The old nut grinder gave up the ghost long ago, so we tried to use my coffee grinder, which only turned the moist nuts to paste.
He engaged his fellow passengers in conversation, aware that he was often considered "some old nut", feeling like "the Ancient Mariner" and worried that America is "starting to suffer from a sort of collective Alzheimer's disease".
He hasn't decided yet as he is focused only on the first defence of his World Boxing Association belt, which he makes next Saturday at Manchester MEN Arena against the mandatory challenger John Ruiz, a tough old nut who seems to have been around for ever.
They are typically found growing on wood and woody debris such as stems, twigs, wood chips, old nut shells, and old matting; they are sometimes found on "dried manure cakes".
Grease the upper shock threads with WD-40 when you are removing the old nut.
"We're the last of the Mohicans," said the 85-year-old nuts and bolts man.
The cooking time depends on how fresh the nuts are and how much moisture they contain -- older nuts need to cook longer.
Young walnuts, known as wet walnuts, are sweet, creamy and earthy, whereas an older nut not stored properly will quickly turn rancid.
You notice the plant matter — the bright green of grape leaves, the stout, grafted trunks of the oldest nut trees, the saplings that look impossibly frail under the blunt sun.
Anytime someone else mentioned the 54-year-old nut collector or his wife, he would cut them off: "Don't ruin my day by saying that name".
