Voltron

Well, nobody seemed to spot the beverage so here's a closer shot with my trusty shovel. Finishing up the bottle now. Am told that it was raining at a clip of 5 inches per hour this morning. About a quarter inch is covering parts of the "basement" level of the house and the ground us practically liquified on the side of the house. There are springs of water bubbling up near our fountain and the path is cracked and sinking into the mud.

Thanks folks. This WAYDN post is brought to by the makers of Where's Waldo and Reks' Handled Shovels, as well as the letters D, F and H. Cheers from the mudslide!

Drinking a coke among the devastation in Mayberry's back yard and getting ready to pop a DFH Bitches Brew shortly. Effectively had a mudslide right into the drainage pond that saves the house from flooding. Luckily, Frank the tenant called after trying to deal with it himself for an hour. Problem was he didn't address the real problem at the main drain uphill. Plumber snaked it and now I just have to shovel half the hill out of the back yard. Fuck me.

Thanks Andy. I will call Jack Wu and Todd and see if they would be interested in matching or beating those prices. Todd doesn't advertise Stax any more, so I am not sure of his status with them. I will post something up.

Houdini was awesome! HBD Harry.

Little Italy and Greenpoint cocktails. I do like the Manhattan variations.

Where are you no. 3, Andy? And who is no. 1?! I want in on one of these, but I am not sure where/how. If anybody is able to school me I would appreciate it.

Good news is good. Glad to hear the good outcome Carl.

You do know you can tap the top of most any page on your iPhone to go to the top, don't you?

Vespers are good.

Thanks Dan, great start! I will be stowing one in my car trunk at all times now. Shelly, a Manhattan with some Tennessee whiskey would be perfect. My Memphis-born mom's favorite cocktail. Thanks!

Man, I need a real drink. This Ocean Spray cran-pomegranate ain't cutting it. Maybe there's a fax at the nurse's station.

Thank you so much for your messages everyone. Your instant response yesterday did me a lot of good and all that positive energy even buoyed my Mom up a bit. She had a good day yesterday and Claire and I and the kids visited her in the hospital last night along with my oldest brother and sister, a nephew and my beleaguered but dauntless 88 year old Dad. They sang happy birthday to me as they have every year of my life. Although we were supposed to be bringing dinner for the crew, my brother had a birthday cake from the supermarket to make it complete. Keep thinking good thoughts because my Mom is having a really bad day again today. I will be heading back after I get done with jury duty tonight. You don't have to keep posting because I know you're behind us, but I wanted to thank you all and give a quick update. Al

Thanks for the thread, Gene dear, and thanks for all the extra double super birthday wishes and the cake that Digger made! Hope it tasted as good as it looked. Probably my worst birthday on record with boxing/dismantling/moving for a remodel dominating the entire weekend, finding the basement flooded in Mayberry because the pond overflowed, dealing with the kitchen sink that was clogged, working around the minor construction project in Mayberry that was supposed to be done by now but isn't, and capped off by the worst part finding out that my mother was admitted into the hospital for the second time in a week. In one of her few lucid moments of the day (due to sodium/potassium imbalances and possibly a TIA) she said she wanted to call me for my birthday. That was pretty sweet, even though today she cannot recall yesterday at all and wonders why she is in the hospital. Think good thoughts friends, the MOTDOTU (Mother of the Defender of the Universe) needs them.

And here was breakfast:

I want to cut that loaf in half and slap the brisket in the middle. Now that would be a sandwich!

Happy Birthday ro-bro Smegatron! Have a great one buddy, and hang out here more often! Thanks for all the good wishes everybody! I am about to have a fancy breakfast prepared by my 13 yo son: potato pancakes he learned how to make in his French class, eggs, bacon and a latte Nice. The rest of the day is going to be consumed with finishing packing up stuff to take to Mayberry during the remodeling that starts here in SF tomorrow. Joy.

Very cool, Mike. I was at the Yoshi's show and have started to write up impressions a couple times. They were both great but Zoe had her own shows so they were splitting up after that show.

Heh, last night you had the DTs and now you're drinking one!

His parrots must have watched Star Wars.

Basically neat.

Hey, Phil is drinking with us! Hey, Jason, and glad you're back around. I have a CanJam LAX glencairn in hand, but he Parker's 27 that was in it is mostly in me. Not very photogenic. Maybe next one.

Mike B and Scott are sporting some serious brew collections, and Mikeymad is pulling out the serious Irish. Nice all around, except Colin who needs to drink something better than MD. Moving on to a bastardized Tipperary Cocktail (No. 1) 1/3 Italian Vermouth. 1/3 Green Chartreuse. 1/3 Irish Whisky. Shake (I stirred) well and strain into cocktail glass. I have no Irish whiskey in the house, so Scotch whisky will have to do! Again, Ellestad recommends that it be subbed although the Rattray or the Connemara would of course be great. Cheers again!

As I said in the WAYDN thread, cheers to Gary and the hereafter. Sorry for your loss and I hope Stacy is doing alright.

Tipperary Cocktail (No. 2) 1/6 Orange Juice. 1/6 Grenadine. 1/3 French Vermouth. 1/3 Dry Gin. 2 Sprigs Green Mint. Shake well and strain into cocktail glass. OK, so I doubled his recipe but took Ellestad's advice and did half OJ and half lime juice because I am not a fan of OJ in most cocktails. I had no mint, however, so I threw in a lime garnish for the Green. Toasting Ken's departed friend Gary and Mike's dear brother Chuck, and also celebrating my 84 year old part Irish mother being sprung from the hospital after two days due to a diverticulitis type episode (her third but least serious). Cheers all!