Every few months I take some time off and get the car washed. I know I should do that myself but I have hardly ever washed a car. The tediousness of it I never overcame. It might also explain why I was never drawn to join the army, the police force, became a Jesuit or follow any kind of group where discipline is required.
The car-wash place is about three kilometres from here. They charge $ 45.-. They do a thorough job. A whole team of young people beaver about with specialised equipment. High pressure steam spray blasts the dirt off the exterior after which the interior gets a vacuuming with the upholstery cleaning and burnishing waxing of the leather seats. The carpet especially is beyond my capability. They have a specially strong machine that just about sucks up the car itself. Anyone who has a Jack Russell would know that their hairs will be almost impossible to remove. They stick to the carpet like a Velcro stocking to a varicosed leg.
Some of the car washers wear headgear of Sikhs, others wear Turbans both indicating a belonging to a disciplinary faith based organisation. This installs me with complete trust and confidence. I never heard of car jackings by people that wear religious clothing. I mean, would a man (or woman) steal a car wearing a cardinal’s mitre with humble desert sandals?
The cleaning always takes about an hour. And as this car-cleaning business is situated in a large shopping complex with a food-court, I do what I rarely do; have a coffee with a hotdog. It does not matter what time it is, the food-court is really rocking. I read yesterday that peoples lives are becoming more and more aimless. Eating is the one activity that is still possible to experience as a pleasure. The food courts are proof of it. Eating is now seen as an aim in itself. Of course, I become part of that as well. I sit there the same as the others. The hotdog itself contradicts everything that I know about healthy eating. Part of it is that I am doing this by myself. With Helvi, I would be eating a far healthier Japanese sushi take-away. But what the heck, (I sooth myself). The car washing combo with hotdog is enjoyed a couple of times year.
So what?
Oosterman Treats Blog 
September 6, 2018 at 11:58 pm |
A hot dog every now and then is good for the soul.
LikeLiked by 3 people
September 7, 2018 at 8:05 am |
It’s a lot better than a Lamington. There used to be a very luridly coloured sausage on a stick. I have forgotten its name but at the Easter Show it would rear its ugly head each year. Was it a Pluto pop?
LikeLiked by 1 person
September 7, 2018 at 1:06 am |
Hello there, Gerard. I too dislike washing cars. And I too have the very occasional hotdog. I eat them once a year, at the outdoor party that two of my friends throw on the USA’s Fourth of July holiday. The hotdogs are delicious!
Neil S.
LikeLiked by 1 person
September 7, 2018 at 8:09 am |
Yes, You are right, Neil. If I am not mistaken the hot dog was invented by the USA. Originally it was perhaps a German sausage named ‘Heisze Wurste” which crossed the Atlantic in the knapsack of very early German migrants…
LikeLiked by 1 person
September 7, 2018 at 2:12 am |
Well, here I am again for a second go round. My computer took my page away and completely out of the internet.
The old saying about “you only live once” I think is well justified in cases of err, “mature people.” I stopped washing my vehicles when I hit 70 and I don’t mean the speed limit.
If I were a red meat eater I would love that delicious looking hotdog. It is quire appealing with all the extra ingredients piled in the middle.
LikeLiked by 1 person
September 7, 2018 at 8:17 am |
Sorry about your computer troubles. I know the feeling. I have a very good American born friend from California who helps me out when a computer glitz worms itself in my inbox. We also hold the hotdog in esteem occasionally. Helvi is opposed to eating anything with cured meat and pulls a face whenever I even look at a hot dog. She does have my health at heart. Even so, I still buy one sometimes. One must be strong.
LikeLike
September 7, 2018 at 8:19 pm
Gerard, currently my computer is acting ok. It is just the now and then odd thing of taking me out of what I am working on or maybe reading or watching. Otherwise it is and I knock on wood, functioning normally. It does the peculiar thing of suddenly blanking me out of what ever and then I lose my comment or my place on the web. All in all I am grateful that it is over all okay.
Helvi is right about the processed food which is known to be carcinogenic. I believe it has been proved to contribute to colon cancer and other cancers as well. I suppose an occasional meal of junk food is ok. I do not allow myself any of that because most junk food, if not all, contains preservatives, gluten, salt, sugar and, or dyes.
LikeLiked by 1 person
September 8, 2018 at 10:41 pm
You are right and so is Helvi when trying to steer me into good dietary habits. Overall, we share the same food. The hotdog is a rare event. Only yesterday I stocked up on Matjes herrings. A raw fish preserved in an oil and salt. I rinse the salt and oil off before eating this delicious treat.
Computers seem to have a will of their own. I don’t like those ‘updates’. I suspect they are the cause of breakdowns and IT upheavals.
LikeLike
September 7, 2018 at 7:18 am |
Let’s be FRANK! DOG-gone-it! HA! 😛 I may be a BRAT, but that sounds like something to look forward to AND enjoy a couple times a year! 😀 Sorry, my hotdog puns are the WURST! 😛 Wait! Maybe I’m on a ROLL and you RELISH my hotdog puns! 😛
Is that photo of your exact hot dogs?! If not, what do you like on your dogs?! I like mustard, onions, relish…etc. 🙂
Yes, those car wash places do such a great job! And then the car smells so good, too! 🙂
HUGS!!! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
September 7, 2018 at 8:20 am |
Yes, the Frankfurter comes back in my memory now. Originally all sausages must have come from Germany and after the wars spread around the whole world showing benevolence and peace.
One of my fondest pleasures was my dad making pea soup with smoked sausage. (Rookworst)
Hugs, Gerard
LikeLiked by 2 people
September 7, 2018 at 5:59 pm |
Every now and then I take my car to the wonderful car wash place where it gets the same treatment yours does. In between, I usually just stop by a different place and hose it down for $1.25. It needs to go in for a wax now, but I’ve been putting it off. There’s no good reason to put it off, except that when it fits my schedule best is when it’s raining, and when it’s raining isn’t the best time for a car wash and wax. Oh, well.
I get the urge for a hot dog now and then, and when I do, I go to a place called James Coney Island that specializes in them. They have wonderful buns, and nice, plump all-beef hotdogs. My favorite comes with finely diced onions, chili, and cheddar cheese. And, honestly? Given the sodium content of most sushi, a nice hot dog is just as healthy, and maybe healthier. Enjoy that dog!
(Speaking of which, how is your four-footed dog? I hope he’s well, too.)
LikeLiked by 1 person
September 8, 2018 at 10:50 pm |
Glad to hear you are also a hot dog fan, Linda. One cannot live on carrots and lentils alone. Our take-out sushi comes with the wasabi and soy sauce in separate little packets and squeeze bottle. So, it allows to regulate the intake of salt. On top of that Helvi has a very low blood pressure and at time needs to increase her salt intake.
Milo, our hot-dog Jack Russell is now 14 years old and still manages to pull us along on our daily walks. He is unstoppable when a motor-bike happens to roar past. We have given up on why he gets so furious about motor bikes. The same goes for black crows. He dislikes them intensely. I don’t know why.
LikeLiked by 1 person
September 7, 2018 at 6:16 pm |
I nodded in appreciation about your revelation of Jack Russell hair. Today is vacuuming day for Dr. A and we are always amazed that Charlie has any hair left. As far as hot dogs go, I can’t figure out why one that you buy is so much better than one at home. Some people shop at Costco just to eat their hot dogs. Go for it!
LikeLiked by 1 person
September 8, 2018 at 10:55 pm |
Here we have large Ikea stores. They reward you after you have finished shopping there with a $ 1-.- hot dog. Mind you at my age one is lucky to get out of Ikea alive. They are so large and designed to steer you past every item for sale. Many elderly don’t survive and are found life-less amongst all the furniture and candle holders. They have simply given up on consuming and not even the hotdog for $1-. seems to resuscitate them back.
LikeLike
September 8, 2018 at 1:39 am |
In the region where I live, the difference between a well-attended community meeting and the chirruping of crickets can depend on the proffered fare at interval…if it is just biscuits and tea, you will get the soft-slippers and cardigan set…if mini-savs are on offer, a full-house will have to be catered for…I will not vouch for anyone’s reputation if free beer was on tap!
Now..this being a Germanic pioneered district, the difference between Frankfurts and the Saveloy must be respected..BUT..with the beiging of the generic palate in these KFC and Big-Mac times, the difference between Frank’ and Sav’ has been lost…even on the meat stand at the local mega-market, where EVERYTHING in a coloured skin is called : “Frankfurts”..
” A saveloy is a type of highly seasoned sausage, usually bright red, normally boiled and often available in British fish and chip shops. . .”
“A frankfurter is (uk|us|canada) a moist sausage of soft, even texture and flavor, often made from mechanically recovered meat or meat slurry while saveloy is a seasoned pork sausage, normally purchased ready cooked.”
So much of the Australian vernacular has been lost with the beiging of our culture.
LikeLiked by 1 person
September 8, 2018 at 11:03 pm |
The art of a good sausage maker is in the genes and without a strong German gene it cannot be copied.
Forget about butchers with names of McNamara or Jones etc. Go for Fleischmacher, Zimmermann or even an Ostermann.
I remember the saveloy. That is a British institution, is it not. I once rescued a Pluto top that had slipped out of my bread-bun that was lubricated with Tom sauce. It slipped under a large Station-wagon car. It was pouring with rain. Even so, I went under the car and managed to retrieve it. I ate it as I was so hungry and had queued up a long time to buy it. It was during a large agricultural show in Sydney called the Easter show.
LikeLike
September 8, 2018 at 11:06 pm
” Even so, I went under the car and managed to retrieve it. I ate it as I was so hungry and had queued up a long time to buy it. “….Did Helvi dis-own you? 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
September 8, 2018 at 11:08 pm
WE get our sausages from Standom’s (Polish butchers) or “Barossa Fine Foods” (German)…yes..there is a difference…mind you, you can get a decent Italian hot sausage..
LikeLiked by 1 person
September 9, 2018 at 6:28 am
It was at the beginning of our relationship, and when she saw me diving under the car for this almost fluorescent looking sausage I rose in her estimation. She felt that I would make a secure breadwinner. It made her smile.
She is from Finland you know!
LikeLiked by 1 person
September 9, 2018 at 6:31 am
I completely forgot about the Chorizo sausage. That’s Italian. Very sturdy and not likely to slip out. It’s a good sausage when chopped up in a pasta. This sausage dates back to Roman times when the pork mince was encased in the entrails of fallen gladiators. A gruesome practice in early Roman times.
LikeLiked by 1 person
September 8, 2018 at 1:53 am |
An example.. ; https://freefall852.wordpress.com/2017/06/20/sedan-aspirations-and-goals/
LikeLiked by 1 person
September 9, 2018 at 6:39 am |
A brilliant tale about small towns and kerb habits.
LikeLiked by 1 person
September 8, 2018 at 6:37 am |
Ah yes, the luxury of the car wash. Mine is due – you’ve reminded me. Alas, no hot dog for me but I totally get your routine- especially as it has that added clandestine pleasure 😄
LikeLiked by 1 person
September 9, 2018 at 6:45 am |
Car washing is a Sunday afternoon habit in Australia. It fits in with Shakespeare’s ‘Demon of Noontide.’ The terrible ennui of the Anglo Sunday afternoon. The reality that the working week is nigh again.
In our Strata compound, the wellingtons are put on, the long rubber gloves and the car gets a soaping and rinse. It’s almost like a confessional. Forgive us our sins etc.
LikeLiked by 1 person
September 8, 2018 at 8:29 pm |
A hot dog for your soul. A fancy carwash for the planet. Actually, most people who whom-clean their cars waste a lot of water which runs down the gutter and into the sewer. Whereas, the car washing businesses recapture and reuse as much water as possible. So I’ve heard anyway, and I’ll take that theory to the car wash with me next time.
LikeLiked by 1 person
September 9, 2018 at 6:49 am |
That is true. Or, we hope that is true. For a long time we were fooled that plastic bags get recycled. For years it gave me an inner glow when we separated the plastic bags. It turned out nothing of the sort. They now have to pay to get the bags stored. No one wants them and the solution of course was for shops to stop supplying plastic bags in the first place.
LikeLiked by 1 person
September 9, 2018 at 3:22 pm
The merry-go-round goes round.
LikeLike