Roller Derby Blast

This is sort of old news, but it was so much fun, I have to say something about it. A few weeks back we went to the roller derby, and it was a hoot. A was invited to a birthday party at the climbing gym, and N and I decided to check out the roller derby. Since it started after the party, we went to pick up A first and then headed over.

Now I’d never been to a roller derby, but I remember watching it as a kid on TV. It all seems so 70s, and struck me as a little rough. Plus, it seemed to involve rough women who smoked, spit, and had tattoos. Looking back on it, it was reminiscent to Wrestlemania, it was such a spectacle. This time around, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but A and N seemed enthused.

We arrived at the arena and there was a men’s match first. There was practically nobody in the audience, and it was a little sad, but I didn’t realize the women were the main event. It was actually good to watch the men first because we were able to familiarize ourselves with the rules. After the men finished, the women came out and warmed up, and that’s when the arena filled up. The place was packed, there were so many fans. I had no idea it was so popular.

Best of all, a bunch of A’s friends showed up, so she could hang, and even N had a buddy who showed up and they sat together. That left me to hang with some of the dads, and we could critique accordingly. It was a lot of fun, fairly rough but very entertaining. Those women really beat each other up, and I was thinking they would have slapped me around, no doubt. Plus, several of them were pretty big, not to mention aggressive and mean.

The bout ended fairly late, and on the ride home, the kids asked if we could go the next one. I’m all for it, it was fun, and I’m wondering if we can talk R into joining us. Somehow I doubt it, but you never know.

Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to F_Cruse for the pic.

Dangerous Road

This is completely nuts, but there was yet another accident on Route 4, though thankfully nobody died. That makes 4 major accidents in about 3 months, 3 of which resulted in fatalities, including my friends beloved wife. I’ve always been wary of that road because we used to live right next to it, and whenever we drove along it, especially going north towards White River, I was always struck by how precarious it was when big trucks came barreling down the opposite direction. The road was curved in a way that the vehicles heading south were going downhill and if they lost control, would cream anybody going north in the opposite lane. Factor in a snowy road while driving a small fuel efficient import, and you’re talking disaster.

Unfortunately, it’s pretty much the only road around, and you have little choice but to take it. Now that we’ve moved away, that is not the case, but every now and then we find ourselves on it and I’m always wary. The road is in need of repairs, as well. The governor said they will do something about it, but I’m not sure what they’re going to do, because it’s also the main route to Killington and Rutland, so there’s a great deal of traffic, especially big trucks. It should be interesting what they come up with, because something needs to be done.

Until then, thanks for reading, and thanks to Sabharinath Sadasivam for the pic.

Winding Down

Sports are winding down on this end, with both track and lacrosse coming to an end, which means that there's more time to relax... yeah right. For those who don't know it, that's not me lying on the beach, I could never look that good.

Anyway, this weekend marked the end of N’s season, and A finished her last track meet last week. I have say, I have mixed feelings about the whole thing. On the one hand it’s one less thing to deal with, but on the other, it’s one less thing to deal with. Don’t get me wrong, it’s nice not having to scramble around and get the kids to their events. However, they got to hang with their friends and take part in healthy competition, not to mention challenging themselves. You can’t beat that.

We are trying to figure out what to do over the summer. A wants to continue with track, and I think a bunch of her friends are thinking the same thing. I asked N if he was interested and he said emphatically, no thank you. I had a feeling he was going to say that. Now the question becomes, what is he going to do all summer? There’s swimming, and we’re toying with getting a family pass to the pool, and he has his bike, which could be fun, but I’d love for him to do something with more social benefits. Oh well, the boy’s a lone wolf, he marches to the beat of his own drum. I admire that.

Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to mmsea for the pic.

Hot Flashes

Talk about crazy weather. It is currently beautiful outside, but last week we had some brutal days of heat, and for the life of me, I can’t figure out why. It’s way too early for that kind of heat, and yet it hit us like a ton of bricks. It reached over 90 degrees one day, in March. That’s crazy.

The weather has become more seasonal and for that matter, tolerable, but I wonder what the early heat portends for this summer. It could get crazy. If you had to look at the bright side (yeah right), one thing nice about the intense heat is that it’s good swimming weather. When it’s crisp and cool, the water can be a bit too cold to jump into, and feels quite good on a scorching hot day.

Then again, who wants to swim, anyway? Just kidding. Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to Bron C for the pic.

Market Watch

I know people must thing we’re crazy doing the market again, but sometimes you just gotta be a little crazy. Like Henry Bukowski said, “Some people never go crazy, what horrible lives they must lead.”

We currently have one market under our belt for this year, and it wasn’t that bad. I think a big part of it was not having the entire week preparing the goods, it really only took one big dedicated day, and we were ready to roll. Also, we decided to cook the stuff at home and just serve at the market. I can’t even begin to tell you how much easier it was.

First off, we lucked out on the weather, it was sunny and beautiful. It was a little complicated by the fact that A had her end of the year banquet, and we were also watching ES for most of the day. By the time market day rolled around, we had a ton of preparation to do, and in retrospect, we planned it poorly and will change our ways for the next one. Part of the problem was we are still working things out, and had no idea how much product to make. We weren’t sure how many falafels we would sell. Who eats falafels in this area? We figured if anyone was going to eat them, it was going to be the folks in the big city, especially college kids.

On Wednesday morning, I woke up early and got to work immediately. We planned on making enough falafels for about 50 sandwiches, which at three balls per sandwich comes out to 150 balls. Then we needed to calculate how much lettuce, tomatoes, and cucumbers we’d need, not to mention special sauce. We ordered the breads online, and the shipping killed us, but it was the pita we wanted, so we went for it. I’ll continue searching for other options.

Our mistake was waiting until the morning of market to make the mix, because it took a lot of time. Then I had to cook them all, which in itself wasn’t so bad, but again, coupled with the mixing took all day. I was lucky that R stayed home because she could attend to the kids and make lunch while I slaved away over a hot stove. Again, we were lucky the weather was so nice.

At some point I took the R&E over to their banquet and we were ready to roll. I cooked a little over 150 balls, and we had veggies and sauce. We loaded our cars and headed over, and right away we ran into problems. I forgot a couple of things, and went back to get them, only to forget even more things. We simply had to do without them, but it made me late. I was also supposed to pick up apple cider, but when I got to the store, they didn’t have any. It’s a seasonal item and it’s too early. Bummer.

I got the field and R had set up a bunch of stuff. We got to work right away, and even though we didn’t have a lot of time, it was a breeze because we weren’t cooking. All we had to do was set up the tent and tables, get the food prep ready, and we could rock and roll. Making the sandwiches was a breeze, and the market wasn’t too crazy. Our biggest concern was that we weren’t going to sell anything, and that turned out not to be the case. In fact, we sold out. I couldn’t believe it.

Now we weren’t there last year, but it sure seemed to me that the market was slower, which is strange because the big city has an endless supply of young people because of the college. It also seemed to me that the market was smaller with not a huge variety of foods to eat, at least foods substantial enough to make a meal. I think that’s why our falafels sold. In fact, we had people asking what they were, and one or two adventurous people even tried one. I admire that.

I have to admit, it was a nice time. As I mentioned, the day was beautiful, and we saw many old friends, several of whom stopped by and said they missed us last year. They were surprised to see us doing something different than dumplings, but c’est la vie, as the saying goes. N helped out with the transactions, and it’s cute seeing him at work, he takes it very seriously. In the end, we probably could have sold maybe 15%-20% more than we had brought, mainly because we sold out before the dinner time rush. We are also toying with adding french fries to the mix, which will make it crazier, but we can’t help but think they’ll be popular.

So many things to think about, so little time. Stay tuned for more about our market adventures. Until then, thanks for reading, and thanks to Francisco Sosa Lemus for the pic.

Blossoming Track Star

Even though the track season is winding down, I have to say, it’s been a good year for A. She’s done quite well on the track, and I think her coach likes her. He puts her on teams that are above her age level, which indicates to me that he believes in her. In fact, she ran the anchor leg of the oldest kids group in the 4X200 and the 4X100 relays. Not bad.

I’ve always thought that she was a fast runner, just not an overly athletic child. She’s graceful, as evident by her skills in dance, but in other sports, she is good, but doesn’t always have the killer competitive instinct, which I think is fine. However, she could always run, especially when it is away from me.

Whatever be the case, I’m glad she’s enjoying it, and track is a great way to stay fit and find a niche in a group of kids at school. Like I’ve always said, at a young age, being competent at sports will give you carte blanche with a lot of the kids, unlike being academic, which will get you farther in life, but won’t always win you points with your peers. If you can combine both, then you’re doing okay.

I’ve noticed that the track culture is quite a scene, as well. What would you expect with a large group of teenagers grouped together in track clothes in a big open field with warm sunny weather? Nature will inevitably kick in.

Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to chellepeltier for the pic.

Back For More

Yesterday was the Farmer’s Market in the big city, and as much as we’d sworn we’d never do it again, here we were, doing it again. A couple of years back we had done the market selling fried dumplings, which were a hit, but man was it a lot of work. It literally ruined our summers, for me because I basically made all the dumplings, and for R and the kids because they had to put up with me. It was not pretty.

Despite the pain and suffering, however, we did make a fair amount of money, enough to fun two killer trips to Europe. Plus, there were some good lessons for all of us about hard work and getting to know new people, not to mention understanding what some people have to go through to make a living. It wasn’t all bad.

The idea of doing the market again came up because we love to travel, and as anyone who’s traveled anywhere outside of their hometown knows, it costs money. We ruminated on this for awhile, and finally decided that maybe we could do the market one more time if we had something easier. It had to affordable, appealing, and easy enough to prepare so as to not drive us over the edge of insanity. Sounds reasonable, doesn’t it?

We thought long and hard about it. At first we thought french fries, but somewhat beat us to the punch. Then we thought tempura, but then decided that falafels would be good, even though almost everyone we spoke with didn’t even know what they were. How could that be, and in light of this, would they sell? We realized that falafels were really a big city thing because they are in essence an ethnic food, and only in moderate sized cities would you find them. They are big in college towns, as well. In rural areas, not only have people never heard of them, but you couldn’t pay them to eat one.

With this in mind, we were a little pensive about our chances. Add to this the fact that there was still a fair amount of work involved in making them, and I did not have the best POV going into it. In fact, I was downright depressed, mainly because I figured most of the work would fall on my shoulders. I decided that the only way to address this concern was to make sure that we all pitched in to help, and that’s exactly how it worked out. You can’t do it alone.

The fact that we weren’t that thrilled going into it combined with being out of practice meant that we were not as well prepared as we could have been. We also weren’t sure how many we’d sell, and didn’t want to have too many leftovers that would go to waste, so we held back. We ended up procrastinating and waiting until the last minute to prepare, and that’s never a good thing. We were scrambling a bit to get it together, and I was late arriving. A had a track meet, and her friend came over beforehand, so there was that issue, but it worked out fine.

All in all, I thought the market went well. We sold out of falafels with about an hour to go in the market, so we could have sold more because the last hour is when the evening/supper rush arrives. Also, it was nice seeing the other vendors, many of whom welcomed us back. Best of all, the market was much less stressful making falafels. With no cooking in hot oil involved, we simply had to make the sandwiches and hand them over. We cooked the falafels at home and kept them warm on chafing dishes. It worked out beautifully, and N was a great helper with the money.

The weather was beautiful, to boot, and I have to say, we had a rather nice time of it. It’s good to get out and interact with people. Things will change in the coming weeks because the school is letting out and the students will leave, but there’s always the summer crew that will arrive in about a week or two. Plus, we’re thinking of expanding our operation, which could be the end of us, but at least we’ll go out with a bang.

Until then, thanks for reading, and thanks to Dilapa for the pic.