Monday, October 1

A nice two weeks

My brother-in-law's brother-in-law (how's that for a family connection?)  Eliot Barron is maintaining a small bike herd.  There are MANY more parts.  Best of luck to you Eliot!
Eliot was kind enough to give me saddlebags for my bike, Betsy.   I rode her from Zion City Bikes in Gerttown to Adam's Bicycle World in Metairie to purchase a new cogwheel for her drivechain.  When I'm on a bike, the pace of life seems slower.  I recommend both shops heartily.  Adam's Bicycle World is probably what would be considered a more traditional retail storefront, but Jason over at Zion City Bikes is very nice and helpful.
I took the Amtrak train to Lafayette where Donald and Sarah Keller (another wonderful set of in-laws) picked me up for a couple of days of honest work at Bayou Farm in Ville Platte.
 


I murdered some chickens for the first time in my life.  I was worried about whether or not I could actually slaughter the chickens.  The killing was actually anti-climactic.  This is too intense a subject to get into right now, but suffice it to say I am really glad that I can process chicken with a clean conscience, else I would have to convert to vegetarianism.

Speaking of vegetarianism, Beth and I bought some propane finally for our cajun power burner.  We've been stir frying up a storm!  Our favorite is tofu with dashi-shoyu and lots of veggies. (thanks Maggie Pullen for the japanese cooking lessons!)  Also, I made some fried chicken (bayou farm chicken) using this burner and my trusty 9 quart black iron dutch oven.  Beth said "That was some pretty good d*mn chicken."
 
Beth and I rode the RTA bus up Carrolton Ave to Jefferson Highway to visit the bike shop.  The RTA system is really nice.  They've started including real time location data on their fleet, meaning that Google gives useful public transit suggestions in New Orleans.  The New Orleans RTA have also equipped every bus with bike racks.  This bus line is 2 blocks away from our house, so I would say it's pretty convenient.




I saw a hawk in broadmoor.  That's a pigeon he has under his talons.  I thought the pigeon was a goner, but he escaped.  That's the luckiest pigeon in the world.
My friend Kelly took me fishing on Lake Pontchartrain, which was an act of faith on his part.  Saying that I'm not the most competent fisherman on the planet would be an understatement.  Kelly caught a throwback redfish, but I got skunked.  It was a perfect day and the fishing trip was a good excuse to go out on the water.  We saw quite a few pelicans on the piers of Fitzgerald's which was a seafood restaurant that was wiped out during a hurricane.

There really are pictures from Shanghai and Japan, I've just been busy with work and I really need to curate them to something that won't bore normal people.  There are over 1500 pictures at this point, which is more than any sane person wants to look at.

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