Linder and Dorian drained their mugs while Linder signaled the barkeep to bring another pitcher. “Look, Dorian, I understand you had a bad day-“
“Bad day, hell!” Dorian interrupted. “Every day is bad when you’re a slave!”
Linder rolled his eyes and sighed. “Let’s not start this shit again, okay?”
“Well what else would you call it?” Dorian demanded.
“It’s no worse than being their employees, really. We work our shifts, we’re fed and housed, we…” Linder floundered. “I mean, we don’t get paid, but what would we need money for anyway? All in all, I think we have it pretty good. My grandfather talks about how things were before, and believe you me, we are a hell of a lot better off than people were just 50 years ago.”
“Oh yea?” Dorian remarked snidely. “If we have it so good, let’s go out of town tomorrow. We’ll just up and leave for, oh I don’t know, let’s say two weeks.”
“You know we can’t do that; we both have to work.”
“Aha! You admit it, then; the biggest thing we don’t have is freedom!”
“Oh for fucks sake, Dorian! You couldn’t just up and leave in the old days either! If you had a job, you had to go in every day, and you had to schedule your time off if you wanted to get away.”
“Bullshit, Linder! A free man could have left anytime he wanted! Nobody would use these,” he slammed his arm on the table, the bulge from the tracker prominent, “to track you down and drag you back! The worst that would happen is you’d get fired.”
“And what do you think happens now? Yes, they track you down and bring you back, but then you just get transferred to another site.” Linder poured them both fresh glasses from the pitcher the barkeep left at their table.
“Oh, Linder,” Dorian sighed, losing his heart for the argument. “If you can’t see the difference, I just don’t know what to tell you. It’s about freedom, and choices. We don’t have those things now because we are slaves.”
Linder drank from his beer and quietly said “So what if we are? What’s the big deal? Like I said before, we aren’t mistreated; we’re fed and housed; they don’t overwork us; we get excellent medical care. What more do you want?”
“They only do all those things because sick or dead slaves aren’t any use to them.”
“I say again: so what? We live under a benevolent dictatorship, and we’ve got it pretty good all in all. I may not be able to up and leave tomorrow without notice, but I can get permission to go just about anywhere I want, and without a lot of hassle about it. And so can you, Dorian. You have essentially the same freedom now that you’d have had under the old way of doing things.”
“You think so, huh kid?”
“I know so. Look, Dorian, you’ve been mouthing off about this for how long now, a couple of months?” Dorian grunted his agreement. “I don’t know what got you on that kick, but in all that time has anything happened to you? You haven’t been particularly quiet while complaining about our being slaves, and how we should rise up against the oppressors, have you? But no jack-booted thugs have bust in the door and dragged you off to never be seen again, have they?”
Dorian drained his glass and stood up. “Linder, m’boy, when you’re right you’re right, and you are right. Everything is peachy, and I’m an old, drunken fool to complain about it.”
“Ah, now listen, Dorian, I didn’t mean-“
“It’s okay, son. I’m going home to sleep it off, so I can be right as rain in the morning for my mas… for my employer. Don’t stay out late, kid.”
Linder sighed. “Be careful, old man. Call me tomorrow.” Dorian threw him a wave as he made his way out the door, then he was gone.
Linder swiped his chit for the beer they’d drunk, and a quick mental calculation later he resolved to make sure Dorian paid next time. His rations were almost gone and it was only mid-month; Dorian would have to dig into his allotment for the next night or two to balance accounts.
***********
This is the start of a story idea I’ve had kicking around for a little while; is anybody interested in seeing where it goes? I honestly don’t know how I’ll get to where I see the end, or if the end will even look like I think it will now. And just to be up front about it, I might not even get to an end.
It won’t be a sex story, but there may be (or not) sexual situations, and because I write what I know those sexual situations could be kind of out there. Anyway, let me know what you think, and if I should try to continue.
Tuesday, December 23, 2014
Wednesday, November 12, 2014
I Should Probably Work on That.
During one of my (increasingly rare) visits to Facebook the other day, I clicked on a link to an article on relationships a FB friend shared. Though it did have some mind-numbingly obvious statements like “contempt for each other is the number one reason relationships fail” (I’m paraphrasing, but that was the gist of it), some of the information was pretty interesting.
The article was about researchers who studied couples six years after they were married to find the differences between the couples that were still “happily” married and those who were divorced or “chronically unhappy.” The article did not, as far as I can remember, specify how they differentiated between “happy” and “chronically unhappy”, or how they could be sure that people who claimed to be happy truly were, but let’s just take their word that they know what they’re doing, at least for the moment.
It seems that one big factor in couples remaining happily together (outside of the whole not having contempt for each other thing) is the number of times one responds to one’s partner’s “bids.” They describe “bids” as the requests for attention made throughout the parts of the day a couple spends together. For instance, if your spouse or SO makes a comment on an article they are reading, they are looking for a connection that goes beyond the article; they simply want an acknowledgement perhaps a brief (but meaningful) dialogue about it.
Couples that are still happily together respond to 87% of each other’s “bids”, while those who are divorced or chronically unhappy tend to only respond to 33% of the attempts. It’s not just responding, though; it also depends on how you respond. If you mutter “okay” or “uh huh” or something without really giving any attention, or respond with hostility (“stop bothering me while I’m reading”) it’s just as bad as if you completely ignore the bid. In either case, you’re subtly making your spouse feel worthless and invisible, which obviously affects their feelings towards you.
(This is a gross generalization of the article; I highly recommend reading it in entirety instead of relying on my quick synopsis as there is a good bit of other information in there.)
I definitely see myself, at this point in my marriage, as someone who probably doesn’t respond to the wife’s bids as often as I should. I “turn away” instead of “turn toward” more often than not, especially when I’m reading. Sometimes it’s unintentional; I’m really into what I’m reading and it takes several moments before I register that she was saying something. Other times I purposefully give the minimal “uh huh” in the hopes that she’ll get the hint that I’m not interested and wish she would not continue.
In my defense, she does tend to keep up a steady stream of babbling; if they’re all bids, I don’t think it’s humanly possible to respond to more than 45% or 50% of them and still have time to do things like sleeping and masturbating. And of course she does the same to me, except in general I’d say her “turn aways” are far more likely due to her being engrossed in whatever she’s doing and genuinely not hearing me than intentional neglect. Besides, I’ve pretty much stopped making a lot of bids.
Anyway, it’s an interesting article, and I think there’s a lot of validity to their findings.
The article was about researchers who studied couples six years after they were married to find the differences between the couples that were still “happily” married and those who were divorced or “chronically unhappy.” The article did not, as far as I can remember, specify how they differentiated between “happy” and “chronically unhappy”, or how they could be sure that people who claimed to be happy truly were, but let’s just take their word that they know what they’re doing, at least for the moment.
It seems that one big factor in couples remaining happily together (outside of the whole not having contempt for each other thing) is the number of times one responds to one’s partner’s “bids.” They describe “bids” as the requests for attention made throughout the parts of the day a couple spends together. For instance, if your spouse or SO makes a comment on an article they are reading, they are looking for a connection that goes beyond the article; they simply want an acknowledgement perhaps a brief (but meaningful) dialogue about it.
Couples that are still happily together respond to 87% of each other’s “bids”, while those who are divorced or chronically unhappy tend to only respond to 33% of the attempts. It’s not just responding, though; it also depends on how you respond. If you mutter “okay” or “uh huh” or something without really giving any attention, or respond with hostility (“stop bothering me while I’m reading”) it’s just as bad as if you completely ignore the bid. In either case, you’re subtly making your spouse feel worthless and invisible, which obviously affects their feelings towards you.
(This is a gross generalization of the article; I highly recommend reading it in entirety instead of relying on my quick synopsis as there is a good bit of other information in there.)
I definitely see myself, at this point in my marriage, as someone who probably doesn’t respond to the wife’s bids as often as I should. I “turn away” instead of “turn toward” more often than not, especially when I’m reading. Sometimes it’s unintentional; I’m really into what I’m reading and it takes several moments before I register that she was saying something. Other times I purposefully give the minimal “uh huh” in the hopes that she’ll get the hint that I’m not interested and wish she would not continue.
In my defense, she does tend to keep up a steady stream of babbling; if they’re all bids, I don’t think it’s humanly possible to respond to more than 45% or 50% of them and still have time to do things like sleeping and masturbating. And of course she does the same to me, except in general I’d say her “turn aways” are far more likely due to her being engrossed in whatever she’s doing and genuinely not hearing me than intentional neglect. Besides, I’ve pretty much stopped making a lot of bids.
Anyway, it’s an interesting article, and I think there’s a lot of validity to their findings.
Monday, November 3, 2014
Checking In
Just some odds and ends to catch up, and assure those of you I don’t communicate with on a regular basis that I’m still alive and kicking.
Things are mostly the same with the wife and me, which is to say that they’re right back to where we were last year at this time. I guess I didn’t really think anything would change, but I had hoped. Really, it’s not bad though. When I’m not spending most of the day moping around and feeling sorry for myself, it doesn’t bother me that much. She spends her time on her computer, I spend time reading, and we kind of half-assed spend time together. Sex is just something to do when masturbation gets boring, and though she’ll tolerate me going down on her for a minute or two I don’t bother with it much. Why should I if she doesn’t get anything out of it?
I’ve also pretty much given up on making any of what I consider the “first moves” to initiate sex. I don’t try to rub her ass when we’re in the kitchen, or reach around to caress her from behind or nuzzle or play in any way. Again, why bother? She sometimes tolerates it, but usually I just get “Honey, please!” So holding hands on the couch (when she’s not too busy with her games) will have to suffice, and if she wants to have sex she’ll just have to tell me. At which point we’ll go back to the bedroom, she’ll blow me for a few minutes, and then lay back and soon it’s over. If she wants something I’ll get her toy and watch (and sometimes touch, if she wants me to) as she gets off.
L continues her campaign of cutting us out of just about all physical involvement in her life. We still text during the week, but it’s mostly just pleasantries; nothing of any real substance and not even much of that. I stopped initiating text conversations with her (unless it’s something important, which it never is) but will respond if she says something. Maybe I’m being stubborn, and maybe she is too, but fuck it, right? I can’t be the only one making an effort. It may be best to let her just fade out of our lives altogether; it seems like what she wants anyway.
I’ve decided to give up sodas, at least for a while, though I honestly don’t know what I expect to happen from it. For the past two weeks I cut back to just one a day, and on Friday I had the last one from the last case I bought so this weekend was my first soda-free (diet or otherwise) in… well, hell, I couldn’t tell you how long. It’s been at least 25 years, when I was in the Army and we’d go on maneuvers, and even then I’d have at least one each day if I could get to the store before we went. But again, I don’t know what I expect to happen; it’s just something to do.
The more I write here the less I want to post this, so I’d better stop before I just delete it altogether.
Things are mostly the same with the wife and me, which is to say that they’re right back to where we were last year at this time. I guess I didn’t really think anything would change, but I had hoped. Really, it’s not bad though. When I’m not spending most of the day moping around and feeling sorry for myself, it doesn’t bother me that much. She spends her time on her computer, I spend time reading, and we kind of half-assed spend time together. Sex is just something to do when masturbation gets boring, and though she’ll tolerate me going down on her for a minute or two I don’t bother with it much. Why should I if she doesn’t get anything out of it?
I’ve also pretty much given up on making any of what I consider the “first moves” to initiate sex. I don’t try to rub her ass when we’re in the kitchen, or reach around to caress her from behind or nuzzle or play in any way. Again, why bother? She sometimes tolerates it, but usually I just get “Honey, please!” So holding hands on the couch (when she’s not too busy with her games) will have to suffice, and if she wants to have sex she’ll just have to tell me. At which point we’ll go back to the bedroom, she’ll blow me for a few minutes, and then lay back and soon it’s over. If she wants something I’ll get her toy and watch (and sometimes touch, if she wants me to) as she gets off.
L continues her campaign of cutting us out of just about all physical involvement in her life. We still text during the week, but it’s mostly just pleasantries; nothing of any real substance and not even much of that. I stopped initiating text conversations with her (unless it’s something important, which it never is) but will respond if she says something. Maybe I’m being stubborn, and maybe she is too, but fuck it, right? I can’t be the only one making an effort. It may be best to let her just fade out of our lives altogether; it seems like what she wants anyway.
I’ve decided to give up sodas, at least for a while, though I honestly don’t know what I expect to happen from it. For the past two weeks I cut back to just one a day, and on Friday I had the last one from the last case I bought so this weekend was my first soda-free (diet or otherwise) in… well, hell, I couldn’t tell you how long. It’s been at least 25 years, when I was in the Army and we’d go on maneuvers, and even then I’d have at least one each day if I could get to the store before we went. But again, I don’t know what I expect to happen; it’s just something to do.
The more I write here the less I want to post this, so I’d better stop before I just delete it altogether.
Tuesday, September 23, 2014
Weekend Update
Happy –Monday-- Tuesday, everyone! Another weekend has passed, much quicker than it ought to have, and here we are kicking off another week. I apologize for the lateness of this post, but mid-way through it yesterday I got busy at work and couldn’t finish it up.
There was nothing really big about my weekend; the weather was nice and the wife and I were able to get out and ride the bike both Saturday and Sunday. L and B were in town, but typically they didn’t make an effort to hang out with us or anything.
I didn’t do any spectacular cooking this weekend; we ate out for lunch Saturday and neither of us wanted any dinner Saturday night, so we just snacked and watched college football. Virginia Tech lost again, and it’s long past time anybody considers Frank Beamer and his assistants to be an elite coaching staff. I’m not even sure they should be considered adequate. The other games on were at least entertaining.
We were supposed to take my mother and step-father out for lunch Sunday for their birthdays (his is on the 11th, hers is today) but she called Sunday morning and begged off because he hasn’t been feeling well. So the wife and I rode the bike into the city where I work and did some walking around and shopping before eating a nice lunch at Olive Garden. It was enough to hold us through to a late dinner, and I fried some tilapia and we made fish tacos.
The Cowboys won an ugly game against the Rams Sunday that they by all rights should have lost. The ‘Boys were down 21-0 early before scraping up enough offense to score 10 before the half. Then in the second half they got some key stops, made some plays, and held on to win 34-31. They got some lucky breaks, and at least one questionable call went their way, but these are the kinds of games that in the past few years they would have lost.
Sunday was also one of the rare times when I was rooting for the Washington football team because they were playing against the Eagles who are thus far undefeated. Of course that means Washington lost; had it been the other way, and I wanted the Eagles to win, Washington would have probably come out on top. Such is life.
That was pretty much the extent of my weekend, and honestly I don’t know that it will be significantly different from one week to the next going forward. I’ve pretty much given up on trying to get together with friends or anything, so we just stay home and do our thing. What I’m saying is, I probably won’t be posting regular updates anymore. It’s tedious to write the same thing week after week, and I imagine it’s tedious to read it as well.
If anything out of the norm happens and is interesting enough I’ll post about it, but otherwise I probably won’t bother. I’ll try to post FFF entries when I can, and may have the occasional story to relate, when I can work up the enthusiasm to write at all. I’m not going away, exactly, but I will most likely be far less active.
There was nothing really big about my weekend; the weather was nice and the wife and I were able to get out and ride the bike both Saturday and Sunday. L and B were in town, but typically they didn’t make an effort to hang out with us or anything.
I didn’t do any spectacular cooking this weekend; we ate out for lunch Saturday and neither of us wanted any dinner Saturday night, so we just snacked and watched college football. Virginia Tech lost again, and it’s long past time anybody considers Frank Beamer and his assistants to be an elite coaching staff. I’m not even sure they should be considered adequate. The other games on were at least entertaining.
We were supposed to take my mother and step-father out for lunch Sunday for their birthdays (his is on the 11th, hers is today) but she called Sunday morning and begged off because he hasn’t been feeling well. So the wife and I rode the bike into the city where I work and did some walking around and shopping before eating a nice lunch at Olive Garden. It was enough to hold us through to a late dinner, and I fried some tilapia and we made fish tacos.
The Cowboys won an ugly game against the Rams Sunday that they by all rights should have lost. The ‘Boys were down 21-0 early before scraping up enough offense to score 10 before the half. Then in the second half they got some key stops, made some plays, and held on to win 34-31. They got some lucky breaks, and at least one questionable call went their way, but these are the kinds of games that in the past few years they would have lost.
Sunday was also one of the rare times when I was rooting for the Washington football team because they were playing against the Eagles who are thus far undefeated. Of course that means Washington lost; had it been the other way, and I wanted the Eagles to win, Washington would have probably come out on top. Such is life.
That was pretty much the extent of my weekend, and honestly I don’t know that it will be significantly different from one week to the next going forward. I’ve pretty much given up on trying to get together with friends or anything, so we just stay home and do our thing. What I’m saying is, I probably won’t be posting regular updates anymore. It’s tedious to write the same thing week after week, and I imagine it’s tedious to read it as well.
If anything out of the norm happens and is interesting enough I’ll post about it, but otherwise I probably won’t bother. I’ll try to post FFF entries when I can, and may have the occasional story to relate, when I can work up the enthusiasm to write at all. I’m not going away, exactly, but I will most likely be far less active.
Friday, September 19, 2014
FFF - Bad Ideas Feel So Good! - 9-19-14
Key Phrase: Bad Idea
Word Limit: 2000 Characters, including spaces
Forbidden Words: Naked, Shower
Bonus Words: Tell us about a bad idea of your own
Extra Credit: Come up with a new bad idea
Casey begged me with her eyes to join them in the bathroom while Mark kissed her and groped her bare breasts. She was my college lesbian experiment, and though we’d both been with boys before, since she and I became lovers there’d been nobody else. Watching her now with a man doing all the things only I’d done for the past year made me a little jealous, but it was hot! The problem is that man is my brother!
Mark and I were close growing up, and shared almost everything together. He’s a year older than me, but never acted like the “older brother jerk” so many of my friends have. I told him about my sex life, including losing my virginity to his friend, and he told me about his, including the time he’d sucked off the same friend on a “dare” (he admitted that he’d wanted to do it for a long time, and that he really enjoyed it.) I love Mark, but this threatened to go beyond that!
“Come here!” Casey pleaded, looking at me as she unbuckled Mark’s pants. She pushed them down and I saw the outline of his erection in his boxer-briefs; he’s huge!
“This is a bad idea,” I muttered as I walked through the door. “That sink will never hold both of us!”
1162
I wondered if I should write more, flesh out the story a little bit, since I had some many characters left, but for once I really feel like I’ve said what I wanted to say without being pressed for space.
My bad idea? Fuck, my whole blog is about my bad ideas! I don’t know if I’ve had any that I haven’t already written about. The number one bad idea, of course, is my continuing obsession with L; fortunately it’s really out of my hands whether or not anything else will happen there.
I apologize for the lack of picture and formatting, but I’m writing this on Friday. I had the story in mind since I saw the picture, but never had the time to work on it and get it cleaned up in time for posting. Now I’m doing it last minute, so what you see is what you get. Now get over to Advizor54’s site to read all the other hot, sexy entries!
Word Limit: 2000 Characters, including spaces
Forbidden Words: Naked, Shower
Bonus Words: Tell us about a bad idea of your own
Extra Credit: Come up with a new bad idea
Casey begged me with her eyes to join them in the bathroom while Mark kissed her and groped her bare breasts. She was my college lesbian experiment, and though we’d both been with boys before, since she and I became lovers there’d been nobody else. Watching her now with a man doing all the things only I’d done for the past year made me a little jealous, but it was hot! The problem is that man is my brother!
Mark and I were close growing up, and shared almost everything together. He’s a year older than me, but never acted like the “older brother jerk” so many of my friends have. I told him about my sex life, including losing my virginity to his friend, and he told me about his, including the time he’d sucked off the same friend on a “dare” (he admitted that he’d wanted to do it for a long time, and that he really enjoyed it.) I love Mark, but this threatened to go beyond that!
“Come here!” Casey pleaded, looking at me as she unbuckled Mark’s pants. She pushed them down and I saw the outline of his erection in his boxer-briefs; he’s huge!
“This is a bad idea,” I muttered as I walked through the door. “That sink will never hold both of us!”
1162
I wondered if I should write more, flesh out the story a little bit, since I had some many characters left, but for once I really feel like I’ve said what I wanted to say without being pressed for space.
My bad idea? Fuck, my whole blog is about my bad ideas! I don’t know if I’ve had any that I haven’t already written about. The number one bad idea, of course, is my continuing obsession with L; fortunately it’s really out of my hands whether or not anything else will happen there.
I apologize for the lack of picture and formatting, but I’m writing this on Friday. I had the story in mind since I saw the picture, but never had the time to work on it and get it cleaned up in time for posting. Now I’m doing it last minute, so what you see is what you get. Now get over to Advizor54’s site to read all the other hot, sexy entries!
Monday, September 15, 2014
Weekend Update
Happy Monday, everyone. Nothing much of interest happened this weekend, but it was a nice, relaxing time. I kind of missed being at the beach, but it was nice to be around the house.
We went to our favorite Asian restaurant Friday night because they were having a special all week, buy one entrée and/or sushi, get one free. We wound up getting both, and would have easily spent $70 or more, but because of the deal we only paid $40. I over-tipped as usual, plus the wife put an extra couple bucks in the sushi chefs’ tip bowl since we sat at the bar. It was crowded because of the deal, but we got seated pretty quickly because we actually enjoy sitting at the bar and watching the chefs make the sushi and other specialties.
Saturday morning the electrician came to change out our electrical panel. The old one had over the years been exposed to moisture coming through an improperly sealed section on the outside, and over time it had corroded the bus bar and some of the breakers. It wound up costing me a little over $400 total for the parts and the labor, but was well worth it to avoid some kind of electrical mishap. Still, I hate spending that kind of money unless I’m getting some new gadgets and toys out of it.
I’d gotten a recipe from L for some chicken enchiladas she made “from scratch”, and Saturday night I made a modified version of hers. She’s used a rotisserie chicken that she’d torn into chunks, but I got some chicken tenderloins and cut them up, then browned them, then mixed with a taco seasoning mix. They came out so yummy! For those interested, here’s the exact recipe I used.
1 to 1 ½ lbs chicken tenderloins, cut into smaller bits
1 pack taco seasoning
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1 can enchilada sauce (~14 oz, red or green, but I use red, medium)
2 cups Shredded cheese, (Fiesta blend, Mexican blend, or whatever you want)
Soft taco sized tortilla shells (I used whole wheat)
Brown the tenderloins until all pink is gone, then simmer in the taco seasoning per the seasoning’s instructions. Set aside to cool.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place some of the chicken mixture in a tortilla shell, sprinkle some of the chopped green onions and cheese on top then roll up tight. In an 9”x13” casserole dish I was able to fit in 8 of these total, so plan accordingly on how to dish out the mixture, onions and cheese.
Once all of them have been rolled up and placed in the dish, pour the can of enchilada sauce all over. I had a little of the chicken mixture left over, so I spread it, more of the chopped green onions and a lot of shredded cheese on top. We used a full two cups of shredded cheese, to give you an idea. Put in the oven on the center rack for about 30 minutes, or until heated all the way through. We had refried beans and garden rice on the side (the wife doesn’t like Mexican or Spanish rice, though that would have been better.) Here’s a picture of what it looked like:
For my first time making enchiladas I’m pretty happy with the results. It also turns out that they’re pretty easy to make, though.
We had the leftovers for breakfast Sunday morning, ran some errands, and then it was time for football. Being absolutely certain that the Cowboys would only be marginally better against the Titans than they were last week against the 49ers, I took the time to get the yard mowed. When I was done, the Cowboys were just taking a 16 – 0 lead into halftime! Behind a ferocious running game, a much less shaky passing game (though still needing some tightening up) and a defense that so far has been much better than anybody thought, they went on to win 26 – 10.
I hope they can keep this trend going, and get past last week’s debacle! If Demarco Murray, the running back, stays healthy and the offensive line continues to pave the way for him, that will take a lot of pressure off of Tony Romo, the quarterback, to have to win games with his arm. And if the defense can continue to gel and make critical stops, we could actually have a decent team this year.
Oh, and I think the Redskins won too. By the way, that clamor you heard from the South East around 4 p.m. yesterday was a bunch of Redskins fans jumping off the RGIII wagon and onto the Kurt Cousins train. Griffin better hope he can come back soon; three or four games of Cousins being much more efficient and accurate, especially if they continue to win, and he might be sitting on the bench for a while even if he’s healthy.
I cooked us some steaks for dinner last night, with sautéed mushroom and onions and pasta salad on the side. Sunday is wine night so we went through a bottle while watching the late game until we were too tired to stay up (which is 9:30 for us, anymore.)
About the only bad thing I can say about the weekend is Virginia Tech looking so bad against Eastern Carolina University Saturday afternoon. But after 20-some years of the same old thing, it’s to be expected; they consistently follow up an excellent game against a better opponent with a turd against a lesser opponent. Honestly, I don’t think Frank Beamer and his staff really belong in the discussion of great coaches anymore, if they ever did.
Otherwise, it was a good weekend. How was yours?
We went to our favorite Asian restaurant Friday night because they were having a special all week, buy one entrée and/or sushi, get one free. We wound up getting both, and would have easily spent $70 or more, but because of the deal we only paid $40. I over-tipped as usual, plus the wife put an extra couple bucks in the sushi chefs’ tip bowl since we sat at the bar. It was crowded because of the deal, but we got seated pretty quickly because we actually enjoy sitting at the bar and watching the chefs make the sushi and other specialties.
Saturday morning the electrician came to change out our electrical panel. The old one had over the years been exposed to moisture coming through an improperly sealed section on the outside, and over time it had corroded the bus bar and some of the breakers. It wound up costing me a little over $400 total for the parts and the labor, but was well worth it to avoid some kind of electrical mishap. Still, I hate spending that kind of money unless I’m getting some new gadgets and toys out of it.
I’d gotten a recipe from L for some chicken enchiladas she made “from scratch”, and Saturday night I made a modified version of hers. She’s used a rotisserie chicken that she’d torn into chunks, but I got some chicken tenderloins and cut them up, then browned them, then mixed with a taco seasoning mix. They came out so yummy! For those interested, here’s the exact recipe I used.
1 to 1 ½ lbs chicken tenderloins, cut into smaller bits
1 pack taco seasoning
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1 can enchilada sauce (~14 oz, red or green, but I use red, medium)
2 cups Shredded cheese, (Fiesta blend, Mexican blend, or whatever you want)
Soft taco sized tortilla shells (I used whole wheat)
Brown the tenderloins until all pink is gone, then simmer in the taco seasoning per the seasoning’s instructions. Set aside to cool.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place some of the chicken mixture in a tortilla shell, sprinkle some of the chopped green onions and cheese on top then roll up tight. In an 9”x13” casserole dish I was able to fit in 8 of these total, so plan accordingly on how to dish out the mixture, onions and cheese.
Once all of them have been rolled up and placed in the dish, pour the can of enchilada sauce all over. I had a little of the chicken mixture left over, so I spread it, more of the chopped green onions and a lot of shredded cheese on top. We used a full two cups of shredded cheese, to give you an idea. Put in the oven on the center rack for about 30 minutes, or until heated all the way through. We had refried beans and garden rice on the side (the wife doesn’t like Mexican or Spanish rice, though that would have been better.) Here’s a picture of what it looked like:
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| Mine is on the right, with hot sauce on the beans and rice. |
For my first time making enchiladas I’m pretty happy with the results. It also turns out that they’re pretty easy to make, though.
We had the leftovers for breakfast Sunday morning, ran some errands, and then it was time for football. Being absolutely certain that the Cowboys would only be marginally better against the Titans than they were last week against the 49ers, I took the time to get the yard mowed. When I was done, the Cowboys were just taking a 16 – 0 lead into halftime! Behind a ferocious running game, a much less shaky passing game (though still needing some tightening up) and a defense that so far has been much better than anybody thought, they went on to win 26 – 10.
I hope they can keep this trend going, and get past last week’s debacle! If Demarco Murray, the running back, stays healthy and the offensive line continues to pave the way for him, that will take a lot of pressure off of Tony Romo, the quarterback, to have to win games with his arm. And if the defense can continue to gel and make critical stops, we could actually have a decent team this year.
Oh, and I think the Redskins won too. By the way, that clamor you heard from the South East around 4 p.m. yesterday was a bunch of Redskins fans jumping off the RGIII wagon and onto the Kurt Cousins train. Griffin better hope he can come back soon; three or four games of Cousins being much more efficient and accurate, especially if they continue to win, and he might be sitting on the bench for a while even if he’s healthy.
I cooked us some steaks for dinner last night, with sautéed mushroom and onions and pasta salad on the side. Sunday is wine night so we went through a bottle while watching the late game until we were too tired to stay up (which is 9:30 for us, anymore.)
About the only bad thing I can say about the weekend is Virginia Tech looking so bad against Eastern Carolina University Saturday afternoon. But after 20-some years of the same old thing, it’s to be expected; they consistently follow up an excellent game against a better opponent with a turd against a lesser opponent. Honestly, I don’t think Frank Beamer and his staff really belong in the discussion of great coaches anymore, if they ever did.
Otherwise, it was a good weekend. How was yours?
Friday, September 12, 2014
TGIF!
This is one of my favorite "it's Friday!" songs!
Mix - Beat Farmers...Happy Boy.wmv: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEZtII8rt_Y&list=RDLEZtII8rt_Y
Have a good weekend, y'all!
Mix - Beat Farmers...Happy Boy.wmv: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEZtII8rt_Y&list=RDLEZtII8rt_Y
Have a good weekend, y'all!
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