Halloween Hummus and How to Make It

     I was on a mission.   I needed to bring an  or-derve and didnt want to bring something plain like a cheese and cracker plate or obligatory cookies.

     I didn't want to be THAT guy.

   My mind was racing.   I love invention and trying new things so this is a never been tried before work in progress.    I've been making  homemade hummus for some time so i figured this was my chance to make my mark  on the culinary world.    I will make Halloween Hummus instead of everyday plain old hummus.    Plus  I was  tired of paying an exorbitant  $6 per tub of the stuff.

      I mean its glorified bean dip, right?

     First, get a can of garbanzo beans or chick peas.    Any brand will do it seems.   I generally buy the cheapest I can find.   Open can, drain, then rinse the rest of the goo off the beans with cold water.   I then warm the beans up in a bowl for about 1 1/2 min. in the microwave.   They should be hot to the touch.  They blend better warmed up.

     While the beans are cooling a bit I gather the rest of the ingredients.   I gather lemon juice, garlic juice, onion, salt, pepper, tahina (ground sesame seed) pickled jalopenos, olive oil and water.

--and a red bell pepper, medium green olive stuffed with pimiento, and a small pepper (for the nose).   And of course, it could only be eaten with purple corn chips.

     The only thing I actually had to search for was the tahina.   It is liquified ground seseme seed.   I went to the IndoPak store down the street.  It definitely gives the mix a nutty authentic flavor.   However, on searching the internet I found lots of variations on the recipe.   So my taking liberties with traditional hummus is perfectly within bounds and appropriate.
   
  Just wanted to head off the perfectionist out there.

     I dumped the beans in the my food processor and mixed on low for a few seconds.   I added one tablespoon of olive oil and watched the mix begin to smooth out.   I went to add my garlic juice and discovered it was bad.   I smell everything before I add it due to a foodie disaster in my past.   Thankfully I had some garlic powder and so I dusted the mix with it and kept  the food processor going.    If you love garlic add more.    If you hate it leave it out.    I'm the easiest going chef there is so if you expect hard and fast rules, well, sorry.    Not gonna happen.

     My main rule is, speed tempered only by taste.  I don't have time for that slow cooking point of view.

     I add one teaspoon of tahina.    If you want it more nutty flavored add another teaspoon.   You will have to stir well to get it mixed up into liquid form.   I bent my spoon on this jar!

     I then added one tablespoon of finely chopped onion.    Let it mix some more.  I sprinkled black pepper and salt and mixed.   I also added a teaspoon of lemon juice.   Mix.
About now I begin tasting.     The mix is still relatively stiff and not smooth and creamy.

     You would think, add more olive oil, but DON'T.    It will turn out greasy.   This is when you add plain water.    I sometimes add 4 tablespoons.   It depends how creamy you want the mixture to be.    I like it smooth to the point that it will find its level in the bowl but not runny.   It's a judgement call.    If you get it too wet don't worry, as it will dry out when uncovered.

     I also add a pinch of cayenne and maybe even some oregano.    Like I said, put in it what you want.   It's all good.   You are the chef.    I also added a tablespoon of chopped pickled jalopeno for that Texas Hummus effect!

     NOW, I began to dribble green food coloring into the mix.   Little by little till you get the color you want.   I put more and more in cause the color wasn't green enough.   Finally, I just dumped all I had in there.    It looked about Halloween green to me.

I added another tablespoon of water to get the proper smoothness, test tasted one more time.

     Wah Lah!   It was perfect hummus.
I ran to the local grocery looking for a suitable container  and ran back home to finish up.

But not totally Halloween Hummus yet.    I got a single olive and cut it in half.    Placed just so for the eyes.   Then I cut my red bell pepper into strips and made the grin and the eyebrows.    Finally I put on a single hot  pepper from pepper sauce  as the nose.

HALLOWEEN HUMMUS.

      Isn't it beautiful?

 And totally scary with a little bite from the peppers.    Scoop it up with any cracker or chip.   Purple was perfect for Halloween.
However, in all your joy of creation and screaming IT LIVES at the top of your lungs in the kitchen try and be more careful than me when drizzling the olive oil at the last.   My bottle gushed instead of drizzled and I nearly had a disaster or Frankenstein proportions.

Bone Apa Teeth!

To see nothing like this whatsoever, visit.......DC Mach Inc.

Of Being Guest Bartender....

     Had a very unusual opportunity the other night.    My long time friend Dawn, owner of Jones Road Icehouse asked if I would like to be a guest bartender.   This request was confirmed by her partner Will.
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     Now, you are thinking.....he must have been a bartender before.....NO, I have never been a bartender.    However, I have made a lot of noise about  taking care of her place and maybe stepping in whenever they need a night off.  I took an online course to get my TABC license.     The course itself is eye opening.   I never knew a bartender had to count every drink by every patron and guesstimate when they have had enough based on the patron's weight.
     As a lot of your know, business can be unrelenting and it's great to be able to take a day off occasionally.  I agreed to do it and we set a date.   Plus I wanted to experience it.   I have a great interest in other unrelated businesses and how they work.
     I waited with nerves on edge.   I surprised myself at the way it all felt.    The day came and I rushed to get there at the promised hour.    Lots of old timers at the bar and with good cheer they welcomed me as a brand new bartender.
     Will showed me where each beer was.    Several big coolers and a couple of refrigerators, cups, ashtrays, paper towels, how the register worked, how to take a debit card.....finally, the location of Red Bull.  
     A customer held his Bud Light up in the air, I ran over, grabbed one out of the cooler, popped the top, and served it.
     I was a a bartender!
     Only problem was I served a Coors Lite instead of a Bud Light.   I offered to pay for it and Will wouldn't let me.   I was embarrassed and determined to not make that mistake twice.  Though they didn't say anything I was also determined to not drink on duty.
     I slowly began to absorb the awareness of the bar.   A patron at the end of the bar is staring at me.   I hold up a  beer and he shakes his head yes.    Another customer, wiggles his bottle, I show up with one and he takes it.    A third takes his bottle out of its koozie and places the empty on the counter.   I exchange it.   I watch a guy drain the last bit from his bottle, I'm there with a new one.
     So many little signs, happening all at once.   Plus I was still hunting beer in the coolers.   I didn't realize they had so many kinds.
     Then I got a lesson on how to serve beer properly.   I was to rub the neck down with lime, then apply salt liberally, and stuff the lime into the bottle just so.   I learned and quickly.   I certainly didn't want to be a liability for the owners.  
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     Backing up a bit.    Why is this work remarkable?   And why is it remarkable for me?
     I own an internet retail company that sells unusual closeouts, large plastic fish, aluminum can crushers, pails and buckets of all sizes, horseshoes for crafting,  western decor, gothic fleur de lys decor, and lots of ashtrays.  DC Mach Inc.   We also manufacture various items in the USA and right in our shop.    Plus I find  many other things  in shows that I travel to far and wide.  My company is small but we still do a mil a year in gross sales.   We are importers, artists/sculptors, and inventors, and me and my staff consider ourselves second cousins to Einstein with genetic ties to Neanderthals.   Meaning that we believe in flashes of genius followed up with brute muscle.   Our motto is "No Boundaries."
     I can back up further.   I owned an automotive mechanic shop for 25 years and was an ASE certified technician specializing in mobile air conditioning.  During that time I was also a steel sculptor for hire and made and sold artworks for several years.   I still have a couple things I simply couldn't part with.  I donated one work in my brother's memory to the Omega House in Houston and it may still be on there.  My work was also recorded by Home and Garden Television several years ago.   A show called That's Clever.
    Plus, I was a musician and songwriter, playing locally in small clubs downtown.  I was kind of found at an open mic at Anderson Fair.   I was fortunate enough to make two albums, be included on some compilation albums by Waterbug Records, have my songs recorded by several artists, and finally to be included in the Smithsonian Museum's Folkways Collection in the Americana category.   I sang at the Townes Van Zandt memorial in Houston, TX  and  I  helped produce two albums by  Doug Clark and Elva Jones.
     Before this I worked in the oilfield as an equipment salesman,  am a father of two fine children (now grown with their own families), and before that I sold musical instruments.   Mainly guitars.   I had come from musical theatre and was tired of starving.   I worked two years professionally (for money) and was in a great many shows in college and out.    I did two seasons with  "Texas" in Palo Duro Canyon. (I recently revisited that artform by playing the male lead in Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, where I played Sheriff Ed Earl Dodd.)    I was on the first soccer team ever for West Texas State, now West Texas AM.    Didn't even get a jersey for that effort.   I was also a day manager at a Pizza Hut in Canyon, TX  for awhile.   I was hell on dough and pasta.   In college I was a male model for the art classes, one of the first male dancers ever for the Kilgore Rangerettes,  taught guitar, worked at a movie as a projectionist,  a practice dummy for girls table tennis team, sold handmade jewelry,  and would write papers for anybody for $1 a page.  
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     So, after all that, at this late date, why on earth do I want to be a bartender?

     When you work for yourself you tend to be careful who you let close to you.   Most people have an agenda.   They want something.   They want a favor, to borrow something, to bounce something off you, to see your technique, to check your insurance, your long distance plan, your vendors,  what kind of car you own, what color bank card you carry and by the way just how much  do you got in the bank...........?
     You find that you have a tendency to stiff arm everybody out of the way and say NO to everything, step back from every entreaty, and look through guarded eyes at every offer.    I cringe inwardly every time I hear the phrase,"Can you do me a favor?"
     Truthfully, I get harder and meaner about it if I'm not careful.  One reason is a lot of people don't want advice or friendship but they do want to take my time and distract me from what I need to do.   Maybe they simply want what I have.   I have to remind myself  not everyone is a thief and I would rather err on the side of charity.          But that is another story....
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     That's why my being a bartender is so therapeutic.    For once, in my day, I have to care about and look after everybody within my range down to the smallest detail, and let them within my comfort zone.   Actually, I have to throw my zone away and deal totally with theirs.   Their needs before mine.
     It's amazing to me, that when I am only interested in taking care of others comforts, my issues cease for a moment.   It's like they can't exist on the same plane of existence.   I let mine go and dwell on my customers.   I am at their beck and call.    I serve.             

     Somehow it's healing and freeing.

     At the end of the night I wiped off the bar, loaded extra beer in the coolers, and walked out from behind the counter feeling like I honestly cared about the customer.   It was somehow personal by then.   I was surprised and a little embarrassed when they paid me for my shift.
I felt like I should have paid them.   They could call it "Dawn's Day Spa for Busy Executives"
     I think I may need another session soon--before she  really does start charging for it.

Business: The Monster of Risk

     As the owner of  DC Mach Inc. I tend to run into a lot of people who want their own business.   They want the perceived goods.   The money.   To be the boss.   To have the final say, the big stick. They want freedom.

     But, I guess you've heard - freedom ain't free.   To the new business owner I offer some advice concerning risk.
     Business is a constant reminder that everything costs either money or labor and it's not the obvious things that will kill you.  It's the unknown monster that eats up both.  

     I'm assuming we all know what costs are involved in our businesses.  Buy a widget wholesale then mark it up to retail.  That cost is pretty easy to figure.  Then you have rent, utilities, wages, taxes, advertising, etc.  All relatively simple costs to tabulate. These are easily known.
     But wait,  now you have to factor some sort of cost figure for risk.   This is hard to do.   You have to guess what could happen to trip you up.   A fire?  Storm?   Market collapse?  Loss of key employee or distributorship?   We all have varying levels of risk tolerance.   I have never been able to tolerate huge risks.   So I take lots of small ones.   I would rather fight small monsters with a rock and a stick than giant monsters with a cannon. 
       It seems to me that my business has been a series of baby steps because of those unknown monstrosities.   I admit, I don't know if this is the best way to go or not.    Those baby steps may be why I'm not the next Bill Gates.   I don't know if he took baby steps but I like to imagine he did.   In my case it was a way to handle risk.  I mean, why stick your head out during a hail storm when you can stick out a finger.   In a worse case, like a really big bowling ball size chunk of falling hail, which part of yourself would you rather lose?   At least I would be alive to try another day.   I mean, I would have  9 fingers left.  I honestly expect wisdom to cost me something so winding up with only 9 fingers is acceptable.
     But what about those circumstances you can't plan for?   The ones that stick their heads up like a tyrannosaurus rex over the trees tops.   He sees you.   You can fight, hide, or run.    All three decisions could be the right one.
      If you don't remember any more than this, please remember you will always be at risk and something will always be threatening you.   When you own your own business the T Rex shows up when you least expect it..     You simply can't begin to foresee all the monsters that will threaten you.
       I was once sued by a county law firm for not paying property taxes on the property NEXT door.    It wasn't my property and never had been.   However, they didn't care and only wanted payment.   They filed a lien on the property I was currently on.   My taxes were paid up.    I had to secure a lawyer as they really wouldn't talk to me and the court date was approaching.     We settled it through him and they disappeared leaving me feeling fully justified in thinking monsters really are out to get me!
     Another time we lost our water.    It simply went off.    We called the water company and got an answering machine.   Seven days later, innumerable phone calls, walking every inch of our property and the adjacent property, we found an old house that a man was repairing.    He found a valve up under his house and had simply turned it off.   Not knowing it was the main line to our building.    The water company didn't know this either.   Being devoid of water for a week meant bathroom usage was questionable.    We had to haul water in 5 gal buckets from the ditch out at the street to flush the commodes in the building.
     One morning I came onto the property and only one of my working dogs came to the gate.   I keep dogs mainly to just bark a lot.    I believe they have been the primary reason I haven't been broken into over the years.   The only insurance I've ever had that greeted me at the gate and I truly loved.
     I looked around and figured he must have dug out somewhere and hopefully somebody would call me to come get him.   All my dogs are tagged.    One of my employees said he found him underneath a shipping container.    Somehow this german shepherd had gotten frightened during a night time rainstorm and decided to seek shelter under a 20' steel container.    He had dug under it until he was stuck midway.   He couldn't back up or turn around.     We got a couple shovels and started tunneling under the middle of the structure.   We dug down about 2 feet and then under about 4 feet till I had to dig basically with my hands since I was afraid I would hurt the dog with the shovel blade.    We also jacked the container up with a car jack just enough to accomplish all this.   We finished about noon and my dog Jake scrabbled out covered in mud and shaking.   Needless to say he was delighted to see us and promptly went to sleep under my desk in the office.
     My point with these stories is they have NOTHING to do with the normal course of business.    They are the monsters of risk that just inexplicably show up.    All teeth and roaring.    You can't ignore them as they may do away with you.   So how can you prepare for things like this? 
     If you are expecting a hard and fast answer, well, I don't have it.   Insurance helps.  A wealthy family to go crying to would work also.    But I mainly keep a cash back up.    I've found that when things go wrong, really wrong, and you need money, it's very hard to come by.    I stopped letting myself get to that point.   A banker who wouldn't loan me a dime taught me this.
     This may not be the best way to do things.   I mean, it really may be the hard way.    That's the way I learned this much of it.   Hopefully you reading this will prepare you a bit for the tough days ahead.
     Make no mistake.   The owners of that abandoned building you are looking at  or that closeout you seek to buy was visited by the very monsters I'm speaking of.

Buckets, Buckets and more Buckets

AND PAILS.

We got them at DC Mach Inc.

Sometime back when I was closeout shopping in Vegas, I ran across a great deal on some galvanized pails - or buckets if you insist.

(Difference Between A Bucket and A Pail)

I was a little nervous about buying them, but the price was way right and the guy gave me free shipping.   You gotta love free shipping, right?

They arrived a couple weeks later and my warehouse guys looked at me like what little sense I was born with had evaporated.   My office girl raised an eyebrow and didn't say much.   Which is extra rare.

I had done a bit of research at the wholesale show and did more of that to try and find if I had any competition.     Didn't appear to be any.    I took photos, wrote the listing, factored in shipping costs and came up with a price.
They didn't exactly fly out the door but they started selling.   One here and one there.   One novel thing I offer is the sale of ONE pail anywhere in the world.   I know, you are thinking, Why?   Cause, some folks want ONE pail.  Just one.   I stop questioning at that point.

 I've since added more and more pails and buckets to our inventory.
I have red, purple, pink, fire, mop, and malt buckets now.    I even stock a selection of stainless feed buckets for livestock which is modeled above by my lovely assistant.
We have buckets and pails for every decor,  as centerpieces,for weddings, garden parties, arrangements, plants....that could possibly exist.    However, sorry for you few, NO I don't have milk buckets.   Yet.
I suppose they could even be used for protection and occasionally when apprehension drapes its moldy  blanket of fear over me I don my helmet.  
Ready to conquer the world if need be.

Come see.   DC Mach Inc.

Adventures of CJ and Doyle --Katy Goose Hunting

      We were gung ho.   We were game.   We flinched from no obstacle.   We both developed a formidable unibrow.

     We just didn't know what we were doing.

     CJ asked me if I ever goose hunted.
     "Naw, not much"   which is hillbilly code for "No Ive never hunted for nor even laid eyes on a wild goose in my life."

     He said he had a place we could hunt out near Katy in the great goose flyway.   It wouldn't cost us a thing since the field is on the back of the place he buys pavers from.
     "OK, Im all over it!"
      Off to Academy I went to buy goose loads for my shotgun, get a license, and  pick up a goose call.
     "What kind you want?" the salesman asks.
     "I dunno.   That purty red one over there."
     Without smiling he says, "That's a bicycle horn, the goose calls are over here."
     I walked over staring at him as if he was an absolute dumbass for pointing me in the wrong direction like that and picked out a nice wooden call.    It was called a GOOSE A FAR-  model TR so we affectionately called it the goose farter from then on.
     We loaded up way early before daylight the next weekend and took off into the cold pre dawn.    Driving through town was quite peaceful at 4 am though that may have been cause my eyes were so blurry from the whiskey we drank last night as we packed for today.   Then of course, neither of us could sleep.
     We headed west on I-10 till we found a turn off into the pitch blackness.   No moon.    We drove around a bit and stopped at the end of a dirt road that was beginning to turn to mud.    We parked and hopped out and marveled out the total quiet of the freezing muddy field.   On one side was standing corn or bamboo or cabbage or some farm thing or other, and the other side was flat and kind of shiny when we passed our lights over it.
     "Might be a little wet."   CJ said, and probed the ground with his rubber boot. "You should've worn rubber boots."
     "Ive seen worse."  I said, playing my light over the inkiness surrounding us and wishing I had worn something other than tennis shoes.
     We loaded up our shotguns, 6 or 7 boxes of shells each,  game bags, flashlights large enough to land aircraft,  the goose farter, little hunter folding chairs,  camo makeup, double roll toilet paper, binoculars,  a large thermos, and the biggest parka coats we owned.     CJ also brought along a large trashbag full to the top with little white trash bags.
     We looked like those human pack mules carrying supplies to the base camp of Mt Everest.  It took about 20 minutes to get it all loaded.   We clambered down an incline to a fence we had to cross.    It was about 10 feet way.  We then unloaded all that stuff in the mud and climbed through.    Another 20 minutes of huffing and puffing little white clouds in the cold air.
        At this point I had to have a cigarette.   I lit up, grabbed all my stuff again and began to walk/slog through the wet mud that was beginning to look like liquid cement.   My tennys were kinda wet by that point and I couldn't feel my toes.    As CJ and I walked we noticed that we were getting deeper and deeper in the stuff nearly to the top of his brand new never been worn before rubber boots.   We slurped to a halt as we looked around for a little high ground.    There was a round bale of hay we were making for about 75 yards away.    It looked like a safe dry zone.   My hands were beginning to cramp and the cig was very close to burning my hunters beard. 
       CJ motioned that way.   We were huffing and puffing  even more by this time and so couldn't really talk anymore.    I couldn't feel my feet below the ankles.   I couldn't even see a trace of shoe anymore as I was wearing giant blocks of mud on both my feet.
     "I tole you to wear rubber boots."  CJ said between rapid breaths.
     "You aint gonna start that bullshit are ya?"   I hissed with all the breath I had left.
     I stepped in front of him trying to get to a dry looking patch only to discover the only real quick sand in the field.    I sank to my thigh in the freezing murky stuff.   My other leg with the muddy foot had inexplicably found a perch and so was at the same level as my crotch.   CJ snorted, and help extricate me from the mud hole.   It closed back up like I had never stepped in it.    That was when I realized it had eaten my tennis shoe.    Still had my sock on so that was something.
     We wheezed our way to the hay bale and set our loads down to catch our breath.   I pushed my way between two large round bales and started setting up camp.    I dug a small hole in the hay and deposited all my small stuff.    CJ grabbed the bag of white trash bags and headed out to the ajoining field.    We had borrowed a book from my buddy Jay that explained that geese loved white trash bags.   Not sure why as I didn't read much further than that.    It showed a photo of white bags all over the ground so we started throwing them everywhere just like that.    We practically covered about 2 acres with them.     It was just turning graylight when the first goose flew right about our head.   CJ and I froze, looked at each other, and ran, slipped, slopped, and slogged back to our hay bale blind.    My sock was hanging off my foot and kind of slapped the mud when I ran.    We grabbed our shotguns and loaded them and laid them on top of the hay bale.    I grabbed the camo glop and started putting war paint on.
     "Do I need any of that crap?"  CJ eyed me.   "oh hell yeah, come ere."    I smear a bit on his cheeks and drew an "I" on his forehead and just left it at that.     It still makes me smile.    I can be funny like that sometimes.   After all he was always telling me he was Italian.
     We could just see a little bit.   I opened my thermos and poured us a cup of coffee.   That's when the second goose flew over about 10' above our heads.
     "We're spose to be huntin out here you know."   CJ said looking at all points of the compass.               
     "Well, you point one out and I'll shoot at it.    We got any snacks?"  I began rummaging around in my coat pockets.    I found a couple old french fries from last season, a pack of ketchup, and a pack of hot sauce.  Though I tried my best the fries weren't really edible.   So I gave them and the hot sauce to CJ.  I sucked the ketchup pack flat.   Breakfast out of the way,  I noticed it was beginning to warm up and considered taking the parka off.  
     That's when we heard it.
     A great sound of wind, of clouds moving, mixed with a giant chorus of out of tune bicycle horns.    In the distance a huge raft of black and white dots was moving across the early morning sky.   It looked like it was a mile wide expanse of solid geese moving slowly to another field.
     We were frozen in hunters' disbelief.   We knew there were a lot of geese out here but had no idea that every goose on earth would be present.
     "Should I try the goose farter?"  I asked scrabbling in my pockets for it.
     "Why not!"  CJ said,   "How else are we going to move them over here?"
      I shrugged, put the call up to my lips and let loose a mighty full chested woooshh.    I took another breath and gave another wooooooshhh.  I was feeling a little light headed.
     "Funny sounding goose call, bro.   I thought it would sound more, you know, like a goose.    Maybe it's like a dog whistle and only geese can really hear it."    By this time the great horde of geese looking like a lake in the sky was actually veering in our direction.   They must have been 500 yards out and were beginning to blot out the light.   
     "Hey Bro you might try blowing through it the other way and see how it works."  CJ nervously fiddled with his shotgun.
     "Why, they're comin' ain't they?"   I said with a sweep of my arm toward them.  Amazingly they immediately veered right en masse to avoid us.
     "I think they saw you man!"   CJ ducked behind the hay bale.   As did I.
I whispered, 
     "You think they can see that good?   We are a long way out here.   I think I will try blowing the call the way you said.   I mean, hell, they are flyin out of the county."
     I took a huge breath, reversed the goose farter, and let all my being out in that one breath of air.
BLAAAAAATTTT.      Echoed across the muddy field.     As one entity in the sky, they turned and started coming our way again.     I made another BLAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTT with as much emphasis as  I could muster.    They kept coming.
     "It's working just like Jays book said it would!"  CJ remarked joyfully.   He poked his head up over the top of the hay bale.     As one teeming mass they seemed to stop in mid air.
     "Dang it CJ I'm telling you them dang geese can see a flea on a tick on a dogs butt from 1000 yards.    Stay still, I got more camo grease on than you."   I poked my camo face up slightly and blasted on the call again.     They began to move our way again.    By now their noise was growing and slightly intimidating.
     "Alright now, stay down until I tell you."    BLAAAAATTTT.    They advanced slowly.   BLAAAAA -A- A- A- A -ATTT.      Hey I was gettin' good at this!   They kept coming and seemed like they were right on top of us as loud as they were.    CJ was staring at me with wide crazy eyes.    The geese were so loud it seemed like they going to land on us.  I swear the ground was vibrating.
     Then CJ jumped up and started shooting.     I was stunned for moment then I jumped up and started banging away too.     The birds milled around in the air and seemed to fly straight up and over us.  We reloaded and kept firing.   Just sky blasting by this time.    We were literally firing straight up in the air.     The birds were right there and they kept on flying.    We reloaded again, and continued firing at them as they went over and out of range.
     "What the hell?"  CJ gasped, "Are these shells defective?"  he kicked a box of shells on the ground in disgust.
     I was quiet for a moment.   
     "CJ you started shootin before the birds were even here!    I think they were out of range the entire time!"
     We were both sweatin' and shakin' by this time.   Buck fever I guess.   Or maybe goose fever.
     We watched the birds circle just out of our range several times.    With disgust, I gave up blowing on the dang goose farter and gave the thing to CJ.    He sounded pretty good but couldn't convince them to come visit our lovely white trash bag spread again.
     No more singles came by either.   It began to get warm so we shucked our parkas and sweated some more.   Typical Texas goose hunting.
     Suddenly out of the corner of my eye, I see a low flying bird coming our way.    I motion for CJ to get down.    We crouch and then there it was.   We hop up and blaze away at this duck that somehow managed to evade the bulk of our shot but still went down.  I believe CJ hit it as we saw a  bit of feather fly off as it went down behind a flood dam.   I was closer so I went for it.   CJ still embarrassed about running off all the geese didn't say much but watched me climb over the hill.    It was an irrigation ditch and about 100 yards down it I saw a duck.    I snuck up on it using my best quiet even though I was dragging a muddy sock on one cold numb foot.    It saw me and I fired as it flew off down the canal.    
     Dang!  I had to stop and slap at mosquitoes.
     I walked, crawled and dragged a  wet sock for another 300 yards.   There it was again, boom!   It flew off and landed way out there looking like a little dot as it landed.   Bout a 1000 yards this time.   Slap a few more mosquitoes.
     Sheesh, I had freezing feet, and I was sweating from the exertion all at the same time.   Still, I am a hunter, and I don't give up.   Slap, slap, slap, slap. 
     It took about 45 minutes to get close this time.    I slogged my way closer and closer for another shot.    By this time I figure I'm about a mile from CJ and the hay bales.    I see the duck again.  Slap.   He was way out there. I test the wind direction.    I guesstimate how much I should elevate my shot.  Slap.   I consider running closer while shooting.   Finally, I lay on my stomach and crawl.  Slap, slap, slap.   The duck can't see me, I know I will win this day.   
     Totally encrusted with mud at this point from my chin to my toes I approach the lip of the irrigation canal slowly but surely.  I am focused!   As cold as the mud is the sun is still burning my back!      I raise my steely eyes over the edge of the canal and  I suddenly see the duck 10 feet from me.  Slap!   He sees me too.    He jumps straight up and flies toward me and passes right over my head by inches.     I sit up and watch him depart.    I couldn't even get a shot at him.   He does not look back or even look tired for that matter.     I see a dragon fly and shoot at it.   It flies away unharmed too.  I wave at a few mosquitoes.   Really, I just sit for a moment and let them feast.   I mean, somebody ought to come out ahead here.
     About an hour later, exhausted, beaten, sweating, and ate up with mosquitoes I approach the  last hill of the irrigation ditch near where CJ is hidden by the bale of hay.    As I limped, dragged myself these last few feet I stumbled over a duck laying in the trail.    It had to be the one that CJ had shot.    In my rush earlier I hadn't seen it.    
     I was mad.   At the world, at CJ, at myself.    I scooped up the duck and carried it over the hill to my waiting hunting buddy.
"Hey you found my duck!"   CJ exclaimed.
"Naw, yours got away, I shot this one way down the irrigation canal."    I lied.
     But he didn't buy it.   He knew I was messing with him and waited the rest of the morning for me to admit it.

     I never did and he never brought it up again.    I thought about it several times but I was so embarrassed by my pitiful action that I just kept  quiet.    He and I hunted almost every weekend during the season and got smarter and luckier.   Funny how those two go together.    We managed to take several geese and by my figures we must have invested several hundred dollars per bird by the end.    Still, we were never really great goose hunters.    We did better deer hunting later on and had some tough fishing trips too, which I may detail in the future.   To top it all off I was a terrible goose cook even though I tried repeatedly.   I was beginning to wonder if that book we borrowed from Jay was full of lies!
     Anyway, buddy, I've tried to make up for it by telling everybody this story.    Some of which is absolutely true.
     Next time I see you, beers on me.

dc -----DC Mach Inc.

3D Printing and The First World Problems That Come With It

      Who would ever have thought a 3D printer could even exist? Or even more so a 3D food printer.   One of the prime concepts of the far future in science fiction was to walk into the dining area and speak into a microphone and have your food magically appear.     Now, its not so magical anymore.   We already know that voice recognition has increased in quality to the point that you can even say the wrong thing and it corrects you.    That's one of the reasons I have full faith in this next human cultural and industrial shift.
Nasa is hot on the heels of the 3D printing revolution.  They are taking it further than making small plastic toys or paper airplanes.   Apparently you can shoot strings of liquified food into shape and it stays in that shape.    They are using only shelf stable foods that will last months and months for potential use by astronauts.
It may have taken an Einstein to come up with this technology but thankfully it doesn't require one to see the future.
As the price of 3D printers falls with public acceptance, new world problems will show up.
  Scenario One.
"Mom, I lost a button on my favorite dress!" the little drama queen wails.
Harried Mom says,  "Ok I will have to google the pattern and see if I can get one close to it."  
Drama queen even louder and more pitiful, "But it has to match PERFECTLY, I would die to be seen with the wrong button!!"
Frantic Mom searching with one hand holding wine glass with the other.    Drama queen gets too close making Mom drop wine glass and shattering it.
Angry Mom jumps up making Drama queen run for her life from room.  "Great now I got to print another wine glass!   That code is coming out of your allowance young lady!"

Scenario Two.
"Dad, my car has a flat!"  says first year college son.
"Do you got a jack?"   asks Dad in an airport across country.
"No"  says inexperienced son.
"Do you have a tire tool?" asks frowning Dad.
"No" says clueless son.
"Can you call a tow truck?"  asks irritated Dad.
"NO, I have to leave now, I'm late for class.   They will fail me if Im not there.   This little town doesnt have taxis either. "    pause.   "I do have access to a 3D printer though."
"Great, print out a tire plug and install it."  says relieved Dad.
"I did that already, and read the instructions, but it needs this little T shaped tool and it doesnt say what its called"   says plaintive son.  "I can't find the code for it!"
"Figure it out!  I'm in debt for all of my natural life putting you through school.   You have all of Google, Yahoo, Encyclopedia Britannica, and Tire Tools Are Us.  Somebody somewhere knows what its called and then you can find code to print the damn thing out!   You probably could have walked to school in the time you have spent on this!"   says boiling Dad.
"What?"  says incredulous son, "It's a half mile over there!"

Scenario Three

"What are you doing?" asks prying supervisor.
"Searching for code for nuts, washers, and cotter keys"  says worried employee hammering away on a keyboard.
"For what?   We have plenty in stock to meet our quota,"   says smug super.
"That's what we thought too, but we are OUT and the production line is going to come to a halt!"  says employee trying to keep his job.
"Impossible!"  shouts bossman suddenly worried about keeping his job too. "Call somebody"
"No one has any stock whatsoever" says grim faced worker. "I'm pulling the code up for the three pieces and we can print them in shop."
Suddenly relieved supervisor "Great, so we had the correct material for them?"
"Nope, all we have is paper mix right now.   Don't even have plastic.    Been out of powdered metal for a month,"  says chagrined worker, "But I can print something close to spec and we can change them before they leave the plant.   Thereby keeping production going with paper nuts, washers, and cotter pins.   We just got to remember to change the parts out without anybody finding out we did it."
The supervisor smiles and puts an appreciate hand on the workers shoulder.
"I'm depending on you son."
The tired worker smiles hoping that someday technology will allow him to print a new supervisor.

     Seriously, any and all of the past scenarios could be a reality.   Issues we have now of missing parts, whole assemblies, and even food might one future day be a dim memory of where we've come from.
     I do love the idea of stepping up to machine and speaking into it what I want and it magically producing the item.    It would search the universe for code automatically and have available all the ingredients for whatever your heart desires right on the spot.   I will admit to there being new world problems but, really, they won't be so bad.
Hot Plain Tomato Soup.

Why I Skip Your Booth at a Trade Show

     I spent the last five days at a trade show  in Las Vegas.   The ASD is quite large with 2800+ vendors and literally miles of walking involved.    While walking the exhibitor floor and looking at the various items vendors had for sale it occurred to me that some of these well-meaning companies actually have a tendency to run their customers off instead of invite them in to their booths.
As a buyer and owner of a small business I spend a lot of money, time, and physical effort traveling to wholesale shows to find product.   I HAVE to purchase product to keep my company going.  Plus I look for new product.    I'm very serious about the process and resent when vendors make my job harder than it should be.  I treat the whole thing as a necessary part of survival.
   
     Browsing is my main preference for discovering new product.    I can swiftly cover lots of ground and view a lot of items in seconds.   If I see something interesting I stop and inquire.  Otherwise, I'm traveling quickly to take in as much territory as possible.   Being nearly sixty years old my browse speed is diminishing and maybe so is my patience.    I definitely don't have the stamina to walk these giant shows like I did when I was younger.   That makes it even more important to make the most of my time and energy.   Its quite limited nowadays.    Stopping this shopping process causes me and the vendor money.

     For instance,  as I walked up to a product on a table the salesman got between me and the item insisting on helping me.   I didn't need sales help at the moment and just wanted a closer look .  I moved to the side to get to the product and he jumped in front of me again.  Exasperated, I told him I only wanted to look.  He then started to qualify me.
What are you looking to buy?
How many stores do you have?
Do you sell on the Internet?
What's your monthly sales?
Where are you from?
Hey those Cowboys are looking weak this season eh?
Pretty hot isn't it?

     All of this when I don't need any words from him at all,   At this point I'm just trying to get away from him.  I don't care what he's selling.  He has effectively diverted me from looking, asking questions, buying.   Really that's all there is to it for me.   If you have a booth please don't stop that flow.

     Sometimes when you look down an aisle the salespeople are standing out in the walkway practically forming a gauntlet.  This eliminates browsing as you will have to acknowledge every one of them in some manner even if its only walking around them.  I generally speed up and act as uninterested as possible.

     Another sure fire fail is to try and make eye contact with me and give me your sad puppy face.  You are distracting me from looking.  I feel like you are about to ask me for pocket change.  I generally dodge beggars of every stripe.  I will definitely speed by your booth.

     I will probably take some flack for this next one but another thing that doesn't help is having teenage girls showing entirely too much cleavage in micro skirts.  I realize they are probably in their twenties but they look like little girls to me.  Just what kind of customers are you looking for?   And further, just what are you selling here?  I pre-qualify myself away from your booth.

      Please don't make  political statements or cultural remarks either verbally or with your clothing.   Wearing shirts with religious symbols, black power, rainbows, political stances, insults......are not conducive to a business relationship.  I don't need to worry about disagreeing with you.   Please don't make me.

     Some booths are very busy making it hard to ask questions.  I understand that.  I know the world doesn't stop for me.  Just make sure that price, case pack, weight, and pallet carton count is available on the label and I will determine if I will wait or come back later.  Don't put that info in code as it is only irritating and slows down my search.   Unless the item is really great a crowded booth with coded labels will make me leave.

     Aggressive salesmen are a turn off too.  Don't tell me what I'm going to buy.  Don't insist and certainly don't be condescending.  
   
     Since you have paid to exhibit at a show try to be flexible in your minimum purchases and ship dates.   Nothing is worse than a company telling me how much I need to buy or where I can sell it.   Suggesting these levels is understandable, demanding them is not.   I actually had a company raise its wholesale prices when I told them I was going to sell on Amazon's Third Party Seller platform.   Really?   Just how much of a lock on the market do these guys think they have?

     Now there a great many booths run correctly that make buyers feel welcome with knowledgable sales people, with chairs to sit in to rest and talk.  Some sort of literature is always welcome but don't force it on me.   I appreciate free water, coffee, and even a snack, though none of that will make me buy from you.  I don't really want key rings, coffee cups, letter openers, Koozies, or pens.  I do want a business card and a way to staple it to any catalogs you might have.  If I have placed an order with you I do expect a copy of the order.  Don't expect payment at that very moment though.   It's amazing how many orders are lost at the big shows so I prefer to pay when you call and tell me the order is ready.   Please take all forms of payment.  Make the buying process as simple as possible.   Try to never say NO.   I hate it when a company won't take my primary American Express Plum Card.  This actually makes my accounting process harder.

     Always know each units weight and dimensions, UPC code, wholesale price, suggested retail price, units per case, total weight, cases per pallet and its weight.   Have a current inventory count on hand.  Be prepared to offer a usable jpg if I ask for it.  Know the colors and sizes available immediately.
Let me know if you are selling your products direct to any of the big boys such as Walmart, Amazon, Home Depot, etc.  It doesn't make some buyers any difference but it does me.

     Above all, don't lie to me about the products scarcity, value, marketability, condition, availability date, ship speed and a bunch of other stuff I can't remember.   If we are to be continuing partners I must trust you.  If I catch you in a lie I won't forget and most likely wont buy from you again.

     Making my visit smooth and stress free  will certainly help in my appreciation and openness to your product and company and may actually increase the time I'm in your booth instead of running by it.
    
     To see some of my finds visit DC Mach Inc.