ness

I'm on my desktop with a big monitor and I still can't figure out the situation with the blue-haired person.

We've been trying to hire an accountant for several months, and it's been unusually tough even with the internet and headhunters, etc. Great job, great company, great people, great pay and benefits. Why so hard? We finally hired a guy who came from public accounting (think accounting firm doing audit and taxes) a couple weeks ago. Public accounting is a tough row to hoe the first few years. Long hours, travel, etc. The firms weed them out pretty quickly if they don't measure up. I thought, but didn't say anything because it wouldn't help and doesn't really affect me, that this guy we hired must not have made the grade in public. Bailing on his old job in the busy season (year end audits, taxes) didn't seem like a guy that made the cut or had the work ethic or smarts. I guess we'll see. There's some anxiety where I work about all this, and it's particularly important because there's four of us long timers that are all ready and able to retire and probably a half dozen other key people that are within a few years. I'm fortunate in that I've got a really good heir apparent that I'm doing transition/succession work with. But there are some key areas that aren't covered and it's exceptionally hard to find folks these days. And.. the work ethic has really deteriorated the last few years. The whole work-from-home thing seems to have changed the culture. Folks either not being in the office at all or blowing in at 8:30, 9:00, whatever they feel like. Hell, I've peed three times by 9:00! Then there's the way folks dress and the tats. We've got a chick that is covered in what look like jailhouse tats and I've seen her wear tank tops a couple times. What the hell? Maybe it's just the old man in me coming out.

Another Hello Fresh-chicken with a mustard dill sauce with roasted broccoli and potatoes. Another good one that we’ll take on ourselves in the future. Mustard sauce was pan drippings, Dijon, sour cream, chicken base/water and dill. Very good. Rusty seemed impressed too

Beautiful story, beautiful work!!!

Made one of our faves the other night and had some tomato cream/pancetta/mushroom and pea sauce left over. Over some Campanelle pasta for lunch today and didn't get any on the keyboard! No slurping required!

It won't be long, and I'm ready for it!

Haven’t done this in a looong time. Fried chicken, mashed taters, pan gravy with some corn tucked in underneath. Crummy pic but I was in a hurry to eat!

I’m tying up some Stimulators, one of my confidence flies I use a lot with a leetle nymph below. Not happy with the first few so I’ll adjust. I ordered a some more hooks and a spikier dubbing that’ll work better than the ultra fine stuff I had. I may do some bonus genuine Kansas pheasant tail nymphs for everyone too. I’m gonna need most of the time to the 3/15 deadline.

3 here

It's double that here

You didn't go drift shopping, did you??

I have a friend that likes to say, "Where's that global warming when you need it?" I was at the grocery store one day and said that to the lady checking me out, hoping for a chuckle. But before I got it, the fellow in line behind me decided it was an opportunity to educate us with, shall we say, his rather unique views on global warming. So, I'm careful about saying that in mixed company now. I'm ok here though , right?

WOW!

I got comped some tickets when the track first opened. Two things I learned: 1. It is really, really loud. B. They go really, really fast. It was my first time at a NASCAR race, and I was really stunned at how fast and how close together they are. You just don't get it until you see it in person. And, it was just the trucks. I'm about 6 miles south of the track. If things are just right we can hear them practice/race. We've done a few kids birthdays up at Great Wolf Lodge years ago. It's a great place for kids. When my daughter was young she did horseback riding lessons on a property that is now part of Legends/Kansas Speedway. There was nothing there except a few farms, houses and the giant water tower. She's now 34.

I've got a class on Monday nights about 35 minutes north of me in Parkville, MO. Got out at 9:00 and it was blowing snow. Tough to see to drive, and the lanes were obscured and just a little slick to start. By the time I was to the Legends (if you southerners know where that is, think NASCAR track) the roads were clear and snow wasn't so bad. Glad I'm home, and it's remote work tomorrow.

Our basic chili recipe over a couple of the tamales my neighbor made and gifted us. With a couple shots of pepper vinegar. This rates a dang.

Who do you order stuff from these days?

It was good to see Devo again!

Those sound really good, but we’d have to wait until morning after that. 😀

Yep, love the Pretenders too. Kinda went down the rabbit hole watching their old videos the other night. I’ll bite: how did Foreigner get their name?

We spent a couple weeks in Ireland in 2023. Flew into Dublin on the east coast, spent a couple days there, then rented a car and drove south inland to Kilkenny, then to the south coast at Kinsale, west to Kenmare, then to the west coast and north to Ring of Kerry, Dingle, Galway, Aran Islands and finally Connemara before flying home from Galway. Great trip! Like you, we found the people extremely friendly all along the way. We had excellent food and drink everywhere. And great music in the bars, which seem to be called ‘pubs’ more outside Ireland than in. And, absolutely spectacular scenery in the places we went along the coast. I had a guided fishing trip set up for salmon/trout at Connemara but the river was low and the temp high so they closed the river and my bucket list trip was cancelled. Honestly, we did other stuff that was great. Adapt and make the most of things! Anybody here like the Kinks? 🤪

And we did!

There's a Beer, Bacon and Cheese Festival in New Glaurus, WI each spring. We went up to it a couple times, partially to have a reason to go see my sister in Chicago. I learned a couple things: 1. Limberger actually tastes good, if you can get past the smell. 2. Bacon ice cream is really good. You would think grease and ice cream wouldn't do well together, but they do somehow.

My understanding was that green was associate with the Catholic side while, like you said, orange was Protestant and wearing the wrong color in some neighborhoods could potentially lead to trouble. The history of Ireland is really interesting. Centuries of mistreatment of the natives (Catholic) and forced settlement of English/Scottish Protestants into Ireland, pushing the Catholics off their land and into servitude and poverty and famine. And the civil wars, fight for independence, the "Troubles", etc. My GGG grandfather, Patrick McGonigle, Catholic from Derry, emigrated to the US in 1848, right in the middle of the famine. I'm pretty sure he would have liked Van Morrison