Friday Funny 11-23/18 (Doin' My Civic Duty)

Free cookies are usually good.

Yep, I got a card in the mail last week, it said I'd been selected for jury duty for the YEAR of 2019. What the heck... a whole year? I was advised to go online, and fill out my juror questionnaire, and it was there, I found out I could request which three month term to serve. Whew, I requested January/February/March, which means I'll be tied to the dock for the whole time, so I can do the "call-in" thing. I haven't heard back yet whether it's been approved. I can't imagine how torturous it would be to have to serve anytime April through September, prime cruising months here in Southeast Alaska.

Wrangell Island, Alaska

Downtown City dock.

According to the last census, Wrangell has about 2300 people living on the island, and there's only about 14 miles of paved road, so we're  concentrated on the northeast corner. It might be hard to get a jury of twelve unbiased people who are not your friends or family. I was curious about who was our local judge, and according to the Alaska Court System website, we share one with Petersburg, and Kake. 

Before we moved to Wrangell, we subscribed to the local newspaper, The Wrangell Sentinel,  to get a feel for the town. We chuckled when the police report described a dead seagull in someone's yard, someone fell in an alley behind a bar, and couldn't remember how he got there, and the usual routine traffic stops. After we moved Denali Rose here, we've learned about some of the more serious crimes, not all of them get published, and you know, small town, word gets around.

I won't mind serving, it's another chance to be productive, and get some more projects completed on Denali Rose, while at the dock. The State notifies the dates of service by postal mail, which doesn't make sense to me, since we had an online survey, I don't get why they can't email me. I'll be anxiously awaiting the results of my request.

As always, we enjoy hearing from you, either here in comments or on our Facebook Denali Rose Sailboat page.

Friday Funny 11-16/18 (No Baking Allowed)

Correct-a-mundo!

Here we are again, Thanksgiving. There are many things I'm thankful for this year, the simple act of walking on two legs is one of them, Denali Rose's oven isn't.

When the previous owners wanted to replace the original range, they purchased this particular European model because of it's size. It's the only one that they could fit into the boat without major renovation. The mast, and the post have 18 inches of clearance, and if we want a larger model, we will have to saw into the woodwork, or we have  to pull the mast out.

Looking into the galley. The stove has the retractable cover over it, so we can use the induction plate at the dock.

Standing forward, looking aft.

If and when we pull the mast out for maintenance, it will be an expensive event, I want a new range, and a new under counter fridge.

This is the original 1983 Norcold, that was installed, and then Nauticat must have built the boat around it, (as with many things in a sailboat). It still runs well, but it's kind of held together with duct tape, and it isn't energy efficient at all. When we are at anchor, and running on batteries only, it sucks power, like a vacuum cleaner. Bill says he has never had to get on the floor to get things out, but I have, and I don't like it. I'm still campaigning for the spiffy drawer fridge, and they make one with the exact same dimensions to replace this older model.

The oven isn't working in our Force 10 range. We're not super inclined to delve deep into it, perhaps pull it out to replace the thermocouple, because, well, how would we use it anyway.

Range with cutting boards underneath, and our one drawer.

Nice right? So what's the issue, just fix it anywho.

Door open

The light brown slab is a pizza stone we had cut to fit, it's supposed to help provide even heat. The measurement from the rack to the top of the oven is: 3 inches. Those pans stored in there are, on left, RV oven pans, unused, and on right, a stove top toaster. You can see why we're reluctant to mess with it, I couldn't even fit a Cornish game hen, meatloaf, roast, or most cuts of meat. I could do a pie, cookies, or brownies, so sweet baked goods could be accommodated, if we spent the time on it.

[But it does have that nice, infrared broiler which is standard on Force 10 stoves...]

In the meantime, I have found ways around it. For instance, at the latest bazaar I found yummy baked goods, and I didn't have to do the work or cleanup.

Rhubarb/strawberry pie, pumpkin roll, and a new Christmas ornament.

For Thanksgiving day, I found a no-bake pumpkin pie, and when I tested it out, it was pretty good. The pie uses pumpkin, greek yogurt, and instant pudding mix, and I put the mixture in a pre-made pie crust. Voila! We'll cook a turkey breast out on the BBQ, it'll be yummy.

For my next experiment, (trick?), I'm going to try baking cookies in a fry pan.

As always, we enjoy hearing from you, either here in comments or on our Facebook Denali Rose Sailboat page.