Pigout Report 2025

We have just returned from Riverfront Park in beautiful but very hot downtown Spokane. It's Labor Day weekend so that means Pigout in the Park is happening.

Pigout is a tradition that Susan and I have enjoyed for years. Unfortunately, it's becoming quite expensive. I spent $45.00 and Susan must have come close to that as well.

There was a day when their big selling point was "Nothing over $6.00". Now they have a happy hour where selected items at each both cost $6.00.

We started with a $7.00 Classic Lemonade which was refillable for $3.00. We went and listened to Victims of Love, an Eagles tribute band. They were pretty good. At three o'clock we went to the Schnitzel booth and had some schnitzel bites. $6.00. They were okay but I won't do that again. We then walked over to the Fried Cheese Curd booth and bought one of those. $6.00. A better value and really pretty damn good.

At that point, we were ready for our cheese steak. There has been a booth at Pigout for several years that makes the best cheese steak we've ever tasted.

This year, we split it. $17.00. I was complaining that it was smaller than last year and as I took my first bite, I just didn't care anymore. Damn, it was good.

We finished up with ice cream. We went to Mary Lou's and Susan had a cone with Cookies n'Cream. $6.00. I had the Hot Fudge Brownie Sundae. $10.00.

We are back home now, and I think we've got Pigout out of our system for another year. We saved out lemonade cups in case we go back tomorrow. But we need to refocus our energy. We have to get ready for the County Fair next week.

Hot Water Tank Install

For several years now, I have been concerned about our hot water tanks. You may recall that prior to our purchase of this home over 20 years ago, it was a group home. To accommodate the eight persons living here, they installed three hot water tanks. 

So, when we moved in, we had plenty of hot water. About ten years ago, one of them started leaking. I shut it down and pulled it out of the system. Now we were down to only two hot water tanks. Don’t feel bad for us. We still have plenty of hot water. In fact, I take rather long showers, and I have never run out of hot water.

So, that’s where we are today. Since these two existing tanks have been here well over 20 years, I have been expecting a failure. I have not spoken of it, knowing that to mention the situation would exacerbate the situation.

A couple of weeks ago, I noticed a small stream of water leading from the Hot Water Tank in the Laundry Room to the drain. That was the clue. This tank is on its way out.

Today, with the help of Handyman Shawn, we replaced it.

I was very concerned that this was going to be a tough install. Mostly because I thought it would be difficult to get the old one out. 

Several years ago, I thought it would be smart to drain the tank and try to remove some of the calcium that builds up inside them. I opened the valve and couldn’t get anything to come out. I tried fishing a wire hanger up through it and got nothing.

Today when I opened the valve, the thing easily drained all the way out. After that, it was quite easy to disconnect it from power and the water lines and haul it out of the basement and into the back of my truck.

The new one went in beautifully with just a couple of adjustments that Shawn made. I’m very glad he was here. I believe I could have installed it on my own, but it would have taken much longer and there would have been several trips to the General Store.

In any event, another successful episode of Handyman Corner.

Brisket Sunday

It is just after 11:00AM and I have just place a brisket on the barbecue.  I am expecting this to take about seven hours, the first part, getting it up to 170 degrees should take up to five hours.

The one thing I missed in my preparation for this cook is I did not make sure my Bluetooth meat thermometer was charged. The brisket is on with another thermometer while I charge the MEATER. I really love using the MEATER because it gives me so much information.

It shows me my target temp, the actual temp of the meat and the ambient temperature of the barbecue. Once it has had some time to assess everything, it will even give me an estimated time to reach my target.

I’m going to give it another 20 minutes and then I’ll switch out thermometers.🌡️ 

It’s almost 3:30 and I have about 20 minutes to go on my brisket cook. Then I’m going to stick it in a cooler and let it cool to 160. 

At that point, I will cut it up and it will be ready to serve. We’re not serving it for dinner until tomorrow. We have invited our neighbors, Tammy and Lou over to thank them for looking after Delilah when we went to California.

4:05PM: Okay, the cook is done and the roast is in the cooler. I’ll be keeping an eye on it until it gets to 160. Let’s see how long it takes.