Wednesday, September 6, 2017

Frozen TV Dinner Stories

     This has really been a heck of a year for me - after I completed the first 8 weeks or so of healing and rehabilitation after open heart surgery, I found it necessary to move. On the plus side, it's only 3 or 4 blocks from my old house, it's a secured entrance condo with an indoor swimming pool, hot tub, sauna, steam room, exercise room, and a pool table. Plus, really nice and welcoming residents. It's at the other end of town from my daughter, son-in-law, and grandkids, but that's only 5-6 miles away, so it's not too bad. Would have been much nicer to live a block or two away from them, but it didn't happen that way.
     Quite a few years ago, I moved about the same distance but that time was horrible - I thought, I'll just throw things in the back seat of my car and make a few trips. Right. After several days of this, we had to finish the move so had friends help us. It was hot and tiring, and things mostly ended up in the basement. I vower never again! So, this time, I packed everything and got professional movers because some of the furniture and boxes were pretty heavy. I still have a weight limit of what I can push, pull, drag, lift, etc., so I'm relatively useless. I also spent some of the last couple of weeks eating from my freezer (which I had no room for in my new condo) and refrigerator. I actually did a pretty fair job of that.
     The first night in my condo, I had planned on eating a frozen TV dinner, so I didn't have to worry about finding and unpacking pots and pans, plates, etc. I didn't even think about flatware! So, as I scrambled through the house trying to find a fork or spoon (I did find a pickle tongs and considered that!) I was reminded of a similar situation a few years back.
     For my day job, I had a meeting in a different city. We were all to arrive in the afternoon and planned to meet for dinner at 7 PM. My first plane was late, so I missed the connecting flight, and the new and final flight was delayed, so instead of arriving around 3 in the afternoon, I arrived at the hotel about midnight. Starving, because I figured I could eat once I got there. Room service ended at 11:00 PM and the kitchen was closed. I went to the front desk and begged them to take me to a McDonalds or pizza place - anything open after midnight. There was nothing like that for 30 miles. One person mentioned there was a convenience store as part of a gas station that they could take me to, and reminded my that there was a microwave oven in the room. So, off we went.
     For some reason, they were out of almost everything except popsicles and ice cream, but I found a Salisbury steak, gravy, corn niblets, and mashed potatoes frozen TV dinner. I grabbed it.
     Back in my hotel room, I stuck the container in the microwave and then started looking for flatware (which, of course, I neglected to grab at the gas station). No luck. I did find those skinny straws-like stirring sticks for coffee. Aha! Problem solved! I sat down to eat and tried to use the stir-sticks like chopsticks. I managed to spear a piece of Salisbury steak and could scoop up some mashed potatoes, but the corn was one kernel at a time. And I was so hungry!!! Sitting cross-legged on the bed, I thought, "No one is here to see you!" so I grabbed a washcloth as a napkin, and proceeded to eat everything with my fingers. What a mess - but fingers were our original utensils, after all.
     I though about this experience as I searched for a fork or something for my creamed chicken, broccoli, fettuccini meal. Luckily, I did find a fork, and a messy meal was averted.
     The one thing I kept thinking about, though, was "Thank Goodness that IFBC is on the close horizon" - I cannot wait to get there!

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