This is for two people. Proportionally, 16 peeled shrimp cleaned and tails off. 8-10 ounces of ground chorizo. Half a medium onion or a mix of shallots and onions, chopped. 12-14 grape or cherry tomatoes sliced in half. Juice of half a lime. Some white wine and chicken or vegetable broth in case more liquid is needed.

Heat 10-12 inch skillet to medium or medium high. Cook the chorizo thoroughly and move to oven-proof bowl (this where putting it in the oven is good idea.) Important to leave the fat from the chorizo, but turn the heat down to saute onion 4-6 minutes until soft. Put into the bowl with the chorizo. Now the timing gets tricky. Turn the heat back to medium or medium-high and add just enough oil to coat the bottom. Lay the tomatoes cut side down and let them sizzle and pop for 4-5 minutes. Season with coarse ground salt and a few grinds of fresh pepper or a half teaspoon of regular salt and pepper. Give a quick stir and put the tomatoes into the bowl. You can add red pepper flakes to taste if you prefer extra spice.

There is a lot of flavor going on so you may choose to season the shrimp in your favorite way before cooking, but I didn’t find it necessary. Keep the heat on medium and once again add just enough oil to coat the bottom of the skillet. Put the shrimp in, turn after 2-3 minutes. Cook only one more minutes, then add the line juice and all the other ingredients. Turn the heat to medium low and mix thoroughly. This is where you might need to add some liquid; somewhere between 1/4-1/3 cup and cook another 1-2 minutes.

Serve with some kind of rice, but if you want to use pasta, you will need to add a little of the pasta water, when you put the pasta into the skillet and toss it all together. You can add fresh cilantro as well in the final cooking stage.

There is no need to go into details, but we had to develop a plan to work out how to handle the situation, then there was an incredible amount of paperwork that had to be accomplished in a very short time. Since it involved five of our non-profit groups we had to explain everything to each of them and they had to also respond with documentation in a compressed amount of time. The three of us responsible for the most documentation did a lot of scrambling. As of late this morning, the first critical two-thirds have been completed. The final third will be due in compressed time as well, possibly as soon as Friday. We have to wait for the final documents to be sent in order to fill them out. This all has to do with the annual grant which provides us 90% of our funding so it isn’t something we can take lightly.

Everyone pulled together to make it work and I made sure to express my appreciation and will also make a public acknowledgement in the weekly email. The good part is this way a one-time-only situation.

Times change and as more items came in, there was no way to really keep up with it and no one gave it much thought. With only enough money for the director in a part time capacity, there were some volunteers, but limited ability to make much progress in the growing backlog of items collected. What was actually available and where it was were sources of both struggle and surprise. Coupled with this was a lack of fundraising ability for reasons I won’t get into. Quite frankly, I was not aware of the depth of problems when I joined the Board of Directors as vice-president. The president was the real backbone from the point of influence with a major donor who helped keep the place going even at a low level. When they both were no longer with us (relocation of the president and passing of the donor); it was increasingly difficult to manage. We eeked out enough donations to survive with lots of volunteer hours amidst failed attempts to get the City to increase our budget.

We did manage to get enough of an increase last year to give us some breathing room and this year, we have acknowledgement and funding to hire a second part-time person. Although we did ask for more to bring in one full-time, a part-time is still is a great phase for us. We’re beginning our transition activities and this significant source of personal stress has definitely eased.

Shipping a Car: Understand the Price Before You Pay
By Ziva, on behalf of Ship A Car, Inc. (https://www.shipacarinc.com/)

A car-shipping quote tells you little unless you know what it covers and who will carry the vehicle. Comparing both price and booking details can help you avoid surprises.

Explain the route and vehicle

Distance affects cost, but so do pickup and delivery locations. Routes with regular carrier activity may offer more options than locations requiring a long detour. Narrow streets or access restrictions may require a nearby meeting point.

Provide the correct make and model, disclose modifications and explain whether the vehicle starts, steers, brakes and rolls. A car that cannot be driven onto a trailer may need extra equipment and handling.

Compare equivalent services

Open transport is generally the lower-cost choice. Enclosed transport adds protection from weather and road debris, which may matter for a collectible or freshly restored car. It does not guarantee against damage.

Request quotes using the same vehicle, route, transport type and pickup window. Ship A Car’s open-versus-enclosed report provides company booking-data background, not a guaranteed price for an individual move:
https://www.shipacarinc.com/blog/useful/open-vs-enclosed-report/

Verify the company independently

Ask for the business’s legal name and whether it is the broker arranging the shipment or the carrier transporting the car. For interstate transport, check the relevant registration and operating authority through official Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration resources.

Match those records to the business you contacted. A copied registration number or professional-looking website does not establish that the person using it represents the company.

Get the terms in writing

Ask whether the price is an estimate or confirmed amount, what could change it, when a carrier will be assigned and what happens if the arrangements cannot be fulfilled. Check deposits, remaining payments, cancellation charges, refunds and possible loading or storage fees.

A low quote or deposit alone does not prove fraud. Pressure to pay immediately, unclear terms or unexpected changes to payment instructions deserve further checking. Verify unusual requests through independently obtained contact details.

Document the handoff

Before releasing the car, confirm that the arriving carrier matches the booking information. Ask about cargo coverage, exclusions and the claims process. Photograph the vehicle and record its condition at pickup and delivery. Retain the booking documents and correspondence.

No checklist removes every risk, but clear terms and independent checks are more useful than choosing on price alone.

End of post and have a good rest of your weekend. Charlie

My husband and I are in good health other than for the occasional unpleasant although not life-threatening situations. Back last year I went for my annual eye exam and even though I didn’t know it, a retina issue was lurking in my right eye. For all intents, there was a “bubble” that could develop into something very bad. I went through two months of waiting to see if it might resolve, then agreeing to a series of treatments that yes, included injections. No more needs to be said about that, but it did work. I was finally able to go back to my regular doc and my new glasses with an updated prescription will be in within a couple of weeks.

Apparently, this is the time for body parts to wear out. Friday evening of Labor Day weekend, my lower bridge came out. There was no pain, but a fair amount of inconvenience and I had to find a new dentist. Mine had retired and in procrastinating, I no doubt would have had the problem detected before this happened. Anyway, I did get an appointment and it was not the best news, but better than it might have been. I started the procedure Tuesday and it will be a multi-phase plan that will conclude with a partial removable denture. Not my preference, but the best of three options. Also not without some degree of pain and a great deal of inconvenience. Ah well, it could indeed be much worse.

And now on to the less pleasant which is having to start a multi-stage dental procedure due to one of my teeth breaking which caused my lower bridge to come out. I have terrible teeth thanks to my mother and I went through some really bad problems a number of years ago. It has been a while, but something like this was likely to happen at some point. My dentist retired and I procrastinated finding one. The new one was recommended by a friend and I like his approach. We discussed options and even though I’m not thrilled, a partial denture (the removable kind) is the most practical solution. Sigh! And of course insurance covers barely one-third the cost. We begin on Tuesday and if there are no complications, I hope we’re done by the end of October although it might go into November because there has to be a “healing gap” on one stage. Guess I’ll have to read up on how to take care of dentures once those are fitted in. Allegedly, if I follow proper care, this should last me 20 years or so.

Shifting to fun aspects, Hubby decided to go a different way than our usual lamb ossubucco Saturday and did a southwestern take, still using the Instapot. This included charring some peppers and chilies as well as changing the spices. It was excellent. Oh, speaking of seasoning, he also finally decided to use the window sill over the sink for herbs. The basil, oregano, and cilantro are doing well. We do have room to maybe put one more and will see what he decides. Ah yes, and my adjustment to the new coffeemaker is pretty well complete. I’ve modified the sequence in how I do it because I have to pull the machine forward in order to clear the upper cabinet to open the top to add water and the coffee. I had to do the same with the other one, but this is wider so when I do, the space between the coffeemaker and toaster oven is tighter. We keep the coffee beans in a ceramic canister and have the grinder, both of which I have to also pull forward. In one of those, “Gee, dummy,,,” moments, if I measure the beans into the grinder, then push the canister back into its spot, I have room to make this work better. There are times when a simple change to a routine really does make a difference.

We did go back to the Cove to Rusty’s Seafood for dinner and while we would have been okay sitting outside, the weather was still looking tricky and we opted for inside. The only drawback was it was a place where the AC was cranked up to an uncomfortable amount. I had worn long sleeves and I still had to give in when Hubby offered to go get a rain jacket. That made it tolerable. The other part of the solution was to have a cup of gumbo for appetizer. It was good; not great. I finally had my grilled lobster as my post-birthday dinner and Hubby did the grilled grouper with a mango salsa. It was dessert night, too, and the white chocolate cheesecake was delicious.

We did make it home without rain and traffic was moderate. The trip is right at four hours the way Hubby drives.

We did have some business to attend to that took longer than expected and I had put some packs of nuts and a Kind bar in my purse just in case. We were scheduled for the 1:00 bus tour at the Space Center. It looked like maybe rain and then we decided not to bring the umbrellas. We didn’t get very wet as the hardest part of the rain came while we were in the bus. The two-hour tour was some behind-the-scenes places and Hubby got a lot of great photos.

The packet of nuts did come in handy and we went to dinner a bit early. This time is was to Grills, another in the row of restaurants. A good band was playing on the deck and having been in and out of rain all day we opted for inside. It would have been okay as it turned out. We shared a terrific bacon wrapped shrimp and shared a salad. Hubby went with cobia in some kind of sauce and I had a second appetizer of a fried shrimp in a Thai chili sauce. Good stuff.

We are in Cape Canaveral for a few days. This is one of those pitches for the Holiday Inn Vacation Club which we probably won’t sign up for. Our experience with these type arrangements in the past haven’t worked well for us. My sister, however, has been with Marriott for decades and loves it. Anyway, we’re here because there is supposed to be a telescope launch in the morning and this spot is one of the places to see the launch.Hubby is out now scouting the best spot. We will also go to the Space Center tomorrow for the afternoon bus tour. It’s been a long time since we were here and I imagine lots of things have been added. Since the only other time we came for a launch Mother Nature did not cooperate. Keeping fingers crossed for this time.

Not sure where we’re going for dinner tonight. I looked up different places and was going to make reservations. Then I realized it looks like there is kind of a “restaurant grouping” which is not unusual. I think we’ll go to the area and make a decision after we look around. Of course, being a Saturday, all the really good places might be crowded, but I think we can take a chance.

They were crowded. The Cove must have 8 restaurants; most seafood with upstairs views of the water. We missed the parking lot for the first one we were going to and it was easy for the second one – Fishlips believe it or not. Multiple good things on the menu. I did lobster bisque and then crab cakes. Not really Lump, but basically no filler and pan fried, not deep fried so all was good. Hubby had jerk mahi with mango salsa. Friendly staff and we’ll going back to the “row”. It’s only a six-minute drive and all those choices.