Robin drives into the Heart of Darkness with a guy named Luther and decides the Internet is evil!

Happy Tuesday everyone! The week is just flying past, isn’t it?

I was surprised when I went into town yesterday at how much snow Cosmic City actually got. We had only a few inches on the ground here at the Compound and for the most part the winds had blown the snow off the roads. But, I no sooner hit city limits and had to go to four-wheel drive.

I guess that’s the way it was across the region with snow totals, as well as precip types varying widely.

Happy to report that Cousin Fred and Lassie the barking goat are snug and cozy in Hellkat One’s trailer with the new heater. The Wife pointed out yesterday that the heater is really going to run up our electric bill. I pointed out that it’s cold right now and we can’t very well let the two of them freeze out there. She pointed (a whole lotta pointing going on) out that one is a goat and the other smells like a goat. I’m sure this will continue ad infinitum…at least until some warm air moves back in.

As we were discussing this, I was reminded of an article I saw online on the Huffington Post web site that could perhaps solve the problem…well maybe.

Many, many years ago, I traveled to India for several days in connection with my job. We stationed ourselves in New Delhi and made quick trips from there for work and/or sightseeing. At some point, near the end of our visit, a group of us decided we HAD to see the Taj Mahal. A few inquiries were made and we found a driver (his name was Luther) who would take us there.

Early the next morning (long before sunrise), we departed our posh hotel in New Delhi en route Agra (the City of Love) where the Taj Mahal is sited. The trip, as I recall, was roughly four hours by car one way. In the pre-dawn gloom you could see nothing. Luther’s lights barely lit the road ahead.

As we zipped along, we soon realized that the road we were on paralleled the Yamuna River, a tributary of the Ganges. As the sun began to light up the horizon, those of us in the car began to see dark figures along the road, but we couldn’t see enough to tell what they were. I think one of our team asked Luther what the heck that was along the road.

Luther informed us that it was local citizenry defecating on the side of the road and that they would then descend into the river to wash their bottoms.

Well, that will certainly sit you back in your seat with eyes looking straight ahead.

As time and kilometers rolled past and the sun rose higher in the sky, we soon became aware of structures along the road. Huts are the best description I can think of…small structures with curtains for a front door. From inside these huts, an incredible amount of brownish smoke poured forth from the doorways.

Luther explained to us that the huts were made of bricks of dried cow dung and to heat their homes, they burned “cakes” made from the same cow dung. Oh, and they cooked with the cow dung cakes.

At that point, I made the observation that with the roadside defecators and the cow dung housing, heating, and cooking the trip to Agra made for a very shitty situation. Nyuk nyuk.

Finally, we arrived in Agra, the City of Loooooove. Uh huh. It’s only the City of Love if you’re particularly fond of abject poverty and filth. Luther informed us that it was a popular city to visit for people on their honeymoon.  Yeeesh.

The bottom line to this story is that the Taj Mahal is an incredible structure and is definitely something to be seen, but only if you can get there by helicopter and then leave the country immediately. Frankly, I could never past thinking that the Yamuna River which runs behind the Taj is downstream of where we were driving. Just sayin’…

Okay, that was a long way of getting to the point of this post, which is that I recently found an article on Huffington Post wherein they’re selling cow dung patties in India online. And, believe it or not, Amazon.com is stocking them. I’m not kidding!

Demand is high for the cakes which are a pressed mixture of cow poop and hay dried in the sun. Apparently, there are lots of people living in Indian cities now who originally hailed from the country side. They long for their cow cakes.

Amazon in India is selling an entire box with the six poop cakes for around $6.00, but that’s there. I just checked and you can purchase your very own one piece of genuine Indian cow dung for $11.99 with free shipping. It’s suitable for cooking, heating, or smoking a slab of ribs.

The Internet is evil and must be shut down. Thanks, Al Gore!

Just one man’s opinion.

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