Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Prosciutto and Asparagus Appetizer

Seen on Dinner Impossible tonight, Prosciutto and Asparagus Appetizer. Blanched Asparagus, just enough to get it tender, wrapped in prosciutto and cream cheese. Didn't how them make it, but I believe put a thin layer of cream cheese on the end of a slice of prosciutto and then wrap that around an asparagus stalk. Probably 1/2 a slice. Looked good... have to try it.

I'll have a Betty with cheese

So we are up in Victor this weekend because it was beautiful out and we just wanted to do a ride. We rarely stop in Cripple Creek, but prefer to go on to Victor. This summer I was out there with Ted and Kristi and stopped at the Fortune Club (I think it was called). A little place to eat that sells sodas, shakes, rings and fries, burgers and hot dogs.

Due to some diet issues lately, I'm really watching the carbs. We mainly stopped for a diet soda, but were sitting at the counter and the burgers smelled so good I decided to have one without the bun. There were two people working the counter, a young female and an older guy would actually owns a place a few doors down (Buck) but comes over to help out during lunch. Yeah - how cool is that. Very small two.

Me: I'll have a cheese burger, no bun.
Female: What?
Me: I'll have a cheese burger, with no bun.
Female: starts laughing.
Me: What?
Female: That's just so cute.

Female: turns to Buck. Can you write up a cheese burger, and turning to look at me, with no bun.

Buck: A what?
Female: Cheese burger with no bun.
Buck: Oh... we call that a Betty!
Female: A Betty?
Buck: Yeah - there is a woman named Betty that is a friend of ours, and she has no buns.

Tina: That's awful!
Buck: What... we say it to her face. She knows she doesn't have any buns...

Buck: Turning towards the grill, yells out One Betty with Cheese.

Well... there ya go, next time I know what to order.

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Overheard

Someone talking on the phone near where I'm at:

"You can't microwave dynamite... Well actually you can, its pretty cool."

Hmm... I'll take his word for it.

Saturday, August 25, 2007

Risotto

Every time I watch Hell's Kitchen, I think... come on, he *always* wants them to make risotto, they make it every dinner service, and they always mess it up for the first half of the season or so. Therefore, if I was going on the show, one of the first things I'd do is learn how to make risotto. And besides, how hard can it be?

While down at Tif's, and cooking most the meals, I decided to give it a go. I googled it and how a page on making risotto. Didn't seem to hard so I gave it a shot. I think I used chicken broth, shallots, green onions, leeks and garlic. Something like that. Anyway, it did take a while (I used the "add a ladle of broth at a time" method), but it wasn't difficult and I think it turned out pretty well... I've never had it before, so its hard to say if it was correct; but it wasn't "grainy" and it wasn't "too salty", which are common complaints of Chef Ramsey. If there were any issues, I don't think it was creamy enough - but that will probably come with time.

Sunday, August 19, 2007

Work hard, play hard.

We were down in AZ last weekend. Kian's one month birthday. How cool. He's such a cutie and it was go good to go down and see Tif, Brian and him. I am extremely blessed that I can work off-site. We went down Friday, got there that evening and stayed till Tuesday. Didn't get off as early as I had hoped, and ended up getting home about midnight that night - then up at 5:00 the next morning for work and had tons to get caught up on. Worked remotely - but there is a lot going on right now so had to do numerous meetings.

And then this week I've got quite a bit going on, meetings, getting some deliverables caught up, and then it is off to DC the following week.

My boss, Hans went to UofA in Tuscon, and suggested we go to eegees, so we did. Very good. Had a lemon eegee and the pastrami sandwich. Yum.

Anyway - been busy and lots going on, so not much blogging of late. Expect it to be a very busy week this week - then like I said, off to DC. Leave Monday and get home late Thur - and Fri morning (7 AM) we leave for a bike rally in 4 corners. I think there are 14 of us going! We are going with some friends and they are setting it all up, so I don't know the exact details. Staying in a condo - so I don't think I'll have internet which means no connectivity for several days. How weird.

Anyway - its all good.

First day of school

Jaimer's first day of school is tomorrow. She's starting at UCCS. Tomorrow its philosophy and psychology. Yeah - what a liberal arts major. :) Not what I did, but I did take philosophy and thought it was great. I think she'll have a good time with them. I'm so excited for her. Thinking about this brings up a story I wanted to blog but haven't gotten around to.

So we went to UCCS for orientation. Parent's can come and I was deciding if I should go or not. Jaime said it was ok if I went, so I had pretty much planned it - but wasn't sure if I would spend the whole day or what, since I had a lot going on at work. But the night before:

J: So you're going tomorrow right?
M: Yeah
J: Are we taking one car?
M: Well I thought we'd take two, then I could do the parent thing and then maybe go to work for a while.
J: But you're going to stay and help me register right? And its only a few hours between the two.

At this point she kind of had that excited but scared first day at school when you drop them off for kindergarten look on her face. Yeah... a young woman in many ways and still a kid in others.

M: We can take just the one car.

So we get there and she is nervous (introvert like me in these situations) and feeling somewhat weird that she brought her dad, but then we see most everyone has parents with them. So its all cool.

So we spend the day listening to talks, getting tours, eating lunch, etc. I'm actually really glad I went and feeling a bit excited. Its been a while since I went to school (on a campus) and I'm getting more and more excited for her. This is going to be awesome. So its all good and very cool.

We then go to register. This is basically an advisor for your program talking to all of you that will be in the program, and then a few of them helping you figure out what classes to take. Turns out Jaime's program is very structured and loaded. Since she is going to be a teacher, she basically is getting most of her classes in 3 years, so she has no electives. She can take other stuff if she wants, but it won't count towards her degree. So she pretty much has to take what is listed. There are choices, but if its not on the list - she shouldn't do it.

Anyway - we are stumbling a bit through stuff and then the head of the program comes over, after working with several students, to help us out. We are a bit worried at this point, because it looks like most the classes she needs are full. So we tell him that, and he says no - its just some sections that are full and he should be able to get her into what she needs. So he sits down and asks for her paperwork.

A: Looks at Jaime, ask for her papers, looks down at her ACT scores, then looks at her again. Wow. These are very impressive.
J: Just kind of grins.
A: Where did you go to high school?
J: I was home schooled.
A: Looks at her, looks back at her scores, looks up at her again. Well I guess that worked out well for you!

He then talks to her about a few classes, then:

A: Do you know your GPA... Oh, I guess not because you were home schooled.
J: Explains that she went through an off-campus school and that they kept her transcripts, scores, etc. 3.954
A: Looks at her again... OK... so you could have told me *that* sooner. Home schooled huh...

He then puts her in some tougher classes. He then asks her about work, what she's been doing, etc.

J: I've been out of school for 2 years, so I studied quite a bit for the ACTs.
A: Looks down at her scores again then up to her. Apparently.

:)

Anyway - it was very cool. He was very impresses with her scores, her grades, what she had been doing, and remarked how well home schooling had worked for her. Given he is the head of the program... cool stuff. I was the proud parent.

What a smartie. :)

Driving under water

Its been raining here every afternoon - pretty typical for this time of year. I've been riding the bike to work most the time anyway, because we haven't done as many weekend rides as we did last year and I just want to be on it; plus is so nice in the morning.

So Thur I rode to work and got soaked coming home. I dropped the bike off at the dealership in the morning for maintenance, and got a Heritage Softail for a loaner; which I really liked. Anyway, ended up leaving work when it wasn't raining and as I drove towards the dealership could see it start to rain. By the time I was half way down GoGs, I was getting pretty soaked. Then got to the dealership, got my bike, and it was pretty much just a sprinkle the rest of the way home; with it totally clearing up by the time I got home. Was wearing just leathers, so soaked crotch and neck, but none the worse for wear.

Friday... take rain great - nah, how bad could it be. I made it yesterday. So off to work (up to Monument for a Dr. appt, which was a fun ride) then to work. That afternoon, "Hmm... maybe I should leave before it starts raining." But walking through the atrium I realized it was already raining, so stayed at work for another hour - not much letup. Finally left and when the back way - less hills and less highway, which I'd like to avoid in the rain. Again, pretty quickly I was getting pretty soaked; but actually not as bad as the day before. My glasses got pretty wet/foggy; so I stopped at a gas station about 2 miles from home (Union and Woodman) and dried them off; then made the dash for home. Meanwhile it was lightning and thundering (some very big bommers), which was a little freaky, but fine.

So, I'm getting pretty close to home but now the road is covered in water in spots. I start up the hill towards Lexington, and the person next to me actually backs off some as we go through a big water puddle, as we can both see the water roster tailing and covering cars as they go through it. Nice of him. I go through w/o getting too wet and then he goes through next to me, but a bit behind. Through the light at Lexington and down the hill. I'm going a bit slower than the traffic, 'cuz of all the water, but not too bad. At the bottom I notice a very large puddle and water roster tailing like crazy. This time the person next to me is not so aware/kind as right as I'm about to hit it, he passes me - and up comes the water... and the road disappears. I can't see a thing. I've had this happen in a car before; but never on a bike. The water comes up over my head; actually runs down the inside of my jacket; drenching me in water, and runs down the front (inside) of my chaps. I'm soaked, gasping for air and sputtering water, and just hanging on and going straight. Only lasted a few seconds - and the bike handled it fine. No sliding, loss of traction, etc. Apparently Ultra's can ride under water. Good to know.

Anyway; home totally soaked, but none the worse for wear, and yet another story to tell. Its all an adventure and about the journey. :)

A few things I learned:
  • I need to put some defogger on my glasses.
  • Turn north on Lexington and take the backroute the rest of the way home, which is slower and won't have big "lakes" in the road; and finally
  • Yeah... I should probably start taking my rain gear. Leathers are fine for getting "caught out in it" or if it is sprinkling, but if I know its going to rain, and potentially big; I should take the rain gear.

The software awards scam

Interesting article on 5 star awards given to software on download sites:
I put out a new product a couple of weeks ago. This new product has so far won 16 different awards and recommendations from software download sites. Some of them even emailed me messages of encouragement such as “Great job, we’re really impressed!”. I should be delighted at this recognition of the quality of my software, except that the ’software’ doesn’t even run. This is hardly surprising when you consider that it is just a text file with the words “this program does nothing at all” repeated a few times and then renamed as an .exe.

Thursday, August 02, 2007

Always watch out for the other guy

Yesterday I had a meeting with my boss, in which the following took place:

B: "I guess you'll be more carefully riding your motorcycle!"
M: "Why?"
B: "Didn't you hear Tom* (not real name) died this morning in a motorcycle accident."

Drag. He wasn't a "friend" of mine, but an acquaintance. I'd been on one business trip with him and been in several meetings. A very bright and seemingly very nice guy. Apparently working late trying to get some testing done, left his laptop at work running some tests and was heading home at 1AM and someone backed out in front of him w/o seeing him. Don't know all the details.

Guess they were reporting it on the news and all they said was "Verizon employee" and "accident this morning". Several folks worried it was me, since they didn't give the exact time.

Just a sad thing. 2nd or 3rd bike accident I've heard of in the last few days, but hits you harder when you knew the person.

Yeah... I'll be more careful - but then again I'm always pretty careful. And folks die in cars all the time too, so I don't think riding a bike is super dangerous or anything.

Anyway - make me stop and think and choke up a few times yesterday. My prayers go out to his friends and family.