Laywell's Lamp

Vegetables

2021-04-09T07:08:00.001-05:00

A few years ago I made the switch from canned vegetables to frozen vegetables. Seems like everytime I go to the grocery store I throw a bag or two of frozen vegetables into the basket. It's not only peas, corn, green beans you can find almost any vegetable in frozen form and most are very good. One of my favorites is battered okra but I eat more peas, green beans, corn and mixed vegetables than anything else. Frozen vegetables taste so much better than canned vegetables. The frozen varieties are picked at their their optimal ripeness and immediately frozen. This process retains their flavor and nutrients. My only reason for buying canned vegetable so long was because they were cheap. Now days I don't mind paying a little more for the frozen ones.

Making Your Bed

2021-04-02T07:49:00.001-05:00

Any day can be filled with chaos and unpredictability. Starting off the day with a little order can make a bad day a little less stressful. The morning order I'm speaking of is making your bed. You don't have to pull the corners of the sheets at a 45% angle and tuck them tight. Simply pull the sheet and bed cover over the pillows and straighten out the wrinkles. Every day needs a good starting point and making one's bed is as good or better than most. Making my bed has never giving me a sense of pride or accomplishment as it does for some people, it's just something I've always done. HAVE A GOOD DAY!

NFL

2021-03-26T08:07:00.001-05:00

The NFL signed new television contracts last week. NFL broadcast rights are the most valuable property in television. The new deal is for 11 to 12 seasons. Fox, CBS, and NBC are each paying 2 billion a year. ESPN is paying 2.7 billion a year for Monday Night Football. New to the contract is Amazon. They are paying 1 billion a year to have exclusive rights to Thursday Night Football. So if you don't have an Amazon account ($119 a year) you won't get to watch Thursday Night Football. With the exception of the Amazon deal, Fox, CBS and NBC games will stay about the same. ESPN gets the rights to a more flexible schedule. Maybe we'll get some better games on Monday night. ESPN also gets 3 Mondays where there will be a game on ESPN and a game on ABC. The only thing I'm not sure about is what part ESPN Plus has in all of this. I think the NFL's international games will be on ESPN Plus. Fox will simulcast some of their games on Tubi, CBS on Paramount and NBC on Peacock. All told the NFL's new contract is worth 100 billion dollars. Even if I miss a few games, it looks like I'll get all the games I can handle.

Daylight Saving Time

2021-03-19T08:27:00.003-05:00

On Sunday we moved our time pieces ahead one hour, losing an hour of morning light and gaining an hour of evening light. Why do we keep doing this year after year? I don't know about you but I hate it or maybe it just gives me something to complain about. Yes it gives us an extra hour of light in the evenings but that's the problem. That extra hour of light messes with my circadian rhythms. It's the morning light that sets those rhythms so taking away an hour of morning light plays hell with my circadian rhythms, at least for awhile. This whole time switch thing is suppose to be about saving energy but with today's 24/7 society it's really about giving us more rec and chore time in the evening. The powers to be probably won't ever do away with daylight saving time completely. If they do anything they might make it permanent. Maybe that's the best my body clock can hope for.

Covid Relief

2021-03-12T08:27:00.001-06:00

The 1.9 trillion dollar Covid Relief bill passed Wednesday and President Biden signed it into law Thursday. There were bumps in the road along the way but that always happens in a bill this big. Personally I never thought the bill would not become law. This was the first big test for the Biden administration. Unlike the last time, this time the Democrats did not really try to get any Republicans on board. They did what the American public wanted them to do, Republicans support or no Republican support. The Republicans 600 billion dollar Covid Relief proposal was a joke. The Republican are so out of touch. Do I need to remind them more than 524,000 Americans have died from Covid and that the virus has wrecked the economy. The bill that President Biden signed into law is not only about getting shots into the arms of Americans, it about getting money into the economy. The Democrats did not get the $15 minimum wage they wanted but that was a small price to pay for getting the bill passed. All Americans should be encouraged by the bills passage whether your Democrat or Republican. This is government working for you, not you working for the government. This is why I'm a Democrat.

The Big Lie Keeps Going On And On

2021-03-05T07:13:00.001-06:00

I knew we had not heard the last of donald Trump. At the Conservative Political Action Conference this past weekend, Trump was front and center. He continued spewing the lie the 2020 election was stolen from him. He went on and on about how the election was rigged. The crowd loved it and gave him a standing ovation. None of this should have surprised anyone nor that he would tease a 2024 presidential run. The Republicans can't win with the fractured Party they currently have and they sure can't win if the Party gets any smaller. Have they forgot they lost the 2020 Presidential election by seven million votes? The last time they won the popular vote was 1984. Trump not only lost the 2020 Presidential election, he lost the House in 2018 and the Senate in 2020. It looks like the Republicans can't see the forest for the trees. Politics is a game of addition not a game of subtraction. The Democrats are growing more and more trees every day

Super Bowl Commercials

2021-02-12T07:14:00.001-06:00

The biggest advertising day of the year was this past Sunday. Amazon, Anheuser Busch, Cadillac, Door Dash, GM, Jeep, M and Ms, Scotts Miracle Gro and Oatly's oat milk were just a few of the companies who ran commercials during the Super Bowl. I liked most of the commercials and thought all were very creative. My favorite was the Cadillac ad where Edward Sissorhands drove a hands free Cadillac. My least favorite was the Oatly's oat milk where the company owner sets in a file of oats and sings and sings very badly. This year the commercials were better than the halftime show. Yes I know I'm kind of an old fart but I had no clue who the star of the half time show was. He could sing pretty good but I had never heard of him. The half time show was a dud for me, I would rather been shown more commercial instead. I'm never going to own a Cadillac nor am I ever going to drink oat milk so all that really mattered was the game itself. I wanted Tampa Bay to win and they did but I'll have to admit, I thought Kansas City would win the game. Now a whole year will pass before the next Super Bowl kicks off. Maybe the two teams will be different or maybe not. The commercials will be just as creative but I sure hope the half time show is better.

Super Bowl Pregame

2021-02-05T07:49:00.001-06:00

It's that weeknd again. Super Bowl kicks off Sunday at 5:30 PM. It's a game I try never to miss. What I do try to miss is the pregame. This year there is seven hours of pregame programing. CBS will telecast the game this year but it really doesn't matter which network telecast the big game there is always seven to eight hours of pregame. Guess the powers to be know most males cant get enough and I imagine the network's ad revenue justifies what they have to pay for the rights to telecast the game. Still I wonder is there anyone who actually watches all the coverage from start to finish? As for myself I never watch any of the pregame, turning on the broadcast about ten minutes before kick off.

They Should Throw Away The Key

2021-01-29T08:49:00.001-06:00

The United States House of Representatives concluded the President was guilty. It does not look like the outcome will be the same in the United States Senate so it looks as thou democracy will turn it's ugly head. The Democrats should just get on with new business and let the criminal courts worry about Trump. The criminal courts have a good case against the former President. If direct punishment is in Trump's future It will make other politicians think twice before they engage in such narcissist behaviour. Some Republicans will tell you "If a President does it it's legal" but I still say "no one is above the law". Trump failed in the polls, he failed in the Electoral College and failed in 62 separate court cases trying to overturn the election. Maybe that's enough misery but what he did on January 6th is a crime pure and simple. He summoned a mob, assembled a mob and lit the flame. For that democracy should do it's job and throw away the key.

Donuts in Rosebud

2021-01-22T06:40:00.004-06:00

Last week I wrote about trying to eat more fruit. I also wrote if a donut was setting beside an apple or an orange I'd probably grab the donut first. Well this week I turned in a HEB grocery order for curbside pickup and could not resist adding a six count box of donuts to the order. If the HEB employee had not put all the groceries in the trunk I would probably eaten a couple of those donuts on the drive home.

As a kid I don't ever remember eating donuts. It wasn't until my early 20's I learned to love those melt in your mouth circles of fried dough. During my 20's I lived in the very small town of Rosebud Texas, population around 1200. In Rosebud there was a small cafe that opened at 4:30 AM and closed at 1:30 PM. This little cafe was mainly a breakfast place. They fried fresh donut every morning and had the coffee and donuts ready at 4:30 AM. During those years of living in Rosebud my job had me working all hours of the night. Lots of mornings several hours before sunrise I'd join the city night watchman, maybe a long haul truck driver or even an early rising citizen for coffee and donuts. You never knew who you might run into in that little cafe. One thing was for sure, everyone in that little cafe at 4:30 AM was after the same thing, coffee and donuts. There was no rainbow icing or sprinkles on the donuts just plain glazed donuts, that's all they made. Simply walking into that little cafe was intoxicating. The smell of sugar hit you when you walked in the door. Biting into a fresh hot glazed donut is a treat everyone should have.

I enjoyed the donuts I got at HEB this week but they don't compare to those donuts in Rosebud. I guess it's true what they say "One can never go home again" but every time I eat a donut I think of that little cafe in Rosebud

Eat More Fruit

2021-01-15T10:36:00.001-06:00

Every year I make the same resolution "Eat More fruit". Last year I started with apples trying to eat one every day. I was pretty successful and soon came to love apples. This year I added mandarins oranges to the list. A three pound bag of small gala apples is around $3 and a five pound bag of mandarins is between $5 and $6 both cheap enough to be a staple in my diet. Fruits of all types are readily available year round in most supermarkets. I like both galas and mandarins but have to admit that if a doughnut was in front of me I would grab the doughnut before I grabbed the apple or mandarin. Doughnuts are delicious in ways an apple or mandarin could never be but I'm not about to eat a doughnut every day. I prefer fruit that has a long shelf life. Apples if kept in the refrigerator will last almost two months while mandarins have a much shorter shelf life. I'm still experimenting with the mandarin shelf life but it looks like it's at least two weeks. I seem to plan my trips to the grocery store when I run out of fruit. Even if fruit in not on my list it seems to find it's way into my cart. Here lately I've eating a couple of mandarins for breakfast and an apple for an afternoon snack. So far my new years resolution is holding. Will I get full of apples and oranges and grab a box of doughnuts the next time I go to the grocery store. Maybe!

Clear and Present Danger

2021-01-08T07:11:00.001-06:00

Watching Wednesday's storming of the United States Capital, I saw Trump supporters aggressively and violently trying to overthrow the United State's government. The event was a dark day for our country and democracy. The attack on the Capital was bad enough but more unfathomable was the fact that the attaching mob was egged on and encouraged by President Trump. His direction of armed forces to lay siege of the Unites Stated Capital complex is unacceptable and should force the Congress to deal with the President in the harshest maner. Now more that ever it is clear that Trump was never fit to lead the United States of America and has never respected the office he holds. With only a few days left in Trumps term it would be almost impossible to impeach him but there is plenty of time for the congress to invoke the 25th amendment allowing the Vice President to remove the President from office. In my opinion, President Trump poses a Clear and Present Danger to the United States of America and it's people.

Trump's Get Out Of Jail Card

2021-01-01T10:51:00.002-06:00

14,000 people have applied for one of Trump's free get out of jail cards. He is dooling them out to some pretty dispicial people. A security contractor serving a life sentence for first degree murder, two United States congressmen convicted of finance abuse, money laundering and fraud, Border guards convicted of assault and gun crimes, Roger Stone convicted of lying to Congress and jury tampering, Paul Manafort convicted of tax and bank fraud, witness tampering and lying to Congress. He even pardoned his son in law's father. Guess Trump likes to keep his family close. Those are just a few of the diesticable characters Trump has pardoned and I'm sure there are more to come. He may even give some of those cards to his three children and even himself. Pardones are suppose to be an instrument of justice not an instrument of corruption.

Christmas Morning

2020-12-25T07:28:00.000-06:00

No matter what age you are, Christmas morning is the most special time of the year. When your real young your filled with anticipation and usually surprised before the day's end. When your early middle age it's all about watching the children unwrapping gifts and hearing their squeals of delight. When your a lot older, Christmas morning consist mabe of a special breakfast, getting Christmas day meal started, watching parades and football on TV. I don't expect this Christmas morning to be any different. Merry Christmas to everyone

Flour Tortillas

2020-12-18T08:40:00.001-06:00

Flour tortillas are a staple in the southwest. The HEB grocery chain is the best place to get mass produced flour tortillas. The grocery chain basically makes two version of the tortilla. The assembly line tortilla is about 11 cents each in a 20 count package. The fresh hand made tortilla is about 21 cents in a 20 count package. Over the last few days I put both tortillas to the test using each with the same filling. For most fillings I thought the 11 cent assembly line tortilla was just as good as the 21 cent tortilla. They were better when used with egg filling or any kind of bean filling. The 21 cent tortillas were better with any hard meat, like fajitas. Over all, I did not think it was worth paying double for the hand made tortillas. Probably won't be buying anymore of the fresh hand made tortillas. I'll stick to HEB's standard flour tortilla, they are more versatile and cost half as much.

Walking For Health

2020-12-11T07:31:00.001-06:00

Most days of the last several weeks have been great walking days. Afternoon highs in the 70s and morning lows in the 30s make for beautiful days. Walking is the only kind of exercise I do. It seems to improve my physical and mental health. I don't really know if walking extends life or prevents disease but it sure doesn't hurt. Walking at a fairly brisk pace is kind of like aerobic exercise, good for the heart and lungs. One of the best things about walking is it's accessible, easy and free. Most months I walk between 65 and 85 miles. Depending on the season my walking times very. The early and mid day times are best but it really depends on the weather more than my schedule. From mid December through February I usually really cut back on walking because of the cedar pollen in the air. Last year during that period the cedar pollen count got above 30,000 on some days which really took a toll on me. At the time of this writing the cedar count is 13 so you can imagine how bad one fells when the count is 30,000. One can take medication but staying indoors is the best medicine. This year I plan to adjust the walking schedule, checking the pollen count before I hit the walking route.

Pardon Me

2020-12-04T08:03:00.001-06:00

Last month President Trump pardoned Michael Flynn. Flynn is a guy who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI. If you or I would have lied to the FBI we would be in deep dodo. Flynn's pardon is just a long list of Presidential pardons to come. All presidents use the pardon power but Trump's use of the power is almost criminal. Along with Flynn, Trump has also pardoned Roger Stone. Stone was convicted on seven felony counts of which the most sever were witness tampering and obstruction of justice. Trump may even pardon himself, something no president has ever done. He could resign and have the Vice President pardon him, something similar to Ford pardoning Nixon. I think Trump's ego is too large, he would never resign. Besides a Trump pardon would only get him out of Federal charges, he would still have to stand trial of any State charges of which are much worse for him than the Federal charges. This latest presidential pardon news is Trump is in discussion to pardon this three oldest children, son in law and his court jester Rudy Giuliani. This week, federal investigators started looking into a scheme of money for pardons. It's hard to believe Trump is stupid enough to be in on such a scheme but nothing wold surprise me about that carnival barker Trump.

Tamales

2020-11-27T17:48:00.000-06:00

Thanksgiving has come and gone. The day was a little different this year. Covid 19 restrictions made a lot of Turkey Day gatherings much smaller for most families. Other than fewer people around the family dinner table the day was about the same with all the traditional foods. The day after Turkey day is usually filled with recipes of leftover food from the day before but this year was different for me. Tamales not leftover turkey was on the menu. Tamales are comforting delicious staple in Mexico. In Mexico they are eaten year round at breakfast, noon and night but in Texas they are mostly eaten in late November through the month of December. Tamales are made of corn based masa dough with a meat filling then wrapped in a corn husk and steamed in a big pot. They are probably not very healthy because of the lard and salt that it takes to make them but they sure are good. So my blood pressure and cholesterol rises a little, the same thing would happen If I ate leftover sweet potatoes and dressing and all that pie. At least tamales won't cause my sugar level to rise. This year I put several dozen in tamales in the freezer so I'll be able to eat them year round. The only real problem is they are getting expensive. I think the cheapest I ever paid for tamales was $5 a dozen at a small stand in front of a grocery store. This year they were $15 a dozen and if you wanted extra filling in them they were $20 a dozen. Life is short so if I want to eat half a dozen tamales every few weeks I'm going indulge in that pleasure no matter what the cost to my health or finances.

Polling America

2020-11-20T20:08:00.000-06:00

Leading up to the presidential election I followed the election just like most people. Most polls showed a 10 point lead for Biden but that's sure not how the election turned out. I'm beginning to think we would be better off without polls. This is the second time pollisters failed miserably trying to assess the presidential election. Guess they deserve some credit, at least they were correct in saying Biden would win. Polling is hard. Trying to find out how a person is going to vote is not a true science. Some people don't want to even talk to a pollister and some people flat out lie when ask who they are planning to vote for. Maybe the pollisters will do a better job next time but I doubt it.

Detached From Realities

2020-11-13T08:31:00.001-06:00

Donald Trump still thinks he won the election so he seems to be starting his second term. He will be taking full advantage of the time he has left. It would not surprise me if he fires several Cabinet members. He has already fired his Secretary of Defence and there is no telling who is next. He also told all his aids and advisers they would be fired immediately if they start looking for a job between now and January. Look for Trump to start signing executive orders right and left which is really stupid. Biden will simply undo them all with the stroke of a pen. Yes Trump is still President until January but he acting like he will be President for the next four years. He will shortly be resuming his travel itinerary holding rallies all over North America.

I don't know why the President is surprised he lost the election. During the last six months of the election he failed to lay out any agenda for his next four years. At least Biden told us what his agenda is. All Trump said was "Make America Great Again". Plain and simple President Trump is detached from realities and it gets worse every day. I've said it before and I'll say it again "he will go down in history as the worst American president".

Daylight Saving Time

2020-11-06T07:19:00.001-06:00

Twice a year we get our body clocks screwed up. Why won't the government leave our circadian rhythms alone? Last week it was time for the bi-annual time change. We all know that song and dance "Spring forward Fall Back". Changing our clocks on those two days makes those to accompanying Sundays weird. All this is because of Congress. Why don't the powers to be just leave Standard Time alone? I don't care about the hour we gain and I sure don't like the hour we lose. I don't want my life to be like a football or basketball game were time is managed. It so much better to let life just flow. Oh there are time were precise time matters but most of the time it's simply sunrise sunset.

An Apple A Day

2020-10-30T07:49:00.001-05:00

Growing up I don't remember much fruit around the house. If there was any maybe it was oranges or tangerines. Why didn't mother buy fruit especially apples and bananas? These day I usually eat an apple a day. I would eat a banana every day but banana don't stay good very long where as apples will stay good a couple of months if kept in the fridge. There are many kinds of apples to chose from but I mainly stick to Galas because they are cheap and plentiful. A three pound bag of Galas usually cost around $3. Last week I bought two three pound bags of small Red Delicious apples for $2.50 a bag, a bargain for sure. I really don't know much about apples but I do know day in and day out Galas are the best choice for me. I stay away for Pink Ladies, Fiji, Empire, Cosmic Crisp and all the many other kinds of apples. I'm sure they are very good but I just don't want to pay their asking price. An apple a day keeps the doctor away. I don't know if there is any truth in that. I eat apples because I like them, they stay good a long time and Galas are inexpensive.

Green Bean Casserole

2020-10-23T07:23:00.001-05:00

Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays come around every year and so it seems does the reliable green bean casserole. I don't ever want to ever hear any complaints when that green dish of goo is set in front of you. Whether you love or loath such a casserole just put some on your plate when ever you get the chance, your tummy will thank you. Another thing, don't tinker with the original tried and true recipe because I'll defend that tried and true recipe till the day I die. The recipe only has three main ingredients, green beans, cream of mushroom soup and fried onions. When I saw a huge bag of fried onions at Sam's for $7.44 I thought I would see what all I could use the fried onions for other than green bean casserole. So far I've used them in soups, coating for baked chicken breast, by them selves as a substitute for potato chips, on burgers, grilled cheese sandwiches, cornbread and even in oatmeal. All were pretty good except for the oatmeal.
Green Bean casseroles are Thanksgiving and Christmas traditions just like peach cobbler and BBQ are on the Fourth of July. It won't be long before most of us will get a chance at some of that green goo. I know you can't wait.

Voting By Mail

2020-10-16T07:45:00.001-05:00

I received an official mail in ballot this week. The coming election will not be my first time voting by mail. If you pay attention to the President you know he claims voting by mail is susceptible to fraud even though there is little evidence of that. What a hypocrite the President is, he votes by mail himself.

Election officials have assured the public the voting by mail process is secure but the President's rhetoric could scare some from voting at all. What the President and his lapdog Republicans are doing is clearly voter suppression. If I had my way every American citizen of voting age would receive an official mail in ballot. Every one should vote no matter what method they use to cast their vote.

Flu Shot

2020-10-09T07:09:00.001-05:00

It's about the time of the year when you need to get a flu shot. A flu shot seriously reduces your chances of contracting the flu. I've been getting shot annually for probably close to thirty years and have never gotten the flu any of those years. I can still remember how sick I was the last time I contracted the flu and never want to go through that ordeal again. I hear people say all the time "I never get a flu shot". I'm not one of those people. Got my flu shot a couple of weeks ago at my local hospital. The hospital held a drive through flu shot clinic. Did not even have to get out of the car and it only took fifteen minutes from the time I pulled in until the time I pulled out. No one wants to catch the flu and feel feverish and crappy for weeks so why don't those no shot people get their shot? In one word the answer is basically "STUPIDITY". At least those stupid people won't pass the their flu to me because I've gotten my flu shot. Oh there is a very slight chance I could still contract the flu even after getting a flu shot but the flu version would be very mild only lasting 24 to 48 hours. I can handle that kind of flu but don't ever want to get the flu that last three weeks so I get my shot in September every year.