Good evening (almost) from the house of heat! Actually, we were kept toasty with the gas fireplaces but it is nice to have a furnace again.
We are getting a weather wallop tomorrow night, temps to -8c, wind warning, and snow. I will fire up the generator tomorrow morning for a test as I think we will be needing it. No power is okay in front of the gas fireplace while watching the Olympics. Suppose to be eight for dinner, we might have to cook on the barbecue, it is also natural gas plugged into the house.
Ken buddy, Banking is very different in Canada, but do you have homeowners line of credit down there? Ours is 3.6 percent. If you have equity in your home, the bank will usually give you one. You could save a fortune on interest by using it to pay off your credit card.
My daughter just got invited to Italy this Summer, so now we are scrambling to get a flight for her. Summer books up early for air travel. We have to get her to Venice. Hopefully through Frankfurt or Heathrow. My wife has a good dog breeder friend that owns and lives out in the country where they grow grapes and have a big winery and they own a chain of hotels as well. So my Daughter will go there for a month and their Daughter will come back here with her and stay with us for a month. My daughter is sixteen and has gone on flights before on her own so is well versed. Just hope she doesn't run into problems. I will up the limit on her credit card just in case.
Someone sent a screenshot of her in the movie "Wonder" She has no head! There will be better pic's when it is released on Blu-Ray. Girl in the black skirt.
Puppies are a whole lot of fun right now. They get the run of the kitchen as it wears them out in a hurry. Wife is getting a full DNA workup done to look for potential problems as part of the decision making process. We will microchip them tonight as well, I hate doing that as the needle is huge and must hurt.
I have to drive #1 Daughter to an overnight Birthday party so, all the best to all for a good weekend.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
gmpullmanYou can keep the spicy, dried squid for yourselves, thank you! https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/ojingeochae-muchim
Hey, that squid looks good!
We taught our kids to eat just about everything. One of their favourites was baby octopus. We make seafood pasta with a mixed bag of various creatures including the octopus. Their favourite ingredient was not the shrimp or the scallops, no siree! They went straight for the octopus! I always had to squint my eyes when I was eating it because I was so-so on the idea.
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
cudakenCredit Score, does anyone here really understand them? Was playing with Capital One credit simmalotar. My credit avg is avg but lower than I would like. Main thing against me is high balances on credit cards. If I lower my balances $500.00 I go up 1 point. But I lower what I owe by $1000.00 I will take a 32 point hit? I would have to pay off $5000.00 before my credit score would go up!
Ken, I have my own theory of how the credit score works. If you pay only $500 that means there is still probably a sizeable balance that the credit company is earning interest on, and likely will continue to earn interest for a long time. If you pay $1000 dollars that suggests that you want to pay the card off and have the means to do so. The credit card company will make less money from you in the long run. As for the $5000 payment, that shows that you are not at risk of defaulting on the debt. Keep in mind that the credit companies WANT you to carry a balance. If nobody carried a balance the credit companies would go broke!
cudakenCredit Score, does anyone here really understand them?
.
No
My sister-in-law used to work for Experian, and she could not explain it.
My wife is unemployed and has about $5,000.00 on her credit card and her score is higher than mine.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
Evening diners,
Not much going on tonight...
I'll be hanging around a little while...
You know what I'll take some of that Korean BBQ Chicken...
Steve
If everything seems under control, you're not going fast enough!
Hello, hello...
hon30critterHey, that squid looks good!
When I was a youngster my sister worked at a Howard Johnson's restaurant. One day while visiting her she handed me a paper lined basket with little, crispy fried things.
While she was busy, I sat and ate the whole basket. "What are these things?" "Fried clams", says she. I was hooked! My mother would even buy the frozen Ho-Jo fried clams from the A & P for me. Yum.
One summer we visited my dad's family in Massachusetts, and made a side trip to the coast, somewhere around the Cape. We stopped at one of my dad's favorite seafood joints and I happily ordered a big basket of fried clams.
Oo-ee! These things were huge... and chewey, and smelly! Not the little, brown over-fried crunchies I was used to back in Ohio! No Way!
I came to the conclusion that they don't know anything about cooking clams along the eastern seaboard!
The Pileated Woodpecker stopped by for a visit this afternoon
Pileated1 by Edmund, on Flickr
I managed a quick grab shot (this was a photo from last spring).
Regards, Ed
I have my table at the annual Scale Rails of Southwest Florida train show set up. I will be hanging out and trying to sell some surplus items for the next couple of days.
It has been years since I had a table at a train show.
I will let you know how it went.
gmpullmanI came to the conclusion that they don't know anything about cooking clams along the eastern seaboard!
I found the same thing with clam chowder when we were in Nova Scotia a couple of years ago. Everybody served it. None of it was any good. It was often watery and the number of actual clams was questionable. Same thing with the seafood chowder. Not to my taste! Maybe we didn't eat at the right places.
Good evening .
Dave .... Perhaps, your kids liked the pasta creation, but juts reading it did not appeal to me. .... I'll take beef and potatoes. please.
Ken .... Maybe, you can get an answer about how credit scores are determined with an internet search. We receive credit card statements that tell us what our scores are. They say a perfect score is 850, and ours are always over 800. I would think ours would be perfect because we always fully pay the credi cards on time. Except for using credit cards we don't borrow any money.
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
hon30critterMaybe we didn't eat at the right places.
Maybe they keep the "good Stuff" for themselves!
Bon Appétit, Ed
Heartland Division CB&Q I'll take beef and potatoes. please.
Well, we do like a nice roast of beef every once in a while, and we often have steaks on Friday night, but we really like to change up our menu. Potatoes are, of course, a staple but we try not to do them every night. Recently we have been stuffing sweet potatoes, i.e. cook them, then scoop out the flesh and mix in copious quantities of nacho cheese and some chopped jalapeno, a little garlic, salt and pepper.... then bake them again until they get a bit browned on top.... yum!
Maybe we should start a thread about favourite recipes!
Ken,
The last I talked to him, about two weeks ago, he does. We talk 1-2 times a month.
Clams---
The crunchey strips often sold are the "hard" parts of what we call "skimmer" clams,cut in thin strips. They are found just under the surface of the sand, the shells are slightly larger than your hand, and they are harvested usually, with a hydraulic dredge,(a "T" shaped contraption that has high pressure water jets that blow the clams out of the sand into a rack made of metal bars. It is lifted periodically to have the clams removed.) We get them on a very low drain tide, digging them by hand. We use them tor clam cakes, (remove the liver, guts etc.) and run them through a meat grinder to tenderize. We add crumbs, raw egg, shaped into a patty, flowered lightly, and fried in lard.
Soft shell clams are generally dug by hand, are found down to 20 inches in the mud, and are 2 1/2 inches to 4 1/4 in length. Those are usually served steamed, the neck(dark) skin is removed, and then the clam is usually dipped in butter before eating.
Here on the Island when we make chowder we fry up some salt pork, chopped onion, in butter. Potatoes are fine cut, cooked, (I usually add some chopped garlic), and then drained. The raw clams are added to the pot with the potatoes and salt pork/fried onion mix, along with 1 +1/2 qts. of water-+/-. When the clams are cooked, I add 1/2 gal. of half and half, and 1/2 gal. of milk, along with two sticks of salted butter.
I let the pot simmer 3-4 hours, stirring when I remember to, before serving. It is best eaten the next day or two, after things have had a chance to blend flavors.
If you want a thick chowder, add more potatoes, if thinner, less.
Oyster--
We have European Oysters, along with American. The American Oysters are better raw,(less iodine taste) than the European. Oyster stew is made the same as clam chowder, She Stew-- is just seasoning, oysters, cream, and milk. He Stew-- is the addition of potatoes, and is made thicker by mashing some of the potatoes when cooking.
Salt and pepper to taste, crackers optional.
herrinchoker
Food
The only food, --so far, that I am unable to eat are the 1000 year eggs the Vietnamese, and Cambodians eat. Somthing about cracking open a shell and having an eyeball looking back at you just doesn't work, and I don't care how much liquid fire you dredge it in------
Good morning ....
Food ?..... An apple turnover with coffee will do fine. Thanks.
I'm debating whether to order the steak tartare for lunch.
Here in Chesapeake Bay country soft shell clams are served with the neck on but we don't eat the neck. I used to eat them but the sight of the neck just puts me off. Before Kent Island got over developed, there was a tiny carry out: Capt Joe's seafood. It was the size of a Mcdonalds restroom. I always stopped for their fried clams. Maybe I should have the pasta vongole
Too many projects in the train room to know where to start.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
"I'm not a vegetarian, but I eat animals that are." - Groucho Marks
73
Ray Seneca Lake, Ontario, and Western R.R. (S.L.O.&W.) in HO
We'll get there sooner or later!
BigDaddy Here in Chesapeake Bay country soft shell clams are served with the neck on but we don't eat the neck. I used to eat them but the sight of the neck just puts me off.
Here in Chesapeake Bay country soft shell clams are served with the neck on but we don't eat the neck. I used to eat them but the sight of the neck just puts me off.
Whoa . . . hang on a second there, Big Daddy!
I want to say that I am a modern, sophisticated, highly-intelligent guy, but I did not know that clams had necks. I find it interesting that you can joyfully eat the rest of the clam, but shy away (put off you said) by the mere sight of a clam neck.
Just out of curiosity, do oysters also have ugly necks?
Since I'm here . . . I'll have a short stack and a tall cuppa coffee.
Robert
LINK to SNSR Blog
No necks on oysters that I ever saw. There is a lot more to swallow if you are eating them raw.
Here Robert, eat up
BigDaddy No necks on oysters that I ever saw. There is a lot more to swallow if you are eating them raw. Here Robert, eat up
Umm, Janie, I'm gonna need a bromo . . .
Good afternoon diners.
Chloe - I will have one of them steaks that everyone keeps referring too... With a baked potatoe with lots of butter, and of course, I will need some A1 sausce for the steak. A Coke to go with it, please. Thanks.
SteveO - Haven't seen the new issue yet, but...
I think it should be a miniaturizer, like they use in that downsizing movie... But scaled down so as to be affordable to modeler's. We can miniaturize items for our layouts, or, miniaturize our layout to build a big layout in a tiny space, even ourselves to play with our layouts in 1:1 scale.
Come on, we all would love to be able to have a bigger layout without taking up more space. You could sell one to every modeller out there!
Although, the unminiaturizer option is a tad expensive....
Jimmy - Hope all are ok with all the storm damage.
Steven NWP - Heart issues are no fun for anyone involved. Sorry about your friend from the club.
Weather - Cooler today, with a chance of flurries. Warming up over the next couple of days though.
W*^k - Tossed some idiot last night, he came in to cuss us out for selling something to his wife without asking his permission first. I told him that I was more than happy to answer his questions, but if he was going to start swearing at me, he could have a nice day.
He said I couldn't do that, and I told him I just did, as we have zero reason to need his permission to do anything, including selling items to his wife, or walking away from him when he is being a moron.
He then made the mistake of demanding to see the manager, as i couldn't do or say that. (Of course, he was still cussing up a storm.)
I was manager on duty yesterday....
My response, very annoyed now was, "Your talking to the manager on duty, now I told you to get out of my store, so beat it before I call the police!"
He then asked if I was going to load his wife's purchases for him, to which I replied "If you want it, let's go load it, then you leave. Otherwise, beat it pal."
He stated it wouldn't fit in his car anyways, and walked out the door.
About 3 hours later he came back, and asked if he could pick up the item now. I replied that he could, and he then asked if he could talk to me again.
I replied that he could, but if he began cussing again, he would be getting tossed out again, and would be loading his items himself, with zero help.
He then said that that is why he wanted to talk, as he admitted to being out of line earlier, and wanted to tell me he was sorry. (I so bad wanted to say "You mean WAY out of line, right?" but I bit my tongue.)
The moral?
Don't ever tell me I need your permission to allow your wife to purchase something.
Sometimes people need to be reminded of how to act. (And, surprised that a little 5'6 guy will be the one to do it!)
I just wonder how well the discussion went back home......
Trains - Plan on working on a model or two tomorrow, during commercial breaks in the Daytona 500.
Hope all are well, and all have a good day!
Ricky W.
HO scale Proto-freelancer.
My Railroad rules:
1: It's my railroad, my rules.
2: It's for having fun and enjoyment.
3: Any objections, consult above rules.
Good morning diners,
I'll take an apple fritter, slice of pecan pie, and a glass of milk...
Oysters? Never had em... make that, can't have em... I'm allergic to anything in a shell, and iodine... there's actually an interesting story of how I found out I'm allergic, I used to go to a private school which happened to be in the danger radius of a nuclear power plant, in the event of a materials release the school would distribute iodine pills to the students to stave off radiation poisoning, not joking that's the story...
Googles "ad blocker" is for from working as I was typing this post an "Audible" video ad was at the bottom of the page and my browser kept auto scrolling down to it!!!
Gastropods -- yeeccccchhhhhhhh!!! My better half loves them, but not me! Then again, she can't stand raw onions, peppers, or strawberries -- in fact, as a little girl, she did a full Linda Blair on her dad when she ate some of the strawberry shortcake he'd given her! (Poor guy -- first he had to survive the Forrestal fire, and then his own daughter's allergic reaction to his favorite sweet!)
Anyway, I'm already trying to plan railroading trips for warm weather. I normally head to Syracuse because NS's Southern Tier doesn't have as much traffic as I'd like and Altoona is several hours away, but from what I've read recently, CSX has cut the number of trains, reduced maintenance (good for the safety of employees, equipment, and merchandise alike!), and is considering selling its major arteries and/or single-tracking the Chicago Line?!?!?!? I'm not sure I understand that way of running a railroad, and I'm also not sure how much railfanning I'd actually be able to do if CSX isn't running many trains (if it's the same traffic volume there as it is in Binghamton, is the trip worth the trouble, in other words). Any thoughts or suggestions? And, what's the likelihood that someone will rescue CSX from Mantle Ridge?
ROBERT PETRICKUmm, Janie, I'm gonna need a bromo . . . Confused
"I'd take a Bromo, but I can't stand the noise." - W. C. Fields
Steven they tested everyone for iodine allergies? Wouldn't have thought that would have occurred to them.
Most of the forum probably had to crawl under their school desks in grade school during the 1 o'clock air raid drills we had weekly in the 50's. Then someone decided that the shattering windows would kill us, so we went into the hall, faced the walls and put our hands over the back of our necks.
Not sure it would help if this happened: https://youtu.be/tr76hNngqts
Of course they never showed us that movie. I can't remember being afraid or anyone even talking being worried that the Ruskies were going to nuke us. You probably don't know this but Khruschev came to to the UN and took his shoe off and started beating it on the table during his speech. That was weird.
The only time I was worried was the Cuban missle crisis. My father had a TV in the back of his store and Kennedy was on addressing the country about the blockade and the missles. All the adults seemed to be worried that we would have a war, so I was worried too.
So much for that bit of history, time to change the subject, agian. We were supposed to have rain, but giant wet flakes of snow have been falling the last couple hours. It makes an interesting noise if you are away from road noise. Not much accumulation yet and it's supposed to turn to rain, where I am.
Funny commercial just now, the GEICO caveman is back in red and orange pants, curling at the olympics.
CSX Hunter Harrison, knowing he should not be stocking up on green bananas, got one of chronies ready to take over in case. In case happened, and now you have Modern Precision Railroading continuing.
NWP SWP Googles "ad blocker" is for from working as I was typing this post an "Audible" video ad was at the bottom of the page and my browser kept auto scrolling down to it!!!
While the ads lately have been a little more, how to say it, obtrusive... Keep this in mind.
MR/Kalmbach provides this forum to everyone free of charge. Using any form of ad-block diminishes their revenue source that they gain from the users and viewers of the forums, as the ads don't get loaded and don't count in the impressions statistics...
So while they can be mildly annoying, you should disable Adblock while viewing the forums. Adblock et all are some of the reasons that places like Photobucket have to make major adjustments to their business profile to continue to offer free services....
This space reserved for SpaceMouse's future presidential candidacy advertisements
I was tested because my dad and mom have the allergy, dad being severe, mom not so much...
Ad blocker, I thought it was default... otherwise I haven't done anything different...
Air raid drills, I heard Hawaii has resumed tests and drills in the event that something happens, not sure how much hiding in a hallway or closet is gonna do, a basement would be better, tunnels would be the best...
When I was in Dallas for the 50th commemoration of the assassination of Kennedy (just so happened that the annual hotel managers meeting was the same week...) the "3rd floor museum" was one of our stops, they had an exhibit about the missile crisis and something they said was that Kennedy told his wife to get the kids get in the station wagon and head west to the middle of nowhere... not sure of the authenticity of that but who knows...
Wait, wait, wait...
Let's get back to the "Clam Neck" thing!
Do clams have necks? I never heard such a thing. If they have necks, then it only stands to reason that at the end of that neck would be a "head".
Now I am doubtlful already of "clam necks", but I am even more suspicious of "clam headas".
Please someone... enlighten me.
ricktrains4824He then asked if I was going to load his wife's purchases for him, to which I replied "If you want it, let's go load it, then you leave.
ricktrains4824he would be getting tossed out again, and would be loading his items himself, with zero help.
I hesitate to ask, but what caliber were the items to be loaded?
Nobody said they had heads.
From the always honest Martha Stewart:
This Atlantic clam, a staple of New England clam shacks, is knows as a "soft-shell" because its oval-shaped armor (one-and-a-half to three inches in diameter) is more brittle than a quahog's. Once it's out of the water, its "neck" (actually, two siphons used for breathing and eating) protrudes through a gaping shell, so it's more perishable as well. That's why steamers are always cooked before eating
Therefore it's a structure with passageways for breathing and eating, just like your neck.
Good afternoon, it is 10c under sunshine. Just a few Km North and heading this way is Winter. Wind, snow and cold within an hour or so from now, a little later than predicted yesterday. The wind is starting to pick up now all of a sudden.
Kid just got to Montreal and has luxury accommodation with five buddies from school. He fly's home Monday. #1 Daughter has routing from Vancouver to Montreal to Rome to Venice. Need to get that changed to something better. I think we will get it done.
Found a 40 year old CB radio that had been given to me. It is practically new, still in the original box. I did not think CBs were still being used in this digital world. However, they are still widely used and sold. I found one like I have that sold for $297.00 U.S. on E-Bay. Maybe I will try and sell it, I have never sold anything on E-Bay before, so I will have to check it out. To think I was just going to chuck it at the recycle depot.
World cuisine is the best. I was brought up a meat and taters guy but right out of high school I started traveling and experiencing food native to where I was. We have a culturally rich society out here on the coast and I can return to just about anywhere by simply going out for dinner somewhere and feel very fortunate for being able to do so.
Food allergies can be nasty, I have seen people hauled out of restaurants to the awaiting ambulance on more than one occasion. My wife and Daughter get bad headaches by eating dairy products. Not fatal but annoying when people say "I didn't think there was enough to hurt you" when asked if what they were fed had dairy in it. They always ask before they eat and it is hard to fathom people not being honest with them.
I don't think there is a seafood I don't like. The first raw fish I had was in the South Pacific. Raw fish and fruit were all there was to eat some places. I felt like a million bucks after living on that diet for a while. That made me eat a whole lot differently once I got home.
It went from sunny and warm to cold and dark clouds in about 10 minutes. Where's my Rum!
All the best to all.