Buy All Your Work Pants At Wal Mart and Other Life Lessons Learned (NOLA'09, Day 2)
"I used't live in a wood frame house but I moved out because I had to repaint the damn thing every three or fo' years".
The van rumbled and rattled over every single pothole between the Quarter and the Audubon Zoo, but I didn't mind a bit. Our driver was an immaculately dressed black gentleman who was 70 if he was a day, and he was dispensing wisdom on a variety of topics.
For instance, you don't want to live in a wood-frame house unless it's "the right wood", which is Cypress. Cypress lasts forever even if this climate, but if you have some other kind of lumber you're always repainting it. Better to live in a brick house.
You should buy all your work clothes at Wal Mart. Nobody can beat the prices and if you wash a pair of pants 4 or 5 times and then take 'em to the dry cleaners to get the creases back in 'em they'll last you for years.
Don't go to Jiffy Lube for your oil change, go to your local mechanic. Jiffy Lube uses one 55 gallon drum for all the cars that come through there and they don't put in different kinds of oil that's called for by the owners manual depending on the car you have. Plus the kids don't check the grease on all the parts that need it. You pay more at you local garage but it's worth it, though things ain't always like they used to be for instance after The Storm they had a lot of problems with flat tires in this town because of all the repair work done so you had a lot of lumber and nails in the road and if you pick up a nail you would take it to one of the few guys who was around then but he'd just want to plug it and not patch it and even if you got him to patch it, see, he didn't mark your tire with chalk so it could be re-balance properly and you'd have to take it to your regular guy to re-balance it and then the tire guy would have the gall to give you lip about not tipping him because nobody else ever complained about his work, no sir and you tell him that's cause nobody knows any better no more.
And sometimes, sometimes you can sit outside a place for hours and nobody wants no ride, but then there comes a big rush and there's so many people the doorman can't find enough cars for people. 
It was beautiful. It was moving. And the Cuban sandwich that the Mrs. had was the best Cuban sandwich I ever laid teeth on. We bought some cured meats to go, oh yes we did. Tasso, Fennel salami, coppa made with Barbera wine and a jar of those scintillating bread and butter pickles. How good was it? We're blowing off our annual Central Grocery muffelata to go back for lunch again tomorrow. That's how good.
The van rumbled and rattled over every single pothole between the Quarter and the Audubon Zoo, but I didn't mind a bit. Our driver was an immaculately dressed black gentleman who was 70 if he was a day, and he was dispensing wisdom on a variety of topics.
For instance, you don't want to live in a wood-frame house unless it's "the right wood", which is Cypress. Cypress lasts forever even if this climate, but if you have some other kind of lumber you're always repainting it. Better to live in a brick house. You should buy all your work clothes at Wal Mart. Nobody can beat the prices and if you wash a pair of pants 4 or 5 times and then take 'em to the dry cleaners to get the creases back in 'em they'll last you for years.
Don't go to Jiffy Lube for your oil change, go to your local mechanic. Jiffy Lube uses one 55 gallon drum for all the cars that come through there and they don't put in different kinds of oil that's called for by the owners manual depending on the car you have. Plus the kids don't check the grease on all the parts that need it. You pay more at you local garage but it's worth it, though things ain't always like they used to be for instance after The Storm they had a lot of problems with flat tires in this town because of all the repair work done so you had a lot of lumber and nails in the road and if you pick up a nail you would take it to one of the few guys who was around then but he'd just want to plug it and not patch it and even if you got him to patch it, see, he didn't mark your tire with chalk so it could be re-balance properly and you'd have to take it to your regular guy to re-balance it and then the tire guy would have the gall to give you lip about not tipping him because nobody else ever complained about his work, no sir and you tell him that's cause nobody knows any better no more. And sometimes, sometimes you can sit outside a place for hours and nobody wants no ride, but then there comes a big rush and there's so many people the doorman can't find enough cars for people.
Life is like that, isn't it?
Everything's more money now since The Storm, he said. He goes to a cheap deli for lunch and pays six dollars for a Styrofoam container of food about the size of your hand. Sometimes he eats burgers, though it ain't good to eat burgers for lunch every day.
I agree. Which is why after the zoo we went to Cochon Butcher and ate some of the best pork product I have ever eaten anywhere, no joke. Donald Link is doing the Lord's work. Have a look at this: sopresata, cappicola, smoked salami with arugula, and all of the salumi is house-made. The pickles too.
It was beautiful. It was moving. And the Cuban sandwich that the Mrs. had was the best Cuban sandwich I ever laid teeth on. We bought some cured meats to go, oh yes we did. Tasso, Fennel salami, coppa made with Barbera wine and a jar of those scintillating bread and butter pickles. How good was it? We're blowing off our annual Central Grocery muffelata to go back for lunch again tomorrow. That's how good.
I love this town. Educational and tasty is a fine combination. Though I'll be damned if I'm buying anything at Wal Mart.
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