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 -
