IN LIFE THERE IS NEVER A DULL MOMENT. YOU MIGHT AS WELL EMBRACE WHATEVER HAPPENS. FIND THE GOOD LIFE. by Gary Smolker, Social Commentator and Values Critic

There is an objective difference between (1) knowing something, (2) understanding something, and (3) being able to apply what you know in a real life situation.

EXPERIENCE

I live in Sherman Oaks, California.

I am a tenant in a rented condominium.

I am currently living through a mitigation of water damage situation.

My bedroom carpet became soaked with water flowing in from my bathroom on Veteran’s Day, two walls in my bedroom became saturated with the water that flowed into my bedroom, the drywall on two of the walls in my bedroom became saturated with water and had a moisture content over 17%, and water seeped through the floor of my bathroom and through the floor of my bedroom to the room (a lobby) below.

A water damage company took charge of phase one of mitigation of the above described water damage situation.

My understanding of what the water damage specialist did is as follows: my bedroom carpet was pulled back, the wet carpet padding under the water soaked carpet was removed, portions of two walls in my bedroom were cut out and removed, blowers were turned on, the blowers blew air on the wet carpet and on the wet walls in my bedroom, and either before or after the blowers were turned on a disinfectant was applied to wood members of portions of the walls and to wall structural components.

My insurance carrier STATE FARM told me that my Renter’s Insurance Policy and my STATE FARM Umbrella Insurance policies:

1. (1) covered the water damage claims made by the Home Owner’s Association and the other residents in the condominium complex,
2. (2) but probably did not cover the cost to repair or to replace or to dry out the wet carpet owned by my landlord and rented to me and probably did not cover the cost to remove and replace water soaked carpet padding under the water soaked wet carpet,
3. (3) and that my STATE FARM’s renter’s insurance policy did cover the additional living expense incurred when I relocated to another place to live during construction.

WHERE SHOULD I LIVE DURING CONSTRUCTION?

My insurance carrier hired a company to help me find a suitable hotel to relocate to until the rebuilding of my condominium is completed.

The hotel relocation company provided two hotel locations for my consideration:

Hampton Inn & Suites Los Angeles/Sherman Oaks, 5638 Sepulveda Blvd., Sherman Oaks, CA 91411

Best Western Plus Carriage Inn, 5525 Sepulveda Blvd., Sherman Oaks, CA 91411.

THE BELMOND HOTEL IN SAINT PETERSBURG, RUSSIA

The photo above is posted on Instagram with the following copy:

“Immerse yourself in a world of wonderful Russian cuisine and learn more about  caviar the black gold with exclusive classes, led by undisputed caviar and vodka master Alexander Dmitriev.” 

I am informed that the restaurants in the Belmond Hotel in St. Petersburg serve caviar and oysters from the eastern part of Russia that are not available anywhere else.

The Belmond Hotel is very close to the Hermitage Museum – which I intend to visit some day.

MY QUESTION: If I can book a room in the Belmond Hotel in Saint Petersburg Russia at a rate comparable to or less than the charge to rent a decent hotel room/hotel suite at the nearby Hilton Hotel in Woodland Hills, California, would State Farm pay for it?

I am willing to pay the charge for the round trip flight to Saint Petersburg from Los Angeles.

NEXT

Find the good life.

That is really all it is about.

Everything else is just dust blowing in the wind.

Making the best of a bad situation is a difficult skill.

Gary Smolker, Social Commentator and Values Critic

Copyright © 2019 by Gary Smolker, All Rights Reserved

 

Refinement – by Gary Smolker

THE CONTEMPLATION OF BEAUTY ENHANCES THE SOUL

There is nothing wrong with admiration.

Every meal you eat should be delicious.

Each bite should be so delicious it makes you to stop to savor the taste of what you are chewing.

Eat slowly, very slowly, chew each bite many times before swallowing.

Savor what you are about to read and see what is presented to you solely for your enjoyment, below.

Overview

Knowing brings you knowledge.

Knowledge makes you savor life, makes you savor every moment.

Knowledge is like a diamond.

When it is raw it is beautiful.

When it is cut it is magnificent.

When a diamond is cut it brings in the light.

Refinement is the end result of a quest for knowledge.

Refinement Is About Completion

Below is a description of a complete meal.

A Refined Meal

Thursday night (October 19, 2017) I ate a complete meal.

My complete meal consisted of:

1. First dish: Soup – velvet zucchini soup.
2. Second dish: Entree –  lamb, stuffed zucchini, salad
3. Third dish: Desert – crepes stuffed with honey and walnuts Serbian style and topped with ice cream.

Below are photographs I took while that meal was being prepared.

Velvet Zucchini Soup

Velvet zucchini soup is a soup with no lumps; the zucchini has been pureed.

Below is a photograph of the pureed zucchini (with other ingredients in the pot it was cooked in) which I ate as the first course of my dinner last night.

Below is a photograph of the velvet zucchini soup in a soup bowl after parmesan cheese and pepper added to the zucchini puree shown in the first photograph, the photograph above.

The first course of my dinner last night (the soup pictured above) was absolutely delicious.

Lamb

Below is a sequence of photographs I took as the lamb (I ate for dinner last night) was being prepared.

The lamb was marinated for 12 hours prior to being put in a skillet.

The lamb was sautéd in its own juice, with no oil added.

  

  

Stuffed Zucchini

Below is a photo of the stuffed zucchini (which was baked in tin foil in the oven in my kitchen) just before it was completely taken out of the tin foil in which it had been baked.

The stuffed zucchini was crunchy tasty and yummy.

Salad

Below is a photograph of the salad, I ate last night, on the plate it was put on before the zucchini and lamb chop was placed on the same plate.

This mixed Italian salad has tomatoes, radicchio, crescenza, spinach and arugula.

The Second Course

Below is a photograph of the second course, the entree.

Each component (the lamb, the stuffed zucchini and the salad) of this entree was made from scratch with love.

Dessert

My dessert consisted of a crepe stuffed with honey and walnuts Serbian style.

I put several scoops of McConnell’s Peppermint Stick Ice cream on top of my crepe.

My chef put several scoops of Alden’s Organic Vanilla Bean ice cream on top of her crepe. 

 

Advice

Eat food from all over the world prepared from scratch with love.

Be romantic.

Love life.

Love yourself.

Be refined.

Refinement is elegance.

Be elegant.

Live elegantly.

Copyright © 2017 by Gary Smolker, All Rights Reserved

Gary Smolker, Publisher
Gary S. Smolker Idea Exchange Blog
www.garysmolker.wordpress.com

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