APR 17, 13 (2/2) .. MY CHOPSTICK CAPER !

By Cap Chastain April 17, 2013 A LITTLE BIT OF THIS .. A LITTLE BIT OF THAT, Kodaikanal 2013

A short Prologue ..

Have any of you heard of the soft-rock group ‘Air Supply’?  Back in the early 1980s .. ‘Air Supply’ had a major hit song titled .. ‘Making Love Out of Nothing at All’. One of the lines went as follows:

But I don’t know how to leave you .. And I’ll never let you fall .. And I don’t know how you do it .. Making love out of nothing at all ..

As this Post came-together .. I thought to myself ..

Captain! I don’t know how you do it!  Making this Post Out of Nothing at All!

Enjoy! .. Cap

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

I LOVE-TO-USE CHOPSTICKS TO EAT WITH!  I travel with my own pair since here-in-India they are not commonly used in restaurants.  This even applies to Chinese Restaurants. When I say I love to eat with them this includes foods that are not normally eaten with chopsticks.

When it comes to eating Chinese food .. I can BARELY MANAGE to eat it without using chopsticks.  There needs to be a law requiring restaurants to have chopsticks available for customers who eat Chinese food. How on earth does anyone eat Chicken Chow Mein without using chopsticks!

CHOWMEIN

My favorite restaurant here in Kodaikanal .. AL BAIQ .. is very popular and during prime-mealtime-hours it can be a very busy place.

2CHOPSTICKS 001

Obviously there is a LOT of foot-traffic between the tables. Equally obvious is the fact that the floor is not exactly sanitary!

ALBAIQ

AND?  And AL BAIQ serves Chinese Food!

2ALBAIQ 001

A few-weeks-ago something happened to me that has NEVER in this lifetime happened to me!

While eating Chicken Chow Mein (an extremely soft food) at AL BAIQ one of my chopsticks BROKE IN HALF!

2CHOPSTICKS 002

That is bad enough BUT GET THIS! 

WITHOUT BATTING-AN-EYELASH!  I reached down on the floor where the broken half had fallen .. picked it up .. and continued to eat my Chicken Chow Mein without even WIPING the broken half off!

TALK ABOUT BRAIN-FADE!  It was after I had finished eating my chow mein that I realized this fact!

Captain .. how on earth can you BE SAFE pulling-a-stunt-like-this? Do you all realize what germs are on the floor of a busy restaurant here in India?

Well I ‘limped along’ for a day or so using the short piece of the broken chopstick.

Then I decided to ‘fix’ .. to ‘repair’ .. my broken chopstick since in all of Kodaikanal I could not find a replacement set of chopsticks to buy or to steal if necessary.

I used several of the same ‘tools’ that I used to modify my ‘Zilla cane.

TOOLS

In particular I used the above vise-grip pliers and the ‘pin vises’ and the drill bits.  I carefully drilled a hole into each half of the broken chopstick!  Then I inserted a section of a paper-clip into the holes in each half and using Super Glue .. fastened them together.

2CHOPSTICKS 003

2CHOPSTICKS 004

‘Super Glue’ .. especially when it comes to gluing plastics .. is a very VERY IFFY proposition!  It works or it is useless!  I had to shop ALL OVER Kodaikanal before I found a source of ‘Super Glue’ but I found one.  And I lucked-out!  It was a ‘Super Glue’ that really worked well with the plastic the chopstick was made out of!

2CHOPSTICKS 006

The repaired chopstick is a bit ‘bow legged’ but he works-just-fine!  And he is very VERY appreciative of being fixed.

Then I made the pair-of-them a little cardboard ‘case’ to protect them.

2CHOPSTICKS 007

OH CAPTAIN MY CAPTAIN .. ARE YOU ALL RIGHT?

Once-upon-a-time .. it was back in the 1990 – 1991 time-frame of my first ever trip here to India .. my friend Jerry asked me the following question:

“Cap? What do you do all day?”

I made up a little ‘ditty’ ..

Petaluma Jerry did you say ..

Cap what do you do all day!

And? .. The Dinkey Bird Is Singing In The Amfalula Tree ..

THANKS FOR SMILING ALONG WITH ME! .. Cap

You will find THE DINKEY BIRD Post next below!