marius

Ever heard of maple-ine? Not sure how it's spelled. Spouse uses that.

Once when a grandkid spent the night, he and grandpa made syrup the next morning. So grandkid goes home and is excited to tell how to make your own maple syrup versus buying it. He thought his Dad would be thrilled because maple-ine is cheap and Dad likes thrift.

He was wrong. His Dad said, "One does not save money by cutting corners with maple syrup! Cut corners where you must, but never with syrup!"

We still giggle about that. And grandkids still like to make their own syrup with maple-ine when they visit here. They tell us when they live on their own they are going to make syrup like their grandpa's. Funny world.

snickerdoodle

Well, I must say, this double life as a robin AND a snickerdoodle is complicated. I couldn't log in to TD because I had already forgotten my snickerddole password. So I had them email me the password. But of course, I had created a different email for the snickerdoodle account, and then could not remember THAT password in order to retrieve the TD password. So I had to go through the hoops of resetting the password for the account. Now I have retrieved it all, but am fairly certain by tomorrow I'll have forgotten all of these new passwords again, so everyone say goodbye for good to snickerdoodle. She had a short life.

Anyway, Baldur, living in New England, and being so culinarily crafty, I am shocked that you don't just tap your own maple trees and make your own homemade maple syrup. I have a friend in the Catskills who tried that once, and said it was way more trouble than it was worth...took forever to get just a small amount of maple. But still, you ARE Baldur!

I liked your description of the gay bars. There are only a couple of them that I'm aware of here in Boise. I once went to the most well-known of them during the quiet hours there. It was lovely. The music was fairly good, the bartender attentive, and I sat at the bar and talked to a guy for probably a couple of hours. He had been in a long-term relationship with his partner for many many years, and his partner had a young son when they met. The two of them had primary custody and raised the boy, and now he was about 20, and this guy just gushed on about his son! It was so fun to sit at a bar and talk to a guy and not feel like it was a pick-up! I wished I had gotten his number, just so we could get together again, but I guess I hadn't thought of it then.

Anyway, next time I went to the same bar, it was late on a Satyrday night. WOW! What a difference! They had that techno-music just BLARING and sweaty people were dancing and the whole place was hot and stinky. Oh well, lesson learned.

Hope everyone's well tonight. I'm hoping to get to bed at a reasonable hour and actually SLEEP!

marius

Well Robind aka snickerdoodle, you can log in however you want and tis fine with me. Love your idea that Baldur should "mine" his own maple syrup. Did you get to bed on time last night? I did ... I think. But, getting time for the nap so that will clear up the fog.

marius

Baldur - the first date? Or the second, which ever you think we'd like most and which ever you might care to share. Did you really think you were done telling the how you and Robert met story? hehe ... [borrowing Dragon's laugh for a minute cause I like it. hehe. It really cracks me up, Dragon ... hope you don't mind. hehe.]

Back to Baldur's first date with Robert .... I wonder things like: was it a big deal? did they go somewhere fancy? did they just go for a stroll around the block and have a couple of beers? did they meet up somewhere or did Robert pick Baldur up (thinking it would be that way as Baldur said he had no car). Did they make plans for another date right away. And who said, "I'll call you"?

In my dating experience, the guy always said that and you know, it always bugged me. And one time I said, "Um, I'd rather you didn't." Then I got a lecture about how I'd not given him a change, that one date was not enought to "know." Believe me - five seconds was enough to know with that one.

Robindcr8l

Yes, Marius, I have had 2 good night's sleep in a row! (Did I use that apostrophe correctly, Baldur?) I just got home from a parent meeting at my son's school I really didn't know what it was about, but thought since I had the time, I should attend. Well, it was like their version of the PTA. Now, I know that every school needs a PTA, and I admire all the great things they do. But I am so NOT a PTA mom. First of all, I hate structured committtee meetings because invariably someone always goes off on a tangent about something unrelated and wastes my time. I'm too impatient for that crap. Secondly, I have never been a cheerleader type, you know, the kind of person who gets really enthusiastic about the next fundraiser and what poster to paint. I have some leadership skills, but no organizational skills, so I am really of NO value to this type of group. Thank God there are people who like it and are good at it, but PLEEEEZ don't make me do it too!

So, that will be my first and last parent meeting at the junior high.

I was supposed to meet some friends for lunch, but after that meeting got some GI distress that was quite severe in nature, (I think it was just coincidental, not that the meeting CAUSED it!) so now I am staying home and close to my own facilities. I know...TMI!

marius

Um ... not given him a CHANCE ... although he surely did need a change, or two, or three. I'm sounding wicked, I need a nap.

Robindcr8l

Marius, regarding dating...I had a friend once who told me she says yes to every date she's asked on, just because you never know. I think that is a good policy in general. I will date someone who I don't feel a particular attraction to, with the thought that maybe one on one I will find something about him more attractive. But I think one date is PLENTY in many cases. Some people are jerks, and there's no avoiding that truth.

marius

Rob..snick..in...er... d...doo...cra..dle...dle.., whoever you are ... that was a funny account of the meeting. You are a nurse, I thought you knew those meetings cause gastric distress! It's called "meetingcraypeetosis." Sorry, that was bad.

I went to a meeting once, I swear this is true, and the ladies spent NINETY mintues trying to decide if the tablecloths for an upcoming event should be plain or checkered. NINETY minutes of talk about table cloths! I still shake my head every time I think of that! Sometimes I've wanted to travel back in time and watch that meeting like a fly on the wall or something ... because surely no living or dead human being would want to talk about tablecloths for 90 minutes. Tell me it isn't true!

Baldur

Baldur has NO maple trees, let alone sugar maples which are a specific variety.
95% of the trees here are white pine or white oak, the remainder are an assortment that include Canadian Hemlock, Dogwood, Beech and some sort of birch, but not the one with the white papery bark. Nary a maple to be found.
There are Maples in the area, but they are trees that people have planted in their yards for landscaping purposes. They are not likely to suffer their trees being tapped.

marius

Robin, I have subscribed to that yes to every date but it has not always worked so well. When I was in high school there was this guy who asked me out every single year, several times a year. I always said no. He wasn't my type. Finally, my senior year he said, "I've asked you out __ times now and it's our last year. You should say yes, you should give me a chance."

Everything inside me screamed, "NO!" But, I didn't listen to myself. We went to dinner and a dance and he spent the whole time complaining that I'd turned him down all those times. It was very difficult and I was not enjoying myself. Anyway, I went to the restroom to get away from him and as I came out, some friends were leaving. I told them how this guy was being and they said, "We'll take you home if you want to go." So I did. Just left the guy there and never said a fare thee well. Surprises me that I did that ... but hey, don't mess with me! : )

marius

Did Baldur and Robert see any maple trees when they went out on their first date?

Baldur

I think all the interesting details of my meeting Robert have been covered in the saga that's been posted.
Baldur gave no one his phone number, not Robert, not my parents, not my employer. These were the days before caller ID when one could maintain a semblance (+10 points) of privacy.

We did go out to dinner and I spent the weekend with him at what was to eventually become Chez Baldur.
Then I started spending every weekend there.

marius

Marius HAS to take a nap. She will pray that a first date story is forming in Baldur's mind as she sleeps. Or perhaps Robin can just make one up for us. I'm so in need of another good story.

Robindcr8l

Hahaha, hehehe, Marius! I have been to meetings not unlike the one you describe! I wonder if those ladies who were all fired up about the tablecloths ever look back with embarrassment?

At the hospital I work at, I had a more administrative job for about 6 years until all the politics burned me out and I realized I'd make more money working fewer hours if I returned to bedside nursing.

So in that other job, HOLY COW, they loved meetings! This was the cycle: Someone would identify an issue that needed to be addressed. Someone would form a committee and delegate people to be on it. The committee would meet for an hour or two maybe twice a week for like 2 or 3 months sort of brainstorming what we could do to resolve the issue. The committee woulc come up with a plan and recommendations. The plan and recommendations would never be implemented. 2 years later, someone would identify the same issue, and the cycle would start all over again! It was almost comical, if it weren't so frustrating. I remember this social worker who had just started there. She went to a meeting, and thought, "this sounds kind of familiar." She went back to her desk and found tacked to the wall a memo about the exact same issue which was dated 2 years earlier! There was the proof! LOL

marius

OMG - Robin. It's a pandemic! I worked for a non-profit for 16 years and when I left, they had just come up with a new 5-year plan. It was almost EXACTLY the same plan I had a copy of from TWENTY years previously!

marius

And most of the people working on the new plan had worked on the earlier plan from 20 years ago!

Baldur

Never underestimate the fascination that table linens can incite.
Baldur has a small but fascinating collection and will discuss it for hours over tea with those interested.
To discuss plain vs patterned for 90 minutes seems totally out of line.
One person should have been chosen to handle such decisions very early on.
Then that time could have been used to discuss finger sandwiches instead.

Robindcr8l

And Baldur, I do enjoy the "how we met" stories of life, but what I find even more interesting is the "what makes us work all these years later" stories. I seem to have difficulty with that in my life, so maybe that's where the added fascination comes from. The one aspect of your relationship that you may give very little thought to, but that fascinates me to no end, is that you actually willingly, without complaint, cook 2 separate meals to suit both of your tastes on a fairly regular basis. I don't know ANYONE else who would do that. Honestly. I think my son would wish he could come live with you if he knew about this. The kid loves pork chops. Too bad, I don't like pig meat at all. Suffer through the chicken, kid! LOL I'd also like to know...do you make just enough for one meal each, or do you make it so that you each have leftovers the next day. My son and I are bad about leftovers, and I throw a lot of food away. I hate that, so I try very hard to make smaller portions, but never seem to get it right. Help a sister out, here, Chef Baldur.

Baldur

Easy Tea Sandwiches

Take a small tin of crushed pineapple and empty it into a sieve.
Press out as much liquid as humanly possible and reserve the juice for other purposes.
Combine the crushed pineapple with 12 ounces of cream cheese and an optional tablespoon of minced crystalized ginger root.
Spread on black or dark brown bread, top with a second slice of bread, trim off the crusts and cut into small triangles.

Baldur

Robert will not eat leftovers.
He demands entirely different meals each day.
Baldur however doesn't mind eating the same meal several times in any given week.
I may make myself a large pot of vegetarian chili and have that reheated for 4 or 5 days. It will not go to waste.
For Robert I may make a single stuffed pepper one day, followed by a breaded chicken cutlet half and then a tiny portion of pork chow mein.
Meanwhile I'm eating chili.