I
It’s Saturday, and the Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt is back under the steady control of Linda G. Hill. Linda has given us a simple yet challenging prompt to noodle on while I try to repay David for all the drinks I placed on his tab,
“Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is ‘lid.’ Use it in the literal sense, use it in the metaphorical sense, use it any way you’d like. Have fun!”
If we were having a beer, you’d be expecting me to pay.
“I see you put your Halloween decorations up, Dan. A little lame, but still nice.”
“Huh?”
“I drove by your house early this week. The front was all decked out like a crime scene.”
“David, that was caution tape. I was working on the handrail.”
“Did you finish?”
“I did.”
“You finished? What are you talking about, Dan. I haven’t even brought you your beer.”
“The handrail, Cheryl. I finished installing the handrail on our ramp.”
“Oh, OK. You guys want your usual today?”
“Sounds good to me.”
“Did you bring a valid credit card, Dan? I assume you’re paying.”
“Oh, he’s paying. If he doesn’t have a valid card, you can toss him in the back and have him wash dishes.”
“That’s a little harsh, David. Oh, that’s right…you got stuck with the tab last week ‘cuz my card had expired.”
“And then there was the little matter of including a free drink if people used all three prompt words when you filled in for Linda on the SoCS thing.”
“I am sorry about that. I didn’t expect that many people to use all three, David.”
“Are you kidding me? Those people go nuts for bonus points. Bonus points and a free drink had to be irresistible.”
“Did I say drink? I thought I said beer.”
“You said drink. The tab included beers, wine, sangria, a brandy old fashioned and at least one glass of John Howell’s Bourbon.”
“Um, that was for John Howell, so…”
“Still, it’s top shelf liquor, Dan.”
“I know, I buy it for you on a regular basis. I hope you left Cheryl a nice tip.”
“Adequate tip, Dan. Here’s your beer. David, here’s your bourbon, your seltzer, your glass of ice, and your cherries.”
“Cherly, why did you give me the whole jar of cherries?”
“I can’t get the lid off, David. Personally, John Howell was a lot easier to work with.”
“Am I that much of a bother, Cheryl?”
“You know what, I think I should go check the patio.”
“I think she’s evading the question, Dan. Can you open this, it really is stuck?”
“I’ll answer for her. Yes, you are a bother. I wasn’t planning to stick you with the tab last week, I left in a hurry to make sure I was here when Linda arrived. Sorry, I can’t get this off.”
“Well, it was fun talking with her, and it was good to see the others wander in and out of her site. Just make sure you have money the next time you invite someone to join us.”
“Message received. Now that we’re thinking of it, do you drink like this at home?”
“Like what, Dan?”
“The ice, the seltzer, the cherries – all that junk.”
“Well, not the whole setup, but I do like a glass of seltzer on the side. We don’t often have cherries, but if we do, I put a couple in the glass.”
“Who opens the jar?”
“My wife, I guess. It’s usually already open when I get to it.”
“Can we call her?”
“What, and ask her to come open this jar, Dan?”
“Ask her if there’s some trick to it.”
“OK…I can do that…”
“She says she runs it under hot water.”
“Cheryl, David’s wife says to run the jar under hot water.”
“I don’t know, Dan. The only hot water we have here at the bar is for washing glasses. It’s a hundred and eighty degrees.”
“What about in the kitchen?”
“Good idea, I’ll ask Richie. He’s a tough guy.”
“I meant for hot water, but whatever.”
“While she’s working on the cherries, David. You didn’t mention ice, do you have a glass of ice, or do you keep the bourbon cold?”
“Perish the thought, Dan. Bourbon should be served straight and at room temperature.”
“Here are the cherries. Richie just popped the lid right off.”
“Well, we started it, Cheryl. Now David has the complete setup. Did you know he doesn’t bother with ice when he drinks at home?”
“I think he just likes the idea of being served. Maybe he was royalty in a previous life. You ready for another beer?”
“I’ll have another beer, Cheryl. As for David being royalty in a previous life, I don’t think he fits the profile. King David was said to be a humble man.”
“It’s hard to be humble when you’re as amazing as I am, Dan.”
No Facilities 
It’s definitely fall up here too. Temps are cooler, and the leaves are definitely falling. The ramp rails look really nice, and I can imagine quite stable. Another job well done, Dan. 👏🏻
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I feel better about mornings when that ramp might be slippery, Judy. The new rail is quite sturdy. I need to power wash the ramp/porch/rails and all the other deck.steps, but I think I have time.
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Call me sadistic, but I thought the whole thing about the stuck lid was hilarious. Of all the stuck lids in the world, the one on the jar of maraschino cherries is the most evil. And the older my hands get, the more of a vocabulary I need to unstick the wretched things. Beautiful shot of the apple tree, and congratulations on the handrail — most impressive!
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Thanks Maureen. I didn’t think about the language of stuck lids, that could be a post all to itself ;-)
I’m happy to have the handrail out of the garage and where it can finally do some good. I hope you have.a nice weekend.
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I’m glad you finally got the lid off! Btw, I think you should get David some of those moonshine infused cherries 😉
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Thanks Kim. I believe we tried those once but maybe it’s time I bring them back.
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Surprise him! A trick and a treat!
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Good idea!
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😁
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Your ramp is not only handy to clean, it is now safe to be used.
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We were surprised how often the Trex can be slippery, GP. I think the handrail is going to be a welcome addition.
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Hahaha! Like Maureen, my vocabulary becomes amazingly colorful when I’m struggling with a stuck lid! I was going to send you my choicest words in the event you do a post about it, but then they wouldn’t be suitable for a post! 😂
Love that lone red leaf. And Old Glory still flying proud in the heavy fog.
MuMu cracks me up. First she ‘clears’ her shelf of your junk, then she demands to be brushed!
Congratulations on finishing the ramp. Railing is both attractive and functional. Doesn’t get better than that. I have a feeling Smokey and Sammy will be using the ramp when they come to knock on your door for peanuts! Way more fun than the steps!
Hope you and the Editor and the 3 M’s enjoy a wonderful, although rainy, weekend.
Ginger
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Hahaha – the squirrels do use the ramp, Ginger. So does the bunny. The UPS and FedEx guys tromp through the yard, but the critters love the ramp.
MuMu is so funny. She gets annoyed to find me using her shelf as a shelf, but then she flips and flops and stares like “aren’t you going to brush me?” After tossing my stuff on the floor. Of course, I brush her.
Sounds like I might have to suspend the “family” nature of this blog for a week or two ;-)
I hope you have a nice weekend.
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Beautiful railing, Dan. Congratulations! And your photos are incredible as always. I enjoyed your bar conversation as well — lid included very effectively. 😃 BTW, our temps mirror yours — very chilly in the morning. Have a great day!
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Thanks Gwen. I like walking on cool crisp mornings. Today was perfect. Other days this week, the air was moist and heavy. I like seeing the fog, but sometimes it’s hard to walk in.
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Brrrrrthirty, Dan! I’m shivering just seeing the temp. David needs a jar of Merry Cherries. I love those bourbon soaked beauties. I’ve made my own using fresh cherries before. They make an Old Fashioned dance and sing. 😉I couldn’t enjoy a warm one but I do prefer the pre made marble ice cubes to keep in the freezer. Or one large cube of regular ice. It doesn’t water down the whiskey. The new handrail looks great. Very pretty. Hope you have a great weekend. 🙂
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A few more months in paradise and you’ll be getting cold at 60-degrees, Cheryl. We are heading lower from here, but it’s hard to say how low. I almost added the big cubes to David’s bourbon. I have a friend who loves those. They seem like they take up a lot of room in the glass, but…
We had the merry cherries once, a long time ago. I can only imagine how they help an old fashioned.
I hope you guys have a great weekend.
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Thanks Dan. Ahhhh….60. Stay warm my friend. Well, a true Old Fashioned looks pretty scarce even in a rock glass so the big ice helps. Oh yes, drunk cherries complete the ensemble, as does the squeeze of oil from the fresh orange peel. And the bitters.
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No wonder you’re the best bartender on the Internet.
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The ramp and handrails look really nice. I do like the shingle siding of a Cape Cod styled house. Oh, and the gray and white is lovely!
It’s 34 degrees now and topping out at only 61 today. We had a little snow on the mountains yesterday too, and my heater kicked on this morning. Fall is here, although the leaves on our newish tree are only dropping a few at the moment that’s going to change after this week-end’s cold snap I think.
He-Man got his name in part because he can open jars and do amazing other things too! 😀
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Haha – everyone needs a He-Man around when the lid is stuck. I’m taking credit for getting that handrail attached to the brackets – I had to do that while laying on the ramp.
I hope you have a great weekend, and I hope we don’t see 34 for a while.
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You get full credit for that and a job well done! 😀
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:)
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I’m not going to apologize to David for the brandy old fashioned because he should be glad I didn’t order top shelf or a fancy French champagne. He should probably be prepared when he comes to the bar, if he knows you at all, or even if he doesn’t. You write the script, soooo…
Give all of your furry girls a good scratch from me, Dan, and tell them how incredibly sweet they are even when they’re not.
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You know I had to call you out, Mary. What are friends for? David was gracious in settling the tab last week. I suppose I owe him a few glasses of bourbon. We’ll see.
Everyone here has been brushed, scratched, walked and properly left alone – as requested.
I hope you have a good weekend.
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The burning bush is slowly catching fire. Everyday there are a few more red leaves. And so far the mornings have not been too chill. Beer puzzle : how is it that some of those lids get screwed on so tight ? They are all put on by the same machine so they should all need the same torque to break them loose. Could it be that minor variations are important. Good thing Skippy is not around today. You might have to remind him it is a lime not a lemon or an orange that goes with the Corona… Happy Saturday Dan.
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Thanks John. One more mystery. Add that to the twist off caps, some of which come right off and some of which rip my hand open. I guess it’s time for Skippy to cover a shift.
Happy Saturday!
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The handrail looks good and sturdy. I like the misty mornings and the diffused light around Mimi coming out of the curtains. Kinda spooky.
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Spooky is a good way to describe her sometimes, JoAnna. I hope you guys are having a good weekend.
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Thanks. It’s cloudy, a bit cooler, and we’re enjoying the first gimpses of autumn here in the south. Enjoy!
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Fun post Dan. Happy Caturday to MiMi & MuMu. You did splendid work on the handrail — so professional. Or maybe I should say much better than professional with the quality of things these days.
I love the pics of the morning sun in the fog. They’re gorgeous. Hugs on the wing.
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Thanks Teagan. I’m pretty sure a professional installation would have had one less post. The railing is rated to span eight feet. I like things to be strong. Seeing the sun burn through the fog is fun. Just in the time of our walk, it makes a lot of progress.
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“You’re headset appears to be on the floor…sorry.”—Great start to a fun post, Dan. We used to turn the jar upside down and whack the lid on the floor when it got stuck. My husband is real big on not wiping off the bottle of maple syrup. Darn things sticks shut like glue! David and I are thinking alike about the yellow caution being kept up for Halloween! Rig a couple of ghosts walking up and down the ramp and you would win the prize for decorations! “Everything is wet”–very pretty photo. Enjoy the weekend, Dan!
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Dang, I took the caution tape down. Oh well, I still have a few thousand feet (I bought the economy roll). MuMu doesn’t like it when I use her shelf, as a shelf. She walked right over and tossed my headset off the edge.
I hope you have a great weekend.
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I’ve never heard of the hot water trick to loosen a lid but hitting the lid with a butter knife works sometimes. I keep saying I’m going to get from of those gripper tools from Target then I forget until I need it. The ramp and handrail are beautiful. Bet it feels good to be all done. Oh and that red leaf picture is frame worthy. We don’t get leaves like that around here except maybe in Lost Maples.
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My wife pries the edge of the lid with a butter knife. The go-to tool for women everywhere ;-) We have lots of grippy things, but you end up needing one for the lid and one for the jar. I love the red leaves.
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I think it is the sugar that makes the lids stick on the cherries, that is if they have already been opened once. If not a knife tip right under the rim can help break the seal. There are so many tricks!
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My wife subscribes to the knife under the rim. She bet me that others would mention that. And yes, cherries are harder to open after they’ve been opened :-)
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Tell your wife she’s got a brilliant mind!😉
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Great post today, Dan. Thanks for the mention and I had to laugh out loud at David’s reaction to last week’s SoCS. A tap on the floor will get that lid to move. Have a super Sunday.
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I thought you might like that, John especially his complain about someone drinking Willet. I’d try the tap on the floor, except the floor is so far down :-)
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Hahaha.
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P.S. The handrail looks great.
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Thanks.
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Ha ha ha! I love the “hard to be humble” line. When I had a jar that wouldn’t open I would turn it upside down and give it a good solid whack on its backside. That usually worked. I love the picture of the chain. Great perspective.
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I save all the wide rubber bands off my asparagus just for the purpose of opening stubborn lids. It cuts down on my colorful language. I thought you took a photo of the red leaf because it was a little heart shaped. The photos are all so nice, especially, the one of Mumu. I think it wins photo of the day.
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I wasn’t sure most people would count that as being heart shaped, but I think you’re right, Maggie. MuMu agrees with your vote for photo of the day.
Saving those rubber bands is a good one.
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Thanks Pam. A good solid whack…I’ll have to remember that one. I keep trying with that chain.
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Sounds like Cheryl needs a “cap snaffler.”
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Haha – might help
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The first five lines had me laughing already. . .great post as always!
Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPad
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I’m glad you enjoyed this, Cheryl.
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If you took that ramp, cleaned off the smoothness, paint, shortened and steepened it and no rail, you would have mine in our old home in Colorado. I used to have to get a running start to get up into the porch from it and unfortunately the driveway was gravel. Scooters and wheelchairs don’t like gravel or steep inclines😂
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We wanted this to be easy to deal with. The ramp worked well when we had to call an ambulance for me a few years ago. The ramp from the garage into my workshop is steep. My daughter says it’s like the one in the store where you test hiking boots.
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Dan, great ramp & handrail. You are definitely a construction guru. My fav photos are the mist, fog sunrises, of course. You do get awesome angles of things with a camera. Enjoy the weekend. 📚🎶 Christine
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Thanks Christine. I love being out in the fog, but this week, the air was very heavy. Still, seeing the sunrise was worth it.
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Nice ramp and rail! And I dearly love your fog pictures.
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Thanks 🙂
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Haha! That turned out to be an expensive prompt, eh? An elastic band around the lid always works for me unless it’s something reeeeally sticky like syrup. Love the photos. :)
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We had a lot of fun – I’m sure David feels it was worth it ;-)
I like that you get a lot of poets responding to your prompt.
My wife uses the butter knife. I use the rubber thing over the lid. I may a band around the jar.
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When it gets too cold there and you want to escape the snow, you are welcome to visit us in SoCal… I have a few stairs that need handrails and you obviously do good work. As an added incentive, we have lots of Mexican beer and In-N-Out Burger locations to choose from.
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Thanks, In-N-Out Burger is my favorite form of payment, I go out of my way to find them when I’m anywhere near their territory. But, we like it here in the winter. Four seasons works for us.
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When are you opening your doors again, it was fun, we can all pay for our drinks to save your pocket! 💜
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Hahaha – the bar is open every Saturday. Our only goal is to try and have fun,
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You do and it’s infectious 😂
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🙂
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Hi Dan, you did make me laugh with your handrail Halloween joke. I also know that trick about running the jar under hot water. I have to do that often. Nice to see every one on form at the bar.
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I’m glad you enjoyed the post, Robbie. Some prompts work better than others. I hope you are having a nice weekend.
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Yes, I also find some prompts easier than others. The weekend was good and I’m back in the work saddle today.
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Your hand rail looks wonderful… nice job.
And yes, a most excellent bunny. Sorry I missed him!
👍
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Thanks – that’s the last bunny I’ve seen. My wife says there are babies out early. But it’s still dark.
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I’ll be in full fledged bunny withdrawal by spring.
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I have some that I’m saving for January 😊
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Haha! King David. This was fun at the bar today, Dan. Next time you can whack the edge if the metal lid with a utensil. Works well.
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Thanks Jennie. I’m glad you enjoyed this
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You’re welcome, Dan. I did!
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WOW – impressive handrails. And no pumpkins in sight! LOL. I’m with the running it under hot water to open the jar. I fear that I’d starve to death if I didn’t have someone in the house to open the jar lids!?! Cheers to you and another delightful take on the prompt!!
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We all manage to get those jars open. Thanks Shelley.
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😊😉😁
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I can see why you enjoy #SoCS, Dan. Philosophy, photography, creativity and a word that gets is all started. Brilliant.
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Thanks Rebecca. It’s always fun to see where the prompt takes me.
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Nice ramp and handrails. I really need handrails on my uncle’s back porch. My mother taught me about running hot water to get jars open. I bought a gripper with a black cat printed on it, but my cat chewed on it and it’s lost in the move now so I’m back running hot water on bottles and jars.
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Hot water does work. The handrail does feel good.
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