P I C N I C

For dinner last night I had an omelette with blue cheese, parsley, and onions.

The red and white cart just moved in. In the last 6 weeks 4 more carts have opened next to me.

I always have cookies and bread left over at the end of the day. Today there was more then usual, and I always give Lindsey a call at moments like this. She stopped by on her way home from work and picked up 8 cookies and 2 loaves of bread.

Today was a continuation of the last two days. During the dissasembly of the Vulcan stove I had to saw and remove a small pressure ring. To aquire a replacement ring proved somewhat difficult. I called 10 supply companies. The official Vulcan service company in Portland did not have the part, neither did RSK, Winks, the corner hardware store, Standard Supply, etc.. I finally found the odd sized brass compression ring at Napa auto parts. So anyway, all the equipment is hooked up.

While out I met Suzanne for lunch and a friend of hers stopped by. He has some interesting pursuits. He grows spirulina, which is a type of algae, in large fishtanks in his back yard. He cultures it in a water saturated with baking soda as the main nutrient. Several dozens gallons of incubation capacity yields a harvest of 2 oz. I’m not sure how often he is able to reap this quantity. He processes it into a tasteless green paste which is ‘reputedly’ very healthy. He was an interesting guy, in town from San Francisco.  He seemed quite knowledgeable about chemistry and molecular organization. He grows coca leaf and extracts cocaine in small quantities, as a hobby. He makes little cubes of sugar, tea extract, and lightly processed, presumably organic cocaine which you suck on for a little energy boost late in the day. He’s like someone out of a Phillip K Dick novel!

Michael, a co-owner of Anisha, where Kate works, and his brother are building a cart from scratch, much in the same manner which I have done. Custom trailer bed, 2×4 stud walls, a pitched roof with shingles, and a full little kitchen in a 7 by 16 foot space. They will make Polish dumplings and serve ionized water to the New Seasons shoppers across the street.

Hunting around in the New Seasons for lunch, Suzanne pointed me to the truffle box. The beef and cheese caught my attention, but the espresso was the real winner, made with Joel’s coffee.

Kate moved out yesterday. So sad . I went over to her new place and brought some takeout. I asked her what she wanted. Pizza! she said. I went to Pyro. They make small, chewy, pies with lots of fresh vegetables. I got: Pesto with artichoke hearts and red peppers; basil and sausage and red sauce; grilled eggplant slices with tomato sauce.