Day 258: Corn makes whisky

 

September 15th, 2011After the events of yesterday, ANYTHING today would have been better in retrospect. Today proved quite sufficient to living up to my expectations (for the most part). As decided by my boss weeks ago at EHS, it was my duty to perform several corn husking duties at the EHS beach party this year. After my boss complemented me on all the hard work I’ve done the last 2 and a half years, saying I was versatile and all that good stuff, we proceeded straight to his car to begin our descent to La Jolla Shores. Our first stop however was at the Environmental Management Facility where we went inside to chat with folks for a bit, me talking to a nice lady named Valerie, who gave me recommendations for the future. She said despite me not knowing my exact career path with my Comm/History major, achieving a degree in the long run is important, and that my goal of Teach for America and helping people was a noble one. Making a difference, she said is all that really matters, citing her example of teaching adults literacy in the past. It was really easy talking to her, and subsequently I felt at place at the division not far at all from Pepper Canyon. Afterwards we filled a cooler with cold fresh water (for the corn to be soaked in), before meeting up with a few people from EMF who loaded their state trucks with tables, folded up tents, and most importantly two grills for the BBQ’ing.

It was nice when my boss drove me to the beach because it gave us some time to talk, me to give him some insight into what I want to do with my future, and he to explain the kind of music he liked, his problems with his dad in the past and how he was a math teacher, and how he met his wife at UCSD his second year of college. Apparently she made him a lot of things and in his own words, he was too “dumb to realize she liked him”. It was a sweet story though, and made me feel even closer to my boss, a feeling I really haven’t felt ever. When we got to the shores I lugged all the coolers over the grassy area (Thank God we weren’t in the sand). Me and Doug helped set up two large table tents, which we struggled with for a bit but eventually persevered in setting up. As for the weather, it was nice and not sunny at all. Two other EHS staff members joined us, and I sat around eating cookies while waiting for the food to arrive. When Julie arrived with the hot dogs, burgers, corn, and perishable food items, it was time to start cooking. I grilled away using my boss’s secret recipe – soak the corn in the water for 15 minutes, peel off the husk (but leave it attached to the corn), take the silk off, soak it with a bit of olive oil, fold it back up, and grill it for 15 minutes. It worked like a charm when I used the new grill, but when my boss failed in using the nasty terrible old grill I offered him a switch. Subsequently, I was stuck with the terrible grill all day, but made it work since hamburgers and hot dogs were more highly in demand. People started rushing in around noon, and subsequently prepared their stomaches for a delicious day of free food and fun. People however kept coming up to me and complementing me on the corn, so I was proud to say I am a MasterChef! I had a blast chowing down on sodas and a ton of free food in the process of cooking. It was fun seeing a ton of EHS Pepper Canyon people compete against the EMF folks at Tug O – War (ehs ultimately losing sadly enough), but even cooler to see my boss make ice cream freeze using liquid nitrogen. Science ROCKS! Eventually my boss left, as a few other people took over his station. When I was done with the corn and it was no longer in demand I talked to a chick from EHS whose name I forgot, as well as a guy from the I.T. department. Anyway, I’m sure I’ll see these people at the next staff party, whenever that may be. The event proved itself largely to be a success, much better than any stupid Res-Council event I’ve ever been to or planned. Even due to the budget restrictions set in place at the bureaucratic level, my boss somehow generously bought 4 coolers filled with soda cans all out of his own pocket. What a nice guy <24. At the end of the day, clean up was essential as me and Doug loaded his car up with his materials, and drove back to EMF to help the guys unload their trucks. Doug generously dropped me off at the Bus Stop and I was on my way home.

After relaxing for an hour at home, it was still time for business as Rosario came over, and we ate at McDonald’s for dinner. It always leaves a sick feeling in my stomach, but then again it’s cheap so it doesn’t really matter in the long run. We watched Source Code immediately after, and I was enthralled as always with the concept of it. We watched some TV later in the form of Man vs. Food before she ultimately departed for the night, with Lauren coming back to complain about how terrible the Orientation Socs are. Sad Times. The end.

On this day in 1978, boxer Muhammad Ali defeats Leon Spinks at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans to win the world heavyweight boxing title for the third time in his career, the first fighter ever to do so. Following his victory, Ali retired from boxing, only to make a brief comeback two years later. Ali, who once claimed he could “float like a butterfly, sting like a bee,” left the sport permanently in 1981. Born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. in Louisville, Kentucky, on January 14, 1942, the future world champ changed his name to Muhammad Ali in 1964 after converting to Islam. He earned a gold medal at the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome and made his professional boxing debut against Tunney Husaker in October 1960, winning the bout in six rounds. On February 25, 1964, Ali defeated the heavily favored Sonny Liston in six rounds to become heavyweight champ, after which he famously declared, “I am the greatest!” BORINGGGGGGGGG.

During the Sept. 12, 2011, Republican presidential debate in Tampa, Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas — a staunch advocate of limited government and a more modest military footprint — offered a surprising statistic about the reach of the U.S. armed forces. “We’re under great threat, because we occupy so many countries,” Paul said. “We’re in 130 countries. We have 900 bases around the world. We’re going broke. The purpose of al-Qaida was to attack us, invite us over there, where they can target us. And they have been doing it. They have more attacks against us and the American interests per month than occurred in all the years before 9/11, but we’re there occupying their land. And if we think that we can do that and not have retaliation, we’re kidding ourselves. We have to be honest with ourselves. What would we do if another country, say, China, did to us what we do to all those countries over there?” POLIFACT SAYS THIS IS TRUE.

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