Another Late Night Taco Run

 

Song:  Legend of a Mind

Group:  Moody Blues

As I was relaxing in bed at 8 PM...

I suddenly got a craving for tacos.

I wanted to try another new place...

and so...

I decided to drive to Colorado Springs...

as they had restaurants which didn't close until much later 

than the nearby restaurants to me.

The temperature was in the low 60s F when I left.

On my way to the main road shortly after reaching the main community road...

after just exiting my mountain ridge road.

I was just a few miles down the main road to town when the sun began to set.

I had never before been to Dos Santos.

As it was near the downtown district of Colorado Springs...

I hadn't realized that it is more of a date night place...

as there were a lot of young couples there.

I also hadn't realized that the fire pit area belonged to a different restaurant.

And so...

I had just sat down at one of the tables there...

when one of the waiters from Dos Santos told me that I was in the wrong seating area.

I sat at one of the Dos Santos' outside tables...

since it was warm with a slightly cool breeze on this night.

As I looked at the menu...

I had seen that it was filled with specialty items not normally associated 

with a standard Mexican restaurant.

So...

I ordered a shrimp and avocado appetizer...

...and one shrimp...

one fish...

and three beef tacos.

These had unique sauces and ingredients...

and while they tasted okay...

I like the more traditional Mexican style food much more...

but these had satisfied my craving for the night.

These were more like "Fusion" tacos.

My favorite taco restaurant is still in Cripple Creek...

but it isn't open late.

After finishing my meal...

I saw this late night ice cream shop just across the street.

It still had customers at 10 PM.

I had gotten myself a coffee milk shake...

which was very good...

and I sipped on it on the way home.

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I have a great love of food.

It is one of the great simple pleasures in life...

and one of the adventures to be had in retirement.

To have a great appetite for food...

is to also have a great appetite for life.

Devour both with the voraciousness of a tiger.

It is the only way to live life.

Benefits Of Batch Cooking / Fulfilling A Short Wishlist

 

Song:  Under The Bridge

Group:  Red Hot Chili Peppers

I had gone to my favorite Asian market the other day.

I went there to stock up on tins of unagi.

Unagi is not only more healthful than are sardines...

but they are so much more delicious.

They keep up to two years in the tins...

and I just empty two tins into a bowl and microwave them for 60 seconds.

I will then eat them with a large bowl of Natto.

It makes for a great and healthful meal.

I had bought all they had in stock and double row stacked them in the pantry

(they only had about 60 tins from three different manufacturers.

If they had more...I would have bought more).

As you can tell...

I love Unagi  :)

I had warmed up a serving of my previously batch cooked Thai chicken and shrimp green curry

(I had previously let the frozen serving defrost in the fridge).

I have two other meals defrosting in the fridge:

my younger sister's beef stew...

and a serving of Natto.

I just make 4 cups of rice...

and it lasts for 3 meals.

I love my high pressure rice cooker.

The rice comes out perfectly...

just so moist and fluffy

(I add slightly more than the recommended amount of water

to help compensate for my altitude).

For the subsequent two meals...

I place the leftover rice into two separate glass containers and place them in the fridge.

Upon warming...

the rice still is still perfect in texture and taste.

Batch cooking is the way to go.

It greatly eases daily life while still supplying a healthful and delicious

way to eat without the great hassle of cooking on a daily basis.

-------------

Next week...

I will be buying the many different items in my Walmart shopping cart.

I love Walmart...

as when I shop online...

the items get delivered right to my door.

This way I can get a great many things...

bulky and otherwise...

all at once...

and without having to do multiple trips in my car...

and delivery is free.

The following are just a few of the many items I will be purchasing next week

(I am still shopping online for more items).

I had been waiting for sales to occur...

and starting next week...

I will be getting them all

(although not pictured...

a lot of deck staining supplies...

tree climbing equipment...

 more canned dog food...

equipment for Milo...etc.).

I have been wanting a good BBQ and smoker.

This is an excellent one...

as it does so much...

including slow smoking...

up to 500 F regular BBQ...

up to 1,000 F direct flame searing...

and with a large hardwood pellet hopper with auto feed...

and while it is electric...

the primary heat source comes from the wood pellets...

and I just love the aroma of burning wood.

I will finally be able to cook a decent steak...

as all of my previous attempts were pathetic

(although...Bandi still loved them :)

I finally found a very rugged hauling wagon to ferry the results 

of my logging and land clearing down the ridge.

While I will still have to haul small batches of logs up the ridge in a hand carried log wrap...

once I get to the top of the ridge...

I will load the logs into this hauler...

and then ferry them to the off street designated storage area 

for the free wood chipping offered by my community

(I log during Winter so I may have a large stack

of wood to be chipped starting the following summer).

This cart is not only built to be exceptionally rugged...

but the wheels have multiple ball bearing components...

and the tires are pneumatic...

for easy rolling.

I also plan to cut down some large trees which are too near the deck...

and so...

the logger's tree climbing equipment.

------------

This Autumn...

I will be purchasing the bigger ticket items...

 most of the furniture for the great room...

the loft...

the decks...

 the entertainment room / guest room

(including a movie projector and screen).

That is my plan for now...

although I may delay the purchase of some pieces until later...

but most likely...

I will not...

as I not only want a place for myself to enjoy...

but I want a place for my guests to enjoy whenever they visit.

----------

Camelot is slowly forming...

and the King (me)...

is becoming happier and more serene as time goes on...

by design.

Being able to say no to a lesser form of pleasure inherent in immediate gratification...

is...

in and of itself...

a great pleasure...

so long as it is in the service of your later dreams to come.

Pleasure deferred...

is pleasure greatly enhanced.

Pleasure...

therefore earned...

is pleasure more fully experienced...

and of which...

 lasts a lifetime.

One of our great decisions in life comes from the realization 

that life is won by playing the long game.

It is being able to distinguish between...

temporary happiness...

and happiness which permanently raises your plane of existence.

Being truly and deeply happy is additive in life.

You never lose it...

and you become even more happy as more things in life

just raise your basic plane of happiness...

so that more and more of everything in life continues to make you happy...

to where even just being alive becomes so enjoyable

(enjoying the great simple pleasures in life).

Being able to make yourself deeply and serenely happy...

is all part of the long game in life.

If you think it is another's responsibility to make you happy in life...

know that you are an emotional parasite

with an entitled attitude which will soon enough wear upon those in your life.

Each of us must be the captain of our own ship...

never to be a barnacle or an anchor on another's ship

(in relation to our personal happiness).

Only then are you worthy to share your life with another.

A light and kind hearted person is a pleasure to be around.

One of the indicators of this is having a great sense of humor...

of having genuine smiles and laughter.

The chief indicator of the opposite is the BS of feigning offense...

or of purposely dulling the emotions in a deceitful ploy of feigning toughness

(the preposterous body power posturing...

and the attempt to have the stone face of the emotionally dead...

all of which is feigning with the intent to signal dominance).

The main false premise they don't realize they are operating under is that...

they are completely dependent upon the approval...

or "respect"...

of others.

People such as these can only operate where they have a captive audience.

They are never truly respected...

and are only tolerated because they must be for the moment.

They are fools wasting their lives...

never knowing true love or deep happiness...

for these are in the realm of the light and kind hearted.

Someone who is always unhappy...

always complaining...

not to identify problems which can be fixed...

but merely to vent their internal vitriol in a vain attempt to lessen their own discomfort...

is someone to leave behind in your dust without guilt.

It is not only our own responsibility to make ourselves happy...

it is also our own responsibility to not unload our unhappiness onto others.

Our own lives are our own responsibility...

never someone else's.

So long as you believe otherwise...

you will never seek your own happiness...

and so...

you will be forever stuck in your own misery.

So...

in accordance with my previously stated words...

am I merely complaining...

venting my internal discomfort on you?

No

Why?

Because there is a very simple and effective solution.

Know what makes you deeply and serenely happy...

absent anyone else.

Then...

pursue it.

The long game in life is simply that.

Bandi's Mountain Sunset / Night Run

 

Song:  Memories In The Dark

Artists:  Michael Hoppe and Tim Wheater

It was another nice day...

with the temperature in the low 70s F as a high.

When Bandi and I triked up the mountain...

it was in the 60s F...

and by the time we had gotten back home...

it was in the low 50s F.

At first...

I hadn't seen any clouds...

but as I scanned the horizon to the West...

I had seen some in the distance...

and so...

I decided to take Bandi on a sunset run...

and then come back in the dark.

It was a very pleasant run for Bandi.

She was very excited the whole way.

She wanted to run fast...

but I held her back some.

We started up the road while there was still plenty of sun.

I gave Bandi periodic breaks...

but she only took short ones...

and she then impatiently wanted to run some more.

I had seen what appeared to be...

an eagle's nest high up in this tree.

We have Golden Eagles in the mountains.

Bandi and I rested for half an hour or so...

as we waited for the sun to set.

Bandi just relaxed as we waited...

but she alerted anytime she heard anything.

I waited until the colors began to fade before leaving.

I then turned on all of my trike's lights for the trip home.

For long night runs...

I also take along my headlamp just in case my trike's headlight suddenly dies on me.

I had that happen once (the battery died)...

and so...

I never want to be left in the dark on a long and winding mountain road again.

I pulled off the road and gave Bandi a break here.

There was still some sunset afterglow in the distance.

We then headed down the ridge some...

and then began the climb up our ridge.

At the apex of our ridge line...

I took another photo of the fading sunset in the distance.

We then headed down our ridge line towards home.

One last stop for Bandi...

but she only wanted to rest for half a minute or so...

and off we went again.

A picture just before we left our last rest stop.

We arrived home...

and Bandi ran upstairs ahead of me...

right to "our" bed.

After I took off my riding gear...

Bandi made several water runs to her water container in the washroom...

and then lay down on the floor next to my computer.

She loves the cool tiles

just underneath the open windows.

Bandi is in much better running shape now.

She hardly gets tired...

and she always wants to run fast.

But...

she is fast asleep on the floor now.

Bandi loves getting tired out on a good run...

and I am feeling quite good myself.

-----------

I am thinking of taking Bandi on another country drive next week...

as wildflowers will soon be in bloom.

I will have to research places that are famous for wildflower viewing...

without necessitating a long hike to see them.

I've had my fill of long hikes when I was in the Army  :)