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By Andy, on March 10th, 2010
I would never allude to being a gourmet cook. Not even close. However, I do have a gal friend in Atlanta who is a great Southern Cook. Ceil regales me with menus like smothered pork chops with scalloped potatoes and gravy or hand cut rib eyes and baked sweet potatoes. Yum!
 Uh Huh! Wolf Brand Chili One day last year she asked me what was for supper and I said “Wolf Brand Chili” and she said “What is that?” I was again reminded how great it is to be a resident of the Republic of Texas.
From Wiki: ( and I swear I don’t make this stuff up)
In 1895 Lyman T. Davis of Corsicana developed the original recipe for Wolf Brand Chili, which he sold for five cents a bowl from the back of a wagon parked on the streets in downtown Corsicana. He later opened a meat market in Corsicana where he sold his chili in brick form, using the brand name of Lyman’s Famous Home Made Chili. In 1921, using the simplest machinery, he began canning his chili and marketing it in the immediate area. It was about that time that he adopted the brand name “Wolf Brand,” in honor of his pet wolf, Kaiser Bill. By 1923, with improved equipment, Davis had increased production to 2,000 cans of chili per day. Because of the discovery of oil on his farm, he had neither the time nor the interest to devote to his chili business, and in 1924 he sold his operations to J. C. West and Fred Slauson, two Corsicana businessmen. The new owners modernized production and introduced new marketing techniques. Among the most successful innovations introduced by West and Slauson were Model T Ford trucks with cabs shaped like cans and painted to resemble the Wolf Brand label. A live wolf was caged in the back of each truck. The vehicles not only provided practical transportation for company salesmen but also were effective traveling advertisements for their products. In 1954 the company expanded into interstate markets, having previously distributed its products only in Texas.
Ok, I am not OCD about many things but I am always certain that I have at least 3 cans of Wolf Brand Chili on hand. ( BTW, it is never referred to as “Wolf Chili” – always “Wolf Brand Chili”. Don’t ask me why.) Being as how we are in a hurricane prone area and the Tornado belt, my disaster preparedness pack includes a few batteries, a six pack of diet Pepsi and the Wolf Brand Chili. Worst comes to worst, I could open a can with a screwdriver and hammer and eat it cold. Guzzle down a cold Diet Pepsi and look around and say “Hurricane, What hurricane?”
On Sunday, I was getting ready to watch the Nascar race and I thought to myself some Wolf Brand Chili, chips and Pace Picante would be tasty along with an ice cold Diet Pepsi. It was too early in the day and too cloudy to be drinking beer. I am funny like that.
 A tasty meal for Mel I never open a can of Wolf Brand Chili that I don’t think about Mad Max eating that can of Dinki-Di dog food. You see, the Wolf Brand Chili does not pour out of the can. Heck, it won’t come out of the can at all. You could turn it upside down and shake it for two days and it ain’t coming out. You have to get a spoon and spoon it out just like ol’ Mad Max did wih the Dinki-Di. So even though it reminds me of dog food and even though it is the consistency of swamp mud when cold and even though it isn’t sold in gourmet food stores in New Yawk City , it is still tasty eatin’. Sure hits the spot for me. Oh, NO BEANS! Real chili doesn’t have beans silly!
End Note: Jesus Was a Capricorn By Darrell Scott from the album Modern Hymns. One of the least heralded American artists ever. Worth a listen to any day.
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By Andy, on March 9th, 2010
Sun exposure is something we never worried about growing up. Who knew? Nowadays, it is an every day process to avoid the harmful rays as much as possible. Long sleeves and Wranglers year ’round. Every spring, when it starts to get hot, my brother and I wear our straw cowboy hats daily to ward off the rays. I have already dealt with 4 occurrences of basal cell carcinoma on my arms.
In the winter, I wear a ball cap just so I don’t have to comb my hair – or whats’ left of it. We call them “gimme” caps because they are usually imprinted with some company’s logo and you get ‘em for free. I had to go to Hearne the other day to get an oil filter for the Generac generator on the Old Girl. There is a Carquest auto parts place in town
 A dirty old gimme cap which has a hardware store in it as well. Don’t think I have ever seen that. Anyway, I walk in and up the the counter and an older gentleman said “Not THAT Lee Roy Jordan?”
I had to think for a minute – then it dawned on me that I was wearing a Lee Roy Jordan Lumber Company cap. “Yep, same guy.” The counter guy began to tell me what a huge fan he was of the Cowboys – probably their biggest fan he said. He had a whole room at his house dedicated to America’s Team. As he was processing my credit card he said “I guess I will have to make a trip to Dallas to get me one of them caps.” I told him I would be back in a second and walked out to the Suburban.
When I had left the stick house the previous week, I had thought to get a new cap to replace the dirty one I had on my head. My GF had gotten several Lee Roy Jordan caps since he was one of her vendors and I had one still wrapped in plastic. I retrieved it and walked back up to the counter and laid it on top. I have never seen such a look on a man’s face. You would’ve thought I had laid a million dollars cash in front of him. He just looked up at me and grinned. “You enjoy wearing that cap!” I said as I grabbed my filter to leave.
“Oh, I’ll never wear it, it is going on the shelf in my room.” I waved a hand and heard him say ” Hey Jimmy, LOOK AT THIS!” as the door closed behind.
End Note: Woodstock Nation by Big House from the album of the same name. I wish these guys were still around.
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By Andy, on March 8th, 2010
This is one of my opinionated soapbox rants – SO -
 Home Sweet Home for the next few months if you don’t care for the opinions of a 50 something, conservative, out spoken Texan it may be best to move on to the next blog and read about the huge problem of cats that freak out in your RV if you go over 45mph or writing your congressman about making cutting through your RV site a felony infraction.
Owning an RV is nothing like owning a conventional house. It is the difference between the Space Shuttle and a Ford Fiesta. Any type RV is a complicated beast with proprietary equipment that you will find nowhere else. If you are not reasonably handy or if you are afraid to get your hands dirty, you will have to pay someone handsomely to make up for your short comings. And this is where the rub comes in. I do most of my own stuff as do a large percentage of RV owners. If I did not know how to change my oil and filters, what would I do? Exactly! I would have to take it to someone to have it done and pay them handsomely for their effort. Case in point. I changed the oil and filter and plugs in my Generac generator this past Friday. Total cost for parts $18. A recent post on one of the forums complained about servicing their generator at a dealer that cost $60. It took me 10 minutes because I knew how. Why would you bitch about paying for something that was as foreign to you as brain surgery?
If you struggle when you change a light bulb at home or if installing a garage door opener causes you to lay awake at night stressing about it, you have to resign yourself to the fact that you are going to have to pay someone else to do it. Ditto on the RV. That is a fact, Jack. I don’t want to hear no bitchin’!
The RV Rock Stars chap my butt as well. The high end coaches that cost as much as the annual GNP of Guatemala puzzle me. Why would you need a 600hp diesel engine in an RV? I have a lowly Cummins 230hp in the Old Girl and I like it –alot. I hook it to a trailer or pull my big a$$ Suburban behind it and it does just fine – and I get 10-12mpg.
 The view out my dinette window Sure, I chugeta chugeta chug up the steep hills but WTH? I always get to the top. OK, so do the math for me here. A premium diesel engine is going to add $60k to the price of the coach that you might drive 2000 miles a month -MAYBE. I see plenty of coaches for sale that average less than 5000 miles a year. So you lay out a big chunk of cashola for a monster motor so you can drag race everyone to the top of the mountain maybe 3 times a year???? I just can’t wrap my brain around that one. A recent forum post was complaining about an RV park where the folks that owned the high end coaches “ruled” the park. Christ A’mighty! So now we have RV Park Politics? An RV park soap opera? Sounds like a great idea for a new reality TV show.
I save my most bizarre rant for the close. I actually couldn’t believe it when I first read it years ago on the forums. Some people don’t use the ‘facilities’ in their RV. What? They stay at (sometimes) full hook up parks and yet they use the park’s showers and toilets. Use of the perfectly good facilities in the RV is verboten! Crank it up a notch and explain to me the people who don’t put any toilet paper in the black tank. Soiled paper goes in the trash can for disposal. Eeeeeuuuuuw! Not me by golly!
So I admit it. I drank a pot of coffee this morning so maybe I am just a bit edgy. Folks, owning an RV is a lifestyle choice….. keyword choice. Don’t buy any type of RV with your eyes wide shut. If you are OCD and black streaks down your perfect gel coat ruin your day, rethink the priorities. If you are terrified driving in heavy traffic in your Lexus, a 35000lb diesel pusher may be outside your comfort zone. If you don’t have a good assortment of zip ties in a beat up tool box, you better have a healthy maintenance account. Have you checked out a nice condo on the beach? Maybe you oughta.
End Note: I have been listening to my daughter’s Classic Rock Radio Show she did yesterday at Aviano AFB in Northern Italy. Joe Cocker singing Feelin’ Alright.
Ain’t technology grand? I love it!
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By Andy, on March 7th, 2010
My Daughter
My daughter did a radio show on AFN this past Saturday. Her theme was Classic Rock songs that you don’t hear on typical Top 40 rock stations.
She is gaining an appreciation of the music that shaped a generation and changed the world. Though it is not part and parcel of her very fiber like my fellow baby boomers, she is starting to get it. Not bad for one that has not
Continue reading A Shot of Classic Rock
By Andy, on March 7th, 2010
Interstate 100ah and Universal 8D 250ah boondocking batteries
This battery saga has just about run its’ course. The new Interstate AGM batteries are performing fine. At 100ah each, they are not going to power up an aircraft carrier but they do as well or better than expected in my RV.
I tried desulphation and equalizing to salvage the 2 8D 250ah monsters. One of them is deader than a hammer. The other one did respond and
Continue reading Batteries and Boondocking – The Final Installment
By Andy, on March 3rd, 2010
Dirt daubers are insidious insects and the special bane of all RV owners. They seem to especially like all the little nooks and crannies, orifices and openings present on all recreational vehicles. I found out the first summer of RV ownership that a little prevention goes along way in cutting down on the nuisance factor.
Dirt Dauber aka Mud Dauber, Mud Bee, Dirt Dobber
That first summer I quickly found out how important it
Continue reading Propane Furnace 411
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