Dark & Spicy

Back to more mundane topics.   Enjoy.

Darkness.   Lately I’ve been enjoying this business of keeping lights off if I have to get up in the middle of the night for any special purpose – hitting the toilet (sitting down as my aim isn’t that good when I can barely see the toilet) or quenching my thirst from the fridge.  In between light filtering in from the blinds, a small light on the dishwasher, and a small light on the electric toothbrush charger which I keep on for that purpose even though I’ve been using standard toothbrushes lately, the apartment is never completely dark, and my eyes adjust to the condition fairly well.   I also have a black light and a lava lamp, but those generally only come on during the weekend.  

Which leads me to the realization that in all my almost 50 years of existence, I can recall only ONE instance where my sleeping accommodations resulted in absolute, total darkness:  BRUSSELS.

With the SHAPE PX and base just over the Belgian border near Mons, the Raymond Hotel in that city was our usual lodging.  Complete with AFN TV and mozzarella pizza, that was certainly an enjoyable place to stay.   Eventually our parents decided that a visit to the Belgian capital, Brussels, was in order, and we stayed at a fancy old hotel, dating from the Stonehenge times, the Metropole.   This allowed us to visit the ATOM THING and the Peeing Boy statue, and pick up some toy FN FALs, though those may have been purchased in Mons for all I know.  [Actually, the Metropole Hotel is the sole surviving nineteenth century hotel in Brussels still operating today.  With its styling, it’s a Brussels landmark in and of itself.]

ANYHOW.  The hotel room, once all lights were off and the shutters closed, was 100% absolute darkness.  You literally could not see your hand in front of your face.   Getting up to use the bathroom was a challenge, as you not only could not see where the bathroom was, you couldn’t even see where the nearest light switch was.  Amazing.  But I suppose it’s equally amazing that in all my life, that’s the only time I ever encountered this situation.

Spicy.   When I was younger, pre-college, I hated spicy food.  When I went to college, I developed a taste for it – in particular, salsa and chips, probably brought on by my swift adoption of beer as a recreation in itself.  I started at medium, worked my way up by tolerance to hot, switched from jalapenos to habaneros, and eventually to ghost peppers, where I am today.   As of now, my favorite salsa is Mr. Renfro’s Ghost Pepper Salsa, although this is getting harder and harder to find.   Neither World Market nor Walmart (special order) seem to carry it anymore.  Some 7-11s have chips called Paqui, in Haunted Ghost Pepper flavor, which are seriously hot.  Let’s see how long that lasts.  Ultimately I may be forced to simply cut up habaneros and add them into melted cheese or salsa.   Now there’s an idea worth revisiting….