Decoration Day 2003

We spent most of yesterday buying a new Christmas tree and decorations. Now we have four trees and a closet full of decorations. I'm happy with new one, though. No lights to string. Just plug it together and turn it on.

Thanksgiving Day 2003

A great day with my family and lots of food. I'm so stuffed that the thought of supper makes me slightly nauseous. The simple fact that I can do this makes me appreciate the freedoms we enjoy in this country. Unfortunately this is lost on a lot of people.

But it's not lost on these guys.

Earthlink's Dialup Speed

Has dramatically increased. Time Warner just repaired my high speed internet connection this morning so I've been using a dial up connection from Earthlink for the past few days. Amazing throughput for a phone line. It consistently gives me speed of 115 kbs, half the speed of my DSL connection at work. I haven't heard anything from them about this new speedy connection. It's almost fast enough to have only dialup service.

We Should Give Thanks

For these people.

Turkey Cooking Day

One the day before Thanksgiving I haul out the water smoker, fire up 10 pounds of charcoal, pour a couple of quarts of pineapple juice in the water pan, add some rosemary, and insert a turkey on top of all this. I usually use oak or hickory chips on the hot charcoal to add flavor but this year I'm trying something new: apple wood chips.

The turkey requires some pre-treatment as well. I rub inside the body cavity with salt, insert a peeled orange and some celery in there, then rub the outside with salt and black pepper.

The result: Delicious!