...Izee's Thread

[Izee]

...VENISON SAUSAGE!!!!   

...When I was younger, I got into hunting.  A guy who worked for me, liked me, and invited me to some of his Family Gatherings.     I liked him, too, and we had a few lunches where I would share with him challenges that the company faced.  We would discuss the issues...and he would counsel me as my mind raced through all sorts of ways to address the financial issues...he had been an accounting Manager for another company.  Once, as I was calming down, (Planning to recommend liquidating one company into another to the President) he asked me..."Have you ever hunted?"  I told him, "Yes, with my 22 and my Fathers shotgun."  He said, "You need to deer hunt...get a serious rifle and scope...and get a deer license...the season starts in a few weeks, and my family has a hunting lodge."   

…So, I went to the Gunshop he recommended...he had said..."Don't just go to Wards and point at the wall...you don't know what you really need.  Hank, the Owner, will set you up.  Do tell him that I sent you."  I nodded...and a few days later I walked into the small gun shop...the smells were...interesting."   

...I walked to the counter, and looked at the grey haired old man.  He GRINNED at me...I was looking very good those days...and I was in a casual dress.     I told him that I wanted to hunt deer, and needed a rifle, scope, and a license.  He smiled more, and said, "OK, we'll get you set up so that you can get your limit this season."  I asked..."What is the limit?"  And he winked and said "Two, but don't shoot them both on the same day...you gotta carry them back down...and you don't look very strong."     I just laughed, and stood at the counter as he brought out a couple rifles, and explained them to me.  I told him that I wanted a 'bolt action'...I was comfortable with that...my 22 was a bolt action.  He just smiled as he put away a 270 lever action, and said..."This would have been a good weapon for you."  I just nodded, and we looked at the bolt action ones.  I settled on a 30:06 Remington, and then I selected a scope.  I smiled, and started to gather them up, and he laughed, and said..."What are you going to do?"  I answered...

…"I will take them home, and place the scope on the rifle".     He laughed, again, and said..."Hey, you have no idea of what you are doing.  Even if you get the right end of the scope facing forward, it won't be sighted in.  You fire a bullet...you will have NO IDEA of where it is going to land...and the scope will probably fall off."     I just stared at him, and he said..."Leave the rifle and the scope with me, come back next week, and I will give them back to you...and they will be 'sighted in', that is part of what I do...and...no charge. " 

...I took it to the range, afterwards...and was VERY happy.  I would fire a group of six...and then take my more powerful binoculars out and look downrange...and feel pleased...they all hit near the center of the target.   

[Izee]

...OK...here is the recipe...

...https://youtu.be/_CH0XYTmNPA

...One of the things I most LOVED of going hunting with the guys was the food.  I was a bit unsure, the first time I rode up to the hunting lodge.  They drove to the foothills, and then unlocked a gate onto a pasture, and then they drove for about 35 minutes up a one lane dirt road/path...driving through two small creeks.  The lodge was a small home, that was actually better that I expected.  They had a generator, and, usually, being the only female...they would let me have the bedroom.  Although, when the Grandpa showed up, I slept on a cot on the porch with the rest of the Family.   

…The food was SO GOOD!!!  And, food does taste better after you have been trudging through the foothills, carrying a rifle, and looking for a deer to shoot.  We also looked for wild pigs.  I once shot one...and after cleaning it...(this *Huntress* got the privilege...I gave the carcass to one of the brothers...I didn't want to carry it out...and I was ready to puke...wild pigs don't smell very good)  That was also one of their rules..."You shoot it...you carry it out."     Once, I didn't get a kill because of the rule.  We had been walking for some time, and they placed me in a place, and said..."We will see if we can drive one to you."  I nodded, set my butt on the ground, and got ready.  I heard some shouting, after a while, and got ready...the stock against my right shoulder...and a legal buck appeared!!!!     It was an easy shot...but...it was about 104 degrees...and uphill back to the pickup...so I lobbed three shots in front of the buck...and it turned tail and ran back from where it had been coming from.  I then heard one more shot...and the sound of the impact

[Izee]

...Back to the food...

...I wasn't sure what the food would be like, at the lodge, so, the first time they brought me along with them, I packed a cooler full of sandwiches, cookies, and apricots, and had several bags of potato chips.  But...I WAS SET IN MY PLACE!!!!  They had brought a lot of good food with them...and dinner was SPECTACULAR!!!!  (Fellow ladies...when guys go out on their own for a weekend retreat...and BBQ...Julia Child can't hold a candle to them!!!   )   There was always a 'steak night', and Jeff knew how to BBQ.  I would take my medium rare steak to the end of the table...and do my best to still look 'feminine' as I gobbled it down...it was spiced...and cooked...PERFECTLY!!!

…Once, they brought along about 30 dressed duck carcasses, and Jeff grilled them.  I had, actually, never had wild duck before, and was a little unsure.  I watched, wondering how he was going to get them cooked right.  Sprig and Mallard are larger ducks, almost as large as a small chicken, and the other species are a bit smaller than a Cornish game hen.  They were all piled onto a large, edged tray, and we gathered around, grabbed beers...and began eating.  There were NO SERVING UTENSILS...so I grabbed a Sprig with my hand...I had been told that they were the best tasting...and began eating. 

...I swear...I really swear...that I DIDN'T SNARL as I ate!!!     I just ate the meat off of the carcass as quickly as I could, and then dropped the carcass to the side and grabbed another one...and continued eating.  The four guys and Grandpa were doing the same...so I just kept eating quickly so that I would get my share.   

...There was actually one small carcass left...and we were all sitting back on the benches...letting our heads clear...

...NOW...THAT IS EATING!!!!!   

...I had a similar feeling when Jeff brought up a huge package from his cooler, and handed it to me...I would do some of the 'lacky' tasks to prepare meals.  They had been coming up there to hunt for years, and didn't need...or want...a woman to watch over and care for them.     It was for dinner...and I was looking forward to a nice steak.  I opened it...and...it...was...

…SAUSAGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   

...I stared at it, and Jeff grinned, and said..."Venison sausage...I made it".   

…I just nodded, and got it out of the packing, and rinsed it off.  He then told me to just go and play cards with the others.     I focused on the card game, and thought..."Sausage is for breakfast."  But, as we sat around the table and ate it...I thought..."This IS one of the best meals I have ever had."  It really was...as you can all sense.  Sausage is a very complex thing to make...but you get it right...there are few food types that can compare.  After all, I hear that one of the most expensive features on a menu is 'Seafood Sausage'.  I, once, ordered one as an appetizer...and...after eating it...my 'Izee' Mind' was saying..."Screw the flounder...screw the prawns...screw the lobster...just keep EATING THESE UNTIL WE PUKE!!!"  I took a few minutes to calm down...and ordered the "Fishermans Delight".  It was all deep fried fish, scallops, shrimp, and clams...and drank a beer.  'Izee' went to sleep...and I ate a chocolate dessert and then walked back to my hotel, and went to bed.

[RAGNAR]

 

[Izee]

...Why to NEVER tangle with a r/t Panther...

...I was assigned a case to handle, my client was very worried...he only had a 30/50 policy, and the plaintiff was demanding 2 million.  My client had a house, a family, and some savings, and was very worried.  He had, just 'tapped' the end of the bumper of the car in front...there was very little damage.  The plaintiff had gone through several attorneys before I was handed the case...and the plaintiff was representing himself.  He was claiming that he had sustained severe brain damage as a result of the case...and had gone to every Neurologist to prove his case. 

...I got all of the medical records, and found out that he was pulling the same trick in an accident before the one I was handling.  I met with that defense attorney, we talked, and...after I did my best 'unsure and helpless female attorney trick'...he let me look at all of his discovery, including the two day long deposition that was videotaped.  I carefully watched it three times...and took notes.  I also deposed all of the MD's the plaintiff had gone to...and pretty much got them to agree that the plaintiff was just faking being injured.  The Insurance company kept asking why I hadn't deposed the plaintiff, and I just kept saying that I was going to.   

…We got to the morning of the Trial...I had  NOT deposed the plaintiff...he was representing himself...and after the Jury was selected, and the jerk made his opening statement...I made a motion for a directed verdict...and...

…IT WAS GRANTED!!!!!   

…My client was VERY RELIEVED...and a day later a large box of chocolates were delivered to me.   

…The other attorneys, who were handling the earlier accident, took a week to try their case...and the Jury awarded the plaintiff $2,386.00.

…I just wanted to get my client out of the case, as quickly as possible.  The Junior Partner of the Firm came into my office, and YELLED at me...saying that I could have dragged a trial on for a week and a half...and the Insurance Company would have paid us a lot of money!!!! 

…When practicing Law, I always put my clients' interests first.  Even when an Insurance Company was paying my bill...and I was EXPENSIVE...I had a lot of letters after my name...I just did my best to get the case over as soon as possible.  Most people don't like being sued, and they hear stories of people losing everything because of a small auto accident.   

[Izee]

...At times...I was a VERY difficult piano student when I was in Jr H.S.  I was taking private lessons...and my teacher was getting me to work on a very nice sonata for a performance with all of his students that was coming up.  I decided that I wanted to perform this work, instead...and practiced it on my own.  He finally gave in, and coached me on it.     He kept nagging me..."You have that other work under your fingers...play that and the audience will be delighted."  I just nodded, and said..."I think that this fingering works well on this passage."     He would correct me...my 'little finger' on each hand is abnormally  short...it affected my ability to play the cello...one of the reasons why I decided to not be a Music Major any more...and became an accountant.   

…This is a very 'playful' work...but it gets intense at times...

...https://youtu.be/ml2YP8N8OaI

[Izee]

...Performing Music...    Watch these guys...

...https://youtu.be/DbFao4M2_os

...There is no experience like performing music before a crowd!     When I was young, I had a totally unrealistic view of what it was about.  I would slink off the stage, after performing on cello, or piano...and come back out for a few curtain calls...and smile...and look like I was HAPPY...but...my head was at War with itself...saying..."Those two notes were out of tune"...or..."You MESSED UP THAT PHRASING, you worked hard on that!"     I thought that performing music meant to get each note PERFECTLY!  That attitude also caused me a lot of STAGE FRIGHT... ...I would be fearful and unsure of a particular passage...and that would mess up the rest of the work...as I worried about it...rather than focusing on where I was in the piece.  When we were rehearsing the Lt. Kije work...I obsessed over the solos that I had...I envisioned that I was Lt. Kije…and was bidding farewell to His Family, Friends, and Country...and I got emotional.     (BTW..."Lt. Kije" means...in Russian..."Lt Whats His Name."     The tale behind the work is that the Czar of Russia needed good news during a War...and His counselors made up a fictitious Lt. who was winning battles.  The War was over, the Russians had won...and the Czar wanted to personally meet Lt. Kije.  The Counselors, sadly announced that Lt Kije had been killed in the last battle...and so they had a State Funeral for an empty casket.)   

[RAGNAR]

If you make a mistake, make it a big one and skmile, most will believe it was intended. *G*

[Izee]

...Mud IS FUN!!!!!!!   

...When I was a young child, my Parents would drive from CA to Presideo, TX, so that we could visit my Mothers' Aunts.  There were three of them...and I really loved Aunt Pancha.  She, like the other three...were very grizzled old ladies.  They could speak some English...but pretended not to.     Pancha was the 'wild one' of the three.  She would come up to me, smile, and ask..."are yoo verrry happay".  I would smile back, and reply, "Si, Ia"...she would smile, and give me a candy.  When I got a little older, I would speak to her in Spanish, and she told me MANY interesting stories.   

…But...we visited in the summer...and it was over 100 DEGREES EVERY DAY!  My older brother figured out a solution...and hauled two big metal drums to the adobe place.  We did our best to clean them, and then stood them up...filled them with water...and climbed in.  We just sat in them during the hot times.  My parents have pictures of the two of us...sitting in 'garbage cans'...just our heads above the edge of the cans...we were smiling...we were happy!   

...But, we would get bored.  A girl, my age, who lived across the street, helped us with a suggestion.  We walked across the small, dirt road, and she was sitting in a mud puddle!  We both tried it, and it cooled us down.     But, being me, I led us all back to the Aunts adobe house, and turned on the hose and pumped water in an area between several trees...that was shaded.  We created the 'Mother of All Mud Puddles'...and had a blast!!!   We rolled in the mud...ran and slid in it...and cooled off.  My friends Mother showed up...and hauled Beverly back to their adobe house to get rinsed off.  My Mother was laughing very hard...she let my brother and me wallow in the mud pit all afternoon...and hosed us off after it got cooler...and we cleaned up for dinner.      She has pictures...

…Another..."My Idea of a Good Time"....

[Izee]

...I just have to post on this work again...

...IMHO...put an orchestra and a pipe organ together...THERE IS NOTHING THAT CAN SOUND THE SAME!!!   

...A guy I was briefly going with in my Frosh year at Conservatory, performed this work at the Senior Performance Major Concert.  I was sitting 1st Chair, Cello...and was dreaming of the time that would hopefully come a few years later...when I would strut onto the Stage...sit my butt down...and make sure that my endpin was STUCK IN THE STAGE so that my cello wouldn't slip out from under me as I was performing the Dvorak.     That actually happened to me, once...and I dropped my bow as I was trying to keep my cello from landing on the floor.  I took a little while to compose myself, and get set up again...and called to my accompaniest…"Let's go back to the last repeat...but not repeat."

...I had listened to the Concerto...which...BTW...is subtitled..."Concerto for Organ and Timpani"..(.*Winks at Rags*  That is TRUE!)  I was mesmerized by it!  It brought out a LOT of emotions...Poulanc knew how to write music that gets to your heart.  At times...tears were on the corners of my eyes...other times I was angry...and other times I was trying not to laugh because I thought that it was so corney.

…((BTW...funny true tale of securing the endpin of a cello.  I was performing a movement from one of the Bach solo sonatas...and had gotten the guy who handled the stage to go along with me.  I walked out, bowed, and set my butt into the chair.  I then had A LOT OF PROBLEMS GETTING MY ENDPIN TO STAY IN PLACE!!!!      I then reached into my purse, and brought out a small 'pistol style' hand drill...and leaned down...I was going to DRILL a hole into the Stage.  The Manager rushed out...grabbed the drill from me...and gave me a 'rock stop'...and walked away.  )

...The Dean called me into his office afterwards...and I was 'lectured' that I was being trained to behave as a Professional...in addition to being trained to play the cello well.  I just nodded...pretended to be upset...and promised Him that I would never do anything similar again.   

…I got called back into His Office a few months later...I had persuaded my string quartet to 'have some fun'.     We performed a 'different' work than the Brahms...and I had added 'dancing' when a player had some long rests.     He just shook His head...I had been elected to the Student Body...and said..."The SF Symphony won't even hire you as a RESERVE if you behave like that."  I just nodded.  (I have done a LOT of nodding in my life...once...I was wearing a black robe as a Superior Court Judge...(I was Pro Tem)...and the Presiding Judge said that I had not acted properly...but then he grinned...and said..."You did a good job to suggest to that new attorney that he needed to file a Motion for a Nonsuit...the kid would have never figured it out on his own...and you saved us two weeks of a trial, that plaintiff didn't have a case.")

...So, I am nodding...and going to bed...

[Izee]

...https://youtu.be/47_IPETjxTU

...Here it is...

[Izee]

...Our legal system is REALLY F---ked up at times.     I was handling another one of those horrible 'fog related' pileup cases.  A pair of 18 wheeler trucks had collided, and stopped, on the freeway, and 23 cars crashed, or stopped, behind them.     The truck drivers, who had stayed in their cabs...were suing ALL of the vehicles behind them...claiming that they had sustained serious injuries.  My client was one of the last to arrive.  He STOPPED before the pileup, and then was driving off of the freeway, expecting other cars, driving too fast in the fog, would collide with him.  He was almost off of the freeway...when an idiot clipped the end of his car...and continued into the pileup.  My client was NEVER part of the pileup...he got off the road...and only had minor damage to a rear corner of his car.  But...

...THE TRUCK DRIVERS INCLUDED HIM IN THEIR LAWSUIT!!!!   

...I had to sit in a lot of depositions...and merely asked the other drivers if my client had entered the pack.  They all answered that they had never seen his vehicle.  The driver that hit my client admitted that my client was almost off the road when he clipped him.  Once all of the testimony was in, I filed a Motion for Summary Judgement...arguing that my client had not been negligent...and certainly had not caused any injury to the truck drivers.  One of the truck drivers opposed my motion...saying that it was up to a Jury to decide if my client injured him.  (My client only had a 25/50 policy...the combined policies of the other drivers was a lot more).

...The G/D JUDGE sided with the plaintiff...saying that it was POSSBLE that my client had injured the truck driver by trying to drive off of the road!!!     And that a Jury should decide!!!    

...And they say that the Men and Women who wear the Black Robes are wise?   

…At the Settlement Conference...the G/D Judge wanted me to offer my clients policy limits on the personal injury claim...and also...THE PROPERTY DAMAGE LIMITS!!!     I argued that my client had never entered the 'pack'...and had therefor not damaged the trucks.  The Bastard just ignored me.    

…I was FURIOUS!!!  I told the insurance company that they should not pay any money...and that I would win the Trial, very easily...even if it was just me against the Truck Drivers.     I was sure, that if it was just them against me...the plaintiffs would drop their case.  They would have already gotten a LOT of money, and would not want to spend a week trying to get my clients policy...since HE WAS NOT NEGLIGENT!!!!

…I was ordered to offer both limits...and get out of the case.  So, my client had a mark against his license...for 'causing' an accident...and his insurance rates increased!!!   

...Another attorney took me out for a drink after the Settlement Conference...He knew me very well...and saw that I was very upset.  He just said..."The System is very broken."  I had three brandies...and had a cab take me home.  Driving while intoxicated and upset is not a good combination.   

[RAGNAR]

So the prick in the robe decided your case at lunch before the case number was even called. Lunch courtesy of the driver's lawyer(s).

The system has been broken for years. The case doesn't matter, the right or wrong does not matter, the law does not matter. What DOES matter is which attorney's turn it is to win and what they offer in exchange for the win, and who buys lunch.

Status quo.

How do I know? I have witnessed how the system works. Friendships count more than justice. Personal gain to the judge far outweighs legal judgments, be it as simple as a fine bottle of scotch for small wins up to deals on new vehicles, expense paid vacations, heavy election donations, or favors and markers being called due.

Judges misdirect juries, deny disclosure motions, deny suppression motions, deny videos of events even when they do not lie or take sides. They show what happened, period. They deny witness testimony, accept assumptions, and have so many standards and applications of Laws depending on who they wish them to apply to. All men are equal in the eyes of the law... just some are more equal than others. And in some cases, some men are above the Law.

Sometimes an attorney will get lucky and pull out a win from something the other attorney or judge never saw coming, especially when they can't make a jury un-hear something something already said, but in time the audacity of fighting for your client will be remembered and the attorney will pay the price for not being as corrupt as the rest of the system.

Welcome to our justice system.  Lady Justice really is blind... to the corruption taking place.

[Izee]

...That is so true, Brother, so G/D true...

...Once, after I got my client out of a trial, in a multiparty case...I got a call from the Judge...he told me to come to His Chambers at noon.     I was worried, I thought that He was going to tell me that He had decided to overrule my Motion.  He just grinned as I sat down, and brought out a VERY EXPENSIVE BOTTLE OF SCOTCH!     I was thinking..."OMG..I AM GOING TO GET HARRASED!"   

...He just pushed it across the desk to me, and said..."One of the other attorneys sent this to me...I ruled against him.  Take it and give it back to him."   

...I went to the attorneys office, carrying the bottle, and told the receptionist why I was there.  She picked up the phone, talked a bit...and told me..."He said for you to keep it, he doesn't want you in the case...you would have skewered his client."   

…I took the bottle home...my H was very pleased...he liked 'spirits'...I mostly drank beer and wine, when I had some to relax...



…So, what Rags says is TRUE! 

[Izee]

...I am busy trying to get out of a 'funk'... ...my mind is slightly depressed...and I don't feel well...but I don't have a fever...or other symptoms.  Having to just stay Home isn't helping, because of this damn virus!!!     I am living with my elderly Mother, and we just have to stay in the House.  She usually had three friends who showed up twice a week, and they played pinocle.  If one couldn't make it, I played...if all were there, I would take a long walk to the Mall...window shop...and eat junk food at the food court...I figured that the long walk would take off the calories.  I play cards very well, in college, I would leave the poker table with some cash, and go and buy a little ice cream, and sometimes a small bottle of anisette. The guys would yell at me to stay, but I just made my purchases and went into my bedroom...and ate and drank and went to bed.   I was VERY HAPPY!     I also made up a 'bidding system' in College for pinocle...and only shared it with ONE OTHER WOMAN!!!     We easily won EVERY game!!! 

…The other two women said that my Mother and I couldn't be partners any more after we trounced them several times.  But, we don't have a 'bidding system'.     This is going to sound strange...but my Family has some sort of 'connection'...on my Mothers side.  As a child, if I was having unusual problems...my Mother would take me aside and interrogate me...and I would tell her what was going on.  As I got older...I could sense...when there was something wrong.     I would call her, or drive that night to get home, and speak to her.  The worst was when I arrived Home, and asked her what happened to her Brother...Uncle Bill.  She just said..."He died this afternoon."   

…In pinocle, my Mother and I don't give each other any signals or signs...we just look at each other...and know what to do.