Oregano looks rather surprised

What kind of tranny is this?

Oregano, the orphaned kitten

This is a kitty that we found under the porch.  The next day, we found the mother and the rest of the litter.  We re-introduced this kitty to the mother, who took care of it for 2 days.  Then, she left and took the rest of the litter with her.  Oregano was left behind.  Now, she is two weeks old.

Guess what? 1988 Jeep Cherokee XJ

The Five Dollar a Day Challenge - Day 5

Bonnie provided the fixings for a couple of tasty sandwiches, and after a quick lunch we headed off in search of adventure in the Cuyamaca wilderness.  You never really know what you are going to find when you head out on the trail, but this little hike ended in something completely unexpected.  Somewhere near the top of Japacha Peak, on the eastern side, was one of the strangest monuments that I have ever encountered.  We set off on the West Side Trail, and after about a mile came to a marker for something called the Monument Trail.  After following this uphill for about a mile and a half, we entered a little clearing where somebody had dropped a 12 cylinder airplane engine! It was mounted on a stone and concrete pedestal, with a plaque that read, "In Memory of Col. F.C. Marshall and 1st Lt. C.L. Weber who fell at this spot Dec 7th, 1922."  A hive of bees had made their home inside of it, and they were buzzing in and out of an exhaust port.  The monument itself is a little piece of early aviation and military history - and it was a pleasure to find this by accident.  I would like to give credit to Mr. Alexander D. Bevil for writing a wonderful piece about this mysterious chunk of metal that is enshrined on a lonely and forgotten trail in the backcountry of San Diego.  You can click the quote below to see the full story.   


"Neither monumental nor imposing, the Airplane Crash Memorial on Japacha Ridge is a simple expression of three generations’ honor and respect. First in 1923, then again in 1934 and 1968, they built and improved the monument so that 'the present and coming generation' would honor the memory of the two pioneer military aviators who died on this spot while flying outdated machines through treacherous skies over forbidding terrain."


One thing that a nice long uphill hike will do, is make you hungry.  Feeling a bit nostalgic-like, I decided on making some Sloppy Joes.  This ended up putting over my budget for the day, as one pound of ground beef costs about $5 now, and that is just way too much.  Add the buns, Manwich sauce, and tater tots - and I was well into the next day's cash allowance.  I decided to try to conserve a little bit of money and use ground pork instead, since it was leaner and cheaper than beef.  Sloppy Wilburs, I called it.  While everybody involved agreed that it is better when you use beef, Bonnie still ate two sandwiches while I had three. 

The Five Dollar a Day Challenge - Day 4

While the blackout was great fun (and the hangover was not) - there was an unintended consequence that put a bit more challenge into my menu.  All of my perishables became untrustworthy....and this was a real burden!  I had some left over chicken and blue corn posole, broccoli mac and cheese, spiced potatoes, and other odds and ends that would have been turned into a couple of really nice meals!  Well, they were all gone.  In the morning, I had no yummy leftovers for lunch.  I keep a big jar of home made instant oatmeal at my desk (it is easy to make with quick oats, raisins, cinnamon and sugar and powdered milk) and that was good enough to keep me going through the morning, but when lunchtime hit.....I caved. 

30 minutes later (thanks for losing my order McDumbasses) I had 20 nuggets and two spongebread and beef sandwiches, slathered with ketchup and mustard and laced with one thin, warm pickle.  Total cost - $7.  I didnt feel too bad about the cost, since I spent no money the day before during the blackout - but I did feel a bit sad that all I got for that money was a pile of empty calories.  McPoop.

For dinner, I salvaged what was left in my freezer - a box of pork breakfast sausages and half a bag of frozen mixed vegetables, and combined that with a can of tomato puree that was buried in the larder to make somekind of "Mulligan Sauce".  I used a bag of thick rice stick noodles and pretended that it was fettucini.  The dish resembled something that was Italian, but really, it was nothing more than an "impasta" masquerading as real food.  I didnt care for it too much, but it was better than my McLunch - and Bonnie gave it at least one weak nom, so.......we live to eat another day.

The Five Dollar a Day Challenge - Day 3 - The Great Blackout

Some people may say that it is crazy to carry around a dozen MREs in your trunk with you wherever you go (MRE = Meal Ready to Eat).  Perhaps it is a little bit cynical, apocolypsist, pessamistic, paranoid, or just plain silly to assume that there are going to be nuclear disasters and zombie emergencies that will require an emergency food supply.  Or.....is it?  So, when the lights go out in your town, what is the best thing to do?  Thursday, September 8th will forever be remembered as The Great Southern California Blackout, for more than just the shutdown of the electrical grid from Orange County to Tijuana.  For many, it will be remembered (or not) as the day that there was nothing better to do than get drunk!  Hey, let's face it....everybody was ready to use the "my alarm clock wasn't working" excuse to ditch work the next day.  So, like many others in my building, I headed to the pool.  My building did have emergency generators, and I have to hand it to them, they have their priorities....the jacuzzi still had power.  The party quickly turned into a devil-may-care affair as people emptied out the liquor cabinets and beer coolers.  After several hours of debauchery, it became painfully clear that there was not going to be anything to eat because my stove and microwave all requred electricity.  In addition, since there was no sense in even trying to go to the store, it was looking like I was going to have some trouble spending my $5 for the day.  I decided to expand my list of possible resources to include my trunk....where about 10 MREs have been stored, just in case.  I suppose that necessity drives people to do things that they would not normally do - and Bonnie had her first taste of military rations.  They heat up nicely with the water activated heating pouch.  She gave them a "not bad....not good, but not bad".  It's nice to know that, in case of a nuclear viral zombie outbreak, the food is not half bad.