Daily Archives: May 5, 2020
900 Year Old Sausage & Getting Stimulated . . .
As I mentioned in Saturday’s blog, we ate dinner at Saltgrass Steakhouse that night, and then Sunday, we had breakfast for dinner at our local Denny’s. And as at Saltgrass there were a few changes from normal.
We were ‘social distanced’, spread out among the booths and our waitress, Shelby, wore a mask. Our menu (we only got one) was printed on paper and thrown away as soon as we were finished ordering, and no salt/pepper shakers, jus the paper packets. Same thing goes with the sugar/jelly/creamers. As soon as we were done, the remaining packs were thrown away.
I didn’t see our usual waiter, Scott, so I asked. Shelby, said he was not coming back for a couple of weeks so he could collect the extra $600/week unemployment for a while longer. And in his case I don’t have a problem since I know he takes care of his invalid mother.
But I have heard of other places that are trying to reopen but can’t get their staff back to work because they’re making more on unemployment with the extra $600 than they can make on the job.
Of course if they wait too long, until the extra money runs out July 31st, there may not be a business to come back to.
Then this afternoon we did Curbside Pickup at our local Whataburger once again.
That’s a Double Meat with Cheese, Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato, Onions, and Grilled Jalapenos, along with Mustard and Mayo
And no, no Ketchup. And not on Hotdogs, either. Ketchup goes on French Fries. And maybe on top of your grandmother’s Meatloaf. That’s it.
We asked Lillian, the young lady who brought our order out if she knew when they were going to reopen the dining room, and she said no one had any idea.
And on the Wuhanic Plague front:
Tanzania suspends laboratory head after their president questions coronavirus tests. In this case the lab said a sample from a goat and a pawpaw fruit both tested positive for the virus. Maybe this is what happened with my test, too.
And here’s a couple of articles about all the different strains of WuFlu that are running around the world, and how the vaccines may not work against all of them.
More mutant strains of coronavirus found in Europe.
At least 12 strains of the virus found in the U.K.
It may be that any vaccine that they come up with will be about as effective against all the different versions as the yearly flu vaccinations are against the seasonal flu.
Which about about 25% effective in 2018 and 35% effective in 2019.
And here’s a medical article from an Italian researcher who says she has discovered how CoVid damages the hemoglobin in the blood, and how HCQ actually works to block the virus.
And here’s a Dallas Salon owner who defied the authorities and opened her salon a week early.
A Texas salon owner was given seven days in jail on Tuesday after she refused to apologize for defying coronavirus related restrictions by remaining open for business.
Dallas business owner Shelley Luther was given a choice: She could offer an apology for selfishness, pay a fine and shutdown until Friday, or serve jail time.
“I have to disagree with you, sir, when you say that I’m selfish because feeding my kids is not selfish,” she told the judge. “I have hairstylists that are going hungry because they would rather feed their kids. So sir, if you think the law is more important than kids getting fed, then please go ahead with your decision. But I am not going to shut the salon.”
After her refusal to show contrition, bailiffs led her away to be booked. Her sentence reportedly symbolizes the seven-days she stayed open, despite county regulations.
So now she’s looking at a $7000 fine, and 10’s of thousands of Dollars in lawyer costs. So a friend set up a GoFundMe site here to help cover her costs.
Don’t know your feelings about this, but I sent in $25.
Well, it looks like we’ve been officially Simulated. Today was the first time I’ve gone to the IRS.gov/coronavirus/getmypayment website and go anything other than an error message. Now I get this,
So I guess the check’s in the mail.
Unfortunately it’s going to our South Dakota address.
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One Year Ago Today: We were in Regensburg, Bavaria, Germany
Regensburg, Germany . . .5/5/2019
As with other towns/excursions along our river cruise, when we woke up we were docked out in the middle of nowhere. Just a dock, some mooring capstans, and a gangplank to the shore.
What happens is that they would dock a ways out from town, let off the people who were going to take the excursion, and then the ship would proceed on into the dock in town where it would be waiting for us at the end of the day.
So today we had a 40 minute bus ride into Regensburg, Bavaria, Germany. Founded in the mid-1200’s, it’s known for having a higher concentration of bars than any other German city.
Coming into town we passed field after field of what turned out to be mustard plants
Which turn out to figure in our lunch.
We met our local guide at the bus park and started our walking tour into town, taking in the many sights.
Though the town itself was established in 1245, it had been a Roman settlement since around 100 A.D. It fact this stone arch was part of a wall that was commissioned in 179 A.D.
Everything over here is just OLD.
Coming into the main part of town we crossed the Old Stone Bridge.
Built around 1135, it was the only bridge across the river until the 1930’s. Originally a toll bridge, two different Crusades to the Holy Land passed over it along the way.
Next up was St. Peter’s Cathedral.
Built in 1280 to replace one that was built in 700 A.D. and burned down in 1273 A.D.
Did I mentioned that everything over here is just OLD.
After we finished touring the town museum, we came outside to find that the temp had dropped into the low 40’s and it was sprinkling.
But we had planned to have lunch at the historic Regensburg Sausage Kitchen.
And by historic, I mean the 900 year old Regensburg Sausage Kitchen
Did I mentioned that everything over here is just OLD.
It is said the Sausage Kitchen fed the workers who were building the Stone Bridge right next door.
When we came out, the umbrellas were up, holding off some of the rain, so we ordered “Sechs und Kraut”. Or Six and Kraut in English.
Which means six of their famous sausages, kraut, and rolls (Brötchen), the same thing that they have been serving all these years.
And it was delicious. Even though by the time our order came, it was 37 degrees and sleeting.
Where did this come from?
But the real standout of the meal was their Sweet Spicy Mustard, made from the same recipe all these years. So good that after the meal, I stood in line in the sleeting rain for 10 minutes to buy a bottle to take home.
Unfortunately as we were packing our suitcases in London before we came home, and swapping things back and forth trying to meet the weight limits, the bottle accidently ended up in one of our carry-on bags, and is now being enjoyed by a TSA guy in London.
But I discovered that I could order some online from a US company, so two jars are now sitting in our kitchen. And we’ve ordered it again since then.
By now it was time for us to meet our ship, and we were told it was waiting for us about a half mile down the river at dock 2. So a bunch of us headed out, only to find that the Skirnir had not yet arrived. So there we all stood in the rain.
But the captain of the Viking ship Tor took pity on us and let us come onboard to wait until our ship arrived.
After getting back on board, dry and warmed up, and a nap, we met up with our usual crowd for another great meal.
Jan and I started with the Sweet Potato Soup,
the Veal Scaloppini.
along with Carrot Cake for me,
and Tiramisu for Jan for dessert.
Later, we were given a talk about the many locks and low bridges that we would be encountering in the coming days. And because of this we were told that the Sundeck would be closed for the next week or so.
Everything is folded down, including the railings, to allow the ship under the many low bridges. And since it takes over 2 hours to complete the procedure, either way, they just leave them down until they’re through the worse of it.
Here’s what it normally looks like.
Next up: Nuremburg
Thought For The Day:
