Heinlein is almost always a good answer

I haven't been able to read much recently, so I thought "Why not try Heinlein?"

Last night while waiting for my 14 pound baked potato to microwave (yeah, I know, but it WAS a big one), so I could stuff it with sausage, mayo, red wine vinegar and the rest of a beefsteak tomato (and it was even better than it sounds), I pulled a paperback off the shelf, which turned out to be "The Day After Tomorrow." I was not quite finished with the first chapter (fascinating story about a small group of surviving scientists and technicians who fight against a PanAsian occupation of the US) when the microwave beeped, and my 26 pound potato was cooked perfectly.

Note: before putting it in the microwave, I rubbed garlic olive oil into the skin. We have gone in the past year to coconut oil, mostly, so I had to look twice in order to see the garlic olive oil on the shelf. Why GARLIC olive oil? That, I do not know. Sometimes the women make strange choices when they go to the grocery store. I have just about convinced them not to buy the small size of anything, so I think this 16 ounce container of garlic oil might have been one of them asserting her freedom from the repressive demands of the patriarchy. All I know is pancakes fried in garlic olive oil is a dish that makes me wish Minerva June, our late and lamented black lab, was still with us and roaming around seeking what she could devour. Dogs make a wonderful solution to the disaster of left-overs too small to refrigerate. Cats, on the other hand, won't eat anything, unless it's ice cream out of your bowl.

So, I was close to the end of the first chapter, the microwave beeped and it was time to smash and grab. I smashed the potato, grabbed the sausage from the cast iron skillet, and completed the dish referred to by Mickey, my youngest bio boy, refers to as Gonzales Sue Samen.

ummm... that's because I told him that's what it's called. Actually, I told him it was 'ganz alles zusamen,' meaning 'everything mixed together,' but his name is cuter.

And as I took the food upstairs to devour, I regretted not having all my Heinlein dead-tree books in some electronic format. I try not to take books out of my man cave, because they rarely make it back, and the piles of medications, pocket-fillers, electronics, firearm components, and DVDs on my bedside tables recently hit overflow. Maybe I should build shelves; but if I did, it would restrict our choices when it came time to rearrange furniture.

So, as I set my snack in 'Eat Me' mode, I perused (the Baen website) and pursued ("The Day After Tomorrow"), and found no joy. First I tried "Assignment in Eternity," but i had read it too recently. Same with "Farnham's Freehold," and I wasn't in the mood for "Grumbles from the Grave." I skipped another couple of titles, and then opened "Sixth Column." 

YAHOO! "Sixth Column" is "The Day After Tomorrow!" The back story of the name change is explained in the excellent prologue by William H Patterson, Jr, of no known relation.

And this excellent example of pre-Something Something by Heinlein was enough to keep me occupied until I fell asleep, and then was my companion when I woke up in the middle of the night until I could fall asleep again.

And so I gained another several hours of reading. That's a lovely gift! Which is why I say:

Heinlein is almost always a good answer.