Monday, March 20, 2017

MORE AROUND THE VILLAGE (I)

However, Mekkar was not good at that type of thing. Mekkar knew that he would never be a good thief because he wasn’t that mechanical and was unable to jimmy or pick locks. So much for being like one of his heroes, James Bond! Mekkar then would then drag Alf’s body into the shower, soap, scrub, and rinse him off. Then, Mekkar would attempt to dry him off with a towel as much as he could and next set him back out of the shower stall on the floor mat. Mekkar eventually got an extra bathroom door lock keys made for future use. Each time Mekkar hated to go into the bathroom in that situation because it felt like a Turkish steam bath to him and it was hard on his lungs, very much unlike the sauna. But, he was the oldest …

The Far North Native would then take his own shower since he was already there, after taking care of his brother. The problem was that most of the hot water was nearly gone and needed time to be replenished. So, poor Mekkar had to gotten used to taking quick lukewarm water showers and is still his habit to this day. Mekkar feels scalded or burned by any very hot water now since he was not used to it, thanks to his younger brother’s actions.

Mekkar’s papa, Henrik, was kind of an inventor and very much a handyman and had the ability to create or fix a lot of different items, when he had the chance and time. Mekkar did not inherit Henrik’s mechanical ability while his younger brother Alf did. Mekkar’s papa attempted to create a smaller food cooking device for their kitchen and that would also be used at times for the family restaurant. It had to be much smaller and cook quicker than a stove or oven and hopefully use less energy because there would not be a need to preheat it beforehand. One time, Mekkar had a sneak peak at their home’s power bill and it was astronomical.

It was an experimental process done for family need reasons and not financial gains sake. But, the process had to be tried out in a true living situation, but Henrik used too strong and powerful waves for his built-in prototype microwave cooking machine that he had constructed. This was a few years before nuke machines were ever massively sold to the public. The result from the first attempt was that it melted down part of the kitchen counter area. The machine sat nearby the large refrigerator, but thankfully not right next to it. Sirga was ticked off about this development because she knew there would some time delays to correct the issue and there was the need to repair the damage the machine created. The house kitchen was in fact used as the overflow preparation and cooking area for all of the family businesses including the restaurant since the diner kitchen was much smaller. The early version microwave’s issues were soon fixed and corrected after the previous minor contamination and reconstruction of the damaged area were solved. Mekkar thought that his papa made it much better this time with more features added to the kitchen itself.

Henrik had built some things himself with his own hands or on bigger projects arranged for other special tasks around the family lot with the goal to improve their quality of life. Mekkar’s papa constructed from scratch and from his knowledge a large round TV satellite dish. Mekkar describes it as like one you might see at a television broadcast station. It was built to greatly expand the available channels they could get on their television. An example of this was that they could television signals and shortwave radio signals from various parts of the globe. It made Mekkar’s house the place to hang out. Both parents thought that was a good thing since Mekkar had a penchant for finding trouble. Sirga mentioned to a family member, that the dish also helped keep Mekkar from taking off to who knows where and creating mischief. But, no matter what it seemed to find him.

Sirga and Henrik felt the more Mekkar was around and nearby the better they could influence him and watch over the sly Mekkar more often.. Mekkar had noticed throughout his travels around the world that parents, in general, have the same worries about their children and express it in similar ways. However he didn’t learn this until much later after he had moved away from home for sports. Mekkar thought his parents were pretty much the same as others as he only had Lasse’s parents and some others in the village to use as a real comparison. They were pretty much alike except for the fact that his mama was much more feisty, blunt, and would assert this attitude when necessary. But, he knew the whole local culture was like that too! It was just that Sirga was the most strong about it.

Mekkar really knew when he was in deep trouble for something especially when Sirga would call, mainly yell at him by his full complete name, all six of them. This, after she would first shout out the dog’s name or one of his brother’s full name. Mekkar would respond with a statement, “wrong child!” This would incur an increasing fury from his mama. Mekkar’s next natural reaction was to flee and to not be seen or heard by his mama, but where could he go? Not very far, as it turns out, since she knew or was acquainted with a lot of people in the area. Mekkar knew that she had her long arm of the law and she was the sheriff and his arrest and punishment would be coming soon.

Sirga thought that she was all knowing and she wouldn’t hesitate to tell Mekkar that fact on occasion. Her reason she stated was because she was a mother and they know all. Mekkar believed her because she seemed to always find out the details, even when he would keep quiet, it baffled Mekkar. That perception kept Mekkar more in line and in reasonably good behavior than he would have otherwise because Sirga usually didn’t have to tell Mekkar what to do in most situations, he already had a fairly good idea what was expected. Sirga almost never had to get Mekkar to follow her commands and do her bidding more than once. Mekkar thought many times that she was like an military officer barking out orders and you better follow them or else. Later on during his military service boot camp, the drill sergeants were a breeze as compared to his mama Sirga, Mekkar recalled.

Very infrequently, some of the people in the village had a pancake eating contest and Mekkar was feeling confident, so he entered and was determined to win. The first place winner would claim a prize equivalent to $500 dollars. Now Mekkar didn’t need the money because he was working, but he was so hyper competitive he just had to be victorious and win big! Mekkar knew that many activities that happen in the village are gambled upon, even the kids do it. Betting on different things was just part of the local culture. However, it didn’t always involve money, but could include purchased or bartered items or even services provided by the losers of the bet. 

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