Male Bonding in Houston

I arrived in Houston on Monday night for a week stay.  I don’t know how I got by the Pappadeaux at the airport without stopping for a dozen oysters.  It must have had something to do with having to meet people for a ride to the hotel.  My colleagues and I made our way to the hotel, checked in and met in the lobby to get dinner.  We all have fond memories of great meals at Pappadeaux Seafood and made a unanimous decision to go there for dinner.  Crawfish are in season, but we had oysters on the half shell which were cold, fresh, sweet and clean.  I mixed the horseradish and cocktail sauce and they have a dipping sauce that adds the slightest extra kick.  They are so good.  I had to tell the story of when I was in Texas City during a Thanksgiving holiday years ago and reading the 2 page Texas City paper over morning coffee.  I spied an ad for a new bar in Galveston offering a dozen oysters on the half shell for $2.99.  I said to the family, “I know what we are doing today”.  They were good, but nothing like the great oysters we had at Pappadeaux this week.

I could not pass up the Mississippi Catfish Opelousas, blackened with shrimp, oysters and crabmeat in a brown butter sauce.  It’s not that I am crazy for catfish, but the seafood topping and sauce is so good it should be illegal.  See my previous blog entry for further details on the Mississippi Catfish Opelousas.

http://pappaspizza.net/images/dyn/menus/menu_29.pdf

The next night we were treated at a local country club.  I ate light so by Wednesday I was ready for the Taste of Texas.  It’s next door to Pappadeaux Seafood.  The taste of Texas has some awesome steaks on the menu.  I passed up the 24 oz. bone-in ribeye Cowboy steak and the $42 bone-in filet.  The 10 oz filet with blue cheese butter sounded just right.  The salad bar is tremendous and the service is very professional.  The steaks are perfectly cooked and lightly seasoned, tender and juicy.  The wine list is a bit intimidating, not because of the wine selections, but because of the prices.  So I settled on a half bottle of Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.  It provided 2 glasses of wine and only cost $22.  It was quite enjoyable with the steak.  I highly recommend the Taste of Texas for an excellent steak house.  

http://tasteoftexas.com/restaurant.php

Can you believe that by Thursday I was ready for Pappadeaux Seafood again?  Our intension was to go for beer and oysters.  It was cold in the restaurant with the AC on.  And it was a beautiful evening, warm and balmy.  The four of us decided to have a table on the patio.  I had planned on having a bowl of seafood gumbo with beer and oysters.  I was not led astray when 2 of my colleagues ordered premium bourbon.  However, I was led astray by one guy when he ordered dinner.  I thought, why not?   I ordered the Costa Rican Mahi Yvette.  I had the small 7 oz. portion.  It is blackened Mahi finished with shrimp, crawfish, mushrooms and spinach in a Monterey jack cheese sauce with dirty rice.  I am telling you that the sauces at Pappadeaux are incredible. 

Having drinks and oysters on the patio with friends and colleagues is the kind of male bonding that I have really missed this last year.  I must have been missing out because I found myself not understanding some of the conversation.  We were talking about some of the nick names we have for people.  I am notorious for coming up with nick names for people I work with.  The young guy in our group was saying, “This guy had his pants pulled up so high that his private parts were all pressed against his pants, like a woman’s camel -toe, so we called him “Man-toe”.   Ha ha ha ha.

This went right over my head and I was feeling left out.  And when it got a lot of laughs I had to inquire, “this guy with his junk pulled tight against his pants, what is that all about?  I don’t get it.  What’s with the “Man toe”?” 

“You know, like when a woman’s pants are so tight you can see the shape and outlines down there, that’s called a “camel toe”.   Because the shape resembles the shape of a camel’s toe.  So, on a guy we called it a “man toe”.

“Oh, like a “muffin top” or a “whale tail”, I explained, to show I’m up on these things.  “I saw a woman with a camel toe once.    She was the security guard at a customer’s gate for years.  Her uniform included black spandex slacks and every time I went there, her camel-toe was right at eye level”.  Ha ha ha ha.  Now I feel like I’m part of the boys again.

Houston

The greatest Irony

The Greatest Irony

Betty & I went on a lovely drive to the Carrizo Plains National Monument today.  We drove through the orchards and fields, through Buttonwillow,  the oilfields and McKittrick.  On the way to show her the McKittrick Brea Pit on 58W, I stopped in the middle of the road for a great sun worshipping gopher snake.  I saved it from getting run over.  I showed Betty the gas bubbling through the oil at the brea pit.   There was a little mouse that had gotten stuck in the tar.  His feet and nose were buried.  He never had a chance.  You’d think they would learn after 10,000 years. 

The drive over the Temblor range this time of year is beautiful.  There is still a lot of green grass and the soda Lake has lots of water in it.  The Carrizo Plain National Monument has a little museum and visitor center.  But the Indian rock painting monument is closed this time of year.  On the way back an oilfield truck crashed into a power pole and Reward Road was closed to traffic.  I know my way through the Cymric oilfield so we wound our way through the leases and went to the McKittrick Hotel for lunch.    I had an Ortega bacon cheeseburger with a salad.  Betty had the seafood platter.  It was good, but I would rather have gone to Luigi’s or Noriega’s. 

As soon as we got home, I started on the yard work.  On my hands and knees pulling weeds, I was in a daze working.  One thing led to another and I keep seeing more things to cut and weeds to pull.  My radio was going and Lily was with me.  It was nice to be out, but after 2 ½ hours, I just wanted to get done…

I have always wanted an avocado tree in the yard.  Several attempts have failed.  It’s either too hot in the summer or it freezes in winter.  However, I can’t help but to keep trying.  Numerous glasses and dishes have adorned our kitchen window sill and counter top with avocado pits trying to get one started.  I had roots going on one just to have the house sitter let it go dry and die while we were gone.  And recently a little shoot finely got started but can’t seem to keep going.  Betty has expressed many times the fruitlessness of these attempts over the years.   But yesterday, Lia came home with a bag of small avocados that were grown in Bakersfield.  So it can be done.  Maybe that’s why they sell potted avocado trees at the home stores.  I thought people were suckers to pay $35 for a tree that was sure to freeze or die of Bakersfield heat.  But here they are, proof.   I’ll have to keep trying to get one started.

As I was cleaning up in front in my gardening daze today, I saw a tree growing up through the Camilla bush.  The tree had apparently been there for some time because it had grown up through the Camilla that is 7 feet tall.  There was nice new growth at the top with numerous little leaves poking out to the sun.  I looked at the leaves on top and the green stock.  I didn’t readily recognize it until I pulled it out by the roots.  As I’m holding this 7’ tall tree in my hand, I get a look at the larger leaves toward the bottom of the trunk.  It was then that I had a sick feeling in my stomach as I began to recognize it as a healthy avocado tree.  Well, it was healthy until I yanked it out of the ground.  How could I have done that after all my attempts to grow a seedling?  It must have been growing for several years.  Nice and protected in the Camilla bush.  I started thinking when I might have planted a seed there.  Damn it, I am so pissed.  Frustration leads to aggression, I broke it up into about 5 pieces and stuffed it into the trash can and finished my yard work devastated at my stupidity. 

As I continued working, I got thinking.  Was it really an avocado tree?  It couldn’t be.  It’s too cold in the winter and too hot in the summer, right?  Damn it.  It was just getting big enough to start blooming.  It couldn’t be an avocado tree.  I would have recognized it.  Damn it.

My neighbor was out. She would know what an avocado tree looks like.  I called her over to check it out.  I dig the yard waste out of the green trash can and dumped it on the sidewalk until I found the broken tree and pulled it out.  “That’s and avocado tree.  What’s it doing in the trash?”, she said.

“I pulled it up”

“You idiot” and she hit me. 

“It was an accident”.  But I deserved to be hit.  I’m just glad she is old.

Damn it.  So now I felt so guilty that I made an attempt to rescue it.  I cut the trunk off at about a foot up from the roots and planted it in a planter.  I put the pot back under the Camilla bush where it came from hoping that it would be happy back where it was.  I am hopeful but have reasonable expectations. Hey, I’m going to start putting avocado seeds directly into the ground where they belong.  Maybe I can get another one started. 

Pollo en Mole

Pollo en Mole

In February 1980, I was living in Seal Beach.  Actually, I was living “on” Seal Beach.  Yeah, I had an apartment on the boardwalk.  I was pretty sweet.  I think back then I would say it was “bitchen”.  My brother Derek was living on the beach in San Blas, Mexico.  He and a friend were surfing there for about 6 months living in the back of his El Camino.  We talked long distance on the phone once or twice.  And on one call we got the idea to meet up in Mexico City.  We arranged to stay with my Dad’s cousin, Dione and his family.  We wanted to visit our Grandfather Mendez who also lived there.  We never remember meeting him and we didn’t know him as adults.  He was about 80 years old at the time.  And I am always looking for a reason to go to Mexico.

It was a miracle that we actually pulled it off, rendezvousing in Mexico City.  I took a flight from LAX and Dione picked me up at the airport.  We didn’t know him either, but we found each other OK.  Derek was going to meet me at the airport also a day later.  However, he was arriving by bus, a Mexican bus that took him on a 2 day journey across the mountains on a winding, treacherous road.  The bus was packed with locals and their crying babies, their livestock and chickens, chugging along, diesel smoke billowing through the open windows, sweltering hot in the jungle during the day and freezing cold in the mountains at night.   He called Dione’s house to announce this eventual arrival, and I remember he was really happy to see me when we drove up to the airport to pick him up.

Dione and his wife Marta are the nicest people in the world.  They have 2 sons that are a little younger than Derek and me.  At that time they were teenagers and busy with whatever they were doing.  Dione and Marata took us to the Pyramids, the central plaza and other sights in the area.  And he took us to meet our Grandfather a couple times.  Grandfather Mendez was a nice old guy, but we really could not communicate very well.  We did go to lunch one day at an old colonial restaurant.  Dione insisted that we have the specialty of the house, Pollo en Mole.  Chicken pieces boiled to tender and meat falling off the bone with the slightest touch.  It was smothered in Mole sauce that was very dark, thick and rich with chocolate and chile.  I never had Pollo en Mole like that before.  And with a cold XX, it was most memorable.  It was so memorable, in fact, that I remembered it yesterday when I had lunch again at La Cabana on

Golden State Ave.

in Bakersfield. 

I first discovered La Cabana in Bakersfield when I moved here in 1981.  They had a restaurant on

Oak Street

just north of Truxton in the 2 story brick building.  I remember being kind of lonely in Bakersfield before Betty moved out from Texas.  Between February 1980 and January 1981, I had left California and moved to Spokane, WA, got my job as a Mud Engineer and moved to Houaton, Texas, met Betty and transfered to Bakersfield.  There were not many restaurants in Bakersfield in 1981.  I had not discovered the Basque restaurants until years later.  I remember Mossman’s and Bill Lee’s though.  And La Cabana had great Mexican Food.  The restaurant on

Golden State Ave

, is small and unassuming.  The service is great and the staff makes you feel like you are at their home.  And the Pollo en Mole is the best I’ve had since the treat in Mexico City 31 years ago.  It was served with 2 pieces of chicken and lots of Mole sauce, rice and beans.  They did not provide a knife on the table, but the chicken was so tender, I could have pulled it apart with a feather.  It’s only $10.95 and plenty of food with the 4 flour tortillas and chips and salsa.  It’s a must have if you like Mexican Mole. 

Another memorable moment on my visit to Mexico City that time was coming home.  The flight got all screwed up and was scheduled to arrive about 9 PM.  My Dad was going to pick me in front of the airlines.  As it turned out I arrived on a completely different airline and landed on the opposite side of LAX at 2:00 in the morning.  Remember, there was no way to communicate back then once you left the house. It was raining when I walked out of the terminal and LAX was deserted.  I carried my luggage across the airport in the rain to where I was supposed to arrive and there was Dad’s station wagon parked in front of the terminal all alone.  He was sound asleep and had been waiting for me for hours just snoozing away.  I swear that guy can sleep anywhere.  I knew then how happy Derek was to see me and Dione in Mexico City.  Both Derek and I are really glad we made the trip to see Grandfather Mendez because he passed away about 3 years later and that was the only time we remember seeing him.

Lunch week of 4/4/11

Lunch time w/o April 4^th

Monday I had lunch at Frugatti’s with customers.  Frugatti’s is always a solid 3 star lunch experience.  I usually get the eggplant Parmesan on the lunch specials list.  I love the marinara sauce and the side of pasta with the fresh roll that comes with the dish.  It’s a large dish and enough to take half of it home.  Today however, I decided to try something different.  I ordered the meatball sandwich.  The roll was toasted and the cheese melted.  It was really big and I didn’t think I could get it into my mouth.  So being with customers, I used my knife and fork.  I silently reminded myself of a story my Dad told us when we were at my Aunt Emma’s 98th birthday.  He had a relative that did not want to have anything to do with anything that was related to being Mexican.  He did not want to speak Spanish or eat Mexican food.  And when he did eat tacos, he used a knife and fork.  I laughed to myself remembering Dad mimic this guy using a knife and fork with his pinkies out like he was playing a violin.  I also wanted to use my knife and fork because of the toasted bun.  Sometimes a crusty roll and hot marinara sauce is just the right combination to rip the roof of my mouth to shreds.  And with the hot mozzarella cheese to add to the damage, I didn’t want to go through that.   The meatballs were big and meaty and the sandwich was good, although ordinary.

On Wednesday, I went to Chipotle on Brundage.  It was very busy at noon with lots of young people.  I ordered a steak salad with everything.  It starts with nice fresh Romaine lettuce and I had pinto beans, salsa, guacamole and cheese.  It’s a great salad and cost about $9 with tax.  The restaurant was so noisy inside, I was glad to find a seat in the patio outside.  I even found the morning paper to read for the second time that day.  I like Chipotle for quality, a generous portion and value.  Maybe that’s why so many young people were there.  Also, it’s next to the Boarders that is closing.  There is a 20% off everything, so I went in and found a couple CD’s.  I got Band on the Run, a classic I never did have.  It was our favorite CD on Me and Eppard’s first and every road trip from 1974 to 1976.  Band on the Run is the best road trip song ever.  That, and Benny and the Jets.  I also got Joan Baez’ Diamonds and Rust.  I know she is a stupid liberal, but I like the title track.  And I would never buy either of these CD’s unless they were on sale.  So, thank you Boarders for closing.

Thursday was a day when I had colleagues with me from Houston.  We had a meeting at the top of the Midway Sunset field to kick off a project.  We got done at lunch and I was going to take them to the famous McKittrick Hotel for lunch.  Then I remembered it was Thursday – steak day.  There is always a big crowd on Thursday and you need to get there by 11:00 to get a table.  The steaks are the bomb.  They barbeque a great ribeye steak and people come in from the oilfields for a real treat.  I was looking forward to showing them the oil seep at the McKittrick Brea Pit.  It’s pretty cool to see bubble up out of the ground along the side of the road.  But we had another appointment in the afternoon on the other side of the valley.  So I missed showing them the Penny Bar at the McKittrick Hotel.  I missed showing them the old photographs on the walls and the picture of the Lakeview gusher.   I missed telling them of how I used to go there for breakfast in 1981 as a young mud engineer.  And how before there were fax machines or cell phones, the drilling engineer would have a phone and cord brought to the table and he would plug it into the 4 prong phone jack, still on the wall and call in the drilling report.  And I missed telling how after 30 years of working in these oilfields and eating at this place, I can’t believe I am still here. 

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mike-and-Annies-McKittrick-Hotel-AKA-The-Penny-Bar/333024065311

But alas, we bypassed the Penny Bar and went to Bakersfield for lunch.  I took them to Noriega Hotel.  But we missed the 12:00 sit down for lunch, so we eat in the bar.  There is a limited unpublished lunch menu in bar: lamb or tri-tip dip; pickled tongue sandwich; grilled lamb or tri-tip and cheese sandwich; and hamburgers.  We all had cheeseburgers.  All the sandwiches come with salad and fries.  It’s’ a great bargain for $8.50.  But it doesn’t come with wine like in the dining room.  It’s just as well since we were going to a meeting.  The burgers are great, piled high with ripe tomatoes (2 thick slices), sweet white onions and lettuce.  The patty was hand pressed and hung over the fat bakery bun.  Although I think mine was cooked a little too long on the flat top (a little Food Network lingo).  The fries are great, hot and fresh.  And the lady in the bar provides great service.  Another 4 stars for Noriega Hotel. 

http://www.noriegahotel.com/menu.html

On Friday I went out to the oilfield again, this time to Belridge.  I don’t go to Belridge very often at lunch time without going to the taco truck at Entrance D.  Gabby from Lost Hills has been there for at least 10 years.  They make the best tacos anywhere.  They use full size corn tortillas (2 for each taco so they don’t fall apart as easily) and lots of meat.  The sauces are great and they only cost a dollar something.  I never really know how much they cost.  Today, I got 2 lengua tacos, a bottle of diet Pepsi and a Snickers bar for $6.50.  Another location to catch Gabby’s is at the little carniceria in Lost Hills on Hwy 46, just west of Lost Hills Road.  It’s the same great food and there is a canopy with tables and chairs.  The flies don’t bother me too much and they are free.  Seriously, the flies are not a reflection on the food or the truck.  Flies are everywhere out there.  I’ve been in the field before and left my car windows down a bit to keep it from getting too hot.  And I get back in my car with a hundred flies in there.  2-80 air can’t even get them out.  That’s 2 windows open going 80 miles an hour.  I think I still have flies in my car from last summer. 

Buried Alive

 Buried Alive

Friday night Betty and I went to Dos Vistas, our little mountain retreat in Pine Mountain Club.  The forecast had rain and snow coming in over the weekend and I planned to enjoy whatever little spring snow we might get and head down the mountain on Sunday afternoon after the snow melted.  Riiight. 

Friday night we got a late start and had a nice dinner at Le Lena Mexican Restaurant in the Pine Mt. Club Village.  The food is always good and the people are really nice.  Betty had chicken fajitas and had some left over’s which we took back to the cabin.  We ended up being grateful for it.

Saturday was cloudy and there was nothing pressing to do in the yard.  So I took advantage of the time to install a new (old) thermostat for the central heating system.  I had a digital thermostat from when we changed to a new heating/AC unit in our Bakersfield home.  I thought this would be an upgrade and that we could program it for more comfy living.

I looked at the existing thermostat and compared it to the new one.  There were the same number and color of wires and it looked like an easy swap.  Riiight.  When the wires started sparking as I installed the new thermostat, I had sinking feeling that I screwed up.  The central heater didn’t work at all.  I placed numerous frantic calls to technicians and electricians to help get the heater working again as the weather outside was getting colder.  One electrician was really nice to take a look at it and not charge me unless he could fix it.  He was lost with the instrumentation and was no help.  Thankfully, the local Heating and AC guy called back and knew what was wrong when I explained it to him.  He came over and brought a new transformer and quickly figured out that I had blown the trans former on the heater.  After some good advice from Betty like, “if it’s not broke, don’t fix it” and “ no good deed goes unpunished” and $200 later, we had heat just as the snow flurries started on Saturday night. 

There is nothing like grilling a couple New York steaks in the mountains and pairing it with a bottle of Le Cuvier 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon.   The Le Cuvier Cabs are truly wonderful and we had no problem finishing the bottle.  We had heat, great dinner, great wine and nice music.  We went to bed happy.

During the night, I was wakened numerous times by the howling wind.  And Sunday morning I woke up to 6 inches of snow on the ground, the deck, the car, everywhere.  It was beautiful.   I cleared the deck and cleared the driveway.  We could have left then, but 6 inches of snow is a lot in the mountains without tire chains and it was coming down really heavy.  My plan was to wait until the afternoon when it warmed up and melted.  But by the time I cleared the deck, I turned around and another ½ inch had fallen.   And I was all wet from working in the snowstorm. During Sunday, 6 inches I the morning turned out to be 12 inches by noon and 2 feet by dark.  We lost power on Sunday and kept hearing the loud CRACK of breaking trees as the heavy snow accumulated.  A tree fell on the power line.  And a tree fell across the driveway, blocking our exit.  A tree fell across the road blocking the street.  A tree fell on the house.  This is getting really scary and destructive.  We had dry fire wood in the basement so we were able to keep warm. 

We couldn’t get out at all on Sunday.  We had some food, the left over fajitas.  We mixed with a can of pinto beans.  There was microwave popcorn, but no power.  Thank God someone left a can of Easy Cheese (Cheese Wiz).  That was great.  I worked all day Sunday keeping the snow cleared so we had an escape route. I cut and cleared the tree across the driveway.  And the snow kept falling all day.  As I worked and got soaking wet from the snow and sweat, I’d come in and change cloths and dry the wet ones by the fire. 

The  got heavier as the day went on.  By Sunday night there was 2 feet of snow on top of the car. I was running out of placees to pile it up.  This is crazy.  I’m a California boy and Betty would not even go outside.  The snow plow went by on Sunday morning clearing 12” off the road.  But by the end of the day, there was another foot and a half already.  How are we ever going to get out of here?

For dinner Sunday night we cooked up a bag of ravioli from Costco.  The cheese and spinach filled triangles.  They were really good.  I was so exhausted from keeping the snow cleared that any calories tasted good, especially the Cheese Wiz. 

We camped in the living room Sunday night with the fireplace going.  It was warm but not as comfortable as the bed downstairs.  Early Monday morning when we are supposed to be going to work, we woke to more accumulation of snow.  Aanother 6 inches had fallen during the night.  This makes 3 feet so far.  But the moon was full and the sky was clear so I was hopeful that it would be a warm day.  We had an eggs, a bagel and some bacon for breakfast.  That made a great sandwich.  I started clearing the new fallen snow, but was depressed by the tree branches that had fallen across the road out next door.  We were waiting for the snow plow to come by so we could make an escape.  They never cleared our road again.  They cleared every other road it seemed.  I cut the tree limbs that were buried in snow and moved them off to the side of the road – and waited for the snow plow. 

I had more Cheese Wiz for lunch and some left over pasta.  We were anxious to get out and we could see the main road below was clear of snow and ice.  The weather started to warm up and the snow started to melt.  On the road out it got slushy but there was still 1-2 feet of snow on it.  We could not get through.  I saw a neighbor walking down the road in the snow and I took my snow shovel and went with him to check out the other cleared roads.  We talked to other drivers that had been on the main road going out of the area and learned that it was clear in both directions with the warm weather.  I started pushing slush around as it was melting in the street with my snow shovel.  Some guy drove up in a big truck, rolled his window down and said to me, “you missed a spot”.  Thanks a lot buddy.  Then I started shoveling the road back to the house.  It goes by three other houses.  How long would it take to shovel the width of my car about 140 feet?  One shovel full at a time and I could clear 3 feet in a couple minutes, with a couple minutes rest.  The neighbor I was with had to get to work also.  Watching me shovel he said, “I guess I’ll get my shovel”.  So he started from his house which was past ours.  And then another neighbor came out and helped shovel just for something to do.  It was 2:00 and we were making real progress clearing the road.  I knew the rest of the roads were clear and Betty came out and I told here to pack the car, were getting out.  We had cleared a path just wide enough for the car with 2 foot snow banks on both sides.  We got to the main road and it was clear going all the way out to I-5. 

We made it home at 4:00 Monday afternoon.  And I came home to a swimming pool full of dirt and mess from the storm.  And the next day I went to work and my office had water damage and the ceiling had started to come down.  I turned around and decided to work from home until the office was livable.  Now it’s Wednesday and I’m exhausted and I’m wearing an EKG monitor because my heart felt like it was going to explode so I went to the cardiologist to get checked out.  What an ordeal.  I think I’ll make it.  I still have to go back to Dos Vistas and remove fallen trees from the house and power line and clean up one hell of a mess.  And it’s still snowing up there.  So it will be a few weeks before I can work on the clean up.  I think there is still son Cheese Wiz up there.  Ummmm, Cheese Wiz.