It’s been a great couple of days here at the compound. We’ve had some rain, which always makes compound-dwellers happy. I even got the first real feedback on my book and it was great feedback (okay, it was from a relative, but it was the first feedback I’ve gotten)! No unexpected bills in the mail. All in all, not a bad couple of days (knock wood three times).
Also, had some time yesterday to figure out what I want for a new grill since mine was stolen in Virginia…should have locked it up in the garage. Thieves abound and they’re breeding like rats, I’m tellin’ ya! My grill choices are narrowing. I’ve always used a Weber kettle which I always tell people I can do anything on one of those that someone else could do with a much more expensive grill. I’ve cooked a whole turkey on it (do one every Thanksgiving). I’ve smoked meats (requires a special Robin technique). I’ve grilled and BBQed just about everything on a kettle grill. My only complaint is that cooking space is kind of limited. If you’re cooking for a lot of people, it can be kind of a harrowing experience. So, when I saw the Oklahoma Joe Longhorn offset smoker grill I was pretty excited. I thought I’d finally stumbled onto my Weber kettle alternative. I was impressed with the thick gauge of steel used (always a problem with the offset grills made in China…they rust out too quickly). All of the seams appeared tight. There is almost 1,100 square inches of cooking surface in the thing…along with the required headroom to cook a turkey. I thought I had finally found my new grill. But then… I came back home and started looking at videos on YouTube and was quickly disappointed. It seems that the original Oklahoma Joe people sold their company to the Char-Broil people. Ugh. As soon as I heard that I knew I wouldn’t be buying an Oklahoma Joe smoker grill. Char-Broil is notorious for mediocre grills that rust faster than they can cook. Char-Broil is also noted for porous welds that would probably qualify (to quote from a first year college Microbiology text) as a semi-permeable membrane. Still, I thought, okay maybe this is like Ford stepping up to take over Jaguar…no…bad example. Ford ruined Jaguar. But, I hung in there watching video after video. Every poster said the same thing…Char-Broil has ruined the Oklahoma Joe line. Purchasers were forced to make modifications to the grills…on and on. Needless to say, I’m back to the Weber kettle grill. I’ll stick with what I know best. The new ones even have a thermometer built into the lid…no more holding hand over the open vent and counting the seconds until flesh began to cook to guess the temp. Life is looking up, I’m telling you! But, I digress… Back to my day (it is, after all, all about me). I missed the trash pick-up this morning (the truck was freakin’ early), but they actually came back and picked it up once I got my lazy rear end (and the barrel of trash) out there. As I was rolling the trash barrel down our long driveway and out to the road…we’re set back quite a ways from the road (this is a fortified compound you know)...off to the northeast I could hear a cacophony of unhappy cattle. I figured the neighbors off in that direction were probably separating calves from cows. That always gets them stirred up (the cattle, not the neighbors). For some reason, all the noise got me to thinking about PBR, a sport I’ve been following for a few years now. If you’re unfamiliar, PBR stands for professional bull riders. The circuit was started by nine-time world champion rodeo cowboy Ty Murray back in the early 90’s. The PBR season culminates in late October with the PBR World Finals in Las Vegas. Imagine…four days of bulls, beer, booze, and Vegas baby! Every year that I’ve following PBR events, I’ve always told myself I’m headed to Vegas for the finals, but I never seem to make it. Figure since I’m living here now, I’ll definitely try to get there next year (I’m half a continent closer). When I was in the Navy, there was a group of people that I knew who made it to the Denver Stock Show (aka, National Western Stock Show) every January for a few days. It wasn’t that they were necessarily interested in livestock, it was just a great excuse to get together with old friends and hang out for a few days. So, if you’re interested in heading to Vegas next October, let me know. Maybe by then I will have figured out the grill thing. Comments are closed.
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