72 Hour Survival Kit...At The Compound

With all of the stories and reports in the media lately regarding the harsh winter weather,  unexpected storms all across the country, and other natural disasters; not to mention the chaos and unrest around the world; this of course, is a concern to us, and we felt it was necessary and important to put together a survival kit.  A big 3 day survival kit.  You know, a kit with all the must haves; the basic necessities to get us through the first couple of days here at The Compound; if, heaven forbid, something terrible were to occur.  I think it’s important for everyone to put together a survival kit and keep it on hand.

I thought about all the things that are important, (photos, keepsakes, important papers, documents, and the like), and all the things that would be difficult to survive without.  After a lot of thought, this is what I’ve included in OUR kit.  Keep in mind, this List is just a guideline to help get you started with your own kit.  You may want to change a thing or two, especially if you have any favorites.

3 Cases of Bud Light (1 case per day, I hope that’s enough!)
A Big Cooler filled with ice
1 bag of Kettle Chips
1 squirt bottle of Sauce King-Chili Garlic Aioli

1 bag of Spicy Nacho Doritos
1 bag of Pretzels
1 bag of Tortilla Chips
1 bottle of Salsa
A few Bottles of Water
A Thermos full of Fresh Hot Coffee
A Warm Blanket
A Half Dozen Shop Towels
...(the good ones - 2 per day)
A Big Flashlight
...(check the batteries from time to time)
A Wrench (to turn off the gas meter)
A Couple of Band Aids
A Roll of Toilet Paper (2 - if you have issues)
A Tape Measure...(in case I need to measure something)
A Pocket Knife (PK)
A Yellow Legal Pad (Y-Pad)
And a Zebra F-402 (in case I need to jot down something)

Remember, this is a just a list to get you through the first couple of days.  Depending on individual stress levels or fear factors, you may want to adjust the quantities for your own personal needs or satisfaction.

Peace of Mind.  There’s nothin’ like knowin’ you’re ready!   …Just sayin’!

The Loss of A Loved One...

The Loss of a Loved One.  Wow…that’s hard for me to even say.  But the Loss of a Loved One affects us all.  Everyone, sooner or later, will experience and suffer the pain of Loss.  Even us.  Even at The Compound.  Try as we may - to hide it, or mask it in some sort of way, no one is immune to loss or sadness.  The Loss of a Loved One can be a devastating event. Everyone needs to deal with it, or should deal with it in their own personal way; and as hard and difficult as it may be,  try to come to grips with it, in one way or another.

Our Loss, this tragic event, this terrible void will be felt from one end of The Compound to the other.  This will shake us to the core.  This loss will rock the very foundation of our world.

The Loss of This Loved One, Our Loved One, was near and dear to our hearts, right from the very start.  Oh, I know you’re not supposed to have favorites.  You’re supposed to share the love, spread the love evenly.  Equal to all, unconditionally, without question. But…we did have a favorite; and our favorite was Alexia.  Our love, our great love, Alexia, is gone. 

Alexia has been lost.  I can’t believe it.  Lost forever!  Dang it!  How could this happen?  Why did this happen?  Could we have done anything different?  Anything sooner?  It’s hard to say.  It’s hard to second guess.   A sad day for all of us here at The Compound, the ones that are left behind.  But, as a consolation, I suppose we still have one another.

We felt something had been going on for a long, long time; something just wasn’t right.  Alexia was getting harder and harder to find.  We looked everywhere. We looked at all the big stores, the mom and pop stores too. Alexia was drifting away, simply disappearing from sight.  Whenever we could find Alexia, we would do all that we could for Alexia, we would spend all that we could afford, to get Alexia back home.

Gone...But Not Forgotten!

Alexia Onion Strips, the “natural” crunchy snack wonder of the world, were featured on many a menu here, and were always served along side nearly every Saturday Sammie as far back as I can remember.   They were a big hit and always served with a side of Sauce King dip.  Oh, there will be snacks that come and go, here at The Compound.  There will be other snacks…imitators, wannabes, ...snacks that will try to take the place of our beloved Alexia Onion Strips, but those are big shoes to fill, er, I mean bags to fill.  Again, Alexia is gone!

Yesterday was the last day. The final day.  The saddest day of all.  As the last bag of Alexia, known to exist, was enjoyed by all, right down to the last yummy bit of crumbly goodness.  No longer will we enjoy the carefree days of simply going into the pantry and grabbing a fresh bag to replace the empty one.  Vanished too, is the joy and pleasure of serving these to our guests and visitors, and watching them sample and enjoy these delightful snacks again and again.  Alexia is gone! 

An Empty Shelf...Stands In Solemn Tribute!

I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to look at another snack in the same loving and adoring way that I felt towards Alexia…Only time will tell.  They say, time heals all wounds.  That remains to be seen.  The jury is still out.  We’ll just have to wait and see!

Gone, but not forgotten.  Well…at least we’ll have our memories.  Perhaps, haunting memories of  the good ol’ days… days gone by…Again, Alexia is gone.  A very, very sad day.

We are making a personal plea here.  We are asking for your help.  If you know the whereabouts of Alexia, or have any knowledge of where Alexia may be hiding, please call 1-555-EAT-SNAKS !  …We still have our HOPE…To get us through these difficult and trying times!  ...Just sayin'!

Near Disaster...At The Compound!

It was a Saturday, much like any other Saturday here at The Compound.  The day started off as usual, morning coffee, news updates, Treat-Treats, etc., etc, etc.  I had to run a few errands late in the morning; Jill was preparing for Saturday Sammies, and making some of the specialty dishes for lunch that the locals have come to appreciate.

Saturday's menu consisted of Cubano Hot dogs, featuring thinly sliced ham, melted Swiss cheese, grilled hot dogs, with a yellow mustard, jalapeno pepper and green chili sauce, home made pickled cucumbers and red onions, all served on oven toasted hot dog buns, along with the overwhelming favorite soup at The Compound, Jill’s Famous Beer Cheese Soup.

When I returned home from my doing my errands; one of which was to pick up the special hot dog buns for the Cubano hot dogs, Jill was ready to start the BC soup.  She had cut up, chopped up, sliced up and diced up, measured and weighed, and otherwise prepared all of the ingredients for the soup and was ready to begin the cooking process, as she’s done countless times before.  She had her big 5 quart pot heating on the stove and she started to put in the ingredients, onions, potatoes, spices, etc. browned them, sautéed them, added the chicken stock, the chicken broth, etc., let simmer, then she added the all important and necessary name sake ingredient - the Beer, 3 bottles of Beer.  All of that needs to be heated, to just short of a boil, then you add the pound and a half of grated cheddar cheese. Stir in and let the cheese melt into the rest of the soup, then add a little heavy cream,  continue heating for a while and you’re ready to serve. 

Well, …THAT'S HOW IT SHOULD BE DONE ...in a perfect world, but NO!, Not Here, Not Today!  Let's  back up to the add the cheese part.  I was stirring, because that’s what I do, and Jill was adding the shredded cheese by the handful out of a large glass bowl that was sitting on the counter next to the stove.  Everything was going as planned; but then she had to get the few remaining morsels, the tidbits of cheese, the stragglers, the ones that stick to the sides of the bowl that most chefs or cooks would just leave behind, but not Jill; NO...she wanted to get all of that cheesy goodness.  She picked up the bowl and held it over the big bucket of hot boiling soup, trying to drag out the cheesy remnants with her fingers, when the unimaginable, …the unthinkable happened. 

Yes, yes, you guessed it!  She dropped the near empty cheese bowl into the pot of hot boiling Beer Cheese Soup with the partially melted cheese, potatoes, onions etc., …not to mention the BEER, (I hate to waste the Beer), and Oh My Hell!; …the bowl landed perfectly, bottom first in the hot pot of soup.  If we had been playing basketball, it would have been a swoosh, nothin’ but net! A three-pointer for sure!  It dropped dead center, in a near full pot of boiling hot, of would be, should be, yummy goodness, and S#*t went everywhere.  ...I mean EVERYWHERE! 

It splashed on the cabinets, down the cabinets, all over the backsplash, on the canisters sitting next to the cook top, all over the other burners,  on the exhaust fan, in the exhaust fan, down the exhaust fan, in the vents, in the filters!  It even splashed chunks of shredded cheese and potato on the front of the oven 4 feet away!   I think Jill even got a bit of a splash on her shirt sleeve.  (Serves her right!….just sayin’!)

Oh My Gosh, Holy Crap, Holy S#*t, What a Mess, What a Freaking Mess!  What a Nightmare!  Holy Crap again!.  Needless to say, amidst my ranting and raving, and to my surprise, a little laughter from Jill, we both jumped to the rescue.  I moved the pot of soup and grabbed some towels, (remember Shop Towels anybody?  They come in really handy at a time like this!)  and we proceeded to clean up the mess.  I manned the sink and continued to rinse out the soup stained towels and handed Jill clean ones to continue mopping up.  “Holy Crap, Jill,  I can’t believe you really dropped that bowl.  Holy Freaking S#*t, what a mess!”, I said , with calmness and in the nicest possible way!

MESS?...WHAT MESS?

Well, 30 minutes or so later,  (it seemed like an hour or two), and after a lot of near cussing, and getting somewhat back to normal, (Normal?), Jill put the soup back on the burner, resumed the cooking process in hopes of salvaging the soup.  The soup surprisingly seemed to reheat without any problem, as if nothing had ever happened.  The heavy cream was added, and with my expert stirring abilities, the soup finally came together.

The guests arrived a short time later.  The Cubano Hot Dogs and Beer Cheese Soup were served without further incident.  The Hot Dogs were a big hit and oh, by the way, the Beer Cheese Soup was surprisingly better than ever.  The guests and visitors were none the wiser and enjoyed the rest of their day at The Compound.

Several hours later, with a full belly, and after being heavily sedated, I was able to regain my composure and move on with my day. 

After all, nobody ever said it’s "bull and doring" at The Compound!

Come to think of it....S#*t Really DID Hit The Fan!

FYI:  No "Disclaimer" needed here!

Mondays Have Been Cancelled!

Nobody ever looks forward to Mondays. Mondays have always been dreaded.  Mondays are feared by most and hated by many, and our extensive research shows that Monday is the most common sick day at the office, workplace or job site. 

Mondays have always taken a hit, and have long been the down and out theme of many a song lyric; …Rainy days and Mondays always get me down; …Monday, Monday, can’t trust that day, ...Monday, Monday, sometimes it just turns out that way;  …Except for Monday, which was never good anyway; …It’s just another manic Monday; etc., etc., etc. …You get my drift...
Mondays suck, …So…

Due to extremely poor results, bad reviews and  a chronic, lingering, and general lack of interest, Mondays are hereby cancelled at The Compound, effective immediately.  The first official workday of the week to be recognized here at The Compound, from this point forward, will be Tuesdays.  The other days, Wednesday through Sunday will remain unchanged.

Saturdays and Sundays, are of course, the overwhelming favorite days of the week here at The Compound; but are gone all too quickly.  Even if we take a Friday, or a half day Friday, the weekends are still not long enough.  After the Saturday morning rituals of fresh hot coffee, news updates and the refreshing, and always popular Treat-Treats; the day is packed full, with chores, yard work, maintenance issues and other stuff that has to be taken care of.  Saturday Sammies are famous for lunch here, and guests and visitors have come to expect them.  After a late lunch, the day is pretty well shot.

Sundays are always enjoyable too.  The morning always starts with a cup or two of fresh hot coffee and the morning news program, followed by Treat-Treats and Sunday Brunch; and we usually have a house full of guests that show up to enjoy the grub!  The rest of the day is normally spent trying to finish up the Saturday chores that didn’t get done.  Ultimately, weekends at The Compound are just way too short.

As Mondays have been cancelled here, Officials are pleased to announce that Monday will be replaced by FUNDAY at The Compound, …and FUNDAY will become the third day of the weekend.  It will be a catch up day; a day to finish up the things that didn’t get done on Saturday or Sunday, and will be sort of a transition day where we can prepare for, and ease into Tuesday, the first day of OUR work week.  It may even be used as a personal day if all of the chores are done.

We are confident that this change will be well received by all of our regular guests and visitors, and will likely be adopted soon by the business community at large, all across the Land!

New calendars will be available soon to replace the old, antiquated and outdated ones. 
Call 1-555-FUN-DAYS and request your new updated calendar! Call today so that you don‘t miss out on this new and exciting opportunity to change the future!

The Gauntlet Has Been Thrown Down!

Our youngest son K has been blessed, or cursed with the manly man gene, or the hair gene, which ever you prefer to call it, and he is extremely proud to have it.  He has thick dark hair, pretty much everywhere, I hear.  Not having witnessed his gift or his ability myself, other than his whiskers, or really wanting to, ("TMI"), he is always sure to tell me all about his hair raising experiences. 

The other day, K and his wife D, were at The Compound enjoying Saturday Sammies with us and he was taunting me with his beard growing abilities.  It’s been quite a while since I’ve sported a beard, but in my day, it was well, not too bad.  My abilities began early on, in Junior High School, if memory serves me correctly, and it just got better and better through High School.  As the winner of many beard growing contests at the time, I continued and honed my skills and expertise in the art of beard grooming and I had a beard for many, many years.

"The Gauntlet"

K, not knowing what he would unleash upon himself, challenged me to a beard growing contest.  Not having had a beard for a long long time, and wondering to myself, ...Do I still have it in me? ...Do I still have the ability, the skill, the drive to compete again?  While my whiskers may not be the same handsome, dark brown color they used to be, way back when; I figured I could probably still grow one.

Not wanting to walk away from the challenge, I picked up the gauntlet and graciously accepted.  The contest was to last for one week only, from Saturday to Saturday.

Well, today is Saturday, the scheduled final day of the contest.  The votes have been cast, the judges have spoken, and the Fat Lady has sung.  The results are in, and the results are conclusive… very, conclusive.
And the winner is…

Well, let's just say the Winning Streak continues, ...The Legend,
they say, ...Lives On!

However, in all fairness and with all due respect, K put up a pretty good fight, and may have had a slight edge, and I emphasize slight, when it comes to color.  Later in the evening I was awarded the highly coveted Golden Razor Trophy.  After the award ceremony, I said to K with great encouragement, "Keep on practicing, Buddy, I'm sure you'll do better next time!"

So the moral to this story is: growing a beard is much like riding a bicycle, even if the bicycle changes color,  you never really forget how! 

So Don’t Be Messin’ with “Father Time!”   …Just sayin’!

AD PARTY...at The Compound!

This past Sunday kicked off the start of the new season for the National Television Advertising and Commercial Competition.  The Ad Party and Celebration, was of course, held once again this year at The Compound.  The annual event is televised and premieres or highlights most of the newest and best advertisements and commercials for all kinds of products for the coming year.  We were expecting a big turnout for the party on Sunday afternoon and all the usual party goers showed up for the big day.

Jill got up early and with help from the staff, worked hard to prepare some tasty snacks and goodies for the guests and visitors to enjoy while watching the televised event.  The menu included Buffalo Wings, Chicken Chili, Texas Style Chili Con Carne, Oven Roasted Garlic Shrimp with cocktail sauce, Deli Sammies with turkey, ham and roast beef, pickled red onions and cucumbers, all served on homemade dollar rolls, Stuffed Mushrooms, Pork and Shrimp Balls with an Asian Lime dipping sauce, a Veggie Tray with Parmesan Dip, Doritos Chips, Potato Chips, Clam Dip and other Sauce King flavors, along with Bud Light, the Beverage of the Day, as well as other favorite drinks from the bar.

As it turns out, the network decided to air a football sporting event to keep viewers entertained between the showing of the new commercials, some sort of an exhibition game, I think. There was so much anticipation and excitement for the ads and commercials that nobody remembers much about the game, but I think it featured a team with black and gold outfits, and one with green and gold duds with a G on their hats.  I don’t remember who won the event…..After all, …It’s All About The ADS!

I found it very interesting in that there were two ads in particular, representing two of our favorite food groups, ...CHIPS and BEER.   It was weird because everyone was munching on some Doritos Chips as they watched the Doritos ad with a pug attacking some guy to get at the bag of Doritos.  Later on during the commercial extravaganza, which aired about sixty ads or so, we saw an ad for Anheuser - Busch featuring a bunch of dogs serving Bud Light at a party!  Wow, weird again, because we were serving Bud Light at our party, too! (That ad almost makes me want to get a bunch of dogs! ...well, .....ALMOST!)

“Wow, awesome party, dude,” one of our happy guests exclaimed, “Everybody watching TV, munchin’ chips and drinkin’ some Buds...Don’t get no better!”  

We later found out that our two favorite ads of the day tied for first place in the big world of the ad wars.  So I guess you can’t go wrong with Doritos and Bud Light! 

The party and celebration were a huge success.  Everyone enjoyed great food and had a good time. 

The only things missing at our party were the dogs!
Dang it!

Shop Towels

News Flash!  Shop Towels aren’t just for the shop anymore, and I like shop towels! 

There seems to be a new generation of shop towels available to the public now.  No longer do they have to be those little tiny reddish-pink colored ones, like the auto mechanics use;  long considered the old standard of the shop towel industry.  Nor do they have to be the popular blue colored paperish, fiberish kind of shop towel that come in a nicely packaged set of rolls, usually in a pack of twelve or so.  I believe it even says SHOP TOWELS on the package, probably to help the non-shop towel buyer/user to identify what a shop towel is supposed to look like.

Reds & Blues

While paper towels are a respected picker-upper, and have their rightful place in the kitchen; they are not shop towels, and should not be considered as such.  Besides, they don’t do too well when you run them through the washer and dryer.

Don’t get me wrong; I think the reds and the blues have their place in the world of shop towels; especially if you have to mop up some nasty chemical spill, or some oil or paint; and you plan to just throw the thing away after you wipe up the mess.  Who would want to use that dirty thing again, anyway?

But I’ve found something better.  Way, way more betterer.  And these towels are white.  Yes, white shop towels; and they feel like towels.  Imagine that.  I think they are terry cloth, the kind of stuff that towels ought to be made of in the first place. 

I ran across my first package of white shop towels at a Costco Super Marto a few years ago, and I’ve been collecting them ever since.  They come in a manly man-sized package of sixty shop towels; not that measly package of a dozen disposable rolls.  Jill thinks I’m crazy, because I always ask her to pick up another package at the super every once in a while.

These towels aren’t restricted to the shop or the garage.  These are really nice towels, and I am proud to use them around the house too. I like them to be neatly folded and stacked on the shelf just so.  These towels can tackle just about any job that you put them up to.  They are great in the bathroom; use them on mirrors and tile counter tops.  Use them in the kitchen to wipe the table or to polish the furniture.  Use them for regular kitchen towels if you want.  They are great if you want to just dry off your hands!  They are great for windows and wiping out the interior of your car, even a wash and wax!  They are great for everything.  You just can’t go wrong!  Oh, they require a little maintenance from time to time;  you know, a ride in the washing machine and a tumble in the dryer, but they are reusable!  That’s like recyclable, only better.

I like to have a lot of these bad boys on hand and at the ready all the time.  Here at The Compound, we never know when one of the grand kids is going to show up for a visit, and heaven forbid, they spit up or spill on the rug, the counter top or the kitchen floor.  Yikes;  That spit up part scares me!

In a perfect world, and if Jill would let me, I would even use these towels for place mats and napkins.  In fact, I’m going to ask The Committee to take this matter under advisement to see if we can get this towel deemed the “Official Shop Towel” of The Compound!  

A couple more good things about these towels….Each package comes complete with easy to follow instructions.  They’re user friendly, there’s not a top or bottom, not a good side or a bad side, they’re not too technical and they don’t require batteries.  AND these towels are excellent for "gathering"!  They’re pretty much idiot proof; and the best part is that Jill has some more things she can iron!  Jill loves to iron! Sweet!

Is a sixty enough?  Is 300 too many?  How can I be sure?  Well, I do know that a sixty is not nearly enough,  so I'm going to keep on collecting 'em until I know!  I don’t think you can have too many shop towels!  ...Just sayin'!