Thursday, April 7, 2016

Bad Influence Bloggers

Lots of chatter recently on various blogs about chicken fried steaks, a  personal favorite I’ve been avoiding. The old “trying to eat more sensible” effort and all that. This morning I succumbed.

Went to a local restaurant that serves breakfast and lunch only.   While on a commercial street, it is not a chain (Village Inn, Denny’s, etc.) and the customers are mainly locals. Older crowd, lots of canes and walking sticks present. The wait staff are wonderful but it is not Hooters. All are North of thirty five.

I ended up at a table in the middle. The three tables around me were filled with people solving the problems of the world. In no particular order I overheard the following topics.

   Utah’s welfare system.
   Salt Lake City gas stations.
   USDA agriculture subsidies (in some depth and passion).
   The state of the oil business.
   Range fires.
   If a certain county road will ever be paved past a County
   Commissioner’s place.
   What the green stripes the city has been painting on the
   streets are for.
   Cruz, Shillary, Bernie and Trump. Nothing favorable.
   Knee replacements.
   The merits of different types of carpet kickers (stretchers).

I did have the small chicken fry (didn’t overlap the plate), hash browns with extra gravy on them, scrambled eggs and added sourdough toast for a more healthy meal.

Fortified, I then changed the spark plugs on middle son’s car. I don’t do anything heavy anymore but this was a simple job, and under $20. I use NGK with Iridium tips. A bit more money but I’ve had good luck with them.


 Yes sir, living the wild and crazy retirement life right here in Northern Colorado.

10 comments:

drjim said...

Sounds like a great day.

Mom always said to eat a hearty breakfast.

The wife and I will be relocating to Northern Colorado in 12~18 months. Really looking forward to getting OUT of Kommiefornia.

And no, we will NOT be bringing "California Attitudes" with us. We're both freedom loving conservatives.

Well Seasoned Fool said...

Welcome! Most of Colofornia is located West of Interstate 25. Weld County is the most conservative. Larimer County is Boulder County Lite. Avoid Adams County. High taxes, high crime, and Democratic control.

drjim said...

Thank you, sir!

We're looking in the Fort Collins/Laporte/Terry Lake area. The wife's youngest son and his wife live there, along with all her family, so we have family and friends there already.

Beautiful area, and the only thing I don't care for in Fort Collins is that it's a "College Town", with all the hip/trendy/liberal stuff that that implies.

Well Seasoned Fool said...

Nice area. Access is a problem - only US 287 which is very congested. Don't buy in a flood plain. The area gets "500 year" floods often. Bring your CA wild fire experience with you and select carefully. CSU was once Colorado A&M - still heavily into agriculture and engineering so the culture isn't as bad as the People's Republic of Boulder.

CenTexTim said...

CFS ... mmmmm. One of my favs.

I have a nephew who graduated from CSU. My recollection of the place is that traffic was almost always heavy/bad, especially between Fort Collins and Denver.

drjim said...

Thanks for the advice.

Our daughter in law's Dad runs a construction company that specializes in high-end residential stuff, and he's already steered us away from a couple of areas. He and his wife live up "on the side of the mountain" in Bellvue at 7500', and almost lost their home a few years ago during the fire that happened. He lost a bunch of heavy equipment, a big shop, and several of the homes he was building for his kids to live in.

I remember him joking about "100 year floods that hit every 5 years"!

Yeah, if you want to get to the South side of Fort Collins, it's almost faster to take the road that runs along Horsetooth Reservoir than to take 287.

Didn't know about CDU being Colorado A&M. I grew up in the cornfields of Northern Illinois, and had lots of "farm kids" for friends, most of whom went on to A&M schools to get some "book learnin'" so they could help their folks, and take over the family farm after graduation.

Well Seasoned Fool said...

Not to worry. CDOT has a plan to go to six lanes North of Longmont (in 2028). I avoid Fort Collins when I can. Going North to Cheyenne to go West on I-80 is 22 miles longer than US 287 Fort Collins to Laramie. Have a family deal in Maybell (Northwest Colorado) at the end of the month so will go through Fort Collins to catch Hwy 14 to Walden.

Well Seasoned Fool said...

"Almost as fast" is relative to how many "share the road" bicyclists are out and about. Having someone with local knowledge is a wonderful asset.

drjim said...

Yep, I've been warned about the "Turtle Heads".

Of all the times so far that we've been there driving, they seem to be a lot better at the "rules of the road" than the two-wheeled crowd here in Kommifornia.

Well Seasoned Fool said...

"Turtle Heads". I like that!