The Little Engine That Said “Go Screw Yourself.” How the Sauce is Made. A Beeping Mystery Solved.

OK, slight problem.

I installed the throttle today. You may remember I wired and tested the motor the other day before installing on the bike. Worked fine. But keep in mind it was just a quick test to make sure I got the wiring right.

Today I hooked it up officially. It ran for about 2 minutes and the battery died. This was after a 4–5 hour charge.

I may be panicking a little too early though. The instructions don’t say how long it takes for a full charge. So I’m leaving it plugged in overnight to make sure before I freak out.

Also there is something beeping in my office space and it’s driving me crazy and I can’t find what it is.

Like I said in an earlier post, the market is only about 5 blocks from me so pedaling there is not out of the question. If that happens I’ll leave the toaster oven at home and just heat the bread on the griddle to save the added weight. The forecast for Tuesday is 87f.

I was out of butter so I took a walk to take my mind off of the battery. I heard construction going on inside the old mill. That could be something cool.

I finished the door for the cart to ensure my stuff won’t fall out in transit. I don’t know why but I decided to save this for last.

For dinner I put some grits on.

You know where this is going.

I’ve got this nice Italian sausage. I threw it in the pan just for a few seconds just to flavor the pan quickly. This will dry the sausage out a little bit but I threw it into the grits afterwards and it rehydrated just fine.

Over the years I have to say, I’ve gotten pretty damn quick at shelling and deveining shrimp. Maybe there’s a competition in the Outer Banks I can enter.

Who am I kidding? Those people clean shrimp in their sleep while holding a baby. Forget I said that.

I added butter to the pan and cooked down some anchovies. This is what I cooked the shrimp in.

But this is the most important part of the dish and it is crucial. I’m not exaggerating. I deglazed the pan with white wine, balsamic, fish sauce and a little beef broth. I cooked it down by half and that was my sauce for the shrimp.

Either biscuits or baguettes are the traditional bread for shrimp and grits. I say hot sauce is a must but everyone must live their own lives and it’s not for me to judge you.

However…

Sexy lookin’ little bastards, aren’t they?

NOTE: It was driving me nuts so I had to stop writing this to find what was beeping.

Behind my computer I found what was beeping just a few minutes ago.

This is a surge protector I bought a few years back. It cost me 90 bucks. I bought it because at the time the town had not updated the power grid since the 90’s and we had frequent storm outages here. I forgot all about it.

I mentioned last year on #PostNews that the electric grid had been upgraded (thanks, Biden.) I haven’t used it since.

When it beeps the battery is recharging and that lets me know it’s not fully charged yet.

Yeah, you heard me right, the battery. It’s a 4 hour capacity. It can handle my television, modem, and my desktop and I still have an open, unused outlet.

There’s my back up for the bike right friggin’ there if I can wire it right.

If I don’t electrocute myself I will consider this the biggest, dumbest luck I’ve ever had in my life.

You could also say I’m incredibly stupid for forgetting about the surge protector in the first place.