Kaimusailing

When it seemed hot the Sunday before July 4th, I looked at the wunderground data for Crisfield and saw 91 degrees with a feels like temperature over 100. I thought about the boatyard in St Marys and looked that up – 96 with feels like 121 – ooh, that’s hot. Sanibel Island near Ft. Myers was cooler than Crisfield..
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I got an expert opinion about the Laphroig whisky, the recommendation was the Quarter Cask, about ten bucks more than the other versions. If I get some I will get the Quarter Cask.
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My craving was for a hard boiled egg sandwich with ham and black pepper and some mayo on sourdough. I boiled 4 eggs and will do something with the others, but my craving was satiated with just one egg. After enjoying that simple sandwich I was invited to the Legion, where I would not go today due to the high heat and high winds from the SSW. I declined. All I have to do is settle in here at the marina and the City Fireworks will be fired off right here. Hard to avoid.
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It was also my evening to call the folks in Hawaii and while on the phone the fireworks began firing. The clamor ended before the phone call ended. I went to sleep but was awakened by a thunderstorm.
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The next day I decided to bike to the store. The winds had died down. It was hot, but I felt good and on the way to the store I thought maybe it was a bad idea. Once inside the air conditioning I began shopping. I wanted to get ingredients to make more mole, a jar of salsa, a green pepper, and a red onion. I picked up a liter and a half bottle of water and drank some of it right there. I was thirsty.
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On the way back the breeze was hot coming off the black pavement and I stopped at the town park to have more water and relax in the breeze and the shade. I continued to the marina and stopped at the Shanty where there was shade. More water. By the time I got back to SUNSPLASH the bottle of water was half gone.
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I boiled a mixture of black beans and brown rice with some chicken base and black pepper. While it was coming up to a boil I prepped the red onion and the green pepper, making a small dice.
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When the rice and beans came to a boil I let them rest, covered, and a second pot was put on the fire with a tablespoon of: cocoa, ancho chili powder, cumin, and a teaspoon of red habanero chili powder. I added some olive oil, about 1 ½ tbsps. After the spice mixture began to emit aromas in went the diced veggies and it was all mixed so that the spice mix was coating the veggies. A little water was added to help the carmelization process. The jar of salsa went in, rinsed by a small amount of red wine. This made about a quart of mole and when it came to a boil I mixed it, took it off the fire, and brought the rice mix back up to boil.
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I was cooking each pot for about 10 minutes at a time. This prevents burning on the bottom and allows a long cooking time for the beans and rice to fully cook as well as the mole to begin assimilating it flavors. A spoon of smooth natural peanut butter went into the mole as well as an equal amount of orange marmalade.
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The temperature in Crisfield at 5pm according to wunderground is 94 and feels like 101. I would say that is an accurate reading. Not the best day to be out on a bike or in a boat galley cooking all afternoon. But, I have filled a jar, the old salsa jar, about a quart, of some good mole. The idea strikes me that I could make awesome chili dogs with this sauce.
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The remainder of the mole, about a cup or cup and a half was brought onto the fire with the remaining pork from long ago, put in the freezer and forgotten, but now into the sauce that was very warm both in temperature and in flavor. After a few minutes the blob of meat had started to separate and I helped it along, pulling it apart along the grain while slicing across the grain, reducing the size of the pieces. I cooked it a while then let it sit for a while. I made a small bowl with the black bean/rice and the pork mole. Very tasty.
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When the cooking had cooled down a bit I stowed them in the fridge. It looked like 2 or 3 helpings of pork mole.
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The temperature peaked at 96.
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The next morning I tried something new for breakfast. We all make that egg in toast thing. It comes out well when fried in Irish butter. My new concoction is to make the egg in toast thing and set it aside, then lay two pieces of ham in the pan with two pats of cheese on top. Heat is off, cover is on the pan, a couple minutes later the ham and melty cheese is placed on top of the toast. Yummy.
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The temperature again went up to 96, very unusual for here. I biked out to pick up some mail and on the way back stopped at the Snack Shanty, the snack bar at main building near the swimming pool that is supposed to take the place of our beloved Red Shell Shanty. I ordered a hot dog with relish and mustard and a drink called Orange Cream. I’d never had it before. It’s premixed, prebottled, and when I tasted it I asked what it was. The lady at the counter had no idea. It was maybe closest to a daiquiri, not orangey, no creaminess.
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Basically it was a snack bar fail. The space to cook in is about the same as an ordinary food truck. There were picnic tables outside with no umbrellas. They had had them out there before, why not now in the glaring heat and 96 degrees?
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Back on board I continued to suck the life out of the ice in the drink. Later I found a frozen package of my awful chicken soup and warmed it up. The chicken was stringy, the mirepoix was mush, not much going for it, but it got the taste of that hot dog out of my mouth. I fortunately had Black Box Pinot Noir in supply also.
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I’m starting to check the temperature each afternoon. It’s very hot and now it’s been two days at 96 and now it’s 97. The extended forecast just goes on for the next week and a half, similar, if not worse, along with copious thunderstorms.
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A Mole foodie said try it with your scrambled eggs. I usually don’t scramble my eggs, but what about the sliced hard boiled egg sandwich? I took out the chilled jar of mole I made a couple days ago and spread it on a slice of sourdough. Then one of the hard boiled eggs from the fridge was peeled, sliced, and arranged on top of the mole bread. I squeezed some mayo onto it, should I have? Cut the sandwich at a 45 degree angle and sit down with a glass of pinot noir. It was good, but a sandwich with ham, hard boiled egg, mayo and black pepper would suit me fine. Still have to try the mole chili dogs.
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The hot dog I had at the snack bar will tend to keep me from even thinking about hot dogs, even though this is the weather to be grillin’ ‘em. Also the bike ride to the store could be lethal in this weather. Shoot, I could be grilling the dogs on my Coleman Camp Grill and then slather them with my mole. “Ma’am, would you like some of my “Killer Mole”? I’ve never been good at marketing.
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My phone has been undercharged by the inductive charger I got from Walmart about 2 months ago. Hard to get above 50 percent. When I leave it overnight it comes up at 10 percent the next morning.
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In the day, if I interrupt it, it will continue charging up. So I ordered an inductive charger and a ‘cutting board’ from TEMU. I will probably have to get a new phone.
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Trying to save money while getting a new phone can be problematic. In the old days if you got an old thing you would look at it and worry if it had been abused. You were mainly looking for physical damage. Then we realized there could be unseen water damage. Nowadays (hey, they let that go through), there are software and firmware issues. Of course, then as is now, don’t get the first release. They’ll call it back. On the one hand I like something tried and true, something you can rely on, on the other hand I get drawn into the fancy intricate new thing, but always, don’t get the first release. They release the first release with a thousand bugs. You have to wait and pay dearly to get that first release, but I assure you, if you buy the first release, you will have to be in touch with them. The second release is kind of like the old first release, don’t get it. Like where I am now with the Galaxy S23+. They are now releasing fixes, after releasing countless other fixes, and now I guess the phones will be right.
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The eds say to start a new paragraph.
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OK, I’m very happy with my second hand Galaxy S20+. Very Happy. It was difficult at first, mostly due to Verizon mucking things up, but since then it has chugged along with T-Mobile. It was a good deal, but ultimately it would have been not so bad getting a refurbished phone with a guarantee.
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I’m guessing that I won’t be able to get an amazing deal next time, so I wait. The current phone has a crack in the corner, which it had when I bought it. I am in a quandry, I don’t want to pay for the first or second release, but I remember the last time. I wanted a Galaxy S20 FE, and searched for it on eBay. I ended up with a phone from someone that apparently only sold this one item, had no history on eBay, and didn’t respond when I realized it might be a scam of some sort.
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So, it wasn’t an S20 FE, it was a Plus, a totally different phone, and I got a reply from eBay that I could get my money back. But another 30 bucks and a German firm was able to unlock the PIN code on the phone. In spite of all the red flags, the phone wasn’t blacklisted or blocked, it worked. I love it.
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I threw out some of the black bean and rice. It tasted burned. Very discouraging. I made another ham and hard boiled egg sandwich on sourdough with mayo, black pepper, and garlic powder. At least I can make a decent sandwich.
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The orthopedic surgeon’s office gave me a date in late September for my hip surgery. That’s like 3 months away. I have noticed that it has been getting worse rapidly. Just have to hang on.
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I still ride the bike around as much as I can, but not too much when the feels like temperature goes up over 100. A Northern Boy, I had trouble with the heat when I first came down to Maryland. Then later Georgia floored me. Now I think the heat won’t kill me, but I agreed with someone when they said the current weather reminded them of Lawrence of Arabia.
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Yousef came down to his boat next to me in the marina. I hadn’t seen him in about a month. I pointed out to him that his jib sheets were not cleated down or on a winch, just laying on deck. He also had a fender that had slipped down a piling and he was trying to retrieve it with a boathook. I remarked that a rolling hitch or a clove hitch would prevent the fender slipping. He said he wasn’t too good with knots. He later pulled out and went sailing. The sky was dark and pop up thunderstorms were all around us. Later he came in and crashed into the dock, piling, and/or SUNSPLASH. I was just about dozing off and jumped up on deck. I threw him a line when he asked for it. He explained he had trouble shifting his transmission correctly. Shifting forward puts it in reverse. He offered to take me sailing. I don’t know.
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I ran out of eggs and now had to go shopping. The high heat had deterred me but now it was a little less hot and I was a little more desperate. I made my list, biked to the store, shopped, and returned. My hip didn’t bother me while riding the bike, but I was sore afterwards.
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One of my goals was to get hot dogs so I could make chili dogs with my home made mole sauce. I did so almost as soon as I was on board. The hot dog buns were 5 bucks for 6 buns. The dogs were a dollar ten, cheap chicken/pork dogs. I heated a couple up in a little of the mole, then split a bun and dumped the dogs and mole on it. At least I can make a respectable chili dog.
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There was a severe thunderstorm warning and slowly the early evening darkened with thunder in the distance. Something is coming to hit us. The image is the radar of the approaching storms. They are coming from the West. Crisfield is on a penninsula to the West of Chincoteague.