The chardonnay and merlot are in the middle of stuck fermentations. The chardonnay is actually just going really slow, I can see bubbles rising to the surface. They’ve been in the bathroom, heated to 70º, but that hasn’t worked. So I’m racking them and adding a yeast nutrient. Hopefully that will speed things up. The merlot I will deal with tomorrow. Also, I’m going to make a batch of beer tomorrow.
I’m starting to get some equipment for the cart. Jerry, who owns the Fresh Grill in Beaverton, had a Mazzer espresso grinder. I showed up as a gaggle of high school kids came in and all ordered cheeseburgers.
I’ve been looking on craigslist for a flatbed trailer. My requirements are fairly precise: 18 by 8 feet, no wheelwells, two axles. That brings the amount of listings down to about 10 for all of Portland. Lloyd here had just that. So I drove out to 162nd to see the thing, but the steel I-beams were a little too lightweight. I had thought as much based on the tiny photo on the posting, but it seemed like it would be good to take a look for the sake of experience. So I tell Lloyd why his trailer won’t work for me and he asks me what I’m planning to do with it. I tell him and he brings me over behind his workshop and shows me an old bent frame with massive steel beams. He says he can doctor it up and give me a custom job. He proposes to chop off the end to bring it down from 22 feet to 18, to move the axels forward, to add support beams, to rebend the steel back in shape, all for less then the cost of the other trailer I had come out to see. It all sounded a little breathtaking, and I don’t doubt he could do it. His shop was pretty impressive. He showed me two 30 foot long RV’s that he had built from scratch, presumably from the enormous piles of car parts and steel he had lying around. After I expressed some hesitation at his offer he then went on to try to sell me several septic tanks, a water pump, and a set of six scissor jacks. I think craigslist is amazing.
I was reading some blogs and found a mention of a mexican cart just down the street from me called Torres de Morelos, at 31st and Powell. I got a pork burrito and it was really good. The flavors of the rice, the beans, the cilantro, the spiced pork, these were all distinct and fresh. As I ate this man next to me struck up a conversation about nothing at all. He was a concrete contractor and was bragging about working on a prison, a dam, a navy base.
I snapped this photo of the couple who ran the food cart, but I’m a very bad reporter, or blogger, or whatever I am, I didn’t get their names. Next time…