Roof Damage

The other part of our camping trip that I don't think I discussed on here was the damage we got in a windstorm while we were gone. We came home to find shingles blown off the roof and water damage on the interior of our master bedroom "popcorn' ceiling. The damage was not quite as extensive as this image I found on google but similar. I met with a contractor on Friday and he thinks to prevent it from happening again we need to have the entire roof replaced. *gulp* Since we don't have $7-9 Grand just laying around we quickly called our insurance company. Since I work in the insurance industry I am of course highly suspicious of insurance companies and just spoke with them. Of course they can't come and look until next week when I am up in NY. But it sounds like everything will be taken care of. Anxiety doing much better today than it was this weekend.
Anyone else ever had any roof/storm/shingle damage? Please tell me it all worked out OK.

-Doc

Going Camping...

Going to be off the rest of the week because we are heading off to the North Carolina mountains tomorrow to go camping with some good friends of ours. Headed to a place called Julian Price Park which sounds lovely except for the lack of electricity. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not one of these people who think camping involves a Holiday Inn however I would like an electrical outlet to plug in a radio. Everyone has said this place doesn't even have lights in the bathroom. Solution? I went out to BJ's and bought a whole ton of batteries yesterday.
I am really looking forward to the trip. I haven't been camping in years and my son has of course never been. I think he is old enough to actually enjoy it now. I am also hoping to get some fishing done... possibly teaching my son as well. Now since he has the attention span of a flea for "boring" things like watching a hook in the water my prospects aren't great. I am just hoping that at some point we are able to land one fish so he can see how it's done.
I hope everyone has a great weekend and I hope to have some pictures to share next week. Pray for no rain!

-Doc

P.S. Don't forget to vote for the Worst Person of the week

Busy Busy...

I'll tell you what, there is no way I could be a single parent. My wife is away at a conference and I am taking care of our son. He has been great and helping me to keep from forgetting things but the biggest problem is work.
This week I have been coming in half and hour later but still leaving the same time and I am simply covered up. I never realized how much difference that half an hour makes. (It may also go back to Monday when I got here late because I was waiting for the DirecTV man)
Sadly because I am so busy this has really cut into my time to do other stuff like blogging and Tweeting. I will eventually get caught up reading yoru blogs and get back to normal but it might not be until next week. Sorry no random thoughts today. I don't have time to type them out!
Oh yeah, if you haven't emailed me yet to get an invitation to join the NCAA tournament league that Jay and I are running please see the announcement at the top of the page. Have a Happy Thursday.

-Doc

Deep Fried Hooters Chicken at Home!

So my in laws gave me this awesome turkey fryer for Christmas. They were down to visit this past weekend and I decided to fire it up. No I didn't burn the house down and the results were very yummy. So here I present a short series of pictures documenting how to do a Hooters deep fried chicken at home.

Fill the cooker with about 2.5 gallons of Peanut oil (Yes I am looking sytlish in sweats)

light the burner but be careful- especially in the rain

Prepare the bird by cleaning and then injecting with Hooters wing Sauce

I used Medium sauce and Emeril's Chicken rub

Check the oil temp. It takes awhile to get it up to 325 degrees

Hang the bird on the hook thingy
Rub the bird with the Chicken rub

While you are still waiting for the oil to get to 325 make sure to have a few of these handy

Keep waiting for the oil to get to the proper temp 325 degrees

OK, lower the bird into the oil and cook for 26 minutes

Keep Cooking....

Make sure the temp stays about 325... Very important!

Completed bird ready to cut and serve!

Oh yeah, I made a Green bean casserole too!

The finished product Mmmmm yummy!

OK so there you have it. The Chicken was very juicy and done perfectly... We all ate off it Sunday, last night, and I have the leftovers for lunch today. Not hard at all to do and as I said nothing got burned down.

-Doc

OK, So apparently I have too many coats

I have a confession to make. My name is Doc and I am a coat whore. Very recently it has been pointed out to me by my wife that I just may have an issue with this so I have decided to come clean. I know I have picked on women for having to many shoes in the past so I now must confess my own failing. Coats. After using a gift card to buy a New York Mets jacket while up in NY the other week my wife asks me, "Why in the heck do you need another coat?" My response, "Oh I don't have too many coats."
"Go count them!" I'm told. So I did. I made an inventory. Here is a picture of our downstairs hall closet:

Between this closet and in my closet upstairs I have:

1 Carolina Panthers Heavy Duty Coat
3 Panthers pullovers (heavy, medium, and light)
1 Panthers lightweight coat
1 Panthers Windbreaker
1 New York Mets Heavy Coat
1 Mets pullover
1 Company logo Windbreaker
1 Company logo Parka
1 Dupont Jeff Gordon Jacket
1 FSU pullover
1 FSU Windbreaker
2 FSU Coats (heavy and light) + I recently gave my nephew my FSU letter jacket
3 Fleeces (2 full and 1 vest)
1 Everyday Windbreaker
1 Everyday heavy coat
1 Dress overcoat
1 Everyday light jacket
1 Rain Coat

For a total of 23 coats/jackets/pullovers. (Too be fair that closet picture also has 2 of my wife's coats and 3 of my son's as well) Is this excessive? Maybe. Now I don't live in an area known for super cold weather but sometimes it can be unpredictable. These coats are not being wasted. I promise that I have worn each of these within the past year. Probably more than once.

So there is my confession. I am a coat whore. Even so I can give good reason for having and keeping each and every one. How many do I plan on getting rid of? Well None actually. I already gave away one last year. As a matter of fact I am thinking there is room in there for me to get another one. (or two)

-Doc

Edgar Allan Poe's Mystery Toaster fails to show...

For the first time since 1949 they mystery toaster who leaves a bottle of Cognac and roses on the grave site of Edgar Allan Poe in a Baltimore cemetery has failed to show. for those who have no idea what I am talking about there is a a single mystery individual who for more than half a century has shown up between the hours of midnight and 5:30 am on January 19th and leaves these gifts at the author's grave in a birthday tribute. This year the mystery guest was a no-show for some reason.
Over the years the Poe Toaster has developed quite a following and the 19th of January has become a sort of pilgrimage day for serious Poe enthusiasts to visit the site. Apparently many were waiting overnight for the toaster to come and present his gifts. Perhaps the simple gesture that was born and carried out for decades in solitude has become to much of a spectacle for the enigmatic toaster who has never been identified or sought any attention for his simple act of dedication.
I hope this tradition isn't dead along with so many other things but I fear that it is. I would like to think that life still has some things that remain a mystery. Perhaps the Poe Toaster wherever he is as sad as I am today because others ruined his gift. Poe might agree.

"I have no faith in human erfectability. I think that human exertion will have
no appreciable effect upon humanity. Man is now only more active - not
more happy - nor more wise, than he was 6000 years ago. " - Edgar Allan Poe

-Doc

My Weekend Project - The Train Table

So this past weekend I had little project. My in-laws gave my son a train table for Christmas that we were just able to transport home last week after the wedding. So on Saturday (while he was taking a nap) I put it together. It is pretty awesome. The pictures below don't even really do it justice. I mean it's just a simple low to the ground table with a landscape scene printed on it but to my son it's magical. We set up the tracks and the accessories and he runs the trains around it. Well actually he has so many trains that he hooks them all together that it makes it hard to go around the corners. He uses his imagination and has the trains talk to each other and do little jobs. He crashes them in spectacular fashion and hollers out, "Cinders and Ashes!" just like they do on the show Thomas the Tank Engine. It's great and you know what the best part is? He isn't sitting there staring at the TV or a video game. This is active and mind engaging play!

What do you think? I'm actually pretty proud of my handiwork.

-Doc