TruContain,
Johnny Walker, Great British Baking Show
By John Brown
I love the
sunny winters we get up at Bear Lake. I hate the snow that my car brings into
the garage. Because the snow melts, and the water runs to the bottom corners of
the garage and pools there, creating a huge mess until I get out there with my
cement squeegee.
Who wants to
continually be moving crap in and out of the garage so you can squeegee it? And
in the winter when it’s freezing?
Not me.
For years
I’ve wanted to do something about it, but what can you do after the concrete of
your garage is poured?
Well, this
year, after the first big storm, I got sick and tired of traipsing through the
water and mud and cleaning all that crap up. So I put my massive Google-fu skills
to work. And, lo and behold, I discovered a product called TruContain.
It’s a car
mat for your garage. It’s made of thick vinyl and has raised edges.
I bought
one. The UPS man
delivered it not many days later.
The
installation instructions were simple. Two steps. The perfect number for me to
manage. Step one was to let it warm up in the house for twenty-four hours so it
was easier to unroll. I did that. Step two was to unroll and position it in the
garage where we park our car. That took about a minute. So far so good.
No soon
after the mat was deployed, we had another snow storm. The van went out for
daily driving and came back with an undercarriage covered in ice and snow. We
parked the van on the mat. The ice and snow melted. And the mat caught it and
contained it.
I was
delighted.
The next day
the van went out for another day’s use and came back all covered in snow and
ice again. The snow and ice melted, along with a bunch of dirt. And the mat
caught it again!
I was
whooping for joy.
I’m still
whooping for joy because my garage is dry!
If we get a
lot of water on the mat, I’ll use the shop vac to suck it up. I took out five
gallon of dirty, cold water the first time. Five gallons that would have
flooded my garage! If there’s not too much water on the mat, I’ll drag the mat
out with a helper and dump the water on the lawn.
If you have
winter water mess in your garage, you’ll want to consider it. I got mine from
the manufacturer garageflooringllc.com.
One word of
advice. If you get one, don’t get one bigger than you need. If it’s too big,
then the mat will stick out from the sides of the car, and when you go to step
out, you’ll be stepping out into your mini garage lake.
I enjoy
books about Army Rangers, Navy SEALS, Special Forces soldiers, etc. Almost all of them are written from the point
of view of the operators. But I just found and enjoyed one, not about the
operators, but about a guy who helped them in Iraq.
The book is
called Code Name: Johnny Walker and was written by the guy the SEALs called Johnny Walker with the help
of Jim DeFelice.
Who is
Johnny Walker?
He was a
resident of Mosul and was what they called a “terp”, an interpreter who went
with the SEALs on their missions. He went on hundreds and hundreds of missions
with them. And he offers a fascinating glimpse into what life was like in Iraq
during the Iraq War for those Iraqis who helped the coalition forces.
The SEALs
appreciated his service. I know this because a host of them have blurbed his
book. Furthermore, they helped him eventually immigrate to America. That’s how
grateful they were for his service.
If you like these
types of books and would enjoy new insights, I think you’ll really enjoy the
book. Johnny Walker does swear a bit. But I tend to take people as they are.
And it was well worth time I spent listening to him.
For
Christmas my daughter received a number of seasons of The Great British Baking Show. It’s a competition baking show. I’d
heard about it before, but I’d seen episodes of American competition cooking
shows and didn’t enjoy them at all.
However, my
daughter said this was nothing like the American shows, that it was awesome,
and it was so awesome she wanted to the DVDs for Christmas so she
could watch
the episodes again. I needed to give it a try, she said. So I gave it a try.
I’m happy to
report that I and my family have are enjoying the heck out of her DVDs.
The British
folks that are competing in the challenges are down-to-earth and interesting.
Some of them are funny. The tips about baking are interesting. And, best of
all, the British show makers know how to create suspense.
They start
each season with a group of twelve down-to-earth amateur bakers. Two
professional bakers give them a baking challenge with a time limit and then
judge the bakes. After a series of three challenges, the pros name a star baker
for that series and then also announce who was at the bottom of the pack and
will be leaving the show.
If you like cooking
or have ever found yourself watching a cooking program all the way through, I
think you’ll really enjoy this peek these fun, British bakers.
