The GeekHiker

(Another one the non-meat-eaters might want to avoid…)

Most years, I don’t tend to do too much on the two big weekends of the year, Memorial Day and Labor Day.  Usually, everyone else is doing something, and sitting in traffic with all of them going in and out of town just isn’t that appealing.

The fact that we Americans put so much effort into celebrating these two weekends is a rather sad commentary on the dearth of time off we have in this country.  Would these weekends be such a big deal if we had a few more vacation days?  I think not.

Even sadder is how many people actually work on those days.  All the stores are open, pushing big sales.  I actually avoid going shopping on these three day weekends because, seriously, why can’t Best Buy give its people a day off?  Does anybody need a copy of Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo that badly?  (Yes, it’s just the first horrible movie that popped into my head and no, there’s no way in hell I’m putting a link there.)

Although, with minimum wage the way it is, I can understand the appeal of triple-time as well.

As for me, occasionally I’ve traveled, sometimes gone short distances to visit friends, but usually these two weekends are reserved for doing very little.

This year, I did even less.  I tried to go to the Natural History Museum Saturday, but couldn’t park because of the game.  So I gave up, came home and sweltered in the heat.

Which is what I’ve done for most of the weekend.

A little reading, a little TV, precious little cleaning, not even much web surfing.

In other words: as little actual labor as possible.

I did, however, BBQ, and while this will never be a cooking blog, this has turned into a bit of a cooking weekend.

After Saturday’s taco salad, I marinated some pork chops in a lemon juice/soy sauce mix and threw them on the BBQ.  The result (along with a side of applesauce (cinnamon, natch), grilled corn-on-the-cob, garlic bread and a giant glass of lemonade) turned out like so:

Damn tasty too.

Tonight was, befitting the Labor Day tradition) a simple hamburger (plus potato salad, of course):

I don’t do it all the time, but sometimes, I can be a damn good cook.  Ever notice that guys prefer to BBQ?  I think it’s the whole fire/danger element.

My next goal is to attend this:

Well, you have to admit, at least LA’ites are willing to make a little fun of themselves.

So: over-priced rides, horrible food (all served on a stick), tons of crafts, and giant halls full of stuff that you never knew you needed but can’t live without.  What’s not to like?

But so far, none of my friends have had any interest, and going by myself would just kinda suck.

So, anyone wanna go to the fair with me?