I try to learn something new everyday.  It might be a random fact that I googled at 3:29 am which will only come in handy during a game of Trivial Pursuit, during an argument or on the off chance that I get on Jeopardy!

While other days, I actually try to learn something useful.  Today, I was a 3FER in that regard.

For starters, the school had a lunch rail at the grade school that had broken in numerous places.  Crappy tack welds.  No big deal, except it was made out of stainless steel.  I have never welded stainless, nor been shown how to weld stainless, nada.  So, I got some stainless steel filler rod.  Watched a youtube video on welding stainless steel and guess what?  I fired up a TIG and I welded stainless steel.  22 welds that I made today on that stainless steel serving rail.  And you can dang sure tell the first couple that I made.  I had to stop and grind some tungsten.  But, as I continued, I learned how to do it better.  I even had to weld left handed.  Maybe my best welds.  If I was like the current younger generation of goat fitters, I would have stopped and took a pic of my handiwork to post on social media.

Now, here’s the truth.  I wasn’t afraid to try this endeavor because I knew that if I screwed it up, I was going to haul this 18 foot long serving rail a couple miles north of Shattuck to Al Walton.  And he would fix it.  Thankfully, I didn’t have to do that.

My next learning experience involved beef short ribs.  The other evening, I saw some really good looking beef short ribs.  They were cut differently than I was used to seeing.  They were cut about 3/4″ thick, more like a thin cut Western Sizzlin steak.  The color, texture and marbling looked way good.  So, I decided to try them.  Wasn’t sure how to cook them but I knew that they have a tendency to be tough if not slow cooked.  I’m real pleased with the tenderness that was achieved.  I marinated one set and seasoned the other set with butter and worcestershire sauce.  (say it, come on—is it “woostershire” or is it “wor-chester-shire”? )  They were good but not dang good. Thankfully, the garlic butter new taters were damn good.

And while cooking tonight, I learned my third new skill of the day.  Tammy and Duke had ran to Shattuck, so I had the place to myself.  Turn up the tunes!  Not a new concept around here, yet on this night, I used Tammy’s little Alexa deal.  The command “Alexa, play Neil Diamond” is bad donkey.  Then  play Sinatra.  Then play “Calling Baton Rouge”.  Oh yeah!  “Alexa–play AC/DC!”   Hell yeah!  That chick knows which songs need to be played first.  Heckuva DJ.

And then, the Dragon Lady got home.  “TURN THAT DOWN!”

Hey, I cooked.

Okay, turn it down so I can at least hear the tv.

What to take from tonight’s blog.

1–There are people that are better than I at welding stainless steel.  But, I learned while doing.

2–There are people that are better than I at cooking beef short ribs.  I’ve got the time & temp figgered out, now to dial in the seasoning.

3–No matter what I am doing, I enjoy some wicked tunes and I learned that little speaker can pump out the jam.

And I like daylight-donut infused bread pudding.  The note says Allyn made it but I bet that Tiffany had a lot to do with it.  Either way, I learned a long time ago to say thank you.

People, have a good one.