ML> One wonders how you juggle the vehicles. One
 ML> way rental in Vegas?
> Yeah, one way rental.  A hold over from when Connie
> and I would arrive in Las Vegas, I'd go grab a
> rental car, drive back to the airport, load the luggage,
> Connie, and the cat (who'd been in the cabin with us).
> Speed over to the Albertson's and buy a disposable
> litterbox for the cat, plus some alcohol for us.

Priorities. The cat was most important, of
course, but then you probably were flying in
first and had all the booze you wanted on the
airplane.

> Off to a motel for the night and finally drive down
> the next day.  Now days, sans cat, I just hop in the
> car and drive, it's about 2.5-3 hours to ere.

Depends on how long your layover(s) and how
circuitous your route. I might go between Vegas
and Anchorage via Houston or Dallas or even
Chicago, depending on whether I was wanting
United or American points at the moment.

> We kept a car here in Lake Havasu, I still do. 

I seem to recall that.

> Wrapped up in lots of protection so the sun can't
> get to it, or the wind.

Could you get shrink wrap like they have for
luggage and windows and stuff?

 ML> You should have gone grouse hunting. Or
 ML> maybe ortolans.
> Wrong gun.  I only have the one now days and it's a
> 12Ga with an 18" barrel.

I very much dislike 12G - both the
fundamental scares the bejeebers out of me
and the overtones make me sick, important
considerations when using a firearm. 20G
is my speed, though I might have shot a 16
at some point in my life but never again.
Oh, yeah, my shoulders never had extra 
meat on them, so recoil hurts.

> Good for bears though.  Unfortunately I've never had
> the opportunity to eat bear, Connie got a taste when
> someone at her work brought some in.

As I noted here, it tastes sort of like
possum.

 ML> If it smelled too interesting on unwrapping,
 ML> a soak in salt water would be in order
 ML> first, perhaps with soda or aromatics.
> I'll keep that in mind.  It's suckie bagged, but
> a couple of years old according to the info
> written on it.  Doesn't look to bad overall.

I've had your vacpacked things, also Dale 
and Gail's, generally very good, sometimes 
even close to pristine. I was thawing out 
one of Lilli's the other day, though, and 
there were crystals inside the bag, and 
after a while liquid appeared on the counter.
I fussed at her a bit, and she said, oh,
that's just condensation, but I tasted it,
and it was a bit on the juicy side. I almost
threw the steak away but didn't; should have.

> Don, the guy who shot it, has a lot of experience
> handling game.  He hunts every fall, several
> species, before heading down here.

Proper dressing and bleeding and then proper
suckie-bagging; you might have a good one 
still.

> They're not coming down, The border is pretty much
> shutdown for crossing in either direction.

The rules were recently amended to say that 
one could go from States to States if one 
promised to stop only to eat and sleep while 
in Canada, but some clowns thought they'd be 
clever and go to Banff or someplace, so they
were amended back again, one convenience down 
the tubes.

> I walked up to the self-service machine and
> accidentally punched the "Spanish" button.
> I stared at it and aloud, very aloud I guess, said
> "Ay caramba!  Yo no habla Espanole!"  A woman who
> worked there started laughing and told me I was
> doing a good job of it, then she came over and
> reset the machine to English.

As the immigration machine answers are all 
in the same order as on the printed form, 
I once answered in Chinese without knowing 
90% of what it said. Didn't get put in the 
brig either.

Carrot Vichyssoise
categories: celebrity, starter, vegetarian
servings: 3 or 4

2 handfuls peeled, diced potatoes 
2 big handfuls sliced carrots 
1 leek sliced 
3 c vegetable stock 
1 c raw milk or half milk and half cream 
s, p
few sliced scallions

Combine first four ingredients in a saucepan. 
Bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer for 25 to 
30 min. Puree half of the vegetables and 
liquid in a blender. Empty into a bowl, add 
milk and a pinch of salt and pepper. Stir. 
Serve cold in chilled bowls. Garnish with 
cold sliced scallions very sparingly. 

William Shatner