quick potato fix

Here is a neat, fast, no mess way to fix potatoes next time you grill out. Take a washed potato and cube it (with or without the skin). Take a square of parchment cooking paper and place the cubes on it, add a little salt and pepper and a little olive oil or butter (other spices if you like) and then lift the edges of the paper up and around the potato cubes and twist the edges together at the top. Then put your paper pouch on a sheet of tinfoil and wrap the paper pouch with the foil. You then just set these pouches on the grill and the potatoes cook in about ten minutes. You serve them right in the pouch. These are quick and no mess. I can even do this one.

Dryer lint use

Use For Dryer Lint

When I do the laundry and have to empty the lint from the dryer lint filter, I always wondered what the lint mat could be used for.

I tried wetting it, putting it on a screen, squeezing the water out of it and shaping it into things like a flower pot that you could plant seeds in, and then plant pot and all where you want it after the seed sprouts. Only so so results from that…sometimes the pot would fall apart when you watered the seeds. 8-).

I have found one thing that the lint works great for. I made a potato cannon from plans from the internet and the cannon works great. It will shoot a potato piece like it is meant to. Potatoes are not cheap and you can do damage to things if they hit something. Here in Florida we have what are called Air Potatoes and these are an exotic invasive plant that is now found all over. You can just pick them up off the ground. These will work nicely in the cannon but I do not like shooting these because they could plant themselves when they land and they are an invasive exotic plant, so these are out.

Then I discovered I could shoot a lint ball from the cannon. The lint ball shoots out of the cannon with a nice pop, does not go all that far, and sort of falls apart as it goes through the air. If it hits something it is with a soft hit and it falls apart. The down side is it leaves a lint mess, but that is easy to clean up. Depending on the lint, it can almost be like confetti. 

I have seen birds collecting some of the lint fragments for nest building. So, how is that for recycling dryer lint. 8-)

My Outboard Just Stopped Running!

My Outboard Just Stopped Running!

A fuel problem is often the reason for a sudden motor shutdown. First, check the fuel filter, and if you have a water separator, check it. If you have a water separator, you need to carry a spare filter…it is often the problem. If you have used an ethanol gas, the gas can act like a solvent in the tank and it can loosen gunk in the tank and fuel lines and can cause the filters to clog.

The fuel supply line can often be the problem. Check the primer ball, vents and fuel line. If there is too much pressure check the line connection. If there is negative pressure it is most likely a venting problem. If there is a lack of pressure, you probably have an air leak in the line. If these are OK you probably have water in the fuel. If that, you need to call for help. 

It takes only seconds to wipe off your gas tank around the filler cap before you take the cap off to fill the tank and after you put the cap back on. You may be surprised at what comes off and that could have gone in the tank.

Another Cat!

Another Cat!

Around our house the saying: "When we get a head it has another mouth to feed!" is true. The wife brought home a new foundling the other day. After a quick $200 at the vet we had a new kitten in the cat herd.

The other cats objected to the new kitten. The dog loved it. For the last few days the other cats have spent their time on anything elevated well above and out of reach of George, the new kitten. The kitten was named George after George Jones...when it was found they first thought it was a Opossum. The older cats are not dealing with the new kitten well. George could care less…he just plays with everything. The dog is the only one that plays with the cat. At least they are getting along and having fun.  

 

Bosco is in Love with the new Kitten!

It is easy to tell where the kitten is…it is where the older cats are looking. 8-)

Yoga Stretching For Back

Yoga Stretching

I am crediting the tropical storm that just passed through our area with all its wind and rain for making my body stiff and full of aches and pains. I took a few aspirin and then thought stretching out might help. I went online and looked up some yoga sites to get some ideas for some back stretches.

I opened one site and it was all ad’s so I went to another. The next site opened with a photo of a woman nude doing an impossible stretch. The photo was well done, very artistic and not vulgar and it did catch my attention. 

The home page gave some reasons why yoga was good for you, how you should get started and what long term benefits you could get from yoga. I moved to a getting started page. It outlined a set of beginning warm up stretches’ that should be done and had a video that showed them. I clicked on the video and watched a very attractive nude woman demonstrate the warm up. By the end of the video I was warmed up. Next there was a sales pitch for a video collection on basic yoga on DVD’s. There was a video clip showing samples of the collection. I clicked on it. The video showed beautiful nude women doing yoga moves and stretches. It was well done and the nude womn did show the moves nicely. I guess that if they had been wearing clothes you could not see the stretches as well. 8-)

By this time the aspirin must have kicked in because I was feeling better. My wallet was not in the same room I was in and that was good. If it had been in my pocket I think I would have ordered the yoga set. If that yoga place had been a local place I would join it and probably go every day. The place must have a long waiting list to join…that must be the reason they sell the DVD’s. 

I decided I did NOT NEED THE DVD’s. I know we have a few yoga DVD’s already and I am sure they would be just a duplication of the ones we had, but just with nudes doing them. Besides I could always go back to this site to check how I was doing. 8-)

 It inspired the dog to do stretches also.  8-)

Boat Port-a-Potty

Boat Port-a-Potty

On our short 5 day trip on our little 21 foot sailboat we tried not to have to use the port-a-potty any more than we had to for obvious reasons. That potty is at least 20 years old, but it is still functional. *-)

I checked it out to see if it had chemicals in it and that it was empty before the trip and everything was OK. The chemicals were very old and the first time it was used I found the Chemicals smelled worse than what went in the potty. The wife had given me a bottle of new chemicals for it, but I left the bottle at home in the dock box because the potty had a full reservoir of chemicals. We had to put a plastic bag over the potty to keep the smell down. That was an easy solution but I heard about leaving the new fresh chemicals at home anytime the potty was needed.

Even the dog thought it was offensive. I think it is time for a new potty…I think after 20 years the seals may be gone in it…but at least it did not leak and it was functional. I sure was glad the forward hatch was just above the potty niche.