The 50 Plus Cafe, Pub, All-Nite Greasy Spoon and Dive Bar

International Nurses Day - May 12

Fact Check the below streaming info for China Beach. Not sure if it's up-to-date:
You can stream China Beach on The Roku Channel and Plex . While streaming options for the complete series have been limited in the past due to music rights, it became available on streaming services starting in August 2025.
  • The Roku Channel: The series is available to stream, with a Roku Channel subscription costing around
    $ 2.99 per month.
  • Plex: You can also watch the first season of China Beach on Plex.
  • Other options: Some users have reported it's also available on other platforms, such as the "Howdy" channel, although this may be a specific service through Roku.
Past streaming difficulties: The show was not available for streaming for a long time due to the high cost of re-licensing the popular songs used in many episodes. This is likely why the recent availability is a major event for fans.
Bless thee! 😍

I nominate @likes2watchU as The Spoon’s Research Scholar. Not sure if it’s a paid position, but I’m sure the Bylaws allow for a stipend! 😂

I can see the relicensing would be a problem for CB…the opening was a Supremes song…

 
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If I’m not mistaken I think they may have one? I’m with you though…they deserve a special place of honor. If you ever remember the 80’s show China Beach, they did a special with the real life nurses they drew their stories from. It’s well worth a look if it’s floating around out there…

In honor of our resident nurses in The Spoon, they’ll be heavily represented over the course of the day!
I loved that show.... we do have a day and everyone in the hospital gets a present ...so means nothing
 
View attachment 2576998

If I’m not mistaken I think they may have one? I’m with you though…they deserve a special place of honor. If you ever remember the 80’s show China Beach, they did a special with the real life nurses they drew their stories from. It’s well worth a look if it’s floating around out there…

In honor of our resident nurses in The Spoon, they’ll be heavily represented over the course of the day!
I loved that show.... we do have a day and everyone in the hospital gets a present
 
A friend's friend used to lug one of those bastards around to hunt moose. No bayonet, of course. He thought it was sporting. Moose hunting isn't about sporting, it's putting meat in the freezer.
Good lord that’s a heavy rifle. Maybe 8-9 lbs. that’s a lot to lug around!

It shows his dedication!

Too bad he didnt have the bayonet in case he was facing a charging moose.

“Fix bayonets!”
 
It shows his dedication!
It showed his ignorance when climbing through the alders in bear country. The one 45-70 shot might hurt big, brown, and ugly, but it might take two to stop him and you won't get two with a trapdoor that should be shooting black powder. I personally always swap ammo in the .338WM for navigating through the alders. The 210g Noslers come out and the 275g go in. Just in case.
 
I find that baking a batch of cookies or a quickie loaf of bread in the dutch oven will create enough warmth to get you over the hump.
In the big room where the reading, TV, puzzles... take place I have Christmas lights outlining all three sides of a bay window. Not the LED kind. They give off just enough warmth that over time the room gets too hot.

Make sure your feet are warm.

Years ago I replaced all the windows on all the floors. Nothing. Still always felt like a draft. One day I was confused on how a 3 way switch with a dimmer on one was not working, on/off didn't make sense. It was a cooler windy day like today. I pulled off the switch cover to check the wiring and the wind was blowing out the exposed switch box! Did some research on how to seal/insulate a home. Found a local company called "The 5th Fuel". They stopped by and insulated the back walls that they could. The front walls were brick exterior and I didn't want to cover the dry wall repairs and painting costs. The really neat thing they did was in the attic. Where any wall was terminated in the attic the top of it was cleaned and sealed with a commercial grade expanding foam. Wrapped with a metallic wrapped fiber insulation and capped. Then the R29 re-blown.
With no drafts in my walls it makes the temp stay more constant. A double edge sword. The heat runs and evens out the environment to the set temp. The fan comes on and circulates to move air and even out pockets. However, the temp does not cool to a point to cause the heat source to come on as often as I would like. Hence the lights in the bay window and oven heat. Making a pot of soup works too. A gallon or two of water in the stove puts off a good bit of warmth as well.
68 or 72 is relative. Once the temp is reached it feels cold before the next time the heat needs to come on. I'm usually 69. If it is really cold outside and I want it warm I will bump it to 71 or 72. Like when it is 22 outside and I am in and out shoveling snow. Wind still makes a difference too. Weather like that I usually have the charcoal grill blowing smoke. Drives the other shovelers crazy. Like they do me when they let their car idle as I am trying to clear my driveway. hahaha

Cheaper than heat recipes....
Soup:
A large chicken breast boiled with loose vegies and lots of garlic and fresh parsley, plus any vegetable ends you might have that the good part will end up and part of the soup. Strain the broth to have it clear as possible. As the chicken cools remove any bone and sinew to add back to broth. Add the veggies, celery, carrots, green beans. Anything else you want. Turnips aren't always good. They cook unexpectedly different and can change the entire finished product. I like em so they usually get in there. Some kind of white bean you can easily rinse off from the can. I like peas(frozen-fresh bag not freezer burnt). I'd like to ad pasta but have not figured out how to do that without adding just before each bowl. If in the soup they just turn to starch. When you reheat a bowl or serve the first time have fresh lemons handy. A little squeeze just before the bowl makes it to the table makes it have that little pizazz no one can quite put a finger on.

Bread simple too:
1 tsp activated yeast
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
-
1 ½ cup of filtered water (108 F°)
-
Sit for 5 min
-
Add 3 cups of flour
Mix till most of the powder is gone
Cover with cloth for 1 - 2 hours
Poke with a pointed knife to let air bubbles out
-
Next, fold in all sides
Poke with a pointed knife to let air bubbles out
-
Proof for 1 hour
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Poke with a pointed knife to let air bubbles out
Preheat Dutch oven at 425°F
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Take out of oven and line with parchment paper.
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Set oven to 450°F for baking.

Line parchment with cracked corn
Put your dough ball on the cracked corn in the parchment paper
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Bake for 35 minutes with lid on
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Remove the lid and bake for an extra 5 to 10 minutes. Or more if the crust is what you really want.
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I find I do not care for this part or have not found the proper butter salt combo to actually make it better than just leaving well enough alone.
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The extra time you can paint on butter laced with garlic and a little salt.
Leaving it uncovered a few extra minutes before adding butter will make better crust.


The Old Guy in Vermont told me to seal the foundation tight as Dick's hatband. I quizzed him about this. He said, hot air rises. To kill a fire, you kill its draft. After reflection, it made Perfect Sense.
 
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Well. Finally, some success with the snowblower.

I forgot to put fuel stabilizer in it last year… but the fuel looked clean and smelled ok quite honestly but I siphoned it into another container anyway and out in fresh.

Took apart part of the carb. The bowl was really clean.

But the jet had a little bit of an obstruction of some kind. I blew it out and used some very thin gauge wire that I had to make sure it was clear.

Reassembled… Cranked right up!

Wat douches that shit out with Carb Cleaner. It makes the carb feel fresh as a daisy . . . .
 
I do buy 1/4 and 1/2 from a local packing facility. The price per lb turns out to be retail hamburger prices when your buy in bulk from some of these small local guys
That's what our family did growing up.
1/2 cow for the bulk of the year's meat.
The full-size, stand up freezer had a lock, too.
Replacement costs were not in the budget.
If you weren't tall enough to reach the key, you weren't allowed in the freezer.
 
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