Catch up time

Apologies and belated thanks to all that inquired here concerning our absence for the majority of February 2008. A problem with the delivery gizmo of the isp or some sort of technical jazz I could not phantom in three lifetimes. Glad to be back , and happy that anyone notes this scribble as a worthy read........ I will have to continue this annoying habit of using these running dots until I can learn how to use the technical gizmo's that allow for composition of sentences and paragraphs on these pages. If a nineteen year old can understand such sundry devices I suppose I should seek the means to this grammatical end. In the mean time I am afraid you will have to suffer along with me.....Can I pick 'em! The 2008 Detroit Tigers are off to a zero and seven record. I bet the puddy tats on the nose to win more games than the hapless tribe hooligans who fool around at winning baseball down the block from here. It is a long time before October first , and who knows? "Iffy The Dopester" perhaps? Who is this "Iffy The Dopester"? A Detroit newspaper editor named Malcolm Bingay who created in 1934 this immortal imaginary character to celebrate the Detroit Tigers baseball team on the sports page of the Detroit Free Press. I bring up " Iffy" , here in hopes that the Tigers can complete the 2008 season ahead of the tribe in the games won column in the American League Central division.......Betting with Slipsy JR is always a pleasure , and his recipe for salad always hits the spot! I offer this springtime salad recipe as a quick alternative to the regular lettuce and tomato variety that later comes from your garden. Take two cukes and peal and pare them , slicing them into rounds. Place them in a ceramic or glass vessel and sprinkle them with coarse salt and let stand for an hour or so. In the meantime , take a couple of medium or small red and white onions and peal and pare them as well. Take care to remove any of the green sprouting growths common in most storage onions found in market today. Slice these onions in half lengthwise and then in thin half moons and place in a glass bowl. Rinse the salt off the cukes in cold water and place with the onions in the glass vessel. Cover the cukes and onions with white vinegar , and season with coarse black pepper , white pepper , and freshly purchased dehydrated garlic powder. If you have access to fresh California garlic by all means please add these peeled cloves to the salad according to your taste. Do not in any case use or purchase Chinese garlic. If you consider the amount of lead and toxins that exist in merchandise imported from China , please do not consider a purchase of any agrarian products that originate from China. Let your cuke / onion vinegar salad sit at room temperature for a minimum of eighth hours , taste and dilute to taste with fresh cold water. Chill and serve later with grilled meats or fish. I prefer to add at least six jalapeno peppers that have been washed quartered and taking care to remove the white veins and stripped of their seeds of this hot pepper.This addition gives some zing to this salad . I omit the jalapenos here for the faint of heart , though those of you with a bit of verve , please feel free to add. And thank you and a tip of the old green hat to JR Slipsy whose conversation produced this culinary idea....... Enough of this chatty bloviation for the day. I remain sick and tired of politics in this and every season. The behavior of all the National media concerning the 2008 election seems to be extraneous and without much merit. Get used to the idea of Barack Obama as president and get out and work for his cause...... My thanks and a tip of my baseball cap to the kindness of Kim and John who keep me in care packages and help me to mind my business affairs in an active fashion. They are true real people in an often thorny phony world. I am in great debt always to their kindness.Kim's colorful packages are a treat to put my eyes upon , and the figures from history that cover the boxes are refreshing and relaxing and easy on the eyes............. Book Selling Time! I promise myself to work harder at selling and describing for sale books in this space. In possession of a great plan to describe and talk about books and events more than the local politics and cheap players that raise my ire. A recent and timely acquisition of note is a autographed copy of Bill Clinton's MY LIFE. Simply signed on the books title page by Bill Clinton , this is a great opportunity to own an authentic autograph of a rather important American President. I say no more here . I am certain that most all of you reading these words have formed an opinion concerning this rather rascally former President. Say what you will about this Arkansas traveller , the world seems to embrace him in a higher fashion than our current seated President. Now if we could only convince Bill Clinton to tell Hillary to sit it out in 2008 , we might just get someplace down the road. I am afraid that yet another Whitehouse dynasty is not to many of our likings. Sit it out Hillary. No more business as usual please.

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