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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