A Military Breakfast

I had to go in to the hospital to give some blood for lab work, I had to fast for the blood samples so I went in early, I miss my morning coffee.
The lab went quick & I went over to the Army's galley for breakfast. Galley is a naval service word, I was in the CG so that's the word I use, the Army Medical Center used a different term but it's still a military dining facility.
I really enjoy a good military breakfast.

It makes my mouth water just to look at it

Hashed brown potatoes with SOS on top, a couple over easy eggs on top of that, sausage on the side and coffee in a china mug.  Man, I does not get any better than that!
It's almost worth getting up early for that all by itself.

Another part of going to the lab early is they got the work done before my appointment with my doctor 3 hours later. Seems I'm in good health for a person of my age.

Oh ya, "SOS" is common derogatory slang term for 'creamed beef on toast'. I had mine on potatoes.

Libraries

I went to the closest library that I had a card for since my move, I wanted the next book in the Dresden Files (a series by Jim Butcher) & they had it.
While I was there I took a look around to see if there was anything else that might be interested in.

Some time at the card catalog (it's a computer these days), scribble some dewey decimal notes on the paper scraps they provide with those tiny pencils and off to the stacks.

While I was sitting looking at a book on kayaks to see if it was basic enough for me (it was) I looked up & saw a book by Mark Twain, "Roughing It". I thought "Roughing It" was a fiction book & I was in the non-fiction stacks?
I sure was, it seems that Mark Twain's "Roughing It" is considered "American miscellaneous writings", "Description & Travel" and not fiction.  Learn something new once again.

The GPS showed me a library close to where we lived so we stopped in for a visit, seems we had enough paperwork for a library card! This makes the 3rd card we've gotten on our travels. Libraries are good things.


The library in Altoona Iowa had no problems with a six month card & no problems renewing it the next year.  Rockport Texas wanted $5 for the card but other than that no problems. The librarian in Rockport was surprised we were interested in the books! It seems most people just want access to the internet.


Libraries are good, support yours!

As we left we went through a city building parking lot and they had plug-ins for electric cars. They looked free!  Free fuel for your car is a heck of a deal!

Free fuel

and not just for one car

Being able to give away electricity is a heck of a thing for a city to do, Lacey must be doing well!

Beginners chop sticks

We went to a Chinese buffet last week & I decided to try using chop sticks. Learn something new kind of thing.
It went ok, I was not in a hurry and a lot of that was finger food anyway.

Yesterday we stopped at a "Pho" shop, a Vietnamese place. I'd never even heard of "Pho" before. They had chop sticks (two kinds, the disposable wooden & plastic),  spoons, napkins & sauces at the table. No forks.
I had a wok dish rather than the soup bowl and was happy to continue my chop stick education!
I thought I was doing alright with the sticky rice, the chunks of chicken & vegies in a really good and spicy sauce. Like before I was not in a hurry and I was feeding myself.

After about 15 minutes the lady who took our order comes over to me with a pair of beginners chop sticks. They were regular chop sticks that had training wheels attached.
I'd guess that for her watching me was just too painful :-)

'Fixed' chop sticks

After she went out of her way to 'help' me I didn't have the heart to turn her offer down. They were easier to use than the regular ones...

And the regular ones

That was a first for me!

Moving

We moved after the first of the year, just 50 miles but with my job gone that puts us closer to where we have to be three times a week for another month.
Living in an RV means moving is not that hard.

The new place is really nice, we're right on a lake but the area is really different.
In western Washington state the area along I-5 is generally more 'built up' than the other areas.... There are a lot more people here than I'm used to.

We're in a new area and need to find a Walmart, we need a phone card you can only get at Walmart. I go to the GPS, it tells me 7miles & I push the "Go" button.
This Walmart is not close to the interstate... there are a lot of stop lights & there are a lot of people. We get to the Walmart and the lines are huge! Where did all these people come from?

There is a point to all of this, I can remember pulling into a strange town & wondering where the nearest big food store was. If it wasn't right on the main drag we had to hunt for it.  That was then.  Now I have GPS, I punch to button for "grocery store" and it points me too it.
Not just the Walmart but Winco & Trader Joe's too!

  But the GPS won't tell me where all of these people came from ...