Peeking into my parents certain relatives cabinets is like stepping back in time.  You never know what you will find in there, but you know it will probably be old.  The first row of items is generally “fresh,” but as you peel back the layers, the treasures reveal themselves.  It’s not they are unclean, not at all.  It’s just that the word “thrifty” was made to describe them.  In fact, my mom relative drives her mail to the destination rather than mailing it, just to save stamps.  I think this behavior stopped last year during the Great Four Dollar Gas Crisis of ‘08. 

Recently I helped my dad other relative organize his cabin shelves.  I found ramen noodles circa 1999.  It’s fun, because you get to take a look at the old packaging, and everything is a bit retro.

Today I worked in the gardens for most of the day.  I tilled (I have a giant crush on my 4 stroke Mantis) , I hoed, I transplanted, I lifted, I chased ducks, I gave lettuce-y treats to the chickens and turkeys.  It was great and I feel better than I have felt in a long time.  I think all of this contact with dirt is helping me in some way.  Or something.  That is, until I came back to Base Camp for a rest.  It is then when I realized I are hurty.  Really super hurty.  And a quick glance into my bag confirmed my worst fear:  I left my trusty jar of Icy Hot ™ back in Bozeman.

Panicking, I opened my mom’s relative’s cabinet.  There, right in the front layer was a jar of Icy Hot!  It didn’t look right.  Something was off.  Next to it was a tube of Icy Hot cream.  I compared them.

The tube had an expiration date of 07/07.  Only two years old.  I checked the jar.  No expiration date.  Hmm.  Does that mean that it was made so long ago that expiration dates were not required?  Or does it mean that it was used enough to wear the date off?  Oh, the quandary I was in!  I could use the two year old Icy Hot, but the whole time I would be thinking “this Icy Hot is two years old, it’s not going to work” which would in turn make it not work.  Or, I could slather on the stuff out of the jar, the stuff that is old enough to have a completely different graphic/logo. 

I decided to use the two year old stuff based on the logo. 

And I discovered that Icy Hot loses the hot, but it hangs onto the cold.  So now I am on the couch, under blankets, drinking hot coffee, watching some Harold and Kumar, and shivering in an Icy Cold sort of way.

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I have a lot to talk about, unfortunately I can’t remember much of it.  There I was, hoeing a new raised bed, thinking “When I get back I have to blog about <FORGOTTEN TOPIC>.”  Later I was calling various butchers to get quotes (a couple of our roasting chickens are looking pretty plumb) and I was thinking “I bet that <FORGOTTEN TOPIC> would be great on my blog.”  Alas, you will just have to imagine the hilarity that would have been here if I would have remembered.