Wandering to meet a relative

I have a cousin who lives in southern Florida and I have only seen him once in the past fifty years, and that was only to meet him for lunch about 5 years ago when he was passing through Houston. Well, this year he has a travel trailer and is heading to Arizona to visit some of his kids, and emailed me telling me he would be passing through and wanted to know if I knew of an RV park along I-10 somewhere near Houston. He said that he could reserve two sites side by side and we could have a better visit. I thought that was a great idea and started searching the internet. I preferred the east side of Houston for a couple of reasons. First, it is easier for me to get to the east side via country roads and second, the west side is too built up.


I couldn’t find what I thought would suit in the Woodalls campground directory, so started to search the internet for RV parks around Houston. Somehow I found one that is or had been for sale. There was not a lot of information about it nor did it have a web-site, just a telephone number. It was in a perfect position, just west of Baytown on the backwaters of the bay and only a quarter mile off the interstate. He agreed and plans were made for arrival this last Tuesday afternoon.

I got there early and got settled in one of the two sports. He showed late in the afternoon. We had a great visit and I thoroughly enjoyed myself as did my better half and, I hope, my cousin and his wife. Sure hated to see them head out yesterday morning. They left before 08:00 even though I warned them of Houston’s rush hour traffic.

OK, here are some pics. Here is one of them in my RV:

And here is one of my cousin and me.  He is the good looking one wearing the Marine Corp cap.

And with his wife:

After they left, I walked down to the water’s edge and took some pictures.  This first one is looking south back towards I-10.  The bridge in the picture is the interstate:

Here, in part of the last picture that I clipped out, is a closer look at the bridge:

This picture is looking north.  Nice area to sit or have a picnic:

This one is looking directly across the water:

And this is a clip of the middle of the above picture:

Don't forget, you can click on the picture to make them larger.

For just an over night trip, we had a great time. Of course it takes just about the same amount of time to load the RV for a day or two trip than for a month. Now you know where I was yesterday.


You all have a nice day today, you hear?

Wondering about an old hair product

Let’s go back in time to the wonderful 1950’s. That is when I was in school and learning about life in this great big world we live in. Being an only child, I looked forward to going to school. Living in what used to be the country; I only had two friends within walking distance of less than a mile and one of them moved away after only a few years in school. The other one is still a friend and we keep in touch. I loved the 1950’s, the music, the dances (remember the school dances), the girls (I started dating my wife in high school so I will not talk about any of the other ones), the final exams (wow, didn’t want to remember them), the football and basketball games, and I guess school itself. That was back in the days when you had to save your allowance for awhile to purchase a 45 rpm record of what was popular at the time.


When we guys stated to take notice of the fairer sex, we also became more aware of how we looked. Of course there were exceptions to this on both sides. We were influenced by adds that promised to make us irresistible to the girls. You know, like Brylcream. Do you remember Brylcream and “a little dab will do ya” jingle? If not, here are two youtube links to classic Brylcream TV adds:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRcRIbExrfg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6F4GtyRfto

Brylcream was created in England in 1929 but didn’t really hit the big time until the 1950’s in the U.S. All fads come and go and after awhile the wet Brylcream look gave way to the dry look. Did you have either look? I must admit that I am now in the grey look.

Another bit of trivia, the Flintstone phrase “aba daba doo” came about by the influence of the Brylcream jingle, a little dab will do ya. . .

You all have a great day now, you hear, and don’t worry if I don’t post a blog tomorrow. I have things I got to do.

Wondering about smells

I am wondering why we remember smells better than most everything else. It is strange how it works, maybe not with you but with me. I can’t actually smell a memory. I can’t physically conjure up a smell from the past. But, if I do happen to get a whiff of that smell, I can instantly remember that I smelled that odor before and can sometimes connect it with a pleasant or unpleasant situation. Therefore, a smell from the past must be programmed into my long term memory.


The sense of smell is a huge part of taste. When you have a bad cold and can’t smell anything, do you remember how bland your food tasted? Yes, you could taste salty, sweet, and sour, but the delicate taste and aroma of the food was missing. You didn’t have much of an appetite, did you? The sense of smell is important to our appetites and choices of the things we eat. I knew a fellow who used to sell BBQ. He would set up in a location where the breeze would carry the BBQ aroma across an intersection that had either a red light or a four way stop. When the drivers smelled the aroma, they instantly got hungry for BBQ. I have even heard of some grocery stores that have piped in food aromas around the area that had the food displayed that matched the aroma. There sells of those items went way up.

The sense of smell and the memory of smells is a defense mechanism in living creatures, ourselves included. There was a study done with mice, and it was determined that mice smell the breath of other mice to determine what they had eaten and since they were still active, that it was a safe food. This information was stored in temporary memory and then transferred to the long term memory. In mice where the scientists had separated the long term section of the brain from the short term section, they soon forgot and stopped eating the test food. The mice that were not altered continued to enjoy the test food. This proved that the sense of smell is stored in long term memory.

Now, let me sit back and remember that favorite dish of mine. . . dang, I am really starting to get hungry. Got to go see what I can dig up to eat.

You all have a good day and don’t eat too much. Just hold your nose. . .

Wondering about old refrigerators.

Have no idea why I was thinking about old refrigerators, but now that I am, I may as well use it as my blogs subject for today. By old refrigerators, I don’t mean ice boxes or the ones with the coils and cooling fins sitting on the top forming a circle. What I was remembering were the ones that only had one door and the freezer part was a small compartment inside the refrigerator.


The freezer part was barely big enough for anything other than a couple of ice cube trays. Most of the frozen food we purchase today was either fresh or canned back then, except for frozen orange juice. Frozen concentrated orange juice was first available in 1945 or 1946, and immediately became a success; easier than squeezing your own. It came in a small can and would fit in with the ice cube trays.

These old refrigerators were quite rugged and would last a long time. I know someone who had one for almost 60 years, and if the people who purchased her house didn’t replace it with a modern one, it could be still running today.

This brings another subject to mind. Most everything that was made in the mid 1940’s was made to last. People took pride in their product and in their workmanship. Not just kitchen appliances, but most all products from that era. What has happened? No one seems to care anymore, just put in their time and pick up their check. My Dad always told me to “do the best job you can do, even if it is only sweeping floors”. I have tried to live up to that, and yes, one of my jobs involved the sweeping of floors.

You all have a good day today, you hear?

Wondering why I never learn.

A few times yesterday, simply great ideas for this morning’s blog jumped into my head. At the time I thought that maybe I should jot down a note to myself about the ideas, but then I said to myself, “Self, that is such a great idea that you just can’t possibly forget it”. Yea, right!!! This happens quite a lot to me. I think up some fabulous ideas for a blog and by the next morning when I sit down in front of this computer to write it, everything comes up blank!! That is exactly what happened today. So to keep from this just being a blank page, I am explaining why it isn’t the fabulous blog that you expected (grin).


Nothing new here, just sipping a cup of coffee and will be heading down to the flea market again. I believe I told you before that we got talking to one of the vendors at the flea market and there was something about her voice that made me feel at home. Then we discovered that she lived in north western Pennsylvania within just a couple of miles of my Aunt. We kept looking forward to seeing and talking to her on the weekends, but she left for home and took her grandkids, who she had been visiting, back to PA with her to give them a summer vacation at Grandma’s. I bet they are having fun, but my wife and I miss seeing and talking to her on the weekends. Going to have to make it a point to see her the next time I am up visiting with my Aunt.

Isn’t it funny how you take an instant liking to someone you had never met before then you find out that they have a connection with some part of your life. It is strange and has happened to me a lot of times when I was thousands of miles from home to meet someone you never saw before and find out that they just lived down the road from you. I bet that has happened to you, hasn’t it? You know, it is a small world.

You all have a good day now, you hear?

Wondering about an old metal top

Got to thinking about a toy (a top) that my Dad gave to me when I was a boy. I don’t know if it was new or one he had when he was young. Either way, by now it would be a really old top, ‘cause I am getting old myself. Really you say? Oh yea!!


This top was metal and it had holes in it around the side near the top that made it whistle if it was spinning fast enough. It came with a string and a small metal disk at one end. You wrapped the string around the top and you put the end with the disc between your fingers and the little disc would hold the end of the string securely in your hand. You then tossed the top as hard as you could throw, either underhand or overhand, and just at the right time you pulled back on the string. If you did this correctly and fast enough, the top would whistle and spin all over the place. I loved that top and spent many hours perfecting my throw.

During my learning process I put a few dents in our kitchen wall because I didn't pull back on the string soon enough. I used the kitchen to spin the top since it had a linoleum floor and a lot of open space. My parents’ house had a combination kitchen and dining room, so the room was plenty big enough to practice with that top.

I am also wondering; have any of you ever seen, used, or had a top like that? It was not large and was small enough to fit in the palm of your hand. Although small, it was quite heavy for its size.

***

For those of you who read yesterday’s blog but didn’t read the comments, I will give some information here that I didn’t give in the blog itself. There are 200 million containers shipped annually, so now you see that 10,000 is not a big percentage, just 0.005% (that is 0.00005 x 200,000,000 = 10,000)

Wondering about hot peppers and shipping containers.

Now, I bet you are wondering what connection hot peppers and shipping containers have to each other. Well, as far as I know, they don’t have any dang connection, so there.


I am going to ask you a question and give the answer at the end of this post. I would like you all to let me know what your guess was and how many got it close. I would have gotten it wrong. The question is: how many shipping containers are estimated to fall off cargo ships and into the ocean every year?

Do you know what the hottest pepper is? Well, I would have never guessed it because I have never heard of it, but maybe any of you who have been to Australia may have heard of it. It is the Trinidad Scorpion Butch T, and it registers 1,463,700 Scoville heat units. That is about 300 times as hot as the hottest jalapeno. Dang! and I thought that habanera peppers were hot!! If you want to know more about these peppers contact The Chilli Factory in Australia. Now tell me, what in the world could a pepper that hot be used for? Couldn’t use it in a defensive pepper spray device, since it would blind anyone who got it in their eyes. I just can’t see a use for it, except as a poison for fire-ants (grin)

OK, here is the answer to the shipping container losses. They estimate 10,000 containers are lost overboard each year. That will make a big reef. I would bet that the sea life just love them, unless of course there was poisonous stuff in the container (or the above peppers). Anyway, it is hard for me to believe that 10,000 containers get lost at sea every year.