Good-by '22 and Hello '23!

   Goodby 2022, and welcome 2023!

2022 in many ways, was worse than the covid years, yikes!

And in other ways was much better, but overall it's still a year to remember as thank goodness I made it through that mess. 

  2022 started off badly with getting a nasty case of the covid-blues New Year's Eve 2021; that bout of illness lasted till almost the first of February.

Hmm, thinking about it, guess it was another covid year.

Then I got whammied again with round two of being sick from the tail-end of July till the start of September.

  The annual Winter Cookout/Freeze Fest commenced once again. Every year I think its the last, but it proceeded. Though instead of being held on the last Saturday in February, a change was made, and it was held on the first Saturday in March, and it was a warm one, the warmest WC on record. 

  Work, work, work, and more work. Work was steady throughout the year and, at times, was beyond hectic. Food was always on the table, bills paid, and I was blessed.

 Even more hectic and insanely bizarre was the revolving door of whacked out - crazed - mentally unstable - drug induced (I guess?) - psychotic behavior of the people (can I call them people?)  I tried to employ. If I was the only one who was on a search for employees, I would hide my head in shame, but you gotta take what's out there, and these people were OUT THERE!

 A whole book could be written on the great employment debacle of '22.

Five marched in, and five either stormed out screaming or went missing like I sent them on a mission to the Bermuda Triangle. If you are one of these when you land back to earth or gather your brain, please return my work shirts. 

 Since we are on the topic of the mentally unstable and backstabbing deviants, a tenant walked out, that's another insanely funny story, and someone I've known since school paid by check for work I did in her house only to stop payment on that check. Hey, if this is a sort of play-by-play of my year, I gotta include these things.

 I politic'd a little. Blystone for governor fell flat, but my early pick of Vance for Senate was correct. So it was a 50/50 year.

  Sport-wise, my prediction was correct, cutting Mayfield was bad, and the Browns would be even badder. Yes, I know I just wrote a word that doesn't exist, but the Browns are also a nonexistent team. 

 Travel was little to no traveling, just some day trips and Sunday drives.

 The highlights were meeting three interesting gentlemen. Don, owner of Market Square in Kinsman, Ohio, Robert "Quiet Wolf" Thompson of the Lenape Nation at a Powwow, and Bill, a 98-year-old WWII veteran.

 So how did '22 wrap up?.... with a death threat followed by a crash bang boom accident. In other words, it ended in a typical Carey fashion, unpredictable, and now what!

This is an older photo but the expression says it all....

So 2023 now what! What ya have in store for me? 

Lastly, in conclusion I like to thank the new friends and acquaintances I met in '22 and a heartfelt thank you to those who stuck by me, you are never overlooked. 

Carey On....

5 am Snow report for December 23, 2022

Well my slumber head friends yours truly was out n about and watched the transition of Mother Nature.

Quiet 42 and light rain when I started the night at work but now the streets look like a Zamboni was laying and smoothing the frozen H20 with heavy dose of gusts that make you want to grab hold of the first frozen thing that's anchored.

Snow business is in full affect with Frosty clapping his hands in glee that everything's white instead of green.

The blinding white ride on the freeway to home-base in my lil' Korean roller skate slid along at a constant 40 with sway to the left and sway to the right that would make any square dance caller upset that he wasn't there to call the moves.

Some sped at 55 while others used their blinking red and hugged the slow shoulder not wanting to become an immobilized snow mound.

If you venture out carry a large St. Bernard with you or at least enough extra clothes and some 151 to warm you in case you trapeze off the road while waiting for a hooker to come get you out.

And that's the 5 am report

Carey On...

What another Carey day. What's a Carey day?

 What another Carey day. What's a Carey day?

A day that never goes as planned gets beyond frustrating and then turns out OK.

Yesterday was that type of day.

While visiting Niles, Ohio, a month or so ago,  the ladies from the Niles historical society said I needed to return on December 10th. It was their Christmas celebration, historical houses would be open, festivities, etc...

So I planned on going Saturday at the last minute, still with enough time to make the events. But unfortunately, one friend ran late, then he had to pick up a few people, which made things unravel quickly.

We arrived in Niles late; all the houses and museums were closed, but worse than that, we found out from a local that the Christmas event was held on December 2nd. 

So now what? Well, you make the best of it. We drove around Niles and Warren. We found some interesting places with almost all closed, but we made notes of things to see for our next visit. 

We found a butcher that was still open, Badurik's Butcher Block. I purchased smoked black pepper bacon, Cajun kielbasa, hot-dried Italian sausage, and beef sticks. And the owner, Steve, in return, bought my book "Travel Life & Carey On...".

I Hope Steve enjoyed the book as much as I enjoyed his food.

OK, now things were turning around - we got bacon!

This is a break in the story

My Sunday breakfast 

Now back to the story

Next, we stopped at the McKinley Memorial, walked the grounds, snapped some photos, and took off to find supper.

  

Steve recommended Vernons but instead chose Stone Yard Grill and Tavern. We ordered the ribeye, but I am still unsure what we ate. It was so beyond tender that I think they served us the prime rib by mistake. Whatever it was, it was incredibly delicious.

After that, we drove in large circles looking for a coffee shop, diner, or truck stop for coffee and dessert. Not even a Denny's. At one time, Denny's were all over the place, and no one ever really planned on going to Denny's you just ended up there but not today.

No coffee to be found but we did drive by the Packard museum, that had lights on with a parking lot filled with cars.

We ventured in, walked around a bit, and probably could have stayed longer if I didn't ask someone what was going on. Unfortunately, it was a private event, so we were told we had to leave.

So that was my Saturday, December 10th; how was yours?

OH lets not forgot Sunday's supper, thanks Steve Badurik, my Sunday meals would not have been this tasty.

Carey On...

Sherry at the rib fest

 Sherry doesn't attract nearly as much attention as the Go-Go Bus but it does have its share of people stopping by.

Fun time yesterday at the Ashtabula (Ohio) Rib Fest and Lakefront Park car show.

This old creaky house

I'll tell you what... if you are skittish, being in an old house at night is not for you.
I have been redoing an old house built 100 years ago and working alone into the wee hours of the night.

This house makes more groans, creaks, and bangs - every couple of minutes, I hear a noise.

To make matters worse, I go to load up my work van and forget I put one of those dang blasted heads on my seat. I open the door, and there it is, staring at me.
Talk about a sudden bad case of the heebie-jeebies.
I guess I got myself back for the time we worked late, and I placed a large rubber rat on the passenger seat of my work van. My nephew went to get in and just about killed himself, jumping back and slamming the door.
OH well, that's entertainment Carey style.

Carey On.... 

Metal Detecting

 One day I will hit the mother lode until then anyone lose a eyeglass case?

My detector was going nuts, dug and dug and dug
And there it was an eyeglass case.
If anyone around 1980 or so lost an eyeglass case at Featherstone Park and can tell me what was in it, you can rightfully claim it.
Amazes me how items dropped on the ground get buried so deep.
There is a lesson there about no global warming and how the earth heals itself but for now anyone lose an eyeglass case?
The rest of the items, one large bolt and who knows what the others were.

Carey On....

Hartford Fair in Croton, Ohio.

 Hey Gang,

Every year I try to attend a different fair. This summer, I ventured out to The Biggest Little Fair in the World  - Hartford Fair in Croton, Ohio.

So why is it called the Hartford Fair if it's in Croton? I don't know if you find out, please let me know. 

It's hidden away and hard to find; even with Mapquest, I got lost. It's in the middle of nowhere and farms. 

The fairgrounds are enormous, and food stands are everywhere. So we walked and walked and checked out all of them before settling on the Northridge Athletic Boosters Food Stand. We ordered the Viking burger, and it was great!

Still, I wasn't overly impressed with this fair. I thought it lacked merchant buildings and things to do. Though I really enjoyed the Fravel Museum on the grounds. Yeah - Fravel as in travel. I've been to travel museums before but never a Fravel Museum but now I can say I have.

You can spend a lot of time in it just looking at all the artifacts and reading the old newspaper clipping.

 The best part of this fair is that the grandstands are free to view the events. We watched the tractor pull. Watching these mechanical beasts lumber down the track, spewing smoke and the ear-numbing nose is impressive. 

                                                    Whoops this cow was camera shy. 

The price to get in was very reasonable - $8 per person. 

The Hartford Fair may not have been my favorite fair, but it was still a fun time.

So that's this summer 2022 fair review. 

Gotta Go-Go!

Carey

Moms Delicious Pigtail Recipe

 Here is something positive - Mom cooking pigtails!

Now you will see where I get my culinary skills and my serious nature from.

If you are not sure what to cook tonight or have guests coming over this may be the dish.

Enjoy!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hMoOB6XZBQ

Nice Restroom

 One of the restrooms I used on my trip to WV

Very homey, clean and it reminded me of the GoGo Bus
It was at a mini gas station in Maryland
Should have made notes of exact location in case you ever wanted to use it

Gotta Go-Go!Carey

Always follow your inner voice

 Always follow your inner voice, always!

Tonight while coming home, I had a choice of two roads to take.

The usual one or the other side street

My inner voice said "Take the other side street"!

So glad I listened. 

Laying in the middle of the street was a sack of potatoes, and only one was mashed.

I surveyed the scene; it is 2 am, no one is laying claim, they weren't infested, so into my car they go.

So remember, follow the road your inner voice tells you to travel.

It may not lead to a pot of gold, but it could lead to a sack of Idaho Gold.

Carey On...

What you be saying?

The problem with owning a Korean car and joining a group is that I need an interpreter.

Unlike the American car and van clubs I belong to, I can understand what they are trying to say.

Here is an example:

Hyundai Accent i hatchback 1994

In 1994, hyundai accent i hatchback looks good, and you cannot dispute about it. In this 1994 accent could brag good technical specs. Looking at these images of hyundai accent i hatchback version of 1994 year it is hard to said that you do not want to have this car. Friends, as you know, our authors leaving in different countries, that is why we good knows, how in 1994 hyundai accent i hatchback looks.

Sounds to me like a Biden speech.

Carey On...

A look into the near future

 

A look into the near future

Monday sports story following an opening day loss by the Browns.

 AP Sports:

Browns traded away their entire roster during the summer except for Baker Mayfield who bravely took the field alone on opening day. The game did not go well for the Cleveland Brown who was thoroughly trounced. Owner Haslam was quite irate about the lopsided loss and blamed it on his QB for being less than an adult.

Mayfield who was playing with a torn ACL, two broken arms, and a partially severed head said he will be out there next Sunday and has to do better. 

Haslam said he is not going to trade Baker regardless and no, he doesn’t need more players but needs to grow up.

Carey On...

2022 Winter Fest/Winter Cookout

 

My phone has been ringing, messages through Messenger arriving daily

Carey is the Winter Cookout/Freeze Fest still happening?

I have been hosting this annual event for over 20 years the last Saturday in February.

Only twice in all that time it has been cancelled. Once in 2020 when I was deadly sick and one other time back in 2004 I believe it was.

Some friends who were a big part of it are no longer with us, Jamie and George, Sad! Others well age has gotten to them, 20 plus years people do age.

Anyway… this Saturday unfortunately I have to work.

I am thinking of hosting it the following Saturday.

Place still undecided, because of covid our freedoms have waned so maybe it will be held at my house again like last year.

Stay tuned and let me know if you like to attend.

Carey On…

Clean those gutters

Today I used my roof rake and cleared out one side of the gutters.

I poured pots of boiling water to open the downspouts.

With the warm-up, rain, and then another heavy round of snow could be a disaster in the making.

And icicles, I know they make a house look like a Hallmark card, but they are heavy and dangerous, knock them down but don't look up, one could impale your eye, and then you would have an icy stare.

Some photos from my 3.5-hour operation rooftop snow removal

All that snow in the drive is from the roof.

Carey On...