Hot diggity damn, we made it all the way to Friday… the Friday before a three-day weekend! Sweet mother of Mary and Joseph!
Roads are a piece of cake… the rain is gone and fog could only be claimed if the occasional wisp of it counted (it doesn’t, just sayin’). Wind and rocks are not problems that exist today. Now, it was a little on the chilly end of the spectrum today, and while I did not see ice, the temps were very close to ice-producing levels. It’s likely that the higher elevations might have even gotten some freezing temps, so if you are driving at 5,000 or above, be aware that the dark spots on the road MIGHT be slippery.
Today is National Escargot day… right here in the Not-Even-a-French-Territory United States of America? Come on! Snails are for the French! I’ll confess, I tried ‘em once… ONCE! Now, I like clams, and I can throw back oyster shooters all night long, until I throw up oyster shooters. And, I sort of assumed that escargot might be similarly and slimily delicious. Nope… I got this greenish soup that arrived in the spiral packages each grew up in, and each lil’ mollusk house only held about enough juice to putrefy the breath of the eater, and not much more.
Okay, technically, I’ve tried them more than once: I once ate some garden snails on a dare… just picked ‘em right up, and chowed ‘em down. Those were actually tastier than the ones I paid a ton of money for at an expensive European restaurant.
My neighbor recently got a Tesla… the Model S. That thing is a stealth muscle car. Really… you should see that S car go.
Today is also National Scavenger Hunt day. Now, in its purest form, this sounds like dumpster diving, an activity I have no opposition to. Why, I’ve been known to hop into a giant metal box or two and retrieve some pretty cool stuff. Now, thus far, I’ve always drawn a line at things that are not designed to be eaten… but, hey, my retirement fund is not quite at the place where I’d like it to be (unless my hopes for living well on $18/month pan out), so I’m not willing to say I’d never dine at the Dumpster Delicatessen someday.
But, no, that’s not what scavenger hunts are… actual scavenger hunts are where a list is given to people, typically competing teams, and the participants must then go gather, collect, or provide evidence of each item as instructed on the list. Yes, they can be fun… it’s even fun to make the lists, and then watch people try to collect things like: a live rattlesnake; one ancient pyramid; a gallon of milk with no container; evidence of an honest move from Michael Avenatti (heck, just one that’s not downright criminal); a phone charger cord that is long enough; a jet pack (it’s already the freakin’ future, man, and I want mine!); a snipe; a 2/3-inch wrench (a 8/12-inch wrench will also do); a cool-looking Smart Car; or any shred of evidence that the top politicians in California could beat a sack of doorknobs in a battle of wits.
Okay… here’s a random but nerdy-cool thing: you can actually have something of yours placed on Mars. Really. And, it can be done for my own personal favorite price: FREE! NASA is taking names right now, and the names will be engraved—in super-tiny font, to be sure—on a plaque that is going to Mars on a scheduled mission of an unmanned craft in July of 2020. Anybody can get their name on the list, just by going to this website: https://mars.nasa.gov/participate/send-your-name/mars2020. It takes about 20 seconds to sign up, if you are a slow typist. There’s no cost, no nothing to worry about… it’s just a promotion by NASA to get people all fired up, and really, it IS pretty cool to know that your actual name will land on the Red Planet someday… and will very likely be there until the end of time.
Enjoy your weekend, my friends… you get three days, but never forget that those who we remember this weekend gave all.