Christmas Tree Care

If you want a real Christmas Tree, one cut from the forest, there are only 3 things to remember.

First, be careful with electric lights. They are lovely, but you need to look at your wires and be sure that none are losing their insulation. This is a natural occurrence as the light age. Do not try patching them with electric tape; just replace the whole strand. Bare wires get hot and it will not be a very Merry Christmas if you burn your house down.

Second, keep checking the water. When you first set up the tree, use hot water in the well. This melts the hardened tree sap and makes the tree more absorbent. Then you can use cold water, but check it often; you cannot overwater. If needles start turning brown or falling off, you need water.

I just thought of a third issue. If you have a dog or cat, make sure they understand that the tree is off limits. Not only can they tear up your decorations, they can chew wires. With a dog, I would set the tree on something high enough to keep it out of reach, unless you have a very mannerly dog.  With cats, I really have no idea how to discourage them; they are lovable, but stubborn.

Have fun with your Christmas tree. They really do brighten the Holiday.

Turkey Time

If you had the traditional turkey yesterday, you likely have a whole lot left over. Turkey sandwiches are great, but there are a lot of other options.

First, if there is still meat on the bone, remove it, take that carcass, put it in a pot of water, bring it to a boil, then reduce it to a simmer and leave it for a 2 or 3 hours. You will have great soup stock. Then, add whatever you want, pasta, potatoes, vegetables, and of course, turkey. Cook until everything is tender. Or, if you don't want soup then, freeze your stock.

You can thicken that stock with corn starch (the procedure is on the box) and pour it over a pan full of turkey and vegetables, top with a pie crust, and bake it at 350 until the crust is brown. There, you have a simple pot pie.

Make turkey salad. Use any chicken salad recipe you like and substitute  turkey. A nice touch is  the addition of grapes, raisins, or any dry fruit,, and some chopped walnuts or pecans.

Turkey tetrazzini is a nice dish and simple. Cook some spaghetti, drain and set aside. Sauté, in butter, some chopped onion and celery until it's tender. Add some chopped mushrooms (they cook quickly) and chopped turkey. Then, add some cream, or milk, and let the liquid reduce a bit. Then add a little white wine, and, again let it reduce. Then toss this with the pasta and pour this into a baking pan. Top wit be read crumbs and grated cheese, and put it in a 350 oven just until the bread crumbs are brown. Notice that I didn't give any precise amounts. That is because you can vary this dish to suit yourself. Some like it creamy, some like the wine to dominate. It's up to you. Also, you can add any vegetables you want, carrots, peas, squash, anything.

Use your imagination. Turkey sandwiches are terrific, but you can do a lot with your left over bird.

Christmas Decorating

It's about time to drag out the Christmas decorations again. I have but one thing to say; be careful. You will not spend a happy holiday in a cast.

I see folks who have not engaged in a lot physical activity in a very long time struggling up and down ladders, trying to keep strings of lights untangled, and  attempting to drive nails. All worthy endeavors but, remember, you don't have to do it all at once. If you are not used to such activities, take your time.

If your lights are old, and there are burnt out bulbs, don't spend a lot of time replacing them. Just buy new ones. They're not that expensive and it's worth the cost to save the aggravation. Don't overdo the lights. Aesthetics aside, you don't want to overload circuits. In fact, switch to LED bulbs. They're cooler and draw  a lot less power.

Get a helper. You really want someone to steady the ladder, hand you tools and keep the lights strings from tangling. Also, remember: those warnings on ladders that say do not step on the top rung are there for a reason. It is just not safe to work from there.

There are options. I once decorated a place by using colored spot lights. Now, that is simple because you can get them with solar batteries that charge enough in the day light to last all night. Just stick them in the ground and go on with your day.

It's nice to decorate for the holidays, but there is no reason to overdo, and many reasons to be careful.

Thanksgiving - Do What You Like

Come Thursday, turkeys will be roasting and smoking and even deep frying (if you are trying that, make sure you know what you're doing or your holiday will be spent either watching the firemen try to save your house or hanging out in a hospital emergency room). Some others will be baking ham;s and much stuffing, yams etc. will be cooking. All of these are wonderful foods and I love them all.

However, you do not have to be wedded to tradition. For those who do not like turkey or ham, can't cook, don't have time to cook or, as in our case, only have 2 in the household and don't want a mountain of leftovers, cheer up. Eat whatever you want.

A fine roast beef or lamb is always an option, as is a pork roast; a pork loin is perfect for 2 or 3 people. If you want poultry, consider roasting a chicken or individual game hens. Duck is terrific; just remember to score the fat on the breast and place the bird, breast side down, on a rack in your roasting pan so it doesn't cook in its own grease. We have had salmon for Thanksgiving and it was great.

My Mom one year cooked spaghetti and meatballs and it was a fine meal. In other words, whatever you want. The important thing is to remember to be thankful for the good things in your life.

One quick note: To those dining out for the Holiday. Good luck. I worked in a restaurant one Thanksgiving and I can testify that the kitchen, on a holiday, is a complete mad house. You may get what you want and it may be good, just do not count on every food safety rule being followed.

Learn to Think

We seem to have become a might brain dead in this Country. People seem to jump at whatever pops up at the given moment. If the news tells of terrorism, folks panic. In reality, you are far more likely to be hit by lightening that by a terrorist.

People voted for Trump after hearing his radical campaign promises and are now watching him back pedal faster than a circus performer on a  unicycle.

Pundits talk of the need to eliminate business regulations, saying that they kill business. They fail to mention that when we deregulated banks, we got stuck having to bail them out after the debacle of the early 2000s.

Economic pundits are always spouting off about what the economic trends will be. I remember several of them saying that there would never be a recession, that the thought was laughable, right before we fell into a recession.

People fall for all of this nonsense because they do not think. They seem to have forgotten how, so they believe what they are told by experts, even when  those experts, time and again, are wrong. The Practical American needs to think for him or herself.

How? Easy. Do not buy into things you hear without carefully examining them. Get the facts. It may require a little digging, but it's not that hard. Look at the past; that way you can get an idea of how trends develop.

Stay away from rosy optimists and prophets of doom and gloom. The truth almost always lies somewhere in the middle. Do not lock into your own position; as new facts become available, you may have to change.

Use your brain. Never panic. Always look before you leap. Learn to separate facts from opinions and to trust your thoughts more than those of someone getting paid ridiculous amounts to babble on TV. You are as smart as any of them, if you just learn to think.

Get Ready to Roll

The Nation is about to undergo some huge changes. Unfortunately, we have no clue what might happen. The Practical American will get his act together right now, because change, of some sort, will come fast.

As I keep stressing, get your debts paid down. This is a liberating; it gives you room to breathe and move around.

Don't like your job?  Get over it. Do not go changing jobs now, unless you get an absolutely incredible offer. A period of great flux is a time to stay put.

But, do everything you can to be ready to jump. If things start working out in this Country, at long last, opportunities will be abundant, if, and only if, you are ready. How do you get ready? Easy. Work on your health. As someone who used to do hiring, I will tell you, a healthy, energetic applicant is frequently a hired applicant. Develop good habits. Learn to speak, not formally, but properly and clean up your language. Swearing during an interview, for any kind of decent job, will eliminate any hope you have of getting hired. Get some decent clothes, nothing fancy, but presentable. Appearance does count.

Be aware that your interviewer may be anyone, of any race, cultural heritage, gender, and sexual orientation. No matter how you feel about any of those, be ready to show only respect. Things are not like they used to be.

Learn as many skills as you can. Right now, if I were getting ready to seek better employment, I would be studying everything I might possibly need to know about that line of work. Take courses, read books, watch training videos, whatever you have to do, and, remember, you may start at entry level, but. if you show your knowledge, you may start moving up quickly.

Lastly, be flexible and optimistic. Things are going to be a bit weird for a short while, but they will change fast. Be conservative for now and ready to expand on a minute's notice.

Use It or Lose It

This post is for those of us who are getting a little older. I hate the term 'senior citizen' and refuse to use it. Those of you who are younger will want to keep this in mind because your time is coming.

I see people my age who do as close to nothing as possible. They watch TV and eat. That's about all. My neighbor recently died in his sleep of a heart attack and that was what he did. TV and food were his only pastimes. He was fat as a pig, could scarcely walk and frequently was none too sure where he was. Again, all he did was eat and watch TV. And, I notice, this is pretty common.

The human body was not meant to be idle. Our muscles enjoy moving and become soft and ultimately useless when ignored. The brain is unhappy when idle and ultimately just quits working when ignored. There are complex physiological reasons for this and they can be summed up with 'use it or lose it.'

Now, all you folks know this, but how many of you pay anything more than lip service to these facts. If you find yourself growing idle and staring vacantly at the tube, you must get off your rear end an do something. It can be almost anything that is not illegal or ridiculously stupid. (I would not recommend bank robbery or drinking a quart of Scotch a day). Just make sure you are using your facilities.

You do not have to start spending hours in a gym, although if that appeals to you, go for it. Just taking a good walk or gardening or swimming, as long as you are moving your muscles around, is fine. If you have physical limitations, I understand, but you still need to move as much as you can.

Mentally, it is just as important to use that brain. You don't have to learn differential calculus or ancient Greek, although bot would be really cool, but you need to do something. Read a little, anything will do, or have a really good conversation, or maybe rediscover the seemingly lost art of letter writing/

You can combine the physical and mental. Learn a new skill. Woodworking, sketching, golf, anything that requires a blend of the physical and mental is wonderful.

Push yourself, within reason. There is no need to go until you risk physical or mental breakdown, but there is nothing wrong with tiring yourself out. That means you have had a good work session and, as a bonus, you will sleep better.

So, get off your backside, turn off the TV and, do something.

After the Election - Watch Your Back

I do not use this blog for politics, but today, I am making an exception. The elections will be over soon and no matter who you support, watch your back. No matter who wins, things will not be good. If either candidate gets control of congress and thus gets their way, you will see the deficit, the National debt, go through the roof.

Both are proposing programs that will cost unbelievable amounts of money. On problem, we are broke and deeply in debt. Yet, they are both proposing tax programs that will not come close to even balancing the budget, must less paying down the massive debts.

This makes our standing in the World economy a wee bit shaky and this will effect both the value of the dollar and the willingness of foreign governments to invest by buying our Treasury bills. Add to this the pledge both behave made to raise the minimum wage (which will just be passed on by increased prices) and the shakiness of our economy and you will, I guarantee this, see inflation and job loss. This is called stagflation and it is a nightmare.

In addition, medical costs are rising, in large part due to the incredibly stupid mess of Obamacare. How long gas prices will stay low depends on the whimsy of the Saudis. Increased oil prices drastically effect food costs as well as home heating.

Things will not be good. The solution? First, stay healthy. Even if you are insured, not only are your premiums going up, your deductibles are also rising. For example, in Arizona, you will likely have a $5000 + deductible. So, stay healthy.

If you have a job, keep it. Hold onto it like grim death. If you dislike your job, learn to like it. If you become unemployed, you will be in deep difficulty.

Most of all, pay down your debts as quickly as possible. If that means skipping a ball game or a dinner out, live with it. If that means your kids can't have the latest, most fashionable shoes, they'll get over it. Do not put Christmas on your charge cards. Again, no one likes cutting back, but you really need to get rid of your debts.

Learn to do as much as you can around your home. A lot of repairs are simple. It is easy to cook instead of depending on take out and cooking yourself is cheaper than buying frozen dinners. Do it yourself, within reason, should be your motto.

Eventually, things will perk up again, but you have to be sensible. Watch your back. Watch the backs of friends and family. You have to, because, Uncle Sam is not going to be your buddy for a while.