Wuhan Flu Review #1

March 15, 2020March 15, 2020 ~ gregzisme ~ 1 Comment

Happy Ides of March! I hope y’all are enjoying being socially distant, and that you haven’t gone thru all your boxes of wine! I’m still processing this whole situation and trying to keep a smile on my face, which you can’t see behind my protective, and oh so festive face mask; and positive thoughts in my aluminum foil-covered protective headgear! I’m sure the aliens are involved in someway! But I digress – I do that a lot!

Friday the 13th – So, after the Prez gave his emergency declaration speech, I wasn’t thinking much about the looming Apocalypse; just another Friday night. Boy was I wrong! After supper I decided I needed to make some Nutter Butter cookies, because, that’s what you do on the eve of a disaster, right? No problem! I drove to my neighborhood Kroger, found a spot to park and walked through the first gate of Hell! Well, not really; I’m sure that was at the local Walmart. I was really surprised by the crowd! It was crazy! Mad props to the Kroger peeps! They had every checkout line opened and all hands on deck! The patrons were frazzled but seemed to be taking everything in stride. Thank goodness! It could have been ugly!

Welcome to Venezuela/Socialism! I should have just slowly backed out the door, but no, I wanted those four items for my cookie recipe! So, since I’m already there, I decided to stroll thru and see how bad it was…

Yes, we have no bananas, or potatoes, or any other veggies

As you can see, it wasn’t pretty! I basically came in for a jar of peanut butter and was lucky to find a couple on the shelf! I joined one of the ques and waited for about twenty minutes to get to the self-checkout. After that, I raced home and made those cookies! And they were GOOD!

The Morning after – On Saturday I ran some errands, and just for fits and giggles, I stopped to check on the Kroger situation. It was almost back to normal! Well, there were still a lot of things missing, still no toilet paper or sanitizer, but normal size crowds and much less anxiety in the air. Hopefully, the worst is over? I know that this happened pretty much all over the country, and I’m sure we’ll get through this, but you never know. Of course, being the rebel that I am, as the government is telling us to stay home, I decided to drive to Indianapolis, just because! It was raining when I left home, and twenty minutes later, SNOW! I had a great time shopping – thank goodness things were open – and then got back to the homefront where Dad and I went for some “fine” dining!

Today – It was weird watching church online and seeing the sanctuary empty, but I guess that is our new normal for a while. I haven’t left the house yet, and I’m making my favorite anti-viral food – homemade chicken soup, aka Jewish penicillin! It smells wonderful! That’s all I’ve got for now. Take care of yourselves! Hydrate! Was your hands, yada, yada, yada. You know the drill! Hasta whenever! Greg

PS – Before I forget, here’s a mad shoutout to my local Kroger: y’all are great! Thanks for the hard work you’re doing for us!

Cookin’ with Gas!

February 27, 2020February 27, 2020 ~ gregzisme

There’s nothing like a small fire in your kitchen, caused by the old gas cooktop, to spark a renovation! That’s what happened to my client, and when the insurance money came in, she decided it was time for the long-delayed kitchen upgrade.

First up – paint those cabinets! Her cabinets were in great shape but she had never liked the wood color, and they were way too traditional for her taste, but, replacing them was a budget-busting proposition, so we decided to paint them a more contemporary dark grey (Sherwin-Williams SW6004, “Mink”). But before the paint goes on, first you prime! Ugh!

Prime, Paint and Paint and Paint!

IF you’ve never painted cabinets, you won’t believe how much primer and paint you will use! It just goes on forever – but it’s worth it in the end.

Pulling it Together…

After the paint dried, it was time for new countertops; she went with Silestone “Blanco Maple”, a tile backsplash, a festive new color ( Sherwin-Williams SW9005 “Coral Clay”) to go over the dated dark blue, and the new cooktop! It took a little over a month, but we think it was worth it and she is very happy with the finished project!

Back From the Dead!

August 8, 2019August 8, 2019 ~ gregzisme

Y’all! I don’t know what I got into, or what got into me, but for the last couple of days, I have been coughing, sneezing and feeling basically like death warmed over! Today I feel “almost” human again! I hate being ill and when I get these sinus things, you might as well just put me in a box and throw some dirt over me! That being said, last night, I’m feeling wretched and looking for some relief, so I tooled into town and got some home remedy items.

I can’t claim that these items worked, but they did provide some instant relief!

So, now that I’m feeling almost fully functional, I feel the need to get some things done. Crap! Summer is almost over and I’ve got hundreds of unposted sunset and cat photos!

Don’t believe me? There’s plenty more where those came from!

I have to admit that there is one good thing that comes from these short bouts of allergy/colds; my throat gets really raw and my voice drops down into the Bea Arthur/Barry White range! It’s just so fun hitting those low notes!

Anyway, Wherever you are, and whatever you’re doing, I hope you’re having a great day/night! I’m going to get away from this keyboard, for a short while, and get outside and enjoy the cool, sunny, breezy morning! Catch ya later!

Bugs!

February 28, 2019February 28, 2019 ~ gregzisme

This is just a test to see if my Newsletter subscription settings are working.

December 29

December 30, 2018December 30, 2018 ~ gregzisme

Hey Diary! Well, it’s been a bit of a mixed bag today. Not the most productive of days but thoroughly enjoyable!

Bread!

Oh how I’m enjoying my new KitchenAid Mixer! Honestly, I think one could probably mix concrete or mortar in that thing, it’s so strong! But for now, I’ll stick to bread doughs, cookies and cakes! On today’s menu was some English Toasting Bread and it turned out quite well! Great crumb, good consistency and toasts up something special! Dad and I enjoyed a slice, slathered with butter and jam before we headed of for BBQ dinner!

Dinner!

Enjoyed a delicious smoked brisket sandwich at the newly renovated and reopened Indiana Smokehouse , @IndianaSmokehouse ,here in Columbus! So glad these guys reopened, as its great to have a great BBQ joint just two blocks from home! Love when they are smoking the meats and the winds blow the smoke over our house!

The Main Event

Seems that the football spirits were not on the side of the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame this evening, so I bailed on them and flipped over to the BBC for some quality time with my old friend Doctor Who! I was thrilled that I got several episodes with The Doctor and his wonderful cohort, River Song! Love these characters! Can’t think of better folks to waste an evening with!

Like I said, not much to report but I’ve promised myself that I will post everyday this coming year! And, hopefully, with practice, the posts will get better and better! That’s it for tonight Diary! Catch you sometime tomorrow!

Merry Christmas!

December 25, 2018December 25, 2018 ~ gregzisme

Dear Diary – Well, Christmas has come and almost gone. I mean, it’s 1:38 pm, so the presents are opened and everyone is lounging comfortably, waiting for the evening gathering of the clan! I hope y’all are having a wonderful day and looking forward to a wonderful New Year! I promise to get better at checking in with you and adding my part to the endless noise that is the internet!

Cub Scouts, Carmel Corn and Clouds

October 2, 2018 ~ gregzisme ~ 1 Comment

Hey Mr. Diary! Sorry I’ve been MIA for awhile, but what with closing the lake house and getting moved back to civilization, I’ve been kinda busy. Anyway, thought I’d do a quick “catch up” with you. It’s a wee bit weird, being back in the suburbs, after the summer at the lake, but, since I am a “boy from the burbs, I’m adapting quickly!

Caramel Corn anyone?

It’s that time of year when the Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts are purveying popcorn products and I can’t seem to avoid them! They must see me as an easy mark – cheeky little monkeys! Anyway, yesterday I dashed in to Kroger for a few necessities, coffee, cream, cat food, and they, the Scouts, were lined up by the entrance, waiting to strike! I managed to avoid them going in but wasn’t quite as fortunate coming out! There they were, ten prepubescent boys, in freshly pressed uniforms, making customers run the gauntlet of plaintive pleas to purchase popcorn! I was greeted by Ward, the obvious alpha male of the group, with a strong “Hello Sir! Would you like to buy some popcorn to help support our troop?” along with an honest to goodness handshake! Oh, he’s good, I thought to myself. I asked for a rundown of the products and as he proceeded down his list, I stopped him at the $10.00 bag of carmel corn. His mom was watching all this, slyly smiling. She’d trained him well. I told him I’d take the caramel corn and he tried to up-sell me on the bigger bag with nuts! The force was strong in this one! I asked him why I should upgrade and he suddenly went silent – the wheels were turning or he’d forgotten his talking points. Mom watched nervously. I smiled and told him to give me his best sales pitch, if he wanted me to upgrade my purchase. Mom chimed in, sounding like a shorter, more feminine Tony Robins, “Give him the benefits of the purchase”! He thought for a moment, came up with a couple of points and then I smiled and bought the smaller bag. It was fun watching him take the bait and rise to the occasion! A few more minutes of smalltalk regarding Scouting and I was out the door… $10.00 poorer but happy to have had some fun! This evening, the doorbell rings, and there stands a Cub Scout, probably about 9 years old, order form in hand! His sales pitch wasn’t up to Ward’s standard but was honest: “Hello, would you like to buy some popcorn to support the Cub Scouts, Thank you, Please”. I loved it! He was scared to death but he did it and I ordered more popcorn! I’m getting soft in my old age!

I took a lot of pictures of clouds while up at the lake. I like clouds. I’ve noticed that each part of the country has slight variations and while I love me some Michigan clouds, I admit to a nostalgic fondness for the Hoosier clouds.

That’s enough for tonight! I’ve probably bored you with all this but I think that’s what diaries are for. Am I right? I’ll start checking in more regularly from now on.

Take care!

Starting Over… Again!

August 15, 2018 ~ gregzisme

Okay then! Lets see if the “Blogging spirits” are on my side this time! I’m resurrecting this blog – haven’t posted in 5 years – and thought I had it all set up but, of course, I was wrong! Seems I had signed up for the wrong product at GoDaddy.com. Fortunately for me, the support team there is very good at helping the “digitally challenged” and I think I’m with the right program now! I will say, the other one was much easier to use, along with much cheaper, but I guess you really do get what you pay for?

I’m going to post an “obligatory” cat photo, just for practice and because I have like a gazillion of them! Photos, not cats! Only two of those! I give you… Angus & Fergus!

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Because Life Can Be Wonderfully Messy