The CrabAppleLane septic tank was pumped out yesterday. The digging I spoke of saved us a few bucks. Our tank is only about 8 inches below the surface at the deepest point. The little bit of dirt you see below represents about two hours of old-fashioned shoveling on our part. Professionals could probably do this by hand in 20 minutes. The wife did about half of the digging before I got home and I finished up. Red clay is as hard as bricks when it's dry. When it's wet, it's very heavy. It was wet where water was seeping out near the square service cover and dry everywhere else. We really only needed to dig enough so the maintenance guy could access the square cover but we didn't see the tank installed and we knew nothing about where the most likely placement would be so a good bit of our shoveling was unnecessary.
When the crew came out to restore our power after Hurricane Katrina (Last image), they were worried about two things. They were worried about ruining our lawn when they backed the truck up and they were worried about where the septic tank was. One of those answers was easy. After 12½ days in the August/September Bush heat without electricity (Air conditioning), BACK THAT THING UP. They parked so far away and used their cherry picker because I couldn't tell them exactly where the tank was. The weight of their truck would have caved it in and that would have been a whole other disaster.
The guy worked for two whole hours yesterday morning in the sweltering Bush heat and humidity. He also dealt with the other thing that you might associate with an overdue-for-service septic tank. I won't get too graphic about that and I'm thankful I wasn't home but Patsy said it wasn't as bad as she expected. We have the kind of septic system that is being phased out of existence because of its poor aeration properties. Our homebuilder probably got it at a discount because of that. If we ever sell the house, I'm told it will have to be replaced before we can close. We'll worry about that another day. When Tropical Depression Bonnie's rains stop, I'll get outside and move that wet, heavy, and messy red clay back over the tank and I've made a note over where the access cover is for next time.
CrabAppleLane Septic Tank - July 24, 2010
Top four roast beef po-boys in New Orleans? I don't think so. I'll reserve judgment on Parasol's because I still haven't tried theirs even though I'm dying to do so. I have had roast beef po-boys at the other three places on the list and I'd rate at least four places higher. My favorite is Come Back Inn. Theirs is the roast beef po-boy I measure all others against. Sammy's Deli would also be on my list because theirs is excellent. I'd put Liuzza's on my list and I'd also put Parran's on my list. Come Back Inn, Sammy's, Liuzza's, and Parran's would be my top four and in that order. Parkway Tavern's is good and Radosta's is good but I put Bear's at only average. A NorthShore po-boy is not as good as a SouthShore po-boy mainly because of the bread. Bear's is NorthShore. All others listed are SouthShore, where the french bread is just better. Also, just about everyone would throw rocks at the very best Philly cheesesteak sub after eating just about any of the po-boys I've mentioned. Not even close.
It's a sad day for NFL fans. Best CrabAppleLane wishes to the Cowher family on the loss of Kaye. 54 is entirely too young. AllTheBest.
The Saints open training camp this Friday. Only two of their draft choices have signed contracts. I expect the rest will start signing soon. They're working on long term deals for some of their signed players, too.
47 days until football season ...
- Mrs. Rita - Gin Blossoms - New Miserable Experience
- Brothers In Arms - Dire Straits - Brothers In Arms
- We're An American Band - Grand Funk Railroad - Caught In The Act
- Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts VI-IX) - Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
- War Pigs/Luke's Wall - Black Sabbath - Paranoid
Quote of the Day
I'm not drinking anything wrapped in road kill, even if it was free.
Dave E, Fish Fear Me
Blog of the day is here.
Quote from said blog: "Understand the Sanitary Code!"
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Septic tanks huh. They can be a lot of trouble, especially when they don't work properly!
Interesting about po'boys. So why is the bread so different North to South, do you think? One day I'm going to sample one. One day...
The SouthShore is below sea level and usually more humid, Fi. Something about that combination makes a lot of difference.
Your dad was told by someone who knew stuff that the difference in French bread made in New Orleans, versus bread made in Baton Rouge, for instance, was in the Mississippi River water. Just a few miles downriver made all the difference in the world, he said. However, and this wasn't addressed at the time, your bread across the lake is made in New Orleans (maybe Bears makes their own?) and driven there via the Causeway Bridge. A conundrum.
You can find Leidenheimer's bread in the grocery stores over here, Mom, but it doesn't seem like any of the restaurants are using it. If they are, it doesn't taste the same or have that same lightweight crispiness. I've bought it a few times, myself, but it's almost never fresh. The restaurants in New Orleans get theirs delivered every morning unwrapped in big paper bags.
Interesting about the bread. Slow day for quotes, eh? ;)
I love that quote as a standalone, Dave. Maybe not all that profound but it was unusual. How many times in your life do you think you'll get to say that? Definitely not a slow day. :)