There is a pet shop down across the street from the apartment building, that has two dogs in their driveway who often decide to bark in the middle of the night.  It is most irritating.

Now, as you will remember from your childhood, the times you started crying and your father (or a mean mother) told you, “If you want to cry, I will give you something to cry about.”  Well, I decided if these animals wanted to bark, I will give them something to bark about.

So, I chose to purchase several slingshots to pester these damn dogs, but the problem I have living overseas is the slingshot is considered a weapon.  I find that baffling, because what harm can you possibly do with a sling shot?

So, I contacted a nefarious individual in the States who I often do business with, who shall remain nameless, to purchase, disassemble and ship me two slingshots in separated mailings to deceive the postal people.  In anticipation for the upcoming dog disruption I knew I would cause, I also ordered a bag of paintballs …. and marbles to use as a last resort.

Once I finally got Gary’s shipment, I hastily assembled the weapons of mass disruption and pulled out the paintballs.  When the sun sat enough to keep me from being easily recognized from my 9^th floor balcony, I proceeded to fire paintballs down to the pet shop across the street.

Unfortunately, the paintballs do not have enough mass to travel all the way across the street to the pet shop, so, I had to use the marbles.

Once I had the angle of trajectory (AoT) figured out, I could send marbles directly into the driveway.  It was an amazing thing to see.  These little clear glass projectiles were probably traveling a million miles an hour and yet I could watch them as they passed under the street light to their intended target.  See below.

Of the 40-50 marbles I sent into their territory, only about 10% made it to the target; and the only reaction I got out of them is one would get up to see if it was something to eat, while the other rolled over and licked its butt.  And they seemed to swap on who was going to see if it was something to eat, and who was going to lick their butt.

But I guarantee you, if an old widow woman were to walk by dragging her grocery cart behind her, heading home to feed her hungry children with what little money she had, those damn dogs would have come alive with every intention of tearing her apart, as if she were an infamous dog hunter like one of those you see on the reality shows.

Well, since the paintballs were of no use for the damn dogs, I decided to use them to pepper the building with the white roof below with splats of colored paint.  While doing that, I wondered what the people inside thought about the popping noise on their roof.  No one stepped out the back to see what it was.  Perhaps best, because I would have shot them with paintballs.  … I was watching for them.

…  I love being ornery.

In order to be a Pumpkin Pie Master, you have to bake at least 15 pumpkin pies.  I baked 20 today.  Yesterday, my friend and I met with some of the Marines at a favorite Irish pub.  We have been there several times before.  Below is a picture taken by our waitress, Alice (pronounced Aleece – long E at the end) and then one of her and me.   … because she is nice to look at.Next, I will tell you about some damn dogs.

There are several guava fruit trees on the Consulate’s compound and it is the  time of year that they drop their fruit.  It makes a mess, but one consolation is the sweet fragrance they give off once they break open.There is one tree that hangs over a driveway as if its only purpose in life is to carpet the roadway with guava fruit.  The gardeners struggle to keep it cleaned up.  If I can get a picture of the mess, I will post it.

I had a small Wingfest Sunday evening with only the people who live in the apartment complex I do.  Here are a few pics of them. Nothing elaborate.  Just good food and good people.  And a very cute little girl!  I was asked by her parents if I would like to baby-sit sometime, and I responded, If she is potty trained.

Last Saturday I went on a tour of the Goes winery, and a quick stop at two others.  Below are a few pics.The wine is fermented in the tanks that look like ovens, which are lined in paraffin.  The paraffin has to be changed out every few days, and I cannot imagine it not being quite a mess.  The company will be going to the stainless steel tanks seen on the right.  Below are some of the holding tanks the wine is moved to before bottling. As with any place like this that involves humans, you will find interesting stories.  Look at the three barrels below.The wine in the middle barrel has been there for 35 years and no one knows anything about it.  The only person who knew was fired and he refused to tell anyone.  Below is a machine that cleans, fills, caps and labels 2 liter jugs of wine.  They told us that line is only operated once a year when a 97 year old man and his 103 year old wife come by to purchase 40 jugs of the wine.  It is said once the couple crosses the rainbow bridge, the assembly line will be dis-assembled.Brazilian wine is not one of my favorites as I prefer Chilean, but it was interesting to go on this tour.  And I did laid awake that night thinking about that 35 year old barrel of wine and wondered what it would taste like.

D.

While perusing my cabinets the other day, I came across several cans of pumpkin pie stuff.  Remembering in the past how nice and comforting pumpkin pies are, I decided to try my hand at it.

I checked the label and it appeared I had all the necessary ingredients.  So I stoked the stove for 400 and something degrees and proceeded to make a pumpkin pie.

When the slurry was ready to pour, I realized it was more than what I needed for a pumpkin pie.  Luckily, I had three graham cracker pie crusts which enabled me to make three pumpkin pies.  But if you ever made such a pie, it is often the case you have to cook it much longer than what the instructions say.  I remember Terese had to cook one for 90 minutes!

So, I kept cooking it until the center did not stick to a stick that I stuck in it.  But, then it ended up cooking too long.  The pies were over-cooked, but not burnt.  I ate one of the pies right away, gave one to Camila to take home to her family and took the other to work, where I ate most of it.  Below is the trio before consumption.As an aside note, I am planning to have a Wingfest in my diminutive apartment this Sunday, and I am only inviting those who live in the same apartment complex.  I expect there will be less than 10 people, plus a baby.  In my invitation, I explained I have an incredible 900 year old mother who loves pictures of the people I interact with, so I will be taking pictures.  So far, I have heard no complaints.

Okay, unless something more interesting comes up, I will see you again next week.  In the meantime, kick butt and grasp another adventure.

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Serious Stuff