Quintessential Me

House work goes on.

I really do fully intend to post pictures of our devastation. Amazingly, the orchid survived the few days of intense Texas heat outdoors. The plant did scorch somewhat but not really bad at all. I've given the plant to my mom. I purchased it on eBay from a Canadian grower who advertised it as "near bloom size". Well, it's almost a year later, and I have never seen it bloom. It is much larger than when I received it too. I expect to have it at "bloom size" sooner or later.

We spent the whole of Monday pulling down sheetrock and insulation in preparation for the repairs that will need to be performed. We've seen some mold and took to killing it and removing it where it coincided with what the insurance company will repair. It sounds like easy work, and it truly would have been if we had insulation off of a roll, but our insulation is the blow in paper kind. Basically ripping sheetrock down creates an avalanche of paper crud that sticks to your arms, clothes, and neck. You then have to shovel the insulation in garbage bags and throw them to the curb. If it weren't for the mold, we wouldn't have to throw it out; we could save it and reuse it.

After spending the day working, we went out to eat with S's parents. The few restaurants that were open had lines. It looked like at least a half hour wait to go through the drive through at Taco Bell. I like Taco Bell as much as the next man, but I can't imagine waiting that long for it.

The Texas Roadhouse Bar and Grill looked like they were doing healthy business. The parking lot was more crowded than usual. It seems to be one of the Willie Nelson restaurants and he must be making plenty of money off of it. We passed it up.

At the Mexican place across from Central Mall (I can't remember it's name at the moment, not Chula Vista--), they were very discourteous informing us that they were not accepting any more clientele and that they were running out of food, so we skipped across the street to Applebee's where the staff was friendly and polite, even quick! The food was good and I would have trouble finding a valid criticism of their operations.

I must say that if you had a portable food stand, you could make a killing in Groves, Port Arthur, and Port Neches selling barbecue! Now that I've made myself thoroughly hungry, I'm tempted to get a snack.

posted by mokru @ 3:04 PM