Team Flyboy (thunking, shipping, discussion) - Lorne/Mitchell/Sheppard/O'Neill

[ladygris]

Just finished your Soldier story, lg ... GOT NOTHING DONE TODAY! But it was a great story and inspired me to get something written this week.

I'm off to bed --- goodnight.

Sorry, hifield. But I'm glad you enjoyed it. For the record, I took my daughter on a tour of the local pistachio ranch (biggest one in NM and the biggest producer in NM) and then swimming. Got nothing done today, either.

'Night! Dream well!

[maneth]

Well, your daughter had fun and you spent time with her, that's not "nothing".

Morning thunkers, and thanks for the compliments on my Kavan sig.

[maneth]

[maneth]

[maneth]

[ladygris]

Hey, Mane!

Yeah, my daughter had a TON of fun, and so did I. I learned a lot about pistachios and growing them. I can tell you some if you're interested.

Working on new caps for tomorrow morning right now.

[Brneyestx]

bed time calls.. got early appt... couldn't tooo long with out eating or drinking... lol

[ladygris]

'Night, Brn. Dream well.

[Brneyestx]

some mood lighting to help me fall asleep..

[maneth]

Please do! I love pistachios.

Good luck with the doc tomorrow brn!

[Brneyestx]

night

[maneth]

Night!

[ladygris]

Okay, under spoilers because it's OT.

Spoiler:

Pistachios are considered a super-food. They have all your necessary amino acids, and they're an excellent source of protein. They've been shown to help lower blood sugar and bad cholesterol when eaten in moderation. In fact, we have a heart doctor here in my area that actually "prescribes" pistachios to his patients when they're first diagnosed with heart problems. They originally come from the Middle East, and the trees take 15 years to fully mature. The oldest producing pistachio tree is 700 years old! There are male and female trees. You cannot grow a female tree from planting a seed. A cutting from a female tree has to be grafted in to the root system of a male tree. Male trees do not bear fruit but pollinate the female trees. One male tree can pollinate 8-10 female trees. The female trees look like they've had their bark stripped, and they're smaller than the male trees.

Our pistachio ranch is self-contained, meaning they grow the pistachios, harvest, sort, roast, season, package, and ship from one area. We got a chance to see all of that today. In this ranch, they have cold storage for somewhere around 250,000 pounds!!!! They roast only one flavor a day because it takes so long to clean the equipment (about three hours), and the men working in roasting and seasoning have to completely change their clothes before they can start a new flavor. Oh! And pistachios have a shelf life of about 3 months, unless you refrigerate them. If you refrigerate them, they'll last up to 1.5 YEARS! If you freeze them, they'll last 3 YEARS!!! Here, in NM, they actually keep the pistachios in cold storage between sorting and seasoning and all the different steps. And, then, they're kept in cold storage until they're either put on the shelf or shipped out so that they'll be as fresh as possible.

Um. . .I don't think I forgot anything.

And PB locked up on me. Grrr!

[maneth]

Thanks for the pistachio info! Sounds like they should be sold chilled. I assume the doc prescribes unflavored pistachios... The salt isn't good for your blood pressure.

[ladygris]

That's what I'm assuming, Mane. And they should be sold chilled, but it's cheaper and faster to just let them sit on the shelf. That's what growers in California do, and it shows in the taste.

Oh! And. . .

Spoiler:

Nothing goes to waste! And I mean NOTHING! The bits too small to separate shell from nutmeat goes into bags for Bird Bits since birds can eat the shell and the nut. The "raisins" (withered, bitter nutmeats due to heat or overexposure to the sun) is sold as pet food. The discarded shells are sold to a plant that makes fuel pellets for pellet stoves (a really popular way to heat homes down here). OR, the shells go for medium and fine sandblasting. I thought that was pretty neat, too.

Yay! PB is back!