ARE YOU SMOKING?

 It looked like the country was on fire this morning ..... and it felt like it too.  Good grief ... this heat has become oppressive.   At 7:30 last night,  it was 103 degrees.  Oooweeeee Mother Nature is mad at someone!!  Or maybe she's just trying to smoke us to tenderness.

The moon was still up, but it wasn't feeling it either.  Just a tiny sliver.  At least it's not full for this meeting I have to attend.

But first ... remember these two running watches?  They tell you how far based on GPS, even shows a map of your route, how fast, heart rate, recovery rate, pace ... just about everything you would ever want to know.  I paid a lot of attention to these back in the day.  Practice makes perfect when it comes to marathons.  I was hoping to resurrect one or both so I could keep track of my time a little better.

Woohoo!!  This one lit up with the correct time this morning.  I was thrilled that it worked.  Too bad it only worked for about 49 seconds.  I'm sure I heard a big sigh about the time it died a quick death.

Well rats.  Sadly, you cannot change the batteries in those watches.  They want you to buy a new one. I suppose I can't complain ... this one worked well for about 8 years and has been sitting for 10.  I looked them up on Amazon and about had a heart attack.  That watch above that I paid about $450 for, was now $1,099.00.  Well that's a big NO THANK YOU!  I settled for this MUCH cheaper one.  It doesn't have all the bells and whistles, but it will do what I need it to since truly, I don't see any marathons in my future.    

In no time I had to head on off to the big town of Stockton.  Yes, that's where my truck died on the last trip up there.  I prayed the entire way that my Jeep made it.  I drove that because the fuel is $2.00 a gallon cheaper.  Still, it cost me $70 to attend this unnecessary meeting.  

They call it the Motel ... which is exactly what it looks like, and probably used to be.  they even have a swimming pool in back. I felt like diving in.  It would have been better than the meeting.

All the bars on the doors made me nervous, but I went inside to find a nice large cool room and a table of my friends.  Well .... most of them were my friends.  I actually had a blast talking to two of the guys I had not seen in awhile.  We laughed and carried on like school kids while others scowled at us.  

I spent a good part of the actual meeting just laughing to myself.  I'm surprised several in attendance didn't get sent to the principal's office.  I stayed as long as I could stand before tapping my watch and running out the door.  I grabbed a donut on the way.  Lucky for me, traffic wasn't too terrible, and thank the Good Lord above I was not going the OTHER direction, where they were backed up for about 5 miles.  

Coming through town, I had an epiphany!  If I stopped at the local Mexican market, I could get a pork roast and smoke that baby.  Unfortunately, they only had one, so pork loin had to suffice for the second one.

Here it is in the fridge, smothered in mustard and PIG POWDER.  Those who have been reading my ramblings for awhile, know about the Pig Powder.  It beats anything out there.

I'M SMOKING!!!  It went in the smoker about 4:30 and will smoke for five hours.  Yeah, that means I have to stay up late, but it's worth it.  It will actually cook for a total of 15 hours.

I did make the mistake of not standing on the other side when I opened the door to pour on some apple juice.  I got blasted with smoke.  The men are going to be following me now!  I smell like SMOKED MEAT.  It will come out at 5:00 or so, get wrapped in foil, swaddled in towels and stuck in the ice chest to finish cooking to juicy deliciousness.  I can't wait to taste it.  It's been a long while since I made smoked pulled pork.

Another sweet Cooper picture from a couple years ago.  Big sigh .... I still miss him every second of every day.