Tried An Oven Version, Plus…..

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We had friends over last night for their last time to dine with us as they are moving tomorrow. Probably not last time forever because they aren’t going that far away, but those, “of course we’ll visit”, plans do seem to get tangled in our busy lives.

Anyway, as I’ve posted before, one of Hubby’s specialties is risotto and neither of them cook that. We decided on the three-onion version for a side dish and I wanted to do an oven dish which could finish baking while he managed the risotto. I found a version for chicken cacciatore where you do the browning and initial sauce stove top, then a 375 degree oven for 30 minutes or 45 if the chicken is bone in. I was going with boneless as I didn’t want to bother with the mess of bones while eating even though bone-in does add extra flavor. The other reason for me to do an oven dish was Hubby also decided to do his Italian green beans with onions and sun-dried tomatoes. In explaining the chicken was tomato heavy, he reluctantly agreed to use only onion as I thought of an alternative. I can usually find pancetta at Publix although it’s never a guarantee. The plan was I would render the fat from the pancetta to add to the olive oil for browning the chicken and set the crisped pancetta aside to then add to the green beans. That satisfied Hubby and gave me the extra flavor boost for the chicken. The recipe I found also used carrots which I don’t normally include in cacciatore, but went with it.

The only drawback is I do like one-pot cooking when possible and I no longer have a large enough dutch oven to pull that off as I was making six chicken breasts in case anyone was really hungry. I did the stove top part of browning the chicken, removing it from the skillet to saute the thinly sliced carrots, chopped sweet peppers, onions, and minced garlic before adding the tomatoes, wine, chicken stock, and seasonings. I did let the sauce simmer for about ten minutes (my preference) before placing the chicken in a casserole dish and covering it with the sauce. I also don’t have a cover for that size casserole and used foil instead.

Speaking of Jobs and Working Together….

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Okay, my plan to post yesterday got completely away from me with a series of errands and having three articles again for the paper this week.

A longtime business (market and cafe) has closed in Kendall which is up the road a bit. People are posting about their memories and sad to see it go. We were only there a couple of times and did enjoy it. Like so many family owned businesses though, sustaining through the generations can be difficult; especially for the third and fourth. One of my “beats” for the community paper is multi-generational businesses and I’ve written about many of them. Two generations is not uncommon as the child/children often literally “grow up in the business”. This is a usually combination of struggling to make it as a “mom and pop” whatever it might be and therefore needing to use the business for day care/after school, then finding tasks for the child/children to do which segues into part time work. At that point, there is generally a growing appreciation for the business, a thirst to learn and do more or the other side of the coin, “I’ll put up with this until I can go my own way.” If there is more than one child, it can be split as to who wants to keep with the family business and who wants to follow another path.

I’ve mentioned in previous posts my career intentions had been to go into the Army to get the G.I. Bill to pay for law school and enter the small family law firm. In staying in the Army for a career instead, the cousin closest to me in age and his younger sister did both go to law school and took over the practice. Male cousin stayed with it and female cousin went the judicial route. So, that’s the third generation. Male cousin’s sons were not remotely interested, but female cousin’s oldest daughter is not only a relatively new lawyer, but also married to a lawyer. They’re in Mississippi and the daughter acknowledged the small – and I do mean small – Louisiana town may not be quite what they are looking for. On the other hand, they do have a toddler now and it is a good place to raise children. Who knows, there could be that fourth generation to step into the office after all.

Unfilled Jobs…..

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Although I try to stay away from politics per se, certain social aspects often come close to, if not actually share a line with politics. I genuinely don’t know how many people are continuing to stay unemployed because of drawing extra pay through COVID-19 relief. There are no doubt some as there always are. What I do know is there are “Now Hiring” signs in many places and restaurants/hotels are having an especially hard time finding employees. A response is, “Then employers should pay more.” In some cases, I agree. I do not agree with the concept of a minimum wage of $15/hr, but that is not exactly the topic here.

There are conflicting studies that show a raise in the minimum wage causes jobs to be cut to accommodate the increase in labor costs and studies that show no job loss. I suspect either may be correct depending on the type of company and location. The reality is  minimum wage and low-paying jobs are intended to be entry level, or perhaps second-job opportunities, or augmentation jobs for someone who wants a degree of income with no real responsibility. A “fairness issue” arises when those are the dominant type of jobs available in a location so there is little chance of “getting ahead”. That also applies when the cost of living is such that even making more money may not help lift one from having to live paycheck-to-paycheck with no buffer in the case of an emergency.

What I do know is this. Companies who want to hire and retain employees and can do so increase pay and benefits in order to have a stable qualified workforce. Small to mid-size companies may simply not have the capital to do so. In the small company I worked for after I retired from the Army, the owner was great about getting around to talk to all the employees. (That changed as the company grew and was one of the reasons he and his co-owner wife eventually sold off most of what became a “group”.) Anyway, during one session, the subject of increasing compensation was raised. The boss nodded and said something like, “Everyone always wants higher salaries. We understand that. We have to stay competitive. If we charge too high a price for our services, we won’t get the contracts and can’t stay in business or grow.” The belief that any company that refuses to pay employees a bigger salary is motivated only by greed for the bosses is generally not correct.

Does It Belong In A Museum?……

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An interesting conversation the other day. I think I’ve mentioned Hubby and I don’t watch much network TV and prefer cable. Movies, BBC series, and the “Discover” family of channels  are mostly it for us although we don’t have the streaming and we stay with HGTV, Food, Science, etc. One of the shows  is “Dino Hunters” which is what it sounds like. There are a couple of different teams who look for fossils, but for profit, not academic/museum purposes. That led to the discussion about private collectors. I am a big believer in  museums – public as often as possible for the sake of those who can’t afford entrance fees. We certainly don’t mind paying and of course make donations when we are in one that charges no or small fees. The fact is most museums that have been established for any length of time have far more in their collections than can be put on display. If they have the resources, they can have appropriate storage and research areas that can be jaw dropping at times in their scope. If, however, space is limited, they may have to turn down items or prioritize and divest certain items to take something in they consider more important.

That leads to the question of does a private collector “deprive” museums of something that should be on public display? No doubt that is true at times; which then leads to the question of how many dinosaur bones does a museum need? (since we’re talking about this show) I’ll agree if it is a species they don’t have, that might make a difference. If they already have a velociraptor – or two or three; why not let a private collector enjoy one if they have the space and money? I suppose the actual “downside” of private collectors is they may contribute to black marketing of artifacts instead of going to legitimate dealers.

A Pleasant Surprise…..

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I have posted on more than one occasion about the frustration of no commercial breakthrough despite having now published 15 novels, 3 non-fiction, and co-authored 4 non-fiction books. Fortunately, the satisfaction in creating those books and the enjoyment of the small, yet loyal fan base I have is greater than the frustration. I received a pleasant surprise a few days ago when Hubby came in from work and said a young lady he’d been guiding asked if he was the one who wrote books or if it was his wife. She then asked if I would select one of my books for her to buy and sign it. Since I’m hoping she becomes one of those loyal fans, I started her with Shades of Truth. I wrote a note explaining I chose that as it is the original scuba-themed mystery series and I later spun  the character of Chris Green to create that series. To add to my surprise, one of the individuals who works at the dive shop was in on part of the conversation and told Hubby to tell me his mother was asking when the next book would come out. At some point she started reading me and buys all my books on Kindle. These are those “high moments” and are familiar to any creative person.

It would be wonderful if we did live in a world where people could afford to buy as many books, pieces of art, as much music as they wanted or attend as many performances in whatever form as they wished. Better yet, if there were enough philanthropists or government resources to fund even more free performances, book, music, and art distribution. It doesn’t work that way of course and thus a great many people who would like to spend their lives in a creative way must instead have it more as a “hobby” or choose to have a lower standard of living while pursuing whichever Muse drives them. It is an old story that really hasn’t changed ever since humans took that first step to express themselves in some form of art.

Creative Spirit on Display……

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Big day Saturday! This is a follow-up to the previous posting as it is a bit more about the Homestead Center for the Arts Art and Artisan Show we’re having. For anyone who has been in South Florida in July, you’ll understand why we’re holding the show inside with air conditioning. Even though it is a large facility, that still means space is more limited than if we have it at one of the outdoor venues. We have thirty four vendors lined up, plus one civic group and our two tables for HCA. Because we have a lot of artists in HCA, they and our woodturners basically had first priority for space. Then it was other HCA members involved in either a craft or in a couple of cases, a specific group we thought would appeal to the market we are going after. One of our members has a small publishing company and a bookstore up in Miami and that relates to the Lamplighters Writers group that has recently been re-energized. Then in opening up to non-HCA members, we were looking for a nice mix of options for our “unique shopping experience”.

We have done a couple of planned campaigns on social media and encouraged everyone we know to use their social media accounts and email lists. We are popping up all over Facebook and apparently have been on Instagram several times and we did do an old fashioned print ad in the local paper. How many attendees we’ll actually get is of course the big unknown at the moment. We are about as well organized as can be and set-up tomorrow afternoon for the tables and chairs should help make check-in of the vendors Saturday morning go more smoothly. We are all keeping our fingers crossed as summer thunderstorms are common. The good thing is even if it does rain, it usually passes fairly quickly and everyone around here is accustomed to the pattern. With the show from 12:00-5:00, there should be ample opportunity to work around rain if it does happen.

About Those Pills……

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Musing alert ahead. I was reading a post earlier about a man whose daughter had temper/lack of discipline issues when she was young. Her behavior was unlike their other children and when someone first suggested ADHD, they dismissed the idea. Fast forward to age nine and a counselor did convince them of the diagnosis and the need for medication. However, it was an approach where different dosages were tried to find the minimal amount effective which also did not have side effects. In the early part of the post was the man’s initial belief that ADHD was too quickly diagnosed and most children could be managed with “better parenting”. This is not an uncommon reaction and as the mother, especially when I was a single mother, of a very active child – the one who didn’t sleep through the night until he was four years old – I have no doubt there were people who thought he, too, might be ADHD on at least some level. He was definitely a handful and there were plenty of rounds of tantrums, etc., but he did respond to actions and yes, that often included a swat or two across the bottom. (No more than that and never anywhere except his bottom, and I realize many will still disapprove). I do think medicating children is something that must be very carefully considered and other alternatives should be thoroughly explored first.

On the opposite end of the spectrum though is medicating the elderly, especially when they enter some kind of assisted living arrangement. As I discussed in the book, “Your Room at the End: Thoughts About Aging We’d Rather Avoid”, there is almost always some condition that can be medicated. Then if there is a side effect to one medication, there is one to offset that. Before you know it, the number of prescriptions have doubled or even tripled. I’m not against medications; I take one prescription for blood pressure and some over-the-counter supplements. I am very cautious though when it comes to immediately recommending continuing medications if other viable options are available.

 

Days Zipping Past….

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Things have been extra hectic as sometimes happens with multiple commitments. It’s also part of why I wasn’t able to get out to dive in June and not sure how the rest of July will go either. It’s not uncommon for me to miss both months because during peak dive season the boats are often full on the few days I’m available.

Anyway, one of the things I was busy with was preparing for, then holding a presentation for high school students in the College and Career Prep Program of the Homestead Mexican-American Council (MAC). https://www.mexamcouncil.org

It’s a great program that runs all year with extra sessions in the summer. This year they have 20 students in the classes and 20 students in a variety of companies/organizations as interns. The title of the presentation was, “The Writing Journey: Rarely a Straight Path”. This is version three as I tailor this to the audience I am talking to. It was a combination of my own extended and circuitous path to writing and some of creative process with crafting a novel and a “cozy series” in particular. All the students were polite and several were actually interested.

Another big chunk of the week has been juggling multiple tasks involved with our upcoming Art and Artisan Show. This is the event we were supposed to have last year. If we are successful, our intent is this will be a premiere event annually in April or March. (There is one other annual event we have to work around so we don’t schedule them both too closely together). We held a small version in 2019 as a part of our Homestead Center for the Arts Showcase and that’s what led us to try for something “bigger and better”. With only a couple of exceptions all the vendors are artists or artisans with hand-crafted items. We have a nice variety with jewelry, a couple of our woodturners, a lady who does hand painted mail boxes, soaps and lotions, and more.

This is no “flea market”; it’s a boutique shopping experience that we think will resonate with the community.

The Whole Time Travel Thing…..

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Like many children, I think “A Wrinkle in Time” was the first science fiction book I read. I suppose it’s as much fantasy though and I did not read her other books. I’ve mentioned that in my prolific reading, I went through phases; most of my science fiction later with the standards of Issac Asimov, Ray Bradbury and so forth.

Time travel is such a popular notion and perhaps it’s rooted in the longing to either find out the truth of what happened in the past or wondering if there is a way to get the ultimate “do-over” and correct a mistake. That of course immediately brings to mind the danger of “correcting or preventing a wrong” without realizing the interference will have ultimately far worse consequences. There were a few episodes involving time travel in the original Star Trek series, none more poignant than when Captain Kirk has to accept the death of an innocent woman in order to bring the world back into proper alignment.

Then there are humorous treatments like in the movie Back to the Future where the character of Marty McFly must avoid romantic intentions of the high school student who will actually become his mother. What brought all this to mind was watching another episode of Northern Exposure as the character Shelley worried about the birth of their child; something they never expected to happen because she’s married to the much older Holling. In realizing she’s encountering her future daughter at different ages, she dashes in to see Chris, who assures her he too believes in stepping through the space-time continuum; not that he has done so, yet in the existence of it. In response to her question of why someone would chose to appear at a specific time, he explains if he had the ability, he would go back to an earlier generation of his family to let them know that while things looked bleak during the Great Depression, they would make it through.

In the quirky way of the show, what the final encounter between Shelley and her now almost adult daughter reveals is Shelly won’t make it to the hospital, but instead give birth above the bar where they live making the event a part of the community. And as they rest with the infant after, she knows the future is bright.

Working On The Holidays…..

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Hubby got called in to work today even though he was supposed to be off. On the other hand, he frequently teaches or guides on the holidays as those are popular times to go diving. We’re only having the one guest over this evening, so I adjusted the time back by an hour and I’ll have to do most of the prep work for dinner. I’m working some too, as the newspaper publishing deadline is the same whether this is a holiday weekend or not.

There have of course always been jobs that are 365/24/7; police, fire, hospitals, parts of the military. Even units are that not in a constant “alert” mode are required to have what are called “duty officers and NCOs”; a pair that is “on duty” nights, weekends, and holidays. Airports and other transportation areas often fall into the same category as do most hotels. Anyway, there was a time when stores and restaurants weren’t generally open all night or on the holidays. That’s changed significantly with a profusion of convenience stores, fast food and diner-type places open 24-hours and all the special holiday sales can mean people on duty, too. For some, the overtime pay makes it worthwhile and in some cases, work is their life so it doesn’t matter. For others, it’s a tiresome aspect and they try to muster enough energy and good feeling to get though the shift. If I do have to dash into a store for some forgotten item or am out to eat, I make it a point to thank them for being open. It’s a small thing that may not matter or perhaps it does.

If there is a level of stress, say being in a restaurant that is short-staffed, I try to not add to the stress by complaining; you can’t always get enough people who are willing to work. So here’s a salute to everyone who doesn’t particularly want to spend a holiday working, yet who takes it in stride and does whatever the job is while others are celebrating.