Earl's Stuff: News from around the World

There is a new Tom Hanks movie out called, "News from Around the World". We liked it.

The best news we've had in a long time is that we were able to get our COVID vaccinations, yesterday! And it was Pfizer vaccination, which was our first choice (not that anybody has any choice in the matter - they just give you what they have.) We feel very good about that. Now, maybe we can visit other places in the mission before we go home. We get our second injection in 4 weeks.

The Slovenia missionaries were all here in Maribor to meet the mission president a couple of weeks ago. At that time we were cleared to meet in the church, but the government has since clamped down on meetings again. But we met in the church and after a good visit with President and Mrs., they all took off on a hike to climb the little mountain behind town. I opted out because of my knee, but offered to order the food for lunch.

The most-famous hamburger joint in Slovenia is just a block from the church and the young missionaries (I include President and his wife in this) were excited to have some. The only time we have restaurant American food is when we are with somebody else, but we enjoy it when are led into situations like this.

The restaurant has a catchy name, but only for English-speakers - such as Americans and students (who have to learn English in school.) The church and restaurant are also very near the university, so there you go.

Jack & Joe Steak and Burger Club

One of the missionaries called me when they started back down the mountain, so I walked to Jack & Joe's and ordered the food they'd told me they wanted. The most exciting menu item is a burger with five 1/4-kilo meat patties! A quarter kilo is a bit over 1/2 lbs of lean meat, each, and each has cheese, plus there is bacon on top. I encouraged a couple of the guys who hadn't had them before to try it, and four of them accepted the challenge.

The "Bud Spencer" burger.

The four contestants.

The rest of us had a lot of fun encouraging them and teasing them as they dug in. Who would you think would conquer it first? The guy second from left, Elder Goldman, is leaning forward in the photo so you can't see that he is actually about 6'7" tall. Everybody thought he would wolf it down first. The guys on either side of him, Elder Handly and Elder Christiansen, had experience with these big burgers or at least had heard the stories. The guy on the right, Elder Taylor, is quiet and didn't say much, so nobody paid him much attention. Somebody started a timer when they took their first bites.

In case you don't recognize Bud Spencer's name, he was a famous swimmer and later in a lot of spaghetti westerns with Terence Hill. A big man.

The rest of us started eating at the same time as the contestants (they just ordered burgers, but by the time we started they were in a contest they hadn't agreed to.) After a while, one of them noticed Elder Poulos was done with his burger. That was at 13:24. None of the rest were even close, and nobody was entirely sure when he actually finished - they only saw that he was done. Elder Handly finished at about a half hour, Elder Goldman, about 10 minutes after that, and Elder Christiansen took his time, helping with other things and coming back, finally finishing as we were taking out the trash and getting ready to go - long after the timer was put away. Altogether, it was a very fun lunch with the entertainment. Elder Goldman very nearly got sick and for a while we thought he was going to pop, but he settled down and was able to finish without disgrace.

SWANS

The swans are nesting again and one pair chose a patch of grass between Jack & Joe's and the sidewalk as their nesting sight. As always, the city put up barriers to keep people from stumbling over them (and protect the walkers from angry swans.)

The swan hen is turning her eggs

As we walked along the sidewalk, we decided the barriers need to be out in the street. She did not like us to get close!

Mrs. President Field and the Maribor sisters before lunch.

We like to have the young missionaries come to our apartment for meals, so we invite them often and always on Sunday afternoon.

Preparing a lunch after District Council meeting.

We celebrated Liz's birthday by having the sisters over for roast beest.

One day, several weeks ago, we were walking in Maribor and went into a jewelry store. Liz has not really liked the custom engagement ring she had made a few years ago, so she asked about remaking it again. She has the diamond I gave her, and she has her mother's diamond, and a few smaller stones. It turned out that she got it back nearly on her birthday, so she got two pieces of jewelry for her birthday.