Hopefully all I'll ever have to do is test the darned things but one never knows. We do get our share of tornadoes around here. There was a real bad one just a few years back that just about wiped out a small town just 50 miles or so south of here in Utica IL.
It pretty much wiped out the downtown area and killed several people who had taken shelter in a bar. It's wierd because just the summer before my in laws were in town and we were staying in the Inn at Starved Rock State park about 10 miles from there. We ate lunch in that very bar. It was a rather Historic old building. It looked real solid to me...made out of quarry stone and masonry but that twister just reduced it to rubble and killed a few of the folks inside.
So believe me around here we pay attention during tornado season. Weather events are mostly what we plan and practice for around here but since 9-11 terrorism is a very real concern.
Some parts of our county have very real flooding problems. Back in 97 almost a third of the county was seriously affected by flooding and it literally overwhelmed the communications systems. So we can sympathize with what happened in NO. We've got special radio networks set up for that eventuality. We hope not to get caught with our pants down again!
I can relate to your root cellar story. My grandparents had one at their place in southern Ohio. I remember my grandma heading us young uns down there more than once. I'll probably always relate the smell of musty dirt and canned goods to bad weather.
My son can't wait for the next mass casualty drill. He wants me to gore him up real good and take pictures for his 5th grade class. After his teacher sees that she'll most likely call the authorities but I think we'll risk it. Besides if you can't hook a blood pump and fake a sucking chest wound on your own kid who can you do it to?
If you have anything like a CERT program or Weather Spotter network in your area check it out. You'll learn some valuable skills and meet some great folks. Besides it keeps me off the streets and that's almost always a good thing.
Hey thanks for that steamed fish recipe. We gave it a try with a couple small mods. It's very good. We put a few drops of toasted sesame oil on it before serving it. Yummy.
Oh boy, another shooting. Sounds like somebody caught a 9mm or two in the chest. That'll wreck your whole day.
L
"Hey thanks for that steamed fish recipe. We gave it a try with a couple small mods. It's very good. We put a few drops of toasted sesame oil on it before serving it. Yummy."
So how did the Mahi Mahi come out? I think I want to try that out myself.
I'ld also like to try skate its a coarse fish and I think it would steam up nice.
There is another delicasy that you will not be able to buy.
It's West Coast smoked salmon. The natives call it Indian Candy. It's open smoked on a rack.
There is a canned version in the Comox Valley where the salmon is rack smoked and then canned in fish oil.
It has black char from smoking like BBQ prime rib and it is butter tender.
The fish oil comes from rendering the skins and is used by the natives like olive oil as a preservative and for cooking.
Man a plateful of that with honey dew and cantelope balls (made with a melon scoop) and you are in West Coast heaven.
Am I driving you crazy yet?