest of this cold snap-was a few degrees below zero; should have come to Tex’s place for dinner and brought my sleeping bag.
Oh yeah, the trash guys: where we used to live there was only one independent trash hauler left after the big chains drove all the little guys out. Gave the guy our business and even when he had equipment problems (which was a lot more often than the big guys) we learned to be understanding and never even thought about abandoning the guy-it was a family business that he had learned from his father, he worked hard, was honest, and usually would pick up before noon on trash day. One time after a missed pickup I called in to inquire around 3pm-by 4 o’clock his wife drove across town and put the trash in the trunk of her Caddy and even apologized. She could have been anyone’s grandmother to boot. Had a nice chat before she left. They hardly make people like that anymore-we need more folks like that.
Rare people indeed.
I did not know what wasps cannot see in the dark.
Dawn…1001 uses
Drizzly and overcast all day in NE ATL. It got into the 40’s. My new business bank account was locked up and I had to go into one of the branch offices to get it reset. The 133 is OK as long as it is 10 points lower tomorrow. I had a cracker with some Maple Butter on it yesterday and my BS was 128 this morning. That is the second highest for the past 2 weeks.
I have one of those evil gas stoves so the cleanup isn’t as tedious as a glasstop. I have a glasstop in the condo down in Florida. I do a hot water and Dawn dish washing liquid to get the heavy stuff. I then use a cream wax for glasstop stoves to finish it off.
I don’t have everything for taxes. My 401K company always dicks around until the end of February to send out the 1099’s. I also need to get an accountant.
My BS this morning was 111.
We used to have an accountant, but he charged us $350. I figured for that much, we oughta get a refund every filing…but no. The wife uses Turbo Tax.
I am not associated in any way with either of the following products.
Try Pure Citrus Orange Cleaner or Zep Heavy Duty Degreaser. Both are made from oranges. The acid in the blend works wonders on any kind of grease, oil spatters and burnt/baked on food with little effort and no Scotch Brite.
Spritz on, let it set, wipe off as you illustrated above with the paper towel.
Good to know…
Yesterday I saw your headline, Last day of Jan 2023, and my first thought was Holy Crap! it’s new years eve and I didn’t even know it. Then I guess my coffee must’ve kicked in as I re-read the headline.
That woulda been scary; to wake up like Rip Van Winkle…