United Airlines is not getting my positive vote on this flight for sure, and these attendants seem to really have a bad attitude. Just my opinion, but I am sure you can ask United if they get any positive votes from us in this part of the plane. From seat 43H, it just ain’t that good. Nonetheless, I am a loyal customer and I will continue till they really peeve me off. One of the attendants blamed the lack of maintenance on the executives taking all the money and not paying the employees! Yes... she really said that to about 200 people on this plane! That is employee discontent!
This entry takes the writing on the road thing to a whole new level…. Say 35,000 feet. It is a heck of a lot smoother than the Shanghai highways.
I need to do a brief plug for Gourmet Geeks. Jeff Utecht and I did our 2nd installment and pulled out the old reliable Buffalo Chicken Wings Recipe (see below) with a special geeks spin to it. The meal was delicious (yes… wings can be a meal!) and Jeff and his lovely wife Uma, and my family lead by Hetta the Happy Homemaker snarfed down the chicken like it was going out of style. The recipe is a no-brainer and is super yummy. Try it.
Now…. Lester Part II
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Jake, the Moosehound, was kept very busy with Lester during the day in Saudi. He stopped tearing up the house and Lester took his days to a whole new level of following this homely and ugly kitten around the house watching what he was tearing up, and occasionally getting a good whiff of the cat’s butt for some kicks. Life was full of fun and full of “scentational” fun for Jake.
On the other hand, Lester was feeling his oats and was moving rapidly into kitty adolescence. That means he was started to act like a tomcat, and leaving little tomcat markings all over the house, spraying the windows and peeing in the spare bedroom. We didn’t have Maddie at that point and I noticed that his…. Ahem…. “nuts” were looking quite large and he was spending a lot of time… ahem… licking his nether-regions for more than just a cleansing purpose. In short…. the cat was a horny black and white monster that needed a fix.I joked with Amanda that it seemed that he seems that his personality was based upon the fur around his little kitty testicles. One was covered in white fur and one in black. In short, Lester had a good nut and a bad nut.
I didn’t want to tell Lester, but both the good one and the bad one were doomed as the vet was coming for a visit. The Vet for Jeddah showed up, gave the cat the gas and snipped blacky and whitey off in a matter of minutes, delivering a woozy and somewhat lighter cat to my arms for a long walk back to the house. Lester had had his tomcathood chopped off in a storage closet behind the Star Market for $200.00 USD. I think we would all be surprised. I am sure he was, but thankfully didn’t blame me a bit. He’s loyal that way.
editorial note: I just did a flickr search on the term "good nut bad nut". I got 350+ hits. I am worried about the world.
After that Lester was the most loveable, affectionate cat in the world. I was his best friend. He ignored Jake execept when the occasional butt sniff came his way, and even Amanda came to like him. We had Maddie. We sent Jake home to the USA to stay with Mom-in-law and enjoy life in Arizona. Jake’s life was full of chasing more tennis balls and he had another cat’s butt to sniff in his new home because another cat my wife fended off on her mother lived there.
Now, Lester was free (as I stated) and we have now spent more than we should have to keep this cat “tame” and his shots and even let this darn cat worm his way into our hearts. Then in early April 2003, Lester got out of the house (as he did frequently) and did not come back. This is Saudi Arabia. We were about to move into daily temps in the high 90’s to 110 F. EVERYDAY, and the darn cat disappears. We put signs out, we asked the workers on the compound to find him and yet he is just gone.
May 1, 2003 we have the scary experience of terrorism. Scary is a lame term. People… many people die. Bad people shoot, kill, maim and terrorize an entire city for a whole day. They are killed. We close our school for a week, and shorten our school year to finish a graduation for our seniors and get them off to schools and colleges around the world. I install concrete and barbwire. I turn a school into a fortress. Lester… all the while is gone. We escape to the US for a long summer of explaining to our families why we would be taking our infant daughter and ourselves back to a place where there are others who want us dead and gone. It was a long summer. We returned proudly for our last year in Yanbu. We made it work and worked that school through a tough time.
Still no Lester though and I was sure he was dead. Summers are cruel in Saudi. It is 110-115 degrees during the day. There is no water to be found anywhere. Nothing, including my car lived through the summer unscathed. I finally gave up in early September. I threw away the litter box. I gave away the cat food. I shook my head and wondered where Lester had gone or died. The very next day we arrived home as usual about 4:30 – 5:00 began to unload the car with the huge pile of baby stuff that we hauled daily and was greeted by a familiar “meow”. Over in the corner of the wall by our front door was a skinny, bald, black and white cat that was a shadow of the former Lester, but was him nonetheless! The darn cat had arisen from the dead and come back the desert. I decided right there that this cat was staying in Saudi and I needed to find a home for the cat. I was NOT going to haul this animal out of that country. He needed to stay where he obviously was fit to be.
Next week….. The Tale (tail) of Lester Part III: Does he stay or does he go??
As promised the Gourmet Geeks Recipe-
Gourmet Geeks Super Bowl Buffalo Wings
24-20 wing segments (I just buy the mini drumsticks)
¼ cup Honey
5 Tablespoons of Hot Sauce (The Geeks used Cholula)
½ teaspoon of garlic powder
4 Tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
If you want it red, add a teaspoon of Paprika. I don’t think red is that important,
Deep Fry wings after coating with some sort of flour (I used corn flour) till crispy brown.
Let Wings cool.
Dip cooled chicken in sauce and then bake for about 25 minutes at 375 degrees
Remove immediately and serve with blue cheese dressing and veggies. The Geeks and the Back Channel Girls (Uma and Hetta) had a nice salad and a lovely after dinner drink. Good food, good company, good times!
1 comment:
Give us a call when you get a chance. I wish I could just fly off to NYC or where ever you are right now and have dinner with you.
Oh, by the way, I love this story.
b/Mom
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