03 October 2021 (6 years, 9 months, 13 days after The Day)

Shortly after I posted the blog I went outside to check on the pork.  I knew it was done but I was disappointed to wait on the briskets.  So - I took my trusty instant thermometer out there and the pork was indeed done.  The magic number of 200 degrees.  I went ahead and poked the brisket to ensure the temp on both was roughly 180 and to my utter disappointment I found that they both were 200.  I was so frustrated.  A bad probe caused my brisket to overcook.  It just reminds me how important the quality of the feedback loop is.  All this means for the brisket is it will be very very soft.  Anyway - I got up this morning about 7am only to see that Dylan sent me a txt at 2am warning me that the temp on the smoker was low.  He wasn't home when I took the meat off so he thought it was still on there.  I shot him a reply, got up, and got the ribs going.  I am a bit disappointed in the quality of smoke from an apricot tree.  That wood really pushes some dark smoke.   I came back in and finished getting the turkey prepped.  I decided to smoke a turkey that had been in our freezer for a long time.  Samantha was saying to just throw it out but I figured I would just give it a try and if it was bad we could throw it out.  Yesterday I spent time getting it thawed.  I ran out of room in the fridge and so I emptied a vegetable drawer and lined it with foil and made a nice little bed for the bird.  This morning I pulled the turkey out and spatchcocked the bird, seasoned it, and put it back in the fridge in the spot where the ribs were.  I'm trying to juggle the room in the fridge but it is tight!

So - how about that for 1.5 hours of being awake.

More later -  

02 October 2021 (6 years, 9 months, 12 days after The Day)

 So - the day started with me waking up from a bad dream.  I don't dream much but last night was one that I was happy to wake up from.  In my dream I was in college and apparently I was late to a class and had to walk in during the lecture.  It was a small class size so it was very obvious that I was walking in and had no idea what what going on.  Suffice it to say I have lived this in real life before and dreaming about it gave the same feeling.  I don't know if you all have experienced anything like this in normal life but it is something I really hate.  Anyway - I started the day by getting my smoker ready for the long burn.  I cleaned up the fire box, loaded it with wood, and started the fire.  That was about 7:30am.  I named my smoker "Ol' Bessie" after the Pixar movie Cars.  This old smoker cooks some good food.  So - here it is 11pm and I am patiently waiting for my briskets to get to 195 degrees Fahrenheit.  They are at 177... I have a feeling I am sleeping on the couch tonight.

I spent some time learning more linear algebra today.  It was nice to be able to tackle a problem that brought so much frustration.  I had to dig up my trig knowledge to solve the problem and suffice it to say it made me smile when I got the right answer.  I haven't used trig in 20 years.

Today was a semi-annual broadcast of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  As a family we would gather around the TV and watch inspirational talks given but today was slim pickings.  It seemed at times I was alone in the living room.  Everyone had different things happening.  I enjoyed the talks and felt a little closer to God.  If you have never watched one of these, you can google it or go to https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org and search for "General Conference" to see what I am talking about.  It isn't like some of the of the "HALLELUJAH! Praise Jesus!" type of meetings.  There is a talk below that is actually my most favorite talk.  I liked it so much I memorized it.  It is by Elder Neal A. Maxwell and he gave it in 1974.  Regardless of your beliefs about God I think it is pertinent in these latter days.

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/1974/11/why-not-now.p1?lang=eng

So - General Conference is both Saturday and Sunday.  So - tomorrow we will gather around the TV and watch again and then in the evening time, Samantha will have some of her work friends over for some BBQ.  

I plan to put the ribs on tomorrow morning and then throw in a turkey after the ribs which we can eat on later.  I think this BBQ run is about 77 lb. of meat.  It sounds like a lot but after we have friends and family over we have enough to last us about 3 months (i.e. about 6 meals) and there generally are no left over ribs.  I guess people like them.  Samantha and I made our different BBQ sauces.  She made the potato salad and will put the beans on to cook tomorrow.  We are both so tired.

So - I suppose I am off to the couch to wait on the temp.  After writing this blog entry the temp is at 180 and it is 11:25pm.  Maybe it is a Lord of the Rings night tonight.

Until later -