Legal Quandary

Are You a Turtle?

You Bet Your Sweet Ass I Am.

Ok, for the 99.9% of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, keep reading - I'll explain later. For that matter, I'd appreciate if the other .1% of you kept reading too.

It's been a pretty good weekend for the Quandaries. I can only hope that this is the start of something, since I've got 3 day weekends for the rest of the semester! Whe-woo!

EC had a friend over for a sleepover Friday night. EC and I cleaned the whole house Friday afternoon in preparation. My house is rarely clean enough for guests, so this was a special treat for EC (as well as a great inducement for her to help). I decided to do a test run of a Chicken Enchilada recipe because EC has to bring in a dish for Spanish class next week. The recipe was excellent, but a little spicy, so I'll be cutting down the amount of jalepenos for the one I send to school. Both girls were invited to a birthday party on Saturday, so I took them shopping after dinner. And you know what? Pre-teen girls are just giggly and annoying when they're together. My normally smart and articulate child was barely capable of forming a coherent sentence. On the drive to the store, EC's friend described Madonna as "some old person who gets lots of face lifts. I think she's a singer, but I couldn't tell you what she sings." Then it took us over 2 hours to pick out a gift because of all the giggling and random wandering off. The whole experience just wore me out. I want to say I wasn't just like them, but I suspect I would be lying.

Yesterday we celebrated my successful completion of my next-to-last semester of law school (yup, all the grades are in), and EC's good grades by going out for Dim Sum. The restaurant was packed. It was beautifully decorated. The food was potentially pretty good. But the service was AWFUL. To the point of detracting from the quality of the food. We had Lil Q with us, and I suspect that had something to do with being stuck in the back dining room.
The good food just never seemed to get to us. Three carts with nothing we wanted passed us before the first Siu Mai (pork dumplings) showed up. They were ok, but made a little unusual by a sprinking of what I think was red caviar over the top of them. We were starving so we also tried the pork & shrimp dumpling, which was really excellent. The Chinese Broccoli was cold by the time it made it back to us - something highlighted by the fact that they'd poured the Oyster Sauce over it in the kitchen. Mmmm-mmm, congealed oyster sauce. (Usually the servers carry a squirt bottle of it around with them and garnish at the table.) The gin doi (sesame balls) were excellent, but we had to ask for them because none of the carts ever made it to our table until just as we were leaving. The Har Gow (shrimp dumplings) were unremarkable - but that seems to be the case almost everywhere. The steamed Char Siu Bau (BBQ pork buns) were our hands-down favorite - and the only dish to arrive at our table piping hot. Coincidence? I think not. EC also really liked the Dan Tot (egg custard), but the rest of us never touch the stuff. Mr. Q has been to the restaurant for lunch and said it was good, so I'll give them a second chance, but we left a bit disappointed.

We also visited the National Archives yesterday. I read earlier in the week that the Emacipation Proclamation was going to be on display. As opposed to the Magna Carta, the Declaration of Indepedence, and the Constitution, which are all written on parchment, the Emancipation Proclamation was written on paper. This means it is only on public display for a few days a year. But you can see it here anytime. Did you know the US has one of the 4 known copies of the Magna Carta of 1297? Did you also know that it is physically in better shape than either the Declaration of Independence or the US Constitution? All in all, a pretty darned cool place to visit.

After a couple of hours at the Archives, we headed for the Air and Space Museum. We only had about an hour before they closed, so we barely made a dent in that one. I remember going as a kid - my mom and I spent two whole days there! We had EC watch Apollo 13 Saturday, so it was cool to see the various Apollo artifacts.

And strangely enough, here's where the Turtle part comes in. In one of the back corners of the exhibit, I noticed a card proclaiming for "The Fraternal Order of the Turtle, Interstellar Association" signed by Wally Shirra and Ed Buckbee. This got my attention because I turtled at Squadron Officer School. Much to the aggravation of the guy conducting my initiation, I did it in only one beer. I chalk it up to being "bright eyed, bushy tailed, fearless and unafraid...with a fighter pilot attitude." And because I "think clean, have fun a lot, and recognize the fact that you never get any place worthwhile in life unless you stick your neck out."

So, I ask all of you - including you lurkers out there: Are you a Turtle?

If so, you know what to do.

Mea Culpa

As E. McPan points out, I did a lousy job of explaining the Turtles. This site does a better job. My initiation varied a little from the one described. McPan, if you're interested, I'd be happy to initiate you.

posted by Legal Quandary at 15:11