Monday!
As you can see by Itzl's concerned look, this group is for us to check in at to let people know we are alive, doing OK, and not affected by such things as heat, blizzards, floods, wild fires, hurricanes, tornadoes, power outages, or other such things that could keep us off DKos. It's also so we can find other Kossacks nearby for in-person checks when other methods of communication fail - a buddy system. Members come here to check in. If you're not here, or anywhere else on DKos, and there are adverse conditions in your area (floods, heatwaves, hurricanes, etc.), we and your buddy are going to check up on you. If you are going to be away from your computer for a day or a week, let us know here. We care!
If you'd like to be part of the Itzl Alert Network, please leave a comment asking to join, or send us a message asking to join. We'd love to have you. The bigger our network, the less likely someone will be stranded all alone.
I gave up yesterday and took my pecans in to a professional pecan sheller. I was cracking them one nut at a time in my excellent nut cracker, but it was taking so long to crack them and remove the nutmeats.
The closest place was 5 cities over, so I took Itzl and Xoco, and we drove there. I was surprised at both the weight of the pecans and the very low price for the shelling.
I had 2 cloth grocery bags filled with pecans I'd picked up in the 10 minutes before work and the 15 minute potty break Itzl gets, for 3 days. So, an hour and half of picking pecans gave me nearly 50 pounds of pecans. After they are shelled, I should have about 30 pounds of pecans - and it cost me less than $15. Plus, you know, gas and time to drive to the pecan sheller.
And it will be done by next Saturday instead of maybe never. Because cracking 50 pounds of nuts one at a time would take a very long time.
I was speaking with Denny Daniel, of the Museum of Interesting Things (who will be at OctopodiCon with his Math and Science Things), and mentioned the pecans. Living in NYC, he knew about pecans growing on trees, but he had no clue how many pecans could be harvested in so short a time - or how inexpensive it was to get them shelled. He's actually the reason why I stopped cracking them one at a time and took them to the pecan sheller.
So I owe him some pecans. I will vacuum seal a bag for him and freeze them until he gets here next year.