End Of An Era?
... Well, maybe...
Last night we went out for dinner with 2 long-time friends. They're our burger/chicken/not-quite-fast-food-but-almost dining companions & Belle's Hot Chicken was the chosen venue. L-SP & I have been there before & enjoyed it, so were happy to recommend it for our fast-food foursome. Last time I was there, I had my chicken pieces 'Really Hot', which was one below the hottest level, appropriately named 'Really Fuckin' Hot' &, while it burned a little, it was quite tasty & certainly not the hottest thing I've ever eaten. But...
Last night, having been reminded by L-SP that I'd enjoyed the 'Really Hot', I went there again. My male counterpart ordered the 'Really Fuckin' Hot', as he's an enthusiastic chili hound. One difference was that there was now a higher heat level available, perplexingly named 'Sex Panther', after an off day in the Marketing Department, methinks.... Before too long, our chickens arrived. My friend got straight into his RFH & within 20 seconds was red-faced & starting to sweat at the eyebrows, but to his credit, kept going, with the aid of a nice 4 Pines ale. I picked up my first piece of RH...
... & within 20 seconds was red-faced, sweating from the eyebrows, had hiccuped from the heat & was further into my beer than my friend was. His wife took great delight in taking a photo of both of us, as evidence of our alpha male pretensions coming unstuck. Then my nose started bleeding...! This wasn't actually chili related, as it had bled earlier in the day, due to the headcold I've been nursing along for a few days... but it did provide an excuse to head to the bathroom & get the hell away from the devil bird for a few minutes. By the time I returned, our friend was onto his last piece &, while still red-faced & into a 2nd beer, was showing no signs of stopping. So I started my 2nd last & ordered another beer for myself too...
Some time around then, I had an epiphany... While wondering what the hell I was doing to myself, I realised I didn't actually have to do it at all & decided to finish the 2nd last piece & just... stop. To their credit, our friends didn't give me any grief for it (pretty sure one of them didn't have the breath, or lip/tongue co-ordination anyway!), so we paid the bill & made a beeline for the ice cream shop!!!
I had about 3 hours of good sleep, before heading for the toilet at about 2am, then again at 2.30, 3.15 & 3.45am. Around 4am, my nose started bleeding again, then by 5am Bella figured I was awake, so began her morning interruption schedule - wanting to be let out, wanting the heater turned on in the loungeroom, then wanting breakfast. My darling little cat has no idea how close she came to being put in the ground with her late sister... Off to work at 7.15am into the first day of school traffic...
The only way I can describe how I felt today was a food hangover... Nausea, headache, lethargy & the resultant impatience & extremely low bullshit threshold... with lots of water. LOTS of water... & more visits to the bathroom. L-SP reported that my friend who, let's remember, had the next heat level up from me, had suffered no lasting effects. I think I hate him a little right now...
Thinking about it, this isn't the first adverse reaction to hot food I've had recently... just the most extreme & memorable. So maybe it's time to retire my asbestos-coated digestion while there's still some coating left, as it's clearly wearing thin. No more chomping on chilis straight off the vine, no more hot sauces with death or disembowelment-related names proudly displayed on the kitchen shelves & dining table, no more beef or chicken vindaloos at the local Indian places... on 2nd thought, some of those aren't that hot, really... Maybe I can still have those...
Watch this space...
Last night we went out for dinner with 2 long-time friends. They're our burger/chicken/not-quite-fast-food-but-almost dining companions & Belle's Hot Chicken was the chosen venue. L-SP & I have been there before & enjoyed it, so were happy to recommend it for our fast-food foursome. Last time I was there, I had my chicken pieces 'Really Hot', which was one below the hottest level, appropriately named 'Really Fuckin' Hot' &, while it burned a little, it was quite tasty & certainly not the hottest thing I've ever eaten. But...
Last night, having been reminded by L-SP that I'd enjoyed the 'Really Hot', I went there again. My male counterpart ordered the 'Really Fuckin' Hot', as he's an enthusiastic chili hound. One difference was that there was now a higher heat level available, perplexingly named 'Sex Panther', after an off day in the Marketing Department, methinks.... Before too long, our chickens arrived. My friend got straight into his RFH & within 20 seconds was red-faced & starting to sweat at the eyebrows, but to his credit, kept going, with the aid of a nice 4 Pines ale. I picked up my first piece of RH...
... & within 20 seconds was red-faced, sweating from the eyebrows, had hiccuped from the heat & was further into my beer than my friend was. His wife took great delight in taking a photo of both of us, as evidence of our alpha male pretensions coming unstuck. Then my nose started bleeding...! This wasn't actually chili related, as it had bled earlier in the day, due to the headcold I've been nursing along for a few days... but it did provide an excuse to head to the bathroom & get the hell away from the devil bird for a few minutes. By the time I returned, our friend was onto his last piece &, while still red-faced & into a 2nd beer, was showing no signs of stopping. So I started my 2nd last & ordered another beer for myself too...
Some time around then, I had an epiphany... While wondering what the hell I was doing to myself, I realised I didn't actually have to do it at all & decided to finish the 2nd last piece & just... stop. To their credit, our friends didn't give me any grief for it (pretty sure one of them didn't have the breath, or lip/tongue co-ordination anyway!), so we paid the bill & made a beeline for the ice cream shop!!!
I had about 3 hours of good sleep, before heading for the toilet at about 2am, then again at 2.30, 3.15 & 3.45am. Around 4am, my nose started bleeding again, then by 5am Bella figured I was awake, so began her morning interruption schedule - wanting to be let out, wanting the heater turned on in the loungeroom, then wanting breakfast. My darling little cat has no idea how close she came to being put in the ground with her late sister... Off to work at 7.15am into the first day of school traffic...
The only way I can describe how I felt today was a food hangover... Nausea, headache, lethargy & the resultant impatience & extremely low bullshit threshold... with lots of water. LOTS of water... & more visits to the bathroom. L-SP reported that my friend who, let's remember, had the next heat level up from me, had suffered no lasting effects. I think I hate him a little right now...
Thinking about it, this isn't the first adverse reaction to hot food I've had recently... just the most extreme & memorable. So maybe it's time to retire my asbestos-coated digestion while there's still some coating left, as it's clearly wearing thin. No more chomping on chilis straight off the vine, no more hot sauces with death or disembowelment-related names proudly displayed on the kitchen shelves & dining table, no more beef or chicken vindaloos at the local Indian places... on 2nd thought, some of those aren't that hot, really... Maybe I can still have those...
Watch this space...