Back-Up Plans

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Hubby and I play the lottery.  Every week. Two tickets - one with our "lucky numbers" (I'm not sure what they are - he knows them) and one where the computer picks them.  Just one of those little minor "splurges" we allow ourselves, knowing the odds are completely against us but should those odds ever turn, well, what fun that would be, right?

So, the running jokes in our household center around the winning and/or more likely scenario of non-winning said jackpot.  Hubby will log-on in the evening of the lottery draw "to see if (he) need(s) to show up at work tomorrow."  We also have a great deal of fun dreaming up "back-up plans" - careers we could have in lieu of winning the lottery, that would still perhaps seem more interesting, at least for a time, than the usual Monday-Friday, 8-5.

Here are some of the things we've proposed - travel show hosts (our justification for this - where did Rick Steves or Samantha Brown come from?) or even better, winery travel show hosts; bed & breakfast hosts with a twist - serve yourself (fix your own breakfast, make your own bed, ....); restaurant advisers (this is different from critics - oh, we would be great at that - as advisors we could take the "critics" job to the next level and say, hey, yeah, if your logo and label has wine bottles all over it, let's really work on getting you a wine list to offer.....true story and sadly, in our hometown - and while we're at it, do you really need that 80's disco ball?); news station advisors/managers for smaller markets (again our experience comes from the local area) - there may be a problem if your primetime news programming is featuring a 10 minute segment on how social media is destroying marriages, complete with hidden faces, voiceovers with actors from the waist down (we were waiting for a "kicking boots moment" during the wife confronts other woman in parking lot scene) or a live, confrontational "sting" operation over an unauthorized Craig-listed backyard children's wooden play structure - now, that was exciting) - don't get us wrong - we really appreciate the fact that we live in an area where obviously news is "slow" (overall crime is low hence not a lot to report from that standpoint) - but surely there's another way to go.

Our favorite new "career" opportunity appeared last night.  When hubby and I first began our "wine connoisseurs" journey several years ago (prior to that we were both strictly Chardonnay), we selected our wines using two qualifications - the size of the "punt" (which we had heard was important to the wine's quality - and which we now know makes no difference in today's winemaking) and the label.  If the label caught our eye - was creative, artistic, interesting - the wine might be a winner for us.  Great way to pick wine, huh?  We've learned a bit more now over the years, but we can still be suckers for a good label.

Last night we had a wine emergency.  We knew that we were down to our last bottle of red, a bottle of Dodoma we had brought back from Tanzania, and planned to open that for dinner.  When hubby opened the bottle however, he noticed that the cork came out much too easily, so much so that it almost was pushed into the bottle - it was that loose.  We were immediately very suspicious of what it would taste like but kept our fingers crossed.  Pour - sip - yuck!  Yep, the wine had gone bad - most likely a problem with the corking (we were probably very lucky the stuff didn't leak out inside our luggage on the trip back).  But, there we were with no wine for dinner - wine emergency!  Not really, we aren't that bad, but hubby opted for a quick trip out since I was still cooking.  Options were limited since we do live in a small town, and our favorite specialty wine store was closed - leaving only a Wally World (no!) and a small grocery (close by).

Hubby returned from the grocery with two bottles - reading from the Yellow Tail Cabernet Sauvignon, he said,

"Enjoy with your favorite pasta dish and conversation...(it) is everything a great wine should be. It's approachable, fresh, flavorsome and has a personality all of its own."

Then he held up the Mirassou Pinot Noir and said, "Just drink it and shuddup."  We both started laughing and said at the same time, "That's what we could do - we could write for wine labels!"

One more for the back-up plans.  We opened the pinot for dinner.