OK, look. I’m not easily frightened. Never been afraid of the dark, or clowns, or spiders, or anything else that is generally deemed “scary.” But when you’re walking up a shadowy set of stairs and come face-to-face with this on the landing, you try to avoid letting out a scream!
I nearly jumped out of my skin, thinking I was about to be murdered by a black-cloaked figure lying in wait, which was most assuredly not on my bingo card Friday morning. After a few seconds, there was no movement, so I breathed a sigh of relief. Just a body wrapped up in a bag, then. Whew.
Thankfully, it was neither of those things, but instead – a major award!
Yet another crafty project from my wife. Her employer is having a door decorating contest, and Tara recreated the infamous leg lamp from A Christmas Story. I think she did a great job, and if her team doesn’t win, the fix is in. I’ll fully expect her to swear like The Old Man.
The dimly lit intruder/murder victim was just the cardboard door wrapped in a black garbage bag, and the head was a key rack. This is a little more obvious once you flip on the lights.
Still kinda menacing though. And damned if that doesn’t look like a pair of arms.
CheeseGov has a food truck set up in the parking lot every Tuesday or Wednesday from March through November, which is a pretty cool perk. A couple of weeks ago, an employee emailed the Communications team asking about a Hawaiian food truck that used to come by years ago. I did some digging, reached out to a key contact, and he got them to sign up for the 2025 rotation. I’m thrilled about this, because 75% of our food trucks serve Mexican cuisine. I love me a taco as much as the next fella, but a little variety is nice, y’know? Plus, my Hawaiian roots.
All of this got me craving Hawaiian food – but other than the truck, Madison surprisingly doesn’t have a true Hawaiian restaurant. There are plenty of poke places, but those don’t count. I wanted things I grew up eating, comfort foods like kalua pig and huli-huli chicken and saimin. A little googling led me to a real Hawaiian restaurant in Wauwatosa, a suburb of Milwaukee. Since we were in the area on Saturday, we decided to check it out.
OMG. Good call. Ono Kine Grindz is legit.
We started out with SPAM musubi (sadly not pictured), which is essentially a sushi roll made with SPAM instead of raw fish. Which was delicious, duh. Tara ordered the loco moco platter (left) with carrot-pineapple slaw, and I got a combo plate with kalua pig, char siu chicken, macaroni/potato salad, and Gai Lan (Chinese broccoli in oyster sauce). Both plates also came with purple sticky rice. It was a lot of food, and neither of us could finish it all, but I gotta say – it’s very good!
(Tara did say my kalua pig, which I make in the crockpot at home, is better…and while theirs was good, I humbly agree on this point.)
The mostly takeout-only restaurant also includes a market with popular Hawaiian brands like Aloha sauces, Hawaiian Hostess macadamia nuts, and Li Hing Mui, so I stocked up on a few essentials. On our way out, we were chatting with the very friendly owner, and I asked if they ever serve chicken long rice, another favorite. He reached into a freezer and handed me a container for free. Score!
All in all it was an excellent meal, and if I ever go into the restaurant biz, I’d open a Hawaiian place like this in Madison. In the meantime, I’ll settle for the food truck next spring.
When we got home, we decided to put up the outdoor Christmas lights and decor. A week earlier than usual, but next weekend is looking damn cold, so we wanted to get it done without risking frostbite. The tree and indoor stuff can wait until after Thanksgiving.
Today, I plan on being extra manly and splitting a whole bunch of logs into firewood. I have a feeling our wood stove is about to get a workout.
Mark My Words 
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