Worship Junky

Cream of Onion/Celery w/ Chipped Beef Soup

2012-02-12T18:44:00.003-07:00

Wanted a simple cream soup, maybe celery... hmm and onions. But need some meat - hmm... chipped beef. Yeah!

1/2 medium onion, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
1/4 cup butter + 1 Tbs butter
1/5 cup flour
2 to 4 cups milk
10 rounds of dried beef
Savory Salt
Fresh ground Black Pepper

Melt the butter and add the flour to make a roux, over med heat
Season with Salt and Pepper - go light on the salt because the beef is salty
Cook on low for about 5 minutes
Add the mile, about 1/2 a cup at a time till the right consistency (it will thicken a little as you cook it)
At the same time, in another pan, melt 1 Tbs butter and add the celery and onion
Saute until wilted but not browned
Add to the cream soup
Soak the beef in warm water for a few minutes and then drain, rip into pieces and add to the soup

This is my standard base for a cream soup and I've made quite a few different soups with it. This one turned out pretty good!

Slow Cooker BBQ Ribs

2011-12-06T07:42:00.003-07:00

Jaime sent me a recipe for slow-cooker ribs and I modified it a bit.

1 package (a little over a pound) country style ribs
1 can Northern Beans (small white beans)
1 Green Pepper
1 Medium Yellow Onion
1 Jar BBQ Sauce

Rinse and drain the beans
Julienne the onion and green pepper
Cover the bottom of the slow cooker with some of the onion and green pepper
Add the beans
Add the ribs
Cover with the rest of the onion and green pepper
Cover with the jar of bbq sauce
Cook on low

If you do this before you go to work, when you get home you'll have hot beans and ribs. :)

You can extend this by adding another can of beans and more ribs. I think the sauce and the onion/pepper would work for twice as much beans/ribs. I had 3 ribs and ate 2 of them... so doubling it would probably feed 3 people or so.

Love Wins - by Rob Bell

2011-04-13T03:21:00.002-06:00

Rob Bell's book, Love Wins, is stirring things up. I heard about the controversy of the book before I ever heard about the book itself. "Wow - have you heard about this bad book"; or something like that. A week later my Pastor was discussing a number of books and held it up, "Here is a book everyone should read." (A little surprised to see him holding it up when I had jsut heard - "Make sure you don't read *that* book" - but given I trust him with my life; maybe something I should look into!) He posted his thoughts of it on FB,

I think every one of us at @[149977628397454:Castle Rock Bible Church] ought to read it, engage critical thinking, and dialogue about it. Remember- it is not the Bible. You won't lose your salvation.

And then a friend of his posted her thoughts on blogger.

I won't give a big review of it, its the middle of the night and I should be sleeping. lol. But I bought it, I read it in a few days, and I thought it was great. Is it all correct? I don't know... I don't really care. Like Pastor Mark said, I'm not going to lose my salvation over it... or even base my salvation on it. What I do know is that many things in it seem at odds with current "mainstream" Christian thinking... and resonate with me.

Life has never been about just "getting in". It's about thriving in God's good world. It's stillness, peace, and that feeling of your soul being at rest, while at the same time it's about asking things, learning things, creating things, and sharing it all with others who are finding the same kind of joy in the same good world.

Well said. I've *always* felt that. I've always thought/said, "It isn't about getting into Heaven! Yeah, that's cool and all - and a great side-effect. But what's it's really about is now." For me, following Christ brings with it the joy of entering into worship and having time cease to exist. Joining in with the angles and the believers and dancing before Him. And it brings with it the peace that, when I focus on it and let it wash over me, gets me through those days and times that I never thought I'd be able to face. Its feeling the presence of the Father, and knowing no matter *what* I do, feel or say; He loves me, is waiting for me, and takes joy in watching me dance before Him. And so much more... And that's so aptly stated in what Rob Bell said "Life has never been about just "getting in". It's about thriving in God's good world."

So yeah... is everything he said and feels spot on. No clue. That's not for me to know or judge. But I do know he totally gets God's love and what its all about "now". And because of that, its a book worth reading.

Asian Shrimp Cocktail

2010-08-01T20:25:00.002-06:00

This is similar to my other shrimp cocktail recipe, but this is kicked up another notch. :) I added in Sriracha to spicy it up a bit, and then had some lemongrass and thought "what the heck" and added that as well. Took it to a cookout this afternoon and everyone seemed to like it, including a few who asked for the recipe. So this is my new style of making it, as I'll probably do it like this from now on. :)

2 lbs peeled and cooked 51/60 shrimp - remove the tails and cut across them in half.
1 yellow bell pepper, small dice
1/2 red onion, small dice
4 stalks celery, small dice
2 avocados, medium dice, not too ripe!
2 limes
2 tsp Sriracha
1 12 oz jar Heinz Chile Sauce (Chili sauce! not Cocktail Sauce)
3 "stems" lemongrass, minced

Prepare the shrimp and cover with juice of one lime and let sit while prepping other things.

Dice the avocado and cover with juice of other lime.

Prep all the other veggies and when almost done put the shrimp and avocado in a colander and let the excess lime juice drain. If you don't do this the "salad" will end up being kind of souping and will "bleed" after it sits for a bit.

Mix the Chile Sauce and Sriracha. Actually I don't know how much I used... I just squeezed some in... but I *think* it was about 2 tsps. Put some in, taste it and see if the flavor (spicy, heat, etc.) is right for you.

Put everything into a bowl and stir. Stir enough to coat but don't stir too much. You don't want the avocado getting mushy.

That's it! Its important to use chili sauce because it is sweet and not spicy. The sriracha then gets it some heat, but its a Vietnamese/Korean kind of heat, rather than a horseradish flavor.

Vietnamese Grilled Pork/Beef

2010-07-09T19:46:00.003-06:00

I used this marinated both on pork chops and on grilled steak. Adapted from a recipe I found on the web.

Meat (see below)
2 Tbs minced lemongrass
3 cloves pressed garlic
1/2 Tbs grated fresh ginger
3 Tbs honey
1 Tbs soy sauce
Juice of 1 lime
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp Sriracha

I made the marinade, put it into a gallon size zip-lock bag and then added the meat and let it marinade for about 30 minutes.

One night I used 2 inch thick pork chops. The other night I used 6 round steaks that were sliced very thin. They come 3 to a pack at King Soopers.

The pork chops I grilled for 5 minutes on the first side on high, turned the heat down and grilled them for 10 more minutes on the other side, then flipped them over again and finished them off. I basted them multiple times.

The steak I through on a hot grill and grilled them for about 2 minutes or less per side. They cooked very fast. Once done I sliced them into strips. I think I doubled the amount of marinade for the steak.

The fresh lemongrass, garlic and ginger are a nice combination and you bite into bits of them because they are minced. Might be nice to reduce the marinade a bit or add more honey; to get a sweeter/thicker glaze.

Italian Chicken/Sausage Stew

2010-05-02T20:32:00.002-06:00

1 lb Johnsonville Mild Italian Sausage, bulk (not brat style)
3 chicken breasts (single breasts), diced in bite size pieces
2 tbs olive oil
1/2 eggplant, cut in bite size cubes
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 medium onion, diced
1 19 oz can cannellini (white kidney beans)
2 28 oz cans diced tomatoes
1 15 oz can tomato sauce
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tbs basil
1 tbs oregano
1 tbs italian seasoning
fresh ground pepper
1 tsp or so of Savory Salt

I used Johnsonville Mild Italian Sausage because it really produces a nice flavor. You could use hot or sweet, or any Italian sausage whose flavor you really like.

Cook in a large soup pan over medium high heat. Break the sausage up and saute it until cooked, continuing to break up so that there are no chunks. Add chicken and cook until done. If there isn't much fat left from the sausage; add a few tablespoons of olive oil so that there is enough to cook the chicken. As the chicken is cooking, cut up the eggplant and add it; then cut up the onion and add it, then cut up the green pepper and add it. Cook until the veggies are mostly cooked.

Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, garlic and spices. Reduce heat and simmer until... done.

I've made this before, putting it all together and serving it as soon as the tomatoes were hot. This time when I made it for a church I let it simmer for about 1.5 hours, then took it to church and cooked on high in a crock pot for 2 hours. The flavors simmered together very well. So if you have time; let it simmer or crock pot for a while. But if not - you can serve it as soon as you need to.

Also - seasonings are approximate. I just "sprinkle it on till it looks right". :) - So play with them; but I think the above should work. You can add more chicken. I bought a pack of 4 breasts, but needed one for another meal. And you can play with the veggies. I thought about adding zucchini and yellow squash. I would have added just one of each. And mushrooms would have worked. But I was trying to keep it pretty simple because of a church potluck and not everyone likes mushrooms; etc. So basically - add whatever Italian style veggies you and your family like.

Curry Asparagus/Mushroom Risotto

2010-01-17T18:23:00.003-07:00

I've been doing a 3 week vegan thing and so tonight I had some cooked rice and some veggies laying around. Threw this together - and then added the curry as it needed some extra flavor. This isn't *really* a risotto, as I made it with cooked rice, but it kind of has the feel. And it could be made as a risotto. Anyway, turned out pretty good and Tif asked for the "recipe", so here it is.

1/3 bunch of asparagus, cut into 3rds - about 2 inches long
8 mushrooms sliced into about 4 slices (fairly thick)
1 stalk of celery minced
2 green onions sliced thin
2 cups cooked rice
2 cups vegetable stock
1 tbs curry powder
kosher salt and pepper to taste
2 tbs olive oil

Saute the veggies in the olive oil for a few minutes along with salt and pepper. You want them to start to cook but not get to well done; just enough to let the flavors blend. Add enough stock to cover and let them cook a few minutes more. Add in the rice and some of the stock. At this point cook it like a risotto... Add some stock, let it cook off, then add some more. Do this until it gets "right". :) - You want it like a risotto. Not too soupy, but don't let all the stock reduce and the rice start to fry. I think I did this about 3 times. The 3rd time I added the curry powder, let it simmer for about 5 more minutes and then served it.

I know - like most of my recipes, pretty vague. Basically I sauteed some veggies, simmered some rice in it and threw in some curry powder. Had a nice flavor. The onion and celery were minced; with the asparagus and mushrooms being thicker because they were the "stars" of the dish. Also - given the amount of veggies and rice; this wasn't so much a rice with some veggies for accent; but really a dish with quite a bit of veggies and some rice. But simmering it like I did (probably about 15 to 20 minutes total), let it all blend together and still be very much a rice dish.

As always - if interested, give it a try and then adjust over time till it gets to be what you like! :)

As an aside... The way I picture being a big chef and working for say foodtv or something... is that you get to come up with cool stuff like this; without really measuring or anything. You just make some really cool food and then your staff says "OK... we need to figure out the measurements, cooking times, etc. to get it to turn out like that." You just get to make cool stuff and someone else has to figure out how to put it into a cookbook. Would be sweet. LOL

Garlic/Green Onion Roasted Potatoes and Pork Chops

2009-12-27T19:17:00.003-07:00

Recipe adapted from Ashleigh Bennett's FB post of "is making baked pork chops with green onions and garlic and roasted potatoes".

Home sick, not feeling well, nothing to eat. Read the above post and decided it sounded good. OMG it was very good. :)

I turned the oven on to 350, peeled and cut up (about 1 in thick) 2 potatoes, spritz them with olive oil and added sprinkled on some savory salt and pepper, through them in the oven and head to the store...

2 Medium Potatoes, cubed about 1 inch thick
Olive Oil
Savory Salt
Pepper
Rosemary
2 Pork Chops - about medium thickness
2 Green Onions, sliced
2 Clovers Garlic, sliced
2 Tbs butter

Start the potatoes:

Set oven at 350
Put tinfoil on a bake pan
Spread potatoes evenly
Spray with olive oil (if you have a mister, or baste, etc.)
Sprinkle with Savory Salt, Rosemary and Pepper

Bake for 30 minutes and then start the pork chops:

Turn potatoes (they make stick) and group together, misting with some more olive oil
Add pork chops, sprinkle with savory salt and pepper.

Bake for 30 minutes then turn:

Slice garlic and onions. Do the onions in 2 batches, lower parts and upper parts.
Turn the potatoes again and spritz with olive oil
Turn the pork chops
Spread the garlic and the bottoms slices of green onion over the potatoes and chops

Bake for 30 minutes then turn again. At this point the chops had been cooking for an hour.

Turn the potatoes again.
Remove the garlic and onion from the chops (just push it onto the pan) and flip them.
Put the onions and garlic back on the top of the chops.
Cut a few tablespoons of butter into little chunks and sprinkle around on the potatoes.
Sprinkle the potatoes with the rest of the onion

Cook for another 15 minutes or so.

At this point the chops were done, the potatoes were nicely golden with a crunchy outside but tender inside and the garlic and onions were cooked into everything. I plated them and then added a tablespoon or two of sour cream to the top of the potatoes.

The green onion / garlic added a great flavor to everything; and the rosemary on the potatoes along with the sour cream really finished it off nicely. Not sure if it was just because I was sick or what, but wow - the first bite was awesome. :)

Italian Rustic Chicken Dinner

2009-12-01T18:40:00.002-07:00

I made the following in 25 minutes; from the first slice of the tomato until I plated it. Fast, easy and very good. This does not have too much in the way of subtle flavors - its just a great tomato, garlic, olive oil and basil flavored dish. This makes a large serving for one of a Sauteed Chicken Breast, Fresh Tomato Sauce, Sauteed Italian Vegetables and Pasta.

1 Parmesan Crusted Chicken Breast, pounded to about 1/4 an inch (buy at WholeFoods or make yourself)
4 Medium ripe Tomatoes, cut in half
1/2 a White Onion, julienned
1 small Italian Eggplant, sliced thin
1 small Zucchini, sliced thin
1/2 a Red Bell Pepper, julienned and cut in thirds
3 cloves of Garlic
5 Basil leaves, chopped
Kosher Salt
Black Pepper
Fresh Pasta
Parmesan Cheese - 1/4 cup or so

There are four separate dishes that are all cooked at the same time.

Preheat the oven to 325
Melt 1 tbs of butter in a skillet and saute the Chicken Breast on both sides, just until it is golden brown.
Cut the Tomatoes in half, top half and bottom half and place in a french chef pan or another skillet and start cooking on medium high heat.
Prep the Vegetables
By this time the Chicken should be done; move it to a pan and place in the oven to finish cooking
Add a few tablespoons of olive oil to the skillet the chicken was cooked in and start sauteing the Onion.
By now the Tomatoes should be starting to break down; mash a bit with a potato masher right in the pan, turn them down to medium and let them continue to cook.
Add the Eggplant to the skillet with the Onion and let them saute
Add a few pinches of salt to the Tomatoes and two or three tablespoons of olive oil.
Stir the Vegetables and let them saute until the onions start to caramelize. You should flip the eggplant so it cooks on both sides.
Smash the garlic to remove the skins and throw the broken garlic into the Tomatoes.
Add the zucchini and red bell pepper to the Vegetable mixture and continue to saute. Sprinkle with a teaspoon or so of kosher salt and some fresh black pepper.
Stir the Tomatoes and add more olive oil if needed - if too much liquid has cooked out.
Start a pan of boiling water for the Pasta. The pasta I had only took 1 1/2 minutes to cook. So I added it near the end.
Add the chopped basil to the Tomatoes.
Basically you are now stirring both the Tomato Sauce and the Vegetables - breaking down the tomatoes and forming a nice sauce, and sauteing the vegetables until they are done.
At the end (this was about 20 minutes from start); put a few spoonfuls of the tomato sauce into the Vegetables and stir them around a bit to get some tomato and garlic flavor on them.

At this point everything should be done and you just have to plate.

Pour the pasta into a strainer
Spoon a few tablespoons of sauce onto a plate
Place the chicken on the sauce and add some pasta next to it.
Spoon sauce on top of the pasta and chicken
Add vegetables to the plate
If there is any sauce left spoon some on top of the vegetables
Sprinkle with some Parmesan cheese and serve!

Savory Butternut Squash Soup

2009-11-24T05:33:00.002-07:00

I made this for a Thanksgiving Potluck at work last week. I've made it a few times; but this time it turned out really well. Turns out this is vegan, without really trying. I used olive oil instead of butter (because I frequently do) and I used vegetable stock rather than a chicken stock because I didn't want the squash to get overshadowed by a meat stock. Not that vegan matters to me; but if you have vegan friends over for dinner; just another good reason to make this soup!

3 medium butternut squash
4 stalks of celery
4 shallots
1 carrot
1 gala apple
1 box of vegetable stock. I forget the size... its the box :) - maybe a quart or so? And I forget the brand - but the ingredients were vegetables, seasonings and water. That was it. No MSG, etc.
olive oil
kosher salt
white pepper

Salt and pepper are to taste... I never measure (just sprinkle some around) - but I *probably* used about a tablespoon of salt and maybe a few teaspoons of pepper. Its good to use white pepper both because of the flavor; but also that way you don't have any black flecks of pepper in the soup.

Make a Mirepoix by dicing the celery, shallots (or onion) and carrots very small and the sweating in a few table spoons of olive oil in a soup pot. Basically you are sauteing them until they become translucent, but not browned. Add in the apple (skin removed and diced small) and saute it as well. Stir occasionally and once it starts getting a little soft add in the salt and pepper.

Cut several slits in the squash - just stab them with a knife a 3 or 4 times, cut the steam off and microwave them for about 15 minutes. Cut them in half and the flesh should be fairly soft. If it isn't; microwave them some more. All 3 may not fit at once so you may have to do one or two at a time. Remove the seeds and discard, and then scoop out the flesh into a bowl and mash with a potato masher. This is just to break it up some. Mashing with a fork or whatever would work as well.

While the squash is microwaving the Mirepoix/apple should have cooked enough. You don't want it to brown or stick, so once it is translucent/soft; you'll add in some of the vegetable stock. Just enough so its not quite covered. You then use an immersion blender to blend up the mixture and let it continue to simmer, adding stock once in a while to keep it a liquid and not drying out, sticking, etc.

As the squash gets down, mash it up and then add it into the soup base, blending it up and adding vegetable stock as needed. Once all the squash is added you'll have blended it several times and you'll also have used up all of the stock and need to add some water to get the right consistency.

I made the soup the night before, let it cool and refrigerated it. The next morning I put it back on the stove; warmed it up (blending it one final time) and then put it in a crock pot on low for several hours before the potluck. You don't want it in the crock pot all day or over night; because it will dry out around the edges, which will turn brown, and that will darken the soup.

A few final comments.

As noted, you don't have to use shallots, you can use a large onion
Better to under season in the beginning; taste after its cooked for a bit and season some more if needed. I probably cooked this 2 hours before putting in the fridge, then another hour in the morning. Plenty of time to adjust the seasoning.
I made this the night before, but I've also made it the same day and served it. This is the best its ever turned out; but I think that is probably more the marepoix (I didn't use carrot in the past I don't think) then letting sit over night
You don't *have* to use an immersion blender if you don't have one. Using a blender or a food processor would work as well. I just do it in multiple stages, so an immersion blender works better. But you could make the marepoix, food process it; then food processor the squash as it is done and add it as well. Which might make it all "smooth" enough w/o having to do it multiple times. I just like to play while I cook. :)
The texture is a personal choice thing. The immersion blender doesn't make it a total liquid. There is a bit of texture left. I blend it numerous times to get it very soft; but I've also made it with a little more texture, etc. So blend it, or food processor it; until it gets to the consistency that you think is right.

While it does take some amount of time to make this soup, it really isn't technically hard; and it has a very good flavor. Well worth the effort; plus the color is very cool at the Halloweeen/Thanksgiving time of year.

Backroad Pizza - Day 1 - Labor Day Trip to Tif's

2009-09-04T21:20:00.002-06:00

Earlier this week I was watching Diners, Drive-In's and Dives and they covered Backroad Pizza in Santa Fe, NM. Since I knew I was coming down to Tif's this weekend, I decided to see if I could make it to Santa Fe (since I was leaving in the afternoon) and try it out. An adventure!

Trip south was pretty good, until I came up over the pass. Its always exciting to see what Northern NM has to offer. Sometimes the mountains stop the weather and you top the pass and its all clear blue skies. No such luck! I could see big storms in the south. The kind where you can see the rain falling to the ground in big black strips! But there was blue spots too and the road is all curvy, so you never know. I'd be heading for the storm, then head towards the blue, then back again. This kept up for about 30 or 40 minutes - and then I could see lightning and it was pretty obvious, by the cars heading towards me with their wipers going; that I was going to hit it. So when the first few drops hit; I pulled over and put my gear on...

OK... had to give those folks that know me a minute to recover. Yes - even though it wasn't *pouring* yet; I actually pulled over and suited up. Everything... helmet, pants and the jacket! Good thing too because in another mile or so it started raining. Not hard. Not the kind that makes you want to pull over and hide; but the kind that makes you glad you have a helmet on (so you can see) and a suit (so you are dry). The drops weren't too hard, and then the rain started hitting a little harder... That was when I noticed it was actually striking the ground and bouncing - and that it was little white balls. Yup - it was hailing. But not the golf-ball size stuff, more like peas. Not too bad really. Just enough to make you know you are alive! This lasted for 30 or 40 minutes... probably Springer down to north of Las Vegas. And from there it was clear all the way into Santa Fe.

As I got close to Santa Fe I toyed with the idea of heading into Albq.... but given I really wanted to try this place out, I decided better to stop while it was light out and I could actually rest up and stuff, rather than just pushing on.

So - I looked the place up online (yes laptops come in handy on the road) and it was about 10 minutes from my hotel. Woo hoo! I went there and it was pretty busy. I was standing in line with this family (grandparents, parents, little kids) and the dad says "I saw this place on food network so we decided to try it out!" and I said, "Me too!" and we talked a bit about Harleys and stuff. Then I ordered (walk up, not at your table) and went to sit outside and wait for them to bring me my food. I had my gear on and figured it would be warmer outside. Well... there was no place to sit. All 8 tables or so were full! I'm standing there looking around and this woman sitting at a table for four with her husband said, "Good luck!" and I said, "Yeah, looks like they are all full." The man then said, "You can sit with us if you want." And so I did!

Yes... more waiting for Kristi to recover from falling off her chair! ;)

So I sat with them and I asked them if they had ever eaten here before. "No, we say it this week on the food network!" Wow! :) The wait was probably 30 minutes or so at least; just because the place was so busy. So we just sat there are drank beer and talked. Their food came about 15 minutes before mine. They said the meatballs were very good - worth coming back for! I had a small pizza with homemade sausage (which has green chilies in it) and black olives. Plus a dinner salad and a Nut Brown Ale. It was all very good. And while the small was only 12 inches, and I hadn't eaten much since breakfast (other than some dill pickle sunflower seeds while I was driving down the road), it was hanging off the plate and so I brought 3 slices back to the hotel for breakfast! :) So - all in all I would definitely recommend this place. And because we had so much time to talk, they told me about 3 other good places:

Horseman's Haven Cafe - little dive cafe with good breakfast in Santa Fe (just down the road from my hotel) if you like hot green chili. I'll probably pass since I'll be having pizza for breakfast!
Buckhorn Tavern, San Antonio, NM - another little dive, with probably the best green chili burgers around - and they have good homemade fries too. Not on my trip on the way down to Tif's (since I'm taking 40), but definitely on the way on the trip back. And being south of Socorro... I might hold out and go there for lunch!
Gabriel's - north of Santa Fe. Great Fajitas and they make the guac at the table.

So... I'm all set for Road Food in this area! Woo hoo!

And since Kristi gave me homework when I'm out on the road... info to prove I actually *talked* to these people and not just about food!

Leroy and Melanie
He is from this area (grew up here his entire life) and she is from South Africa
They are going to their family cabin for the week
He worked at Pizza Hut when he was in college
He is a liquor salesman
They go skiing at Wolk Creek and stay in Pagosa Springs
They want to do a cruise to Alaska (not a motorcycle trip!)

There - I'm such the extrovert! ;)

Steak Diane - of a sorts

2009-08-23T18:59:00.005-06:00

I was feeling like a steak dish - having just watched Alton Brown do an episode of Good Eats on sauces. I remembered a steak dish that Tina's brother Tony used to make. Basically sauteed steak with mushrooms and bell peppers. He called it Steak Diane. So I looked the dish up and found a version by Emril Lagasse. Totally different. This is a dish made with filet mignon medallions, quick seared on each side and then served with a sauce quickly made. This is many times cooked to order table side in good restaurants. Well I didn't want to use filet, I wanted to use the much cheaper (and tougher) eye of round steaks which were on sale. And to use that I figured I'd need to let it simmer for a bit to get it a bit more tender. Following is what I came up with - quite a bit different; but probably similar taste. I made extra sauce, so that I could let it simmer for a while and also because I served it with angel hair pasta and wanted some sauce to put on the pasta. As always - all amounts are approximations.

6 eye of round steaks - 2.5 lbs in the family pack
salt and fresh *coarse* ground pepper to taste
1/2 stick butter
1/2 a Leek - some from both ends
3 cloves of garlic minced
about 8 mushrooms slice
1/4 C brandy
1/2 C heavy cream
3 tsp deli mustard (Batampte from the Broadway Deli here in the Springs rocks!)
3 or 4 "dashes" of Worcestershire sauce
1 C beef broth
1/4 stick butter

We have a pepper grinder that is really coarse. This is great, if you like pepper, because the sauce ends up with chunks and almost has a peppercorn sauce type feel to it.

Melt the butter and saute the steaks until they are slightly browned. Move them to the edge and saute the leeks until wilted then add the garlic for a minute or two then the mushrooms until they are cooked.

Remove the meat and veggies and deglaze the pan with the brandy. (I tried to burn it off like Emril said; but I think the pan was hot enough and there was enough butter left that it didn't light. It was fine). Add in the cream, mustard and Worcestershire and whisk until smooth - let simmer for a minute or so. Add in the beef stock, whisk and reduce for maybe 10 minutes. This is similar to doing a Marsala sauce - just letting it thicken a bit.

Add the meat back in; cover with the veggies and let cook for 15 minutes or so. The idea here is to let the meat tenderize a bit and for the sauce to thicken even more.

Right before serving take the meat and veggies out; add the rest of the butter and whisk till melted. Serve the steaks with veggies on the top and side and then spoon some of the sauce on the top and across the pasta (if you serve it with pasta).

To me it didn't have a *strong* mustard or brandy taste; just a really nice rich cream sauce. All in all a pretty simple dish that was very tasty.

As I walk back up and down the stairs for the 2nd time in one minute...

2009-08-21T06:11:00.001-06:00

While some are very irritated with the fact that as they get older they tend to forget things and have to keep walking back and forth between rooms for things they forgot... I tend to think of it as God's way of making sure we get *some* exercise as we get older.

Beartooth Pass

2009-07-26T13:08:00.003-06:00

The accident show in this article happened a little before we passed by. There was a second truck there and it had about half the load cleaned up and reloaded. By the time we got there it wasn't slowing anything down too much; although we heard the road was closed for a few hours.

Twisties, great on a bike, not so much on a semi...

Clam Chowder

2009-03-27T23:23:00.002-06:00

Snow storm yesterday; so good day for a cream soup and I decided on Clam Chowder.

I make all of my cream soups with the same base; a roux. While a roux is usually made with equal amounts of butter and flour; I usually use more flour as it makes it thicker. As the link above states; it is cooked till it no longer has a flour taste. Once I have the roux I can add broccoli, or potatoes and cheese, or corn and bacon for a corn chowder; or in this case potatoes, celery and clams for clam chowder.

1 stick butter (1/4 cup)
1/3 cup flour
1 quart mile
1 small potato diced small
2 ribs celery diced small
2 cans minced clams
savory salt and pepper to taste

Melt the butter and then add the flour, stiring into a paste and simmer until the flour taste is gone.
Slowly add the milk. At first it will thicken quite a bit, and then as you add more milk and continue to stir it will get thinner. It will slowly thicken back up as it reduces.
At the same time boil the potatoes and celery until the potatoes are cooked. Pour off the excess liquid; but you don't have to strain it as having a little extra liquid as fine.
Once the roux is a little thicker than you want the soup, add the clams including the juice; and then add the potatoes and celery with a little of the liquid. This should get it to about the consistency you want for soup. It will thicken a little as it cooks.
Let it simmer over low heat until it thickens and to allow time for the flavors to mix. This can cook in a slow cooker for a few hours; or on the stove over low for 15 to 30 minutes

You can pretty much adjust any part of this for own taste. And once you have this; you can use it for many other cream soups.

Crock Pot Pork Roast w/ Cabbage

2009-03-19T07:32:00.002-06:00

This took me 5 minutes to make and turned out really well.

1.5# Pork Loin - don't trim the fat
Savory Salt
Pepper
1/2 Head of cabbage cut into 4 wedges
1 Can Green Beans
1 Onion Chopped in about 1 inch pieces
1 Family Size can of Cream of Mushroom Soup

Put Pork Loin in bottom of the crock pot, fat side up, and season with savory salt and pepper.
Add cabbage wedges around the pork
Put onion and green beans on top
Cover with soup straight from the can, i.e, don't add any water/milk. In our crock pot I am able to cover the ingredients and have the soup form sort of a seal. This traps in the heat and keeps everything moist.
Cook "all day" - This is usually about 10 hours for us

This turned out really well. The fat all "melted off" and because none of the veggies put off that much liquid, the soup/sauce was actually still pretty creamy. The pork was very tender.

Italian Stir Fry w/ Whole Wheat Cheese Tortellini

2009-03-15T19:20:00.002-06:00

As usual - amounts are approximate as I just throw stuff together. This is one of Jaime's favorite things, except we usually put it on spaghetti; but based on something Tif said to me the other day I decided to go with a different pasta. I was looking for something whole wheat and saw fresh whole wheat three cheese tortellini and it worked out great.

1/2 white onion, julienne
1/2 green bell pepper and 1/2 red bell pepper, julienne
one stalk celery sliced thin
Small "stalk" of broccoli, flowers chopped a few time snd stalk sliced thin
5 cloves of garlic sliced thin
1/2 cup snap peas diced
5 mushrooms sliced - each one about 4 slices
2 boneless/skinless chicken breast; sliced thin and about 1 inch long
olive oil
1/2 tomato diced
1 small can tomato paste
2 tsp oregano
1 tbs basil
1 package tortellini

Boil water for the tortellini and add the pasta once the water is boiling, cooking according to directions while cooking the veggies - then drain until ready to add to sauce.
Turn electric skillet onto 350, add a few tablespoons of oil and heat.
Start preping veggies and add them as you prep them; stirring them in the oil as you add each one.
Add herbs and garlic
Add the chicken and stir-fry with the tomatoes until the chicken is browned and cooked through.
Just before done add in the tomato paste and thoroughly mix until combined.
When ready to server add in the pasta, combine and put into a large pasta dish for family style serving.

What are you?

2009-03-08T21:14:00.003-06:00

I took the Harley to the grocery store the other day. Coming out there was a family in front of me and the mom was talking to another family who was in front of us. I loaded up the bike with the bags, put the cart away and was putting on my gloves and goggles when the 6 year old little boy turned and saw me.

"WHAT ARE YOU???" he asked with this excited voice.

Before I could say anything his mom responded with, "He's a super hero!"

The boy looked at me in awe and said, "oh..." and then climbed into his van.

The mom turned to me and said "He meant that in a good way" a little nervous. I just laughed and said, "I know."

So there... I'm a super hero. Brightened my day! :)

Mr. Gore: Apology Accepted

2009-01-03T19:35:00.002-07:00

From an article in The Huffington Post:

Mr. Gore has stated, regarding climate change, that "the science is in." Well, he is absolutely right about that, except for one tiny thing. It is the biggest whopper ever sold to the public in the history of humankind.

Papa == Good Food

2008-12-22T08:01:00.002-07:00

Tif & Kian are back from Korea, with tons of stories. One of them being that when Tif or Brian tell Kian, "Say Hello!" in Korean he waves at them. Yeah... my 18 month old grandson knows Korean. :)

Anyway - the point of this post. Tif said that they ate out quite a bit while they were there; and a number of times in some pretty good places. They were in an Italian place eating pasta and Kian took a bite, then looked around and said "Papa?". Brian said, "What did he say?", and Tif said "He's looking for my dad." Apparently this wasn't the only time that happened.

Yup... that's my grandkid. "Hey... this is pretty good food... Papa must have made it." Or maybe it was "Hey this is good, I bet Papa would like it." Whatever it was, when he eats good food he thinks of me. AWESOME :)

Wasabi and Dynamite

2008-11-16T10:26:00.002-07:00

A great afternoon/evening in Denver yesterday.

Jesse Black invited me to the Denver Dynamite Soccer teams home opener. Game was at 7:15.

Seeing as I'd be heading to Denver, I called TommyT to see if him and Jennifer wanted to do sushi. Its almost always a yes.

We went to a new place that Tom had found with some guys from work. I don't know the name of it... but it was awesome. The thing that made it so great was good sushi and two new things I had never tried:

Seared pepper encrusted Tuna, and
Fresh Wasabi!

The tuna was awesome. Its just a very different taste. The pepper and tuna combination is almost sweet, but of course a bit hot at the same time. Just an excellent "different" taste.
The fresh wasabi was also a new taste. Almost like a picked pepper or something, in look and texture; but had the kick of wasabi. I'd pop a piece of sushi, chew it for a minute, and then throw a few wasabi morsels into my mouth and chew them up. Crisp/crunch and then the wasabi kick. Excellent! Something I am going to have to ask for every time I get sushi from now on!

After that it was up to the Dynamite home opener. It was so fun because I saw so many people I hadn't seen for so long - and all of the "kids" with their new babies. And then the game itself was great. First time I've ever gone to a soccer game! The first half was pretty much even (I think it was 3 to 3 at half) and then the Dynamite came out the 2nd half and dominated; with the score ending 11 to 6. They had some nice runs of 3 scores, and Jesse had 2 goals - which was very sweet. Everyone around me were either his friends or family, and the crowd would go wild when he scored - so it was very cool. And while most of it looked like targets of opportunity to me (but I don't know much about soccer); there were also some very finely executed plays with some great passes, feigns, and then score. Very cool.

And on the way home I stopped and got a Triple Venti Spiced Pumpkin Latte.

So all in all, a great afternoon/evening!

Chicken and Dumplings

2008-11-05T19:55:00.003-07:00

It was a cold day, Melissa posted on Facebook that she was making pumpkin bread - and I decided on comfort food for dinner. This uses premixed ingredients - which makes if fast but still homemade.

2 Chicken Breasts, cut in 1" pieces
1/2 Orange Bell Pepper, diced
1/2 Green Bell Pepper, diced
1 Leek, sliced thin
2 Stalks celery, diced
2 14oz cans of chicken broth
1 "small size" can Cream of Chicken Soup
Bisquick

I made this in a French cook pan, but it could also be made in a skillet.

Put broth in pan and turn on high, add vegetables and chicken and bring to a boil, then turn down on low and simmer. I let this cook for 30 minutes or more until we were almost ready to eat. Meanwhile make a serving of biscuits according to the Bisquick recipe.

When almost ready to eat, remove the chicken and veggies and set aside. Bring broth to a boil and spoon drop biscuits into the broth, cooking for 6 minutes on medium, covered. The broth will thicken because some of the dumplings will dissolve into the broth.

Remove dumplings and scrape the bottom of the pan if it got thick enough to start sticking. Stir in soup and add chicken/veggie mixture. Cover and immer for a few minutes until the soup is bubbling.

Serve!

Pictures are on this Facebook Album.

Tostada with Pumpkin Seed Honey

2008-11-05T19:48:00.005-07:00

Based on recipe by Mission Foods

Corn Tortillas Oil for frying
2/3 cup toasted Pumpkin Seeds (pepitas)
2 Tbsp. Brown Sugar
1/4 cup Orange Juice

Fry the tortillas in oil until golden brown, drain excess oil on a paper towel.

Separately, melt the brown sugar in the orange juice in a pan and add the pumpkin seeds. Let simmer for 10 minutes.

Let cool for 15 - 30 minutes... if you have the time. This will let it thicken a bit. Its best if its a bit like honey or syrup.

Lastly, drizzle the tostada with the mixture.

I made these for a potluck so cut the tortillas in 1/4s like chips; with one whole one in the center. I let them sit out for 30 minutes on wire racks before plating them so that they syrup would soak in a bit - but it wasn't soggy at all.

Pictures can be found on this Facebook Album.

Stuffed Italian Vegetables

2008-09-27T06:41:00.004-06:00

Jaime watched Dinner Impossible with Michael Symon and thought the Stuffed Baby Eggplant looked really good, so sent emailed me the link with "Dad - I think you'd really like this. You should make this for dinner on Thursday while we watch the season premier of Grey's. :)"

I read it and agreed! Then decided to do something "based" on that. :)

So the initial thought was eggplant, but then decided to extend it to multiple veggies - the taste would be good and it would be colorful: purple eggplant, green zucchini, yellow squash and red bell pepper. I figured I would just use mild Italian sausage, but then thinking about the Turkey Sausage Meatball recipe, I decided to mix in ricotta and parmesan. Then bake it in sauce, with mozzarella on top. The original recipe called for making a sauce for 8 hours. I had some left over spaghetti sauce I had made a few days before - and it was enough of a base to just add in some diced tomatoes and let that slow cook for the day until I got home to put it all together. Cooking the sauce "all day" when it has diced veggies in it; lets them all pretty much "melt" into the sauce and gives it a nice deep rich flavor.

So like all my recipes, here is the basic idea - experiment and adjust based on your tastes!

Sauce:
1 jar spaghetti sauce to start as a base,
or you can use some good tomato sauce. Probably about 3 cups
or a couple cups of sauce and some diced tomatoes
1/2 onion minced
1/2 green pepper minced
2 Tbl olive oil - gotta add that flavor
3 to 5 cloves garlic minced - depends on how much you want to "kick it up" :)

Add in some Italian seasoning - a few tbl of basil and maybe one of oregano

Let it cook all day on low in a crock pot

Veggies:
Cut 1 eggplant, 1 zucchini and 1 yellow squash in half length-wise. Scoop out the seeds with a spoon, being careful not to go too deep and puncture the outside of the veggie. Sprinkle kosher salt on the exposed flesh and let sit for about an hour (I did this for about 15 minutes because we were hungry). The idea is that the salt will pull the moisture out and so you won't end up with so much liquid when you cook it. You can put these upside down on a rack over your sink so that they "drain" as the moisture is pulled. Pat them dry when done.

Cut one bell pepper in 1/2 length-wise and remove the seeds.

Filling:
1 lb mild (or hot if you prefer) Italian sausage
1/2 cup of ricotta
1/4 cup parmasen
mix together

Cover the bottom of a 9x13x2 baking dish with sauce; stuff each veggie with the filling, and place in the dish. Given there were 8 halves, it was a pretty tight fit. So you made need another dish, depending on how many veggies you use and how big they are. Cover the veggies with shredded mozzarella and bake at 350 for an hour; or until the cheese is all melted and the filling looks done.

Plate and drizzle some of the sauce over the top!

I initially cooked it for 45 minutes - but it didn't look quite done enough. And at one hour the sauce had gotten quite a bit more thin - because more liquid cooked out of the veggies. So an hour seemed about right.

It was really good - but there is always room for improvement. :) - Next time I'll probably add a 1/2 cup of bread crumbs in to the filling as well; as I think it would have made a little bit better consistency.

Or another thing we might try, rather than the Italian mild sausage; is to use the Turkey Sausage Meatball recipe rather than the filling I posted above. It has a great taste and is probably more healthy.

Pics of this can be seen this Facebook Photo Album of mine. The first 3 pictures are for this dish.

105 Update & ABC Rally Tally

2008-09-08T06:49:00.003-06:00

I'm in Billings at Marv's house! Wet ride in. The west was driving down a back road to met Marv and I went through a deep spot of water on the road and filled my boots. :( Oh well - they'll dry.

Getting less and less ABCs in a day, as I end up with less and less new stuff to get! Picked up ND, SD, and MT. Yeah, I forgot I was dipping into SD for about 20 miles or so. Stopped in Lemmon SD and called Marv - turns out Dave Newman (who I knew in Big Timber and is Marv's ex-brother-in-law) lives here. In too much of a hurry to get through the wet and cold to call him or anything - but interesting none the less. :). I'm now at 66! So everything else is "gravy" :). Change in plans, not going into Yellowstone and ID. Would make the drive down to Casper too long I think - and I don't want to push it. So I'm going to Big Timber, then back to Columbus and down across the Beartooth Highway to Cody, or Thermopolis or however far south I make it before calling it a day. That will give me a long day home on Tuesday - but that won't be bad as its pretty much country I've been through a ton of times and I'll be focused on getting home.

ABCs still possible:

WY
Colorado Springs
Douglas County
Yoder

So that puts me at 70! 4 over.

Funny thing on Yoder. I only need a 'Y' and I'll have all 26 letters for cities. Pretty cool! I only need the 'Y' and I was looking in ND, SD, Montana - and couldn't find anything except one city and it was quite a bit out of the way and didn't even look like it might be real. Drag. So I check Colorado and Yoder pops up... I'm like "Duh!" and then I figure maybe it doesn't really have a spot to snap a pic or something, but I checked last year's ABCs that I sent in, and sure enough I had gotten Yoder. So cool - just need to head out there some time after I get back and snap a pic.

Well enough for now - if I get in early tonight I made do some more pic updates, etc. - but then again the plan is to be home all day Wed before heading back out for a few days - so I might just do updates from home.

105 Trip: (Fri 05-Sep) Day 13 - Bemidji MN - 3707 miles

2008-09-06T05:32:00.004-06:00

Not that many miles today - but they were cold and somewhat wet miles.

Left Thunder Bay later in the morning. Must have been 9:15 or so. I got up a little late - I think it was 7:00 or so! Then did some work, checked email, facebook, etc. Finally grabbed a few hard boiled eggs and a cup of coffee and headed out. It was cold, but for the most part sunny - just a few puffy blue clouds. So the hope was I'd beat the storm out of Canada and get to Bemidji before it rained.

Made it to the border, its not that far, and took a quick shot of the Canada sign and then some more shots of "Welcome to the US" while waiting in line. The line was moving pretty slow - but just sat there taking pics and enjoying the warm.

[Side note - if you are on facebook you've already seen all these pictures that are linked - but for those that aren't on facebook I'm including the links.]

Entered Minnesota, the North Shore of Superior and No Helmet Law!

As I was heading south I could see clouds building to the west "inland." I kept hoping they'd disappear the further south I got... but they didn't.

Got to Silver Bay and stopped for Gas at a little store. Waited to pay and ask the cashier about best routes, while she finished up a phone conversation.

No. I don't know if A won or not. The B squad lost though. I'm not sure about the A squad. I think they lost but we left before the game was over. 38 Special was playing in front of the casino. They were awesome! Awesome! They should play winterfest!

All in a MN accent of course. I love listening to "local" chatter. :)

Anyway - I asked her the best way to get to Bemidji (after asking her how to pronouce it... its Ba-mid-gee) and she told me that my map didn't have a new road they just built. "11,15,16 They are all the same thing!". Well its really Forest 11, County 15 and another County 16. "It will cut 45 minutes off your trip vs going to Duluth."

Well the sun south was calling - but I decided to make the shorter trip, turn away from the lake and head inland. The forest road was awesome: brand new, wide, and nobody but me on it. Curvy but not twisting - keeping the speed up the entire time so making good progress. Then I hit a detour, then the "Detour End" sign - and I'm on the little back road. Still paved - and still Hwy 16 - but not that great of a road and out in the middle of nowhere. At first I just had on the dew rag, then I added the beanie, then finally put a bandanna over my face. Yeah, it was getting colder all the time! And then it starts to rain and my goggles are fogging up and I can't see - so I push them up and I'm glancing over the top of them. I have NO idea where I am - other than I'm heading west - hopefully towards Hibbing. I finally see a sign "Welcome to Hibbing"... but there is nothing here. I'm on a country road with a few houses here and there. Great.

So this old guy is pulling his trash can in and I stop and ask him:

M: How do I get to the town?
OG: What town?
M: Hibbing
OG: Oh - just turn around and turn left and its right there!
M: Is there a gas station?
OG: No - for that you should go straight, then turn for a mile then go two miles and you'll hit 167 and Walmart is right there!

So I try and wipe the goggles off and head on my way - and all of a sudden there is this big Walmart and I pull in and gas up... and put on the full face.

This other older guy says "Kind of cold day for a ride!" and we talk and he asks where I'm coming from. "Silver Bay" - "Oh... you must have drove right by my place on 37." I tell him I was trying for 37, but ended up on the 16 detour and he's just grinning and nodding the whole time - like 'yeah, everyone does that.' He then tells me how to get to Grand Rapids and then Bemidji and I head out.

But its not raining *that hard* so I don't put the suit on - just the helmet.

Well I end up not making it to the "little patch of blue" and the rain is getting more steady, so I pull into this little Used car lot / gas station with the Open sign flashing but a sign on the door saying "Went to tow a car. Back later." But they have the pumps under a roof (like most stations) and I pull under there and start getting the rain suit out and situating everything.

Now I'm wearing 2 pairs of pants, chaps and rain pants; plus 3 shirts, leather jacket and rain jacket. I'm not cold. :)

Rain isn't coming down too hard and I'm pretty used to driving in it, so I just head on my way.

Finally make it into Bemidji and its no longer raining - although it looks like it could at any point. I end up driving around and getting a few more pics - one of Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox! and then going for dinner.

Ate at the Peppercorn. Had salad, the Peppercorn NY Steak (best peppercorn sauce I ever had), a Honey Weiss beer (good), and bread pudding for dessert. Yeah... probably the last dessert I should get. It was great, but I'm not supposed to be eating that much sugar and I was pretty stuffed after. It just looked really good. Thumbs up on the restaurant... if you are ever in Bemidji!

Got to bed at a decent hour.

And now its 7:00 AM - I've updated facebook with pics and this blog - so time to get around and hit the road!

Today its off to Bismarck ND! I'm going to stop in Hazleton on the way. Well its not "on the way" but its not far out of my way. We lived there for several years. The town was 400 when we were there, and as of the 2000 census it was down to 207 with a wikipedia note of "To combat population loss, city leaders of Hazelton have offered free land and start up money for people to move there."

They also have a note in the discussion that says, "It is requested that a photograph or photographs be included in this article to improve its quality, if possible."

So hey... I'll be uploading some pics to wikipedia later tonight! :)

Well.. really should get around - looking out the window it is cloudy but not raining. Forecast calls for rain - but later in the day all the way to Bismark. Its another short day - only 325 miles or so - about 6 hours. So plenty of time to hit Hazleton and still get into a hotel early. And its supposed to be sunny which would be very nice!

Later...

Day 12 - The guy on the Yamaha

2008-09-06T04:36:00.002-06:00

So I'm coming out of the mountains and onto the Great Lake and there is this pull off. I pull over to get some pics. There is a Yamaha touring bike of some sort sitting there running, and a car. I park and walk over and to the edge to take some shots. There is this older (yeah - older than me) guy with a helmet on and a yellow snow/rain type jacket. Not a slicker but a jacket. Looked pretty warm. Anyway, turns out he is from VA and was out at CO last year. Been to Sturgis, etc. The other guy is a local and we chat for a little bit out the trip to Thunder Bay and how pretty it is here "best kept secret. The Caribbean of the north."

I head out and tell the Yamaha guy, "Safe Ride" or something like that and he says, "Ride Easy".

A little while later I stop for another pic, and he drives by. Then I stop for gas in Wawa - and he's gassing up too. As I go to pay I say, "See ya later down the road." He grins and heads out. Later I pass him and wave. Then I pull into Marathon, drive around, and then get gas - and he pulls in. "Not sure where I'm at or where I'm going" and he laughs.

So I keep running into him all day.

Then I get to Thunder Bay, have dinner, and as I'm leaving to come back to the hotel and waiting for traffic to clear, he drives by without his coat on. Must have stopped here as well.

That was the last I saw of him; just thought it was interesting how we kept passing each other and stopping at the same gas places. I guess not that surprising seeing as there aren't that many stations, etc - but it was still kind of cool. :)

105 Trip: (Thur 04-Sep) Day 12 - Thunder Bay, ON - 3362 miles

2008-09-05T20:31:00.002-06:00

Sunrise, as seen in this picture, was awesome. Was cold - around 54. Then hit a detour and through a small town and the bank said it was 48!

Going across the bridge was cool and I stopped and took a few pics of the island, then continued north. Got to Sault Ste Marie w/o incident and hit the border crossing.

First guy asked me where I was going, what I was doing, and what I did for a living. Wrote some stuff down, handed me a yellow piece of paper and said "Pull forward, park and take that inside and show them your papers."
Second guy - cop looking: "Where are you heading?" - "OK... take your papers inside" - didn't seem to friendly.
Third guy - young guy at the far end; waves to me, and took my papers. Asked me the same questions, how long was I going to be there, etc. Gave me everything back and said "OK - have a nice visit."
Second guy - waiting by the bike still. "Did he keep the yellow paper?" - "Yes" - "OK. Be on your way." Yikes!

Then I had to pull over to get a Canada picture... figuring he'd be right after me, but it was all good. Took some shots going over the bridge - cool - right over the locks - and then headed north.

The rest of the day was spent trying to make small towns. The third guy said I could make it to the "Canadian Carver" trading post and gas up there - that I didn't have to make it all the way to Wawa. So I stopped there and bought some stuff for Kian and Jaimer. Then on to Wawa. Ate lunch there at the 17th place (its in the pics I uploaded to facebook). Service wasn't that great, but the food was hearty and good. Excellent since I was cold. Then heading north again.

ON is BEAUTIFUL. I loved it. Kind of a mix between Montana/Colorado mountains, but with tons of mountain lakes and rivers... and a great lake! I'd be riding along in the mountains, and come around a corner and drop down to the lake. Crashing waves along the rocking coast line; then back up into the mountains, by a mountain lake, then back down to the coast again. Excellent bike riding - not too twisty, didn't drop speed too much, but windy and great roads (at least most of the way).

Finally made it into Thunder Bay - cold and a little damp, and there was a bike in front of me. Followed it here and there (when I was in the same lane) and then he got ready to turn and it was my turn too. I saw the Best Western so headed towards it - and the Harley dealer was across the street! So I pulled in, and there was the guy I had been following.

We chatted for a bit "Where ya from? Where you going." With a few "eh?"s thrown in there. :) It was a good talk. Then asked him where I might find a good local place to eat. He said, "Well right behind that building is Naxos. Its Greek, not local, but the food is really good.

So I went back to the Hotel; got settled in, and then tried it. It was EXCELLENT. Had,

A pink spread for an appetizer. I had it before in DC - I think it was the same stuff. Made with carp eggs if I remember right. Yeah, its great.
Avgolemond - a lemon rice soup
Mousaka - I've had it once before in DC, and this was better. The tomato sauce / meat mixture was very meaty and had a rich taste. The eggplant was great. And the Béchamel was awesome. While the dish is tall enough that you might be tempted to eat some of the eggplant/tomato w/o the Béchamel... don't! Part of the overall taste is the rich tomato (almost like a spaghetti sauce) mixture along with the baked Béchamel that is on top. Eat them together and its a great taste!
The Mythos Greek beer!
Baklava - dense phillo with lots of honey, cinnamon and nuts, and finally
A Baileys Coffee! Just the thing to take the chill off and finish off the meal

Did I mention it was awesome! Perfect end to the day!

Mileage total and quick update

2008-09-05T19:23:00.003-06:00

Too tired to add detailed entries, maybe in the morning. But:

Thunder Bay: 3362
Bemidji: 3707.

Am in Bemidji. Got rained on quite a bit, but doing just fine. Was a cold day, but was bundled up. Turns out this is the head of the Mississippi and also the home of Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox. I'm pscyhed! :) I have pictures that I'll post later!

ABC Rally - tally

2008-09-05T19:20:00.003-06:00

Woo hoo - picked up USA, Canada (again - just to be sure), MN, and an 'A' and 'B' county. I'm now at 63! So I only need 3 more and I will still get:

ND
MT
ID
WY
Colorado Springs
Douglas County

So that puts me at 69! 3 over. So I'm looking very good plus might pick up a few more.

105 Trip - heading into Canada

2008-09-04T04:24:00.002-06:00

Sunrise at 7:00 here, so I'll be heading out around that time. Its 9.5 hours by car to Thunder Bay. 10 hours would put me in there at 5PM - and it will mostly likely take me 11 or 12, since I'll be stopping more often for gas; seeing some sights, etc. Temp is 59 degrees right now; so I'm glad I packed my warm coat and some other warm gear... "just in case." I'll have 3 shirts on this morning! Wish I had my thermal pants. I know, no where near the 20 degrees I ride in during the winter - but hey, I'm not on the road for hours then either!

Looks like Gustav is going to head North but hopefully miss me. I think if I make it to Thunder Bay before it hits I should be ok. Its supposed to rain here, but not till this evening - and by then I'll be at least a few hundred miles north. Hopefully on Friday when I had more west I'll miss it.

I'd LOVE it if it was sunny today, driving along parts of Superior. Just makes it prettier and warmer. But we'll see. Either way its all good.

Staying at Best Western again tonight and will have WiFi so will update tonight after I get in and get settled.

ABC Rally - tally

2008-09-03T20:39:00.003-06:00

55 points! I'm trying to get 66 - so I need 11 more. I should be able to get:

USA
Canada
MN
ND
MT
ID
WY
Colorado Springs
Thunder Bay
Douglas County

So I only need 1 more - and I have quite a few counties left that I can get. So if I get a few more than the ones listed above; I'll have a few spares just in case they don't take them all - so I should be in good shape. :)

105 Trip: (Wed 03-Sep) Day 11 - St Ignace, MI - 2843 miles

2008-09-03T20:14:00.002-06:00

Today I left Pat and Ward's and went up to St Ignace, getting ready to head into Canada tomorrow. I went 403 miles... but its only 161 miles away! :)

Col got Eddie's Ultra and took me from Pat and Ward's up to Gaylord. I called about 4 different Harley dealers, all over the area; asking for service. The answer was pretty much the same when I talked to them on Tuesday. "I'd love to help you out, but there were 6 bikes waiting this morning and there is no way I can get you in tomorrow." I called Gaylord (Zip's HD) and they said "Chuck is busy, can you call back?" - Sure. So I called back later, "Can I talk to Chuck?" - "This is Chuck!" I asked if I could schedule service tomorrow (Wed) and he said that he was fully booked so wouldn't schedule anything else... but if I showed up around 11:00 he'd "try and work me in."

So we showed up at 11:00 - and he dropped everything, got me written up, and got me in. "Should be about and hour or an hour and a half." And he got it done. Excellent. Its a brotherhood :)

As a side note... I thought me going 4K to 5K miles on this trip was pretty unusual. I've now met at least two other groups who have gone that far. Met 2 bikes in Ludington MI. "We went out to Los Angles and then up to Portland and back to Indiana last month... then didn't do anything for 2 weeks so had to come up to MI to put a 1K miles or so on the bike because we hadn't ridden much in 2 weeks." - Then heard some people talking in MI who had just got back from going out to Seattle and then into Yellowstone. And at Zips there was a guy from FL who was up for the summer and was heading back in a few weeks. He was scheduling his 85000 mile service. :) You just gotta love it!

Anyway - I planned on staying in Sault Ste Marie - but someone booked a room in St Ignace (45 miles short :( ) - So I got to the hotel at 2:15 and checked in. They had a great room for me - I asked for one close to the parking lot - the bike is right outside my door. :) - I then went up to Sault Ste Marie and went to customs to make sure that I could get in and out with a birth certificate and drivers license. And they said yes that would work. I then went to Paradise, Whitefish Point and down to Newberry; then back. The trip took longer than I thought and I didn't get back to St Ignace until 8:15! And the trip was pretty cold. There is a cold front going through and it was only 60! But it was just beautiful. Ed Jacobs told me about the route and he was right. It was an awesome bike ride. He also told me to try Timber Charlie's in Newberry. I was running late and didn't - but I did get a picture. :)

Got back to town late, hungry since I hadn't eaten since breakfast, and I stopped at the Hillside Cafe - which had a sign out front about home cooked food and "fresh whitefish." I wanted whitefish - hadn't had any since we were up here a few years ago. They handed me a menu and I said "Do you have the whitefish?" - "Yup, it was caught this morning!" - "I'll have it!" :) - Had that and salad bar... and coffee ('cuz I was still freezing) and it was all very good. Yum!

So - that was the day. I'm all caught up :) - Have to go upload a few pics and then hit the hay; since I plan on leaving very early. Its 8 hours to Thunder Bay by car... and I'll probably take longer. So I'm planning on leaving by 6:30 or so; so I can hopefully get in before 5:00.

105 Trip: (Tue 02-Sep) Day 10 - Milwaukee WI - 2430 miles

2008-09-03T19:58:00.003-06:00

Well I was updating every day... but got behind, hanging out at Pat & Ward's for two days. Just too much down time to even want to get on the computer much :) - although I did do some work.

Sunday:

Left Milwaukee heading to Pat & Wards. Original plan was to take the ferry, but that just didn't work out. It was faster to go via land, because the ferry didn't leave till 1:15 PM. Terry, Ted and Kristi wondered if I'd be able to make it on my own, since I usually ride sweep. "Where are we going?" someone would ask, "I don't know... I'm following Terry", I'd reply. "How are you going to do, riding on your own?" Kristi asked. "I'll manage." So we left the motel, the turned left and I turned right... right behind 3 other bikes and ended up following them all the way to the interstate - probably 20 to 30 miles. :) Then on the interstate there were tons of bikes heading home from the 105. So I was pretty much in the company of bikes all the way to Michigan City or so.

Michigan City, IN. I stopped at the Harley dealer to get an ABC shot... but they didn't have any name/logo outside; so I couldn't get a picture. And this was to be my Indiana picture. So I asked them about it and the owner said they had a logo inside... and propped open the doors and told me to pull right in front and see if I could get the shot. So I pulled up on the sidewalk as close as I could get and a young girl who was the cashier came out and snapped a few shots... and they turned out. Cool. :)

Rest of the trip was pretty uneventful except the very end. Col and Eddie met me about 30 miles out and we all rode in together! Arrived and Ward was filming the whole thing. I forgot how he was with the video camera. :) Pat, Ward, Col and Eddie (and all their kids and one granddaughter) were there and we hung out and had dinner. It was great seeing them all and seeing Chloie (sp?). She is so cute! About a month older than Kian I think - and running all over the place. I miss the grand kid!

The rest of the time was spent just hanging out, doing a bit of working, eating great food and just being lazy. Did a couple of loads of clothes and got ready for the rest of my trip.

Oh - and Ward, Pat and I went on a drive around the country side and he showed me where they used to come when there were first "going up north." That was cool.

And then Denise and Ed came over on Tuesday night to visit. And Christin. (And yes, it might be with a 'K'. I'm terrible at knowing names of people I don't actually write to). But I should know soon because I think she is going to look me up on Facebook.

Did find out that Ed had two of his fingers mangled and mostly severed off in a machine accident a few months back! They re-attached them and he is just now starting to get some feeling.

Guess that is most of the family news. It was an awesome visit and a great chance to just relax and hang before heading into Canada.

105 Trip: (Sat 30-Aug) Day 7 - Milwaukee WI - 2012 miles

2008-09-02T06:28:00.002-06:00

Although things were officially over on Sunday, Saturday was the last big day and we planned on heading out early Sunday morning. Terry, Ted and Kristi were all heading back to St Louis (Ted & Christi to go back to work on Tue and Terry to visit family for a few days); and I was heading to MI.

We got up "late" (met at 9:00 for breakfast) and planned on hitting a few more dealers. We went by the Buell factory so I could get an ABC shot for that; and then off to a few dealers to get dealer pins. I actually already had a few from Tuscon and Santa Fe - just didn't realize that was what they were. So I figured I'd start collecting them as well. Cheaper than t-shirts for sure.

So it was a pretty laid back day; just doing some slow easy riding and checking things out. Once again the dealerships were massive. One we would have had to park probably 3/4 of a mile away and decided the walking just wasn't necessary.

Heading into two for Summerfest, we passed a small greek place and stopped there for a late lunch. The place looked like it was a family place and probably been around for quite some time. There were a lot of what looked like family pictures on the wall behind the cash register and we asked our waitress (probably 16 or 17) if she was up there. "Yes... these are me", pointing to a few little kids pictures, "... pretty embarrassing. But not as bad as these," pointing to 3 people in short shorts with a boat and a coastline in the background, "of my folks when they were in Greece!" Again - a nice, local, small family run place where the food was good. Score.

We headed into Summerfest and it looked like it might be a nightmare. TONS of people - and we heard from one couple that they waited in line for hours to see ZZ-Top and then couldn't even get close enough to see them and could just barely hear them. So we wondered around and finally found the place where Daughtry was going to play, and there were open seats in the pavilion! So Terry and I snagged enough room for 4 and then I went and hung out waiting for Ted and Kristi. So we pretty much just hung out there all afternoon (I think we got there about 3:30) with folks making a water or beer run every once in a while. We say "Puddle of Mudd" - and they were ok. Pretty much Heavy Metal - with one song I recognized. I've never heard "God bless you guys!" and "You guys are all in my prayers - be safe out there" type phrases, intermixed with the F word so many times. But hey... God listens to everyone and I'll take any prayers I can get. :) Anyway - wasn't too bad and most of the crowd was really into it.

Later I was getting hungry and decided I should go do a food run. Folks had been buying and I figured it was my turn. Plus I hadn't done one of the "wait in line for an hour" things yet. So I headed toward a place that was selling pizza... and there was 1 person in front of me! Got two pizzas and a deep-fried veggie fix: mushrooms, cauliflower and *eggplant*. The eggplant was awesome! So took that back and we call chowed down on it.

The people in front of us snuck a *dog* into the event. It was tiny. It was a toy something. Small enough to fit in a small purse. It was sitting there in the hot sunny, loud music and was seeming pretty miserable, sleeping half the time. I just don't quite get it.

Daughtry was a bit late - but everything was running a bit late, and was pretty good. Did about 45 minutes. Pretty much all of his big stuff that I listen too all the time. And his showmanship and the band were all good. So it was cool. The went off stage, came back and did "Going Home" for an encore and then he went off and the band went into a really good instrumental; but the crowd was starting to leave and so we jetted out of there trying to miss all the people/traffic that would be leaving. Especially since we had parked under an underpass in a dirt/grass area with tons of bikes and it looked like it could be a nightmare trying to get them all out of there. But we made it out of there and back to the room w/o any hassle - so another good day in Milwaukee and a pretty good end to the entire "105" experience!

105 Trip: (Fri 29-Aug) Day 6 - Milwaukee WI - 1898 miles

2008-08-31T21:00:00.003-06:00

Today was a "get a few ABC pics and dealer pins" day. Didn't hit many (any?) venues, mostly just toured around the greater Milwaukee (and Racine, Kenosha) area going to dealers and stopping by Capitol Street (HD powertrain plant) and Juneau Ave (HD Headquarters!)

Seeing the Harley facilities was cool. I have pics on the previous linked page.

Going to the dealer sites was... CRAZY. Think the 4 Corners Rally... at a dealership! Yeah... parking... oh 1/2 a mile from the place. One was in the middle of a bunch of other businesses (offices I think) and all their lawns, parking, shipment ramps, everything - were covered with motorcycles. There were definitely more vendors than at 4 Corners, and probably close to as many as Red River. And this was at EVERY DEALERSHIP we went to. Which I think was 4 of them. Plus all the venues (Millers Park, Summerfest, Museum, HOG Island - plus maybe another). It was pretty incredible. Plenty hot, tired, exhausting, sore feet... But something to definitely be a part of.

Somebody on the road asked me later, "You went to the 105? How was it?" - I explained like above, "Would you do it again?" Yeah... maybe if they do it in 5 years again - but definitely not every year.

I've never been to Sturgis - which is a whole different scene - but other than something really large like that - its hard to describe what its like to be a HOG and be in a city that size, where there are bikes EVERYWHERE - even 30 miles away! And where the whole town (even little mom and pop places) are pretty much saying "Welcome Riders! Stop on by!" Pretty cool stuff.

Downside for Christi is that most the dealers were out of dealer pins. I don't think anyone had a clue how many people would show up... You know an event is big when the US Post Office shows up as a vendor! "Ship your stuff home from here!" - so you didn't even have to carry anything on your bike!

We did stop at one store in...Ocowocon (or something like that - anyway - a big hard to pronounce name that started with a 'O' - that turns out to be the store I bought by backrest from on eBay! :)

We didn't even go "downtown" - but just hit vendors, then ate at a place on the way home and turned in early... Well OK - it was still 9 or 10 - but earlier.

And Tom was with us as of Thur - so that was cool.

105 Trip - Day 5 - Milwaukee WI - 1763 miles

2008-08-31T20:52:00.003-06:00

Left Annawan in the rain :( - Rained for the first few hours until just about when we hit the WI border. "Welcome home!" it seemed to say. :)

Dropped stuff at the hotel and then headed for the museum. Going south into town the traffic started backing up... there were TONS of bikes. Bikes in all 3, 4, 5 lanes of the highway. Bikes pulled over on the shoulders - and as we passed Miller Park, bikes in all the parking lots; bikes backed up - 4 abreast for what looked like a good 1/2 mile or more. TONS of bikes. All said and done - I'd estimate 100K bikes in the area.

Anyway - got through that and down to the museum. Checked it out. Pretty cool. Terry and I didn't have tickets, but Ted and Christi did and Ted (Mr Extravert) was able to score some tickets from one of the staff people. We made it in.

After we went to Miller Park. Found the bleachers were the main bands were going to play and camped out. It was ridiculous! Early in the day we wanted in line for 45 minutes for a bottle of water! Later in the day folks were waiting 2 hours to get a sub sandwhich. The vendor ran out twice (going to get some more from the store - will be 45 minutes... "OK, we'll wait!") Crazy. Terry waited for water. Ted waited for sandwiches.

We all saw "The Billy Bob Thorton Band" - Think Slingblade meets blues / southern rock. Yeah... well it was something to see. Then Sugarload. Country... hey, turns out I do like *some* country music. She had a cute way with the crowd. It was good. Then Kid Rock... think emnimn meets southern rock. Yeah - not a fan. Stayed for 2 songs then cut out before the rest of the crowd.

I overheard "They build the area to hold 30K people, but I heard there were 60K to 70K here." Given the place was packed and 1/2 the people were waiting in line for beer/water/food - I'd agree. Given it was right next to the interstate - there were quite a few bikes that just parked on the highway and the people were sitting on the concrete dividers just watching... till the cops showed up and chased them off. But plenty of people stayed on the grass embankment.

Got home around 10ish... spent some time on the computer and then crashed. Up the next morning at 6:30!

105 Trip Pics

2008-08-27T21:09:00.001-06:00

I'm uploading my pictures to facebook. If you are on facebook and a friend, you already know that. If you aren't and are interested - you can follow this link and see them anyway!

105 Trip - Day 4 - Annawan, IL - 1512 miles

2008-08-27T20:55:00.003-06:00

Only did 300 miles today, but took pretty much all day. Did some river road (Mississippi and Illinois rivers) and scenic rides. Very peaceful and cool. Again - heartland of America stuff. Totally enjoying it.

Ate lunch at Fast Eddies. It was as cool as the hype. Just one of those things you have to experience. If you are ever in the area, check it out! Food was great and the beer is claimed to be the coldest in the area - and it seemed to be. Had a Landshark beer! I'm trying new beers on this trip. :)

Tomorrow up early and try to make it to Milwaukee in time for Ted and Christi to drop luggage and get to the museum by noon. So I guess that's it for now!

105 Trip - Day 3 - Saint Louis - 1218 miles

2008-08-26T20:56:00.003-06:00

Went to Xenia IL today to get the X. First stopped at the Arch and got some pics of it and some Mississippi river boats. Pretty cool. IL was pretty much corn and soy bean fields, for miles and miles, as far as the eye could see... But some rolling and lots of trees. I actually liked it.

I like going through small town America. Plenty of towns with population under 100. Pretty much all of them with "We support our Troops" banners, Knights of Columbus Halls, and flags. And the "grocery store, liquor store, gas station, snake bar, etc." combo. I don't know... for me, gives me a sense of community just going through there and seeing it. Hard working farmers, proud of who they are and in what they do. Good stuff.

Terry grew up in the region and we stopped at his High School and then coming back dropped in and said Hi to his mom for a few minutes. Cool stuff. :)

Stopped at a gas station that also had a restaurant, for a late lunch. The girl working took our order, cooked it (did a good job) and served it. And did a good job waiting on us the whole time. A fresh change from people at McDonalds who can't even get your order right - and that is all they do.

Anyway... that's the report for today. It was good. Tomorrow we head to Alton, IL (to stop at Fast Eddie's) and then up to our stop in northern IL before heading to Milwaukee on Thur.

105 Trip - Day 2 - Saint Louis - 981 miles

2008-08-26T08:41:00.002-06:00

Day 2 - weather was great. Missouri going across Hwy 50 was really pretty. Rolling, windy, green. Stopped and got 9 or so ABC pictures. Took some photos of the route... best I could while driving at 65MPH. :) Got in to the dealer party at Gateway Harley, met up with Ted and Christi and hung out for quite a while - then to their house. They have their Toy Hauler all set up for us and it is great. Just hanging out, sipping a beer chatting.

Still a bit tired this morning - but not sore. Plan to go into IL today to 'X'enia - pick up about 4 more ABCs then back to their house where Christi is making some ribs. YUM!

105 Trip - Day 1

2008-08-24T21:56:00.002-06:00

Left home at about 6:15, running a little late but got to Pueblo about 7:10 and we headed out. It was a good first day. I got tired in the afternoon and pretty sleepy, but once it cooled off I was fine. Got 11 ABC pictures today!

Stopped in Kinsley, KS for lunch. Asked a fireman doing the "boot for MDA" thing where was a good place to eat. He directed us to a Mexican place that was pretty good. Food wasn't very spicy, but alright and the quality was pretty good.

Had one car passing a lane of traffic, heading at us, and we had to slow down (and so did the lead car) to let him in w/o hitting us. :( - Other than that (and it wasn't close or anything), no mishaps or potential ones.

Radio is acting up. Didn't come on twice. Will have to have someone look at it later.

Dinner, after dark, in Emporia, KS, was at the S & S cafe. Little tiny, "Good Food - Open 24 hours" place. VERY LOCAL. Old time mid-west type salad bar... radishes, green onions, cucumbers and onions in vinegar! Young waitress - a little attitude. Chicken fried steak was homemade. Meat was good. Gravy was good. Hashbrowns "done crispy please" were PERFECT. This was definately my kind of Road Food place. Just what I wanted in all aspects - even the locals smoking (not too much smoke) wasn't bad. It all screamed road food diner, and the quality and taste was exactly what I was looking for.

Time to hit the hay soon. We made it over 1/2 way to Ted & Christi's on day one, so should get in early enough tomorrow to go to the dealer party. Plus did 11 ABCs today and only plan on 9 tomorrow... But some are standard letters so if I don't get them all, no big deal.

Oh - and one more thing. There is nothing like going down the road at 65 MPH, cool breeze rushing past you, worship music on the iPOD, across the plains of CO and KS, looking at the farms, green, streams, trees, etc. - to bring God's creation into focus and clarity.

Day 1 was a great start to the trip!

Harely 105 / HOG 25

2008-08-16T12:38:00.002-06:00

Many of you know this, but perhaps not everyone...

In about 1 week I'm heading to the Harley 105 / HOG 25 celebration in Milwaukee. Originally Tina was going to go to; but she hasn't been feeling well lately and decided it would be too long of a trip. Because she was going to go; I planned the trip to be 3 weeks. Take a few days to get to St Louis where we'd meet up with some friends; spend a day there; then all of us head up to Milwaukee. Stopping about "a hundred miles out" somewhere on Wed (to avoid the high event hotel fees) then stay there Thur, Fri, Sat. Tina's Aunt Pat and Uncle Ward live in MI which is "so close", so we'd leave on Sun morning, take the ferry across a Great Lake, and then hang with them for a few days; then start the long ride back. Given Tina gets tired of riding after a few days, the plan was to do light riding for a couple of days; then spend a couple of days somewhere. Maybe stay in St Cloud, MN for a few days and just check the area out. Then go on to SD and check out Mount Rushmore, Sturgis, etc. Then finally head home. So all in all a 3 week trip. Lots of riding, but lots of breaks as well. So late last year I OKed that much time off at once with my boss and then have been double checking throughout the year.

So... I've got the time, and we discussed it and Tina still thinks I should go - so I'm going for it. However, now I'm going alone so the plans changed.

I'm still taking the full 3 weeks, since I have it off anyway
Terry, who is another Sheriff Architect, just bought a Harley this year, and has family in St Louis, is going with me.
We are still meeting up with Ted and Christi in St Louis and hanging out there for a day or two. They are awesome and have a Toy-Hauler with double beds all set up and said the fridge would be stocked with beer and snacks and just show up when ever. Awesome. Also for the whole HOG "ABC Rally" thing I always do - there is a town with that starts with 'X' 2 hours away, so we are going to all go ride over there on Tue just for the fun of it, then head north as planned on Wed.
Stop at Fast Eddie's; which I've mentioned before in this blog, on the way up.
Then its the big event for 3 days. Lots of bands, lots of fun, lots of motorcycles... what could be cooler? :)
Head to Aunt Pat's and Uncle Ward's as planned.
While there get my bike serviced somewhere
And from then on the plan is kind of up in the air. I've got about 12 days till I have to be back, and it would take maybe 4 to ride it! Even less if I pushed it. So I'm just heading down the road. I've got two different thoughts right now:
- The plan was to come home through SD and I've got friends in WA, and haven't been "home" to MT forever - so maybe head up through MT to ID and then into Spokane.
- Tif and Brian are going to be in MI about the same day I was planning on leaving Pat and Wards; but they will be down south in Detroit and maybe heading up to Sarnia for the day. So... I could meet them wherever along Lake Huron, then do some Canada traveling for a few days! Go into Sarnia and then up around the "outside" of Lake Huron and end up at Ste St Marie... And then maybe still head to MT.

So... I'm not sure at all the plan after Aunt Pat's... but that is kind of the plan. To hit the road and see where it takes me. I could also go up through Thunder Bay! Don't know. Basically there are a few goals:

Not to be too planned
Hit plenty of states, territories, counties, cities for the ABC Rally
Cover lots of miles
Go wherever it looks good
Get home right before I have to go back to work.

If I hook up with Tif and Brian then that will add a bit more planning, but that is fine. So... lots of decisions to make in the next few days!

As noted on another post, I have set up Twitter. One of the main reasons I did that is that I can update my status via my cell phone, so while I'm on the road I can text msg where I'm at and anyone watching my facebook status or following me on Twitter will know what is going on. Pretty cool.

Plus I'll be taking plenty of ABC pictures, and hopefully other pictures as well, and I plan on uploading all of those to the computer and to facebook albums every night. That's all the plan... reality will probably be different, but hopefully close. :)

God is a supporter, not a controller

2008-08-16T12:28:00.001-06:00

[Originally put this on Facebook, but decided to start entering all my notes on Blogger and let them get pushed to Facebook; so I have them in both places.]

Many people say that God is in control. Personally, I don't believe that God is in control. I don't think He can be, given we have free will. Free will isn't just a personal thing, its something that is true in all of those around us. And we interact with way too many people for God to be in control of our lives, given all those interactions.

I do believe however that He is there constantly watching and holding out His hand. And that He provides the comfort, joy (in the biblical sense) and support to help us get through whatever life throws at us. As well as the Holy Spirit guides us as much as we will listen; helping us to avoid some of those pitfalls.

So - although He isn't in control, He is there to help get us through life in the best way possible; if we'll just listen to His voice.

So many interfaces - but all connected

2008-08-16T12:22:00.002-06:00

So I'm on Facebook now, which allows you to blog, but only your Friends on Facebook can see it; which is fine. I view it, at this point anyway, as a way to write short notes. But that is not its primary purpose. Anyway - I found that I can have Facebook automatically pull these entries; so that is kind of cool. Enter journal stuff here, recipes, etc. Stuff I want to easily go back and look at later. And then Facebook will automatically pull it to my Notes section. That way I don't have to figure out where I want to store this stuff. Just put it here and it will copy to Facebook. Excellent.

And then today I set up Twitter - which will update my Facebook status. So again, Facebook can pull from something else. Cool. So now I can use Twitter for what its good at, and folks can get updated that way; but I can also set Facebook to copy it; so that I don't have to update status in two places.

Cool stuff... :)

Meatballs!

2008-07-29T20:06:00.003-06:00

Just finished making a double batch of Turkey Sausage Meatballs - which turns out to be 44 meatballs. Yum :)

You can always count on a biker

2008-07-20T12:56:00.003-06:00

Shopping in the store with my biker gear on, and there was a couple ('H'usband and 'W'ife) about 5 feet away.

W: Can you grab (something I didn't hear)?
H: With my back I can't reach up and grab that off the back of that shelf.
I turn and see the woman standing on her toes and trying to reach something off the back of the top shelf.
M: wondering over What do you need?
W: Oh... That jar of mild peppers. Thank you sir.
M: I grin No problem
H: You can always count on a biker!
M: Yup

Do you think you can find it?

2008-07-20T12:51:00.003-06:00

I said all I need
Is the air I breathe
And a place to rest
My head

Do you think you can find it?
Do you think you can find it?
Do you think you can find it?
Better than you had it.
--- All I Need OneRepublic

Walking across streets at the U of M

2008-07-09T05:47:00.003-06:00

He slowed to turn right on Observatory, but had to wait for pedestrians to cross the slusy street. He was on campus now, and U of M students were renowned for their lackadaisical attitude toward cars. They lazily strolled through crosswalks, even on busy streets, immortal in their youth and confident that cars would slow for them. --- Infected, Scott Sigler

Yeah, well he pretty much got that right. It wasn't so much that you "lazily strolled through crosswalks". You didn't even pay attention to cross walks... some times it was quicker coming out of the diag and having to cross a street to just cut across, or coming in the back entrance of the main campus engineering lab - you just walked across the street wherever you needed to. And it wasn't so much that you were "immortal in your youth" as it was the fact that... Hey, this was *your* campus and *your* streets - and you tolerated the cars - I mean, hey, if they needed to come on campus fine, but it was your street and you could walk across it where you liked. It wasn't uncommon at all for students to step out in the street, not in a crosswalk, right in front of a car, just glance at the car, and walk across the street. Its more like the rolls were reversed. Rather than the road being for cars and the crosswalks being where pedestrians could cross when the cars let them; it was like the entire campus was for pedestrians and the roads were places where cars could go when the pedestrians let them.

I remember many things about Ann Arbor and the U of M. Reading this book (which was a good story, even if rather R for language) brought back a number of them; given it mentioned street names; etc. The above quote made me chuckle when I read it though - not because it reminded me of that aspect of the U of M; because that aspect is something I have never forgotten and pretty much remember whenever I walk across any street - funny how things stick with you; but because he captured it pretty well. "Lackadaisical" was a great way to express it.

Still Here

2008-06-22T11:15:00.001-06:00

Been going through some things... So haven't felt like posting, but I'm not sure if they delete blogs if you don't post once in a while.

Mostly been working, driving the Harley, and going down to Tif's. I did do a trip to Tucson by myself. One day down (13.5 hours, 840 miles), 2 days there, and one day back. Trip wasn't bad in a day. Also Tina and I went down last month. Kian is getting so big. Almost starting to walk.

We all go down for his birthday next month - not on the bike, since three of us are going. That will be fun. 1 years old!

We'll see how this goes

2008-04-23T05:16:00.003-06:00

So last weekend I rode up to Denver and it was an awesome day. I looked at the 10 day forecast and all looked pretty good - all the way down to Tucson, so I decided to make a run to Tif's house this weekend. Take Friday off and see if I could make it down in one day. Something I've been wanting to try for a long time so I figured I'd go for it. Tina and I are going down first week of June, but we'd take 2 days to get there. I figured I'd try it by myself this weekend. Just to see if I could do it in a day. Weather was looking good, all except Friday which had some chance of rain, but wasn't looking too bad. This morning I checked and:

Snow showers in the morning. Highs in the mid 40s and lows in the mid 30s.

Hmm... not looking all that great - but I'll check other towns along the route. If I can just get out of town and south before anything hits I'll be fine. But we'll see...

iPod

2008-04-21T06:02:00.003-06:00

Downloaded some new music last night and reset some of my playlists. Listening now as I work: White Rabbit, My Glorious, Sunday Bloody Sunday. Quite the mix. :)

Jaime is always listening to mid-60's to mid-70's songs lately and saying, "You know, when you really listen to those words, you think 'Wow, they must have been on drugs!'" - Yeah... I'll have to have her listen to White Rabbit. :)

Spring begins

2008-04-21T06:00:00.002-06:00

Rode with Terry up to Freedom Harley in Denver - then back through Pine, Deckers and into town. I have my spring sunburn where I didn't quite get enough sunscreen... oh well, it will tan up. Well tan for me anyway. :)

It was a beautiful day. Actually took my liner out of my jacket, wore summer gloves, etc.

Boycot tAbsolute Vodka

2008-04-13T08:42:00.003-06:00

From the Boycott Absolute Vodka website:

Sentiments that the Southwest United States rightfully belong to Mexico are so prevalent in Mexico and among illegal aliens that the Absolut Vodka company ran this ad on a billboard and in a Mexican magazine called Quien

The ad's message to the Mexican audience is "In an Absolut (ie Perfect) world, 1/3 of the US is returned to Mexican control.

American Idol - Song Writer

2008-04-13T08:18:00.002-06:00

My cousin is a finalist in the American Idol Songwriter competition for this season. If you could do there and rate Only Love a 10 - that would be cool. :)

Thanks!

UCCS Dean's List

2008-03-21T14:41:00.003-06:00

Looking at the Spring 2008 Dean's List (3.75-3.99 GPA) under 'W' you'll see:

WAECHTER, LAURA ANNE
WAGNER, JAIME MARIE

Yes... that is the Jaime Marie Wagner! My kid... on the Dean's list.

You rock smart kid!

Turkey Sausage Meatballs

2008-03-06T07:03:00.003-07:00

Modified version of Rachel Ray's Roast Chicken Sausage Meatballs. Had this at Tif's and it was awesome, so Jaime and I made it last night. Quick, easy, and tastes great.

We didn't do the Mac & Cheese, just the Meatballs. We didn't use fennel, because Jaime doesn't like it. And we made probably 28 or small meatballs. I actually put olive oil on the bottom of a glass 13x9 pan, then some in a bowl and rolled the meatballs in them. I cooked them a little longer too. After about 20 minutes I drained the olive oil and grease into a cup, then spooned a bit back over each meatball and put them under the broiler for 4 minutes, to give them some good color.

Here is the list of ingredients, just in case the above link goes away. The mac & cheese with it is really good, as we had that at Tif's house.

1.25# Ground Turkey
Salt & Pepper
3 Rosemary Springs, stripped and finely chopped
3 Garlic cloves grated
1 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
1 C Ricotta Cheese
1/2 C Grated Parmesan Cheese
1 Egg
1/2 C Bread Crumbs

Mix ingredients. If too wet add some more bread crumbs (the above worked just great for me).

Coat w/ Olive Oil, lightl grease pan, bake at 450 for 17 minutes (I did 20 and then broiled for 4)

It Harkens

2008-02-27T05:24:00.004-07:00

Trapped in the darkness
Cold, Claustrophobic
The fire dies
No hope for Spring
Winter never ends

Clouds break
Sun sparkles off ice encrusted snow
Harkening back to warmer days

Crisp mountain air
Crystals twinkling deep in rushing streams
Wild strawberries sweet to the taste
Wildflowers sweet to the senses
Marmots, mischievous eyes poking through long blades of grass
The Son beats down and warms the soul

Trapped in the darkness
Sparkling snow harkens
Promises that Spring will return
Its sweetness, warmth and mischief

Army of Two

2008-02-25T23:38:00.001-07:00

Watching TV tonight I saw a trailer for Army of Two. Went to You Tube and found an Army of Two Teaser. There are quite a few others as well. Game comes out in a few weeks. Looks like I know what I'll be spending some time doing in mid March. :)

Shout Out

2008-02-25T21:55:00.002-07:00

21:55 and not much going on. Writing bug reports, reviewing code, general cleanup of tasks I couldn't get to during the day.

Poured myself a Diet Mt Dew and added a couple shots of Green Soju... haven't drank any of that for a while. Reminds me of the Chavezes... Been a long time since I talked to Spanky and Jacque... Hope you guys are doing well.

It entices you

2008-02-25T05:21:00.006-07:00

What is it about the darkness that so entices you?
He stands in the light and gently calls your name,
Yet all you hear are the whispers behind the doors.
You go closer,
Seeking, looking, you can't find them.
They run in front of you, whispering, calling.
You follow them through the twists and turns,
Until the darkness engulfs you.
They suck you in and become a roaring in your head.
You become drunk with the sounds,
Turning, twisting, losing all sense of time,
All sense of reason.
You no longer hear His voice.
You wake to find yourself battered and bruised
Senseless
You wonder how you got this way?
Then you hear His voice and are calmed.

Then it all begins again.
He stands in the light and gently calls your name.
You hear the whispers in the dark,
Knowing better you seek after them,
They entice you.

Green Chile

2008-02-05T06:46:00.000-07:00

Had some pork chops left and decided to make some Pork Green Chile. Having eaten plenty of it, but having never made it, I decided to go simple. Yeah... I guess I could have actually looked up a recipe, but I decided to just give it a shot. Turned out pretty good. :)

1 medium onion, diced
6 tomatillos, diced
1 red Fresno pepper, split, de-seeded and sliced thin
1 Anaheim pepper, split, de-seeded and sliced thin
1 large can chopped green chiles (approx 27 oz size)
3 cooked pork chops, cubed
2 tbs olive oil

Add oil to 4 quart sauce pan, add onions and tomatillos and sautee till onions are translucent. Add peppers and sautee for a few minutes. Add green chiles and pork, stir and simmer over low heat for 30 minutes or so, stirring occasionally.

Could have used fresh roasted Hatch green chiles if I had any. Also could have used any form of pork - and as much as desired.

I did not salt or add any seasoning! Could have added some cumin, etc.; but it turned out well.

We had some frozen chicken enchiladas , so microwaved them, smothered them with the green chile and cheese, then severed with black beans, sour cream and diced avocado. Yum!

Kian 6 month pics

2008-02-03T12:03:00.000-07:00

We were down at Tif's for Kian's 6 month birthday. First eating of a banana. Yeah... not everyone may enjoy food smeared all over a baby's face... but I think its very cute. :)

You can check out all the pics.

Researcher says Sears downloads spyware

2008-01-23T07:48:00.001-07:00

From a ComputerWorld article:

Sears and Kmart customers who sign up for a new marketing program may be giving up more private information than they'd bargained for, a prominent anti-spyware researcher claims.

...

"The software is not something you'd want on your computer or the computer of anyone you care about," Edelman said in an interview. "It tracks every site you go to, every search you make, every product you buy, and every product you look at but don't buy. It's just spooky."

Boeing 787 - good news / bad news

2008-01-08T14:25:00.000-07:00

The good news is that there will be internet access from any seat in the plane, the bad news from

FAA: Boeing's New 787 May Be Vulnerable to Hacker Attack

Boeing's new 787 Dreamliner passenger jet may have a serious security vulnerability in its onboard computer networks that could allow passengers to access the plane's control systems, according to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration.

But they are talking about making it more secure before the planes roll out.

Sarah Connor Chronicles

2008-01-01T01:33:00.000-07:00

And while I'm being geeky... I'm really stoked about the Sarah Connor Chronicles series that will air on 14-Jan-2008. First I'm a Terminator fan anyway (ever since my Philosophy of Space and Time TA suggested I watch it while I was at the UofM, as it was consistent with current theories of Time Travel), and more importantly... Summer Glau (yes, River from Firefly) will be playing a River like role - which will be really cool. Hopefully it is good and gets good ratings!

Oh... and other things I've seen her in are the 4400 and The Unit. Both shows I follow - although I didn't like her characters there as much, as they weren't as tough as River and Cameron and were kind of more regular people... well not the 4400 since she was one of the 4400 - but still, she wasn't so River-esque. :)

Some Firefly is better than No Firefly

2008-01-01T01:15:00.000-07:00

So I'm in the mall today, going to Radio Shack to get a Y-connector, and on the way back I noticed the comic book store has novels as well. So I stop and ask the guy if there are any Firefly books, or are they just comics? He tells me that there is one comic, but he is out. However, there is a new Serenity comic book coming out in March! I tell him cool and start to leave.

G: Do you want to pre-order it?
M: Nah, I'll just get one when the come in.

He proceeds to explain that last time they had Firefly comics they sold out just on pre-orders and not everyone got them... so I might want to pre-order. Given it didn't cost anything to do it... I signed up.

So... now I've actually pre-ordered a SciFi comic book - 3 months in advance... Yeah... guess that makes me a Geek. I just had to laugh - and call Tif - 'cuz I knew she would appreciate it. I turned her on to Firefly and now she is hooked as well.

The advancement of Artificial Intelligence

2007-12-19T08:58:00.000-07:00

Eliza was an early AI program that was sometimes said to act as a psychiatrist. We studied it in AI classes. How could a computer respond to questions and adapt? But it was pretty easy stuff as it just mimicked back what you said to it. I had a version of it on my Mac and played with it a bit.

Social engineering is a technique used to gather personal information from people by cyber criminals. I first came across the term when starting at MCI in relation to people calling and getting PBX information. How to hack a companies phone system so you could use it to make long distance calls.

IRC (Internet Relay Chat) "bots" are "robots" (computer programs) that join a IRC channel and then monitor it. They can be good or bad. I've run them before to record all information on a channel and write it to a file, so we can always go back and remember what was said. There is also an infobot named purl which records information as it seems it or as someone tells it, and then monitors questions so it can answer them back later. An interactive "person like" way to store information on user chat channels so that someone doesn't always have to be on and responding to user questions.

Now, in Russia, they've all been combined. Now when someone is on a singles channel (or some other channel) and someone starts flirting with them, striking up a conversation and then asking them personal information... that "person" may not really be a person. It may be a new flirtation bot built to do just that... gather personal information from a social engineering point of view. That information can then be used to steal that personal information - which can then be used in any number of cyber crime sort of ways.

We've come a long way since Eliza...

Carrier security outsourcing making connections

2007-11-14T09:06:00.000-07:00

For those that wonder "So... what exactly is it that you do?" This article doesn't really answer that, LOL, but what I do contributes to this stuff. In particular some of the stuff I've been working on lately is pretty interesting and is related to this quote:

"There will always be opportunities from an attack perspective for us to take action and protect customers on the backbone, and we'll do that," she said. "We've also driven a lot of internal innovation in last three years for fighting issues such as targeted attacks; we're building out the honeynets and doing more correlation of data. Now we're in the phase of launching services as both stand-alones and value-adds."

Tif and I on Mount Lemmon

2007-11-10T17:58:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned in the previous post, Tif and I went up to Mount Lemmon. The ride was really nice and we actually drove through the town this time. Last time Tina and I went up there the road was all torn up with major construction.

Cap'n Jack & The Axe: Adevntures in the AZ Badlands

2007-11-10T17:27:00.000-07:00

Since we trailered Captain Jack to AZ; I figured I should make take the opportunity to do some good rides. Nothing too long, since I wanted to spend time with Tif and the Pea; but just get out and take advantage of the warm AZ Nov. weather. A few hours here and there.

So - the last Friday we were there I decided to head down to Madera Canyon. I had been looking for an 'M' for Harley ABCs Tour, and it had shown up. Tif and I went and got the 'M' at Mount Lemmon, but the web page had looked cool so I decided to head down. Tucson is pretty cool in that; although you'd think it was pretty much "pure desert", you can get an hour or so out of town and be in all different kinds of terrain. Another "ride up into the mountains" sounded fun.

So I did some google mapping and found a pretty good loop. South out of town, down the S Nagoles Highway, then down Whitehouse Canyon Rd and into the Canyon itself. Coming back out I'd take E Box Canyon Rd, over to Hwy 83 and north back into town. All in all a pretty good ride and shouldn't take too long.

So we (Captain Jack and I) head south out of town, and avoiding the interstate, we take Sahuarita Rd west to Nagoles... only deal is that they are graveling it and its got fresh gravel. Not to great on the bike, but we brave it - at least traffic is flowing at 25... Until we hit the one lane. So Cap'n Jack and I kick back in the 90 degree heat, Aerosmith blasting, and trying not to get too fried. After about 5 minutes I turn him off (to keep cool - or at least not get so hot) but still listen to the tunes. Finally the pilot car comes and we are on our way. I'm not sure how much longer this construction is going to last; but at least Wilmont should be soon and we can head south (not wanting to take this road all the way to the Nagoles Hwy).

We get to Wilmont... and its a dirt road - so we continue on our way. Finally we find a paved road heading south and we roar off, picking up some speed and some wind. Going along through the Pecan orchards; the temperature drops a good 10 degrees. Its awesome... until 5 miles later, yup - it turns to dirt. So we turn around, head back north and stay on Sahuarita till we hit the Nagoles Hwy, and head south on that, following the signs to Madera Canyon.

We are heading south, and then east, but it doesn't look like we are going to get that much closer to the Mountains... but then the road starts heading due south and says the National Park is about 8 miles ahead - so we should at least get into the foothills. Cool deal.

We then get closer to the park and see this sign, about 20 feet past the park sign:

Just in case you can't read that... here is a close up:

Yeah... that's right

SMUGGLING AND ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION MAY BE ENCOUNTERED IN THIS AREA.

Gives you a warm and fuzzy feeling doesn't it? Especially when I've seen like ONE car so far.

Anyway, we are up for it and continue on. I get into the park and it is pretty cool. Saw: deer, wild turkeys, quail, squirrels and all kinds of birds. And there were plenty of people around picnicking, hiking, etc. Up into the canyon, dessert giving way to foothills with all kinds of trees, little stream. Very nice.

Coming back out of it we head north on the road and get to the Box Canyon turn off. "14 miles to 83".... and the road is dirt! But it doesn't look "that bad", and surely its not all dirt - so off we go.

A little nervous, given the sign and all; but we're doing 35 - 40, so moving right along. Then we see a sign (after about 5 miles) that says something like "9 miles of narrow road ahead". 5 miles back or 9 miles ahead? We continue on.

And the road just gets worse and worse. We are now doing maybe 10 MP, and sometimes almost coming to a complete stop as we cross what look like 4 wheel drive roads. Single lane, switchbacks, soft dirt or rocks everywhere. I'm expecting someone to jump out at any corner... Kind of get this "Badges... we don't need no stinkin' badges" picture in my mind.

Anyway, we continue on. And we are going slow enough to see the 3 inch flying bug things in front of us that keep slowly flying out of our way as we pass.

The road keeps switchbacking up and up. Not like going over Independence Pass or anything, since we are in the hills... but still very twisting and you can't see more than about 10 feet in front of you and some of the corners feel like they are about 5 miles wide. We did see one truck on the road. We pulled to the side and he passed us in the opposite direction and then we ate his dust for the next mile or so. Eventually we started heading back down and came to this little canyon.

Pretty cool! The only place I stopped to take a picture. The rest of the time we just kept moving! Before we got to 83 we did hit pavement finally and went through some ranch land. Again... a different part of AZ. Looked like CO to some extent. Pasture land, windmills, cows, trees. Very pretty. Then hit 83 and roared home.

All in all, quite the adventure and it all turned out well. I wouldn't do it with Cap'n Jack every again - but a dirt bike or a pickup might be fun. It was very pretty.

Brian's response when Tif talked to him on the phone and told him I went down to Madera and then across Box Canyon on the bike by myself... "Is he nuts?"

:)

The Biker Pea - Bad to the Bone

2007-11-10T17:19:00.000-07:00

PeaBaby's first "ride" on a Harley. OK... so we didn't actually move, but it was on so he "felt the rumble!" He told me he can't wait till he's old enough to go for an actual ride!

Creamed Leeks

2007-11-01T21:13:00.000-06:00

Sunday I made a good, but very rich, dinner. Not really on my diet... but hey, it was only one dinner.

Chicken Marsala
Onion Risotto
Creamed Leeks

YUM!

1/4 C olive oil
1/4 C butter
5 Leeks, cut in about 1 inch sections, washed well! (soaked and rinsed 3 times). Used the "stem" part as well as most of the "leaves" part.

Heat the oil/butter and saute the leeks for about 5 or 10 minutes till soft. At this point I had quite a bit of liquid, so I poured some off. So you can probably use less oil/butter or more leeks.

Poured 1 C of Heavy Whipping Cream on them and let them saute until the sauce thickened, about 15 minutes or so.

Seasoned with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

That's it! Easy, rich and a great taste. Definitely something I have to keep in mind as a standard.

Just like when she was little

2007-11-01T21:10:00.001-06:00

When Tif was a little girl (2 or less) and I had the Camero in Big Timber (1968 Camero SS with a 500HP 454 in it, 3/4 racing cam, straight-line shifter), when we would cruise the drag, the car would always lope. She would sit in the back seat and say "Hot Rod Daddy, Hot Rod!", wanting me to hit the gas and make the car rock.

I took her for a rid up to Mount Lemmon a couple of days ago. I took off from the stop-light and put it through the first three gears. From behind me all of a sudden I heard her start giggling. "I LOVE it when you do that!"

Yeah, took me right back. Some things never change. :)

Riding around town

2007-10-28T11:43:00.000-06:00

We trailered the bike down here and I've been itching to go somewhere. We forgot to pick up bagels at the store on Friday, so I said I'd go get some yesterday. Brian's favorite is Einstein Brothers - which is about 40 minutes away - longer if you get a little lost and take the long way!

Tif and Tina were going to do some shopping and Brian was working, so I took the bike out for a ride. Ended up spending about 3 hours out. Went and got bagels, then stopped at Trader Joe's and got some coffee and carb-free chocolate. Then stopped at Eegee's for a Hot Pastrami sandwich and a lemon eggee. Yum. There was no place to sit inside, so I just sat outside on the sidewalk, back up against the building, eating my sandwich and slurping down the eegee. It was pretty warm out, but there was a little breeze. Very cool. After getting some snow at home I have no problem sitting in the shade in almost 90 degree weather, sucking on an eegee to stay cool. AZ is great. :)

Then rode back towards home, got stuck in some traffic (something was going on) and turned around and took another long way home.

All in all - a great drive, warm weather, good food. A fun time. I'm very glad we brought the bike!

Watching the "boys" come home

2007-10-28T11:28:00.000-06:00

Friday a squad of A-10s returned from Afghanistan. Brian was working so was there, and then Tif, Kian and I went over to see them return as well. It was pretty cool. We hung out in the hanger for a while and then went out to the line and watched them fly in, come down the airstrip and pull into their individual spots. There weren't *tons* of people there, but probably a good 50 or so. Mostly family members and friends.

It was very cool watching them fly in and then come down the line and pull into their spots. Basically a big carport kind of thing - structure with canvas over the top and about 1/2 way up the sides. Each plan has a spot and the family and friends of each pilot were waiting where they park. These guys had been deployed for 6 months I believe. A few things that stuck with me:

They've been deploy for 6 months and have done a ton of sorties, dropping quite a few bombs, strafing runs, etc. They have hit targets in the hundreds. They fly in support of ground troops. They had the stats up on the board. In any case - lots of action, and yet we never hear that there is a war going on in Afghanistan. All we here from the Main Stream Media is how we pulled out of Afghanistan to go to an un-just war in Iraq. Well there is a war going on in Afghanistan and we have folks over there fighting it every day.
I'm feeling my age. We hung out for a while with some of the wives waiting for their husbands to fly back. All "women" that Tif knows. There is Tif and Kian talking to all these wives and their children. They all look like kids to me. Girls with their kids, waiting for their boys to return home from war. Boys who have been over there fighting for us, protecting our country. Missing 6 months of their child's first year. And they'll be going back. And its just what they do. I'm impressed by all these kids do for us (both the young men and women), and saddened by how little we do for them as a country.
It was very cool to watch them pull up. They have to sit in their planes *forever*, ok - maybe 5 minutes, while the ground guys get the plane all set. During this they are giving thumbs up, mouthing "I love you" to their wives / girl-friends, waving to their kids, etc. Then finally they climb off the plane, run over and hug/kiss their wives (who they haven't seen for a long time), then hug their moms - who cling to them, then their dads, then shake hands with all their friends. It was very touching.
The noise of the plane has a rectangle on it, with a dragon, and silhouettes of bombs, rockets and other things. This represents bombs dropped, strafing runs, etc.

It was all very cool, and I'm glad I went.

The grief I take ;)

2007-10-21T09:00:00.000-06:00

Stopped to pick up new cell phone batteries for Tina and Jaime on my way into work. Took Tina's phone so that I could make sure the battery was correct. I was riding the bike. Went into the store and there was a woman waiting around and all the customers were in the back. Eventually the clerk came out.

C: Can I help you?
M: I glance towards the woman.
W: I'm already being helped.
M: Can I get two batteries for this cell phone?
W: *You* carry a *pink* cell phone?
M: It's my wive's.
W: laughesJust harassing you... surprised to see you with a pink cell phone.
M: Yeah - its my wife's.
W: I know, but its just funny with you riding up on a Harley and all.
M: Well I told her I'd stop and pick up a battery for her and my daughter.
W: Yeah, no problem. There's no way *my* husband would do that for me. I just had to give you grief. It just looked funny.

People just don't expect you to flip out a pink cell phone when you're riding a Harley and all dressed in leathers and everything. :)

2007-10-15T12:19:00.000-06:00

Its been a while since I read Paul Graham. I read his essay on How To Do Philosophy and passed it along to Jaimer, because she is loving logic in school right now. I then looked to see what else he had written that I had missed... Gee, guess its been a while, there is quite a bit. But I read Holding a Program in Ones Head because it looked similar to Great Hackers. As always, he gets it:

The weakest point in big companies is that they don't let individual programmers do great work.

and

Good programmers manage to get a lot done anyway. But often it requires practically an act of rebellion against the organizations that employ them.

How true... I'm feeling that a lot lately.

FamilyWatchDog

2007-10-14T11:53:00.000-06:00

FamilyWatchDog is a public site that uses google maps to show known sex offenders in your neighborhood. Put in your address and colored boxes show up in your area. Click on a box and it shows the person's name, convictions, alias, etc.

It feels just like you'd think

2007-10-07T16:41:00.001-06:00

Yesterday we went up to the Golden Dog Park because they had a Colorado Greyhound Adoption picnic. Yes... we have a new dog. 'Nuff said. :)

Anyway, Tina and I took the bike up and it was a nice ride, spent an hour or so checking out the dogs and stuff. Kind of like a bike rally for dogs, i.e., food, vendors, activities. Tina bought some stuff and we had a good time. But it was *really* windy.

Coming back we were doing 70 on a particular road, with the stereo blaring, wind pounding us, and kind of just hanging on and going for it. Up ahead there was a lot of home construction and you could see the sand just *blowing* across the road. All we could do was hit the throttle and go for it. We'd never been through one before and yeah, it feels just like you'd think. Like going through a sand blaster.

But actually - it was kind of fun. Going fast, music up loud, bike rumbling, zipping through the sand - we just laughed and then I yelled and we were out of it and down the road. Hit another one, which wasn't as bad; and then we were home.

Nice warm fall day - it was good to be alive, on a bike, with my babe. :)

The Coz

2007-10-07T16:31:00.000-06:00

Jaime and I hate a Daddy/Daughter day today. We went to Jack Quinn's for lunch. It was really good. Had Guinness and Corn Beef & Cabbage. Yum. Then we went to the Pikes Peak Center and saw Bill Cosby. He was awesome. And we had 4th row seats so that was very cool too. It was like sitting around with a grandpa and listening to really funny stories.

It was fun to get downtown early, walk somewhere for lunch and then catch a great show. We are going to a number of other shows as we got tickets to Broadway in Colorado Springs. We'll see how much I like Musicals... but I have great hopes. I think it will be a fun time with Jaimer.

Yet another thing VMS did right

2007-10-03T14:19:00.000-06:00

For Geeks - a story on why VAX/VMS base time is 17-Nov-1858 and why it won't have any problems until 31-Dec-9999, unlike Unix which is going to have issues in 2032.

Kian Pics

2007-09-30T11:07:00.000-06:00

Uploaded some pictures of Kian. Birth through our last trip down there in Sept.

4 Corners pics

2007-09-30T11:05:00.000-06:00

Uploaded some pictures of our ride down to Four Corners. Mostly pics between Ouray and Durango. Some very beautiful country.

Shrimp Cocktail

2007-09-11T21:02:00.000-06:00

I decided to make some shrimp cocktail this weekend because we were going to Becky's house for dinner. Rather than the normal "shrimp and cocktail sauce" dish, I decided to actually make a shrimp cocktail salad so to say, with a bit of a Costa Rica flare to it, and put it in avocado halves. Wouldn't have even though about writing it up; other than the fact that Becky took the left-overs to a neighbors house and they liked it so much they asked for the "recipe"... so here goes :)

1.5 lbs 51-60 count pre-cooked peeled shrimp
1 yellow bell pepper
1 green chili
1/2 red onion
1/2 12 oz jar Heinz Chile Sauce (Chili sauce! not Cocktail Sauce)
1 lime
3 avocados split in half with the seeds removed

Pull the tails off the shrimp and cut into 4 pieces
Dice pepper, chili and onion in small pieces (maybe 1/8th inch square)
Mix shrimp and veggies and squeeze the juice of 1/2 lime
Add about 1/2 jar of the Chili sauce. You don't want it too soupy, but enough to coat it.
Rub lime juice on the flesh of the avocado so it doesn't brown.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Add more lime juice if you want it more tangy, more chili sauce if you want it more sweet or tomato flavored.

Scoop out a bit of the avocado flesh making a "bowl", but leaving some avocado, and fill it with the shrimp mixture.

You'll have extra which you can serve in a bowl, nestle the avocados in the extra, or whatever fits with how you want to present it.

We ate it about 45 minutes after preparing it, but I've eaten it immediately after putting it together as well.

Takes maybe 30 minutes to prep. You might be able to use small salad shrimp and it would be faster, or use raw shrimp and "cook" it in the lime juice for a few hours; but I like the 51-60 pre-cooked shrimp the best.

4 Corners

2007-09-08T08:52:00.000-06:00

As I mentioned on Durango Diner, last weekend we went to the Four Corners Rally. There is a ton to do, but folks we were going with didn't want to stay for the entire time, so we planned a pretty fast trip. Head down on Friday, taking the long route through Montrose and Ouray, go down to Ignacio on Saturday, and then head back on Sunday going to South Fork, up 285, across 50 to Canyon City and up 115 to home.

I notified folks at work about 6 weeks previous that I'd be taking that Friday off. We planned on leaving between 7:00 and 7:30 from a meeting place about 30 minutes from our house, so we planned on leaving home about 6:30 AM. About a month out my boss mentions that we need to head out to DC that weekend. OK... what days, since I'm taking Friday off, remember? OK. No problem, we'll go Mon - Thur. That's kind of cool because many times we fly on Sunday and then you basically just lose a day of being off. Since I'm on salary we don't get paid for overtime... although we charge our internal customers. Yeah, weird and one of my pet peevees/hot-buttons, but I'll save that for another post. Anyway, out Mon and back Thur, getting into the springs at 9:05 PM. That's cool - should be home by 10:00 and plenty rested for the trip the next day.

The business trip is pretty good - a few frustrating/boring parts, but some really good productive sessions as well so that is all cool. We get to the airport with plenty of time to spare and get on our flight... and then we sit there for 2 hours on the plane because "there is some weather mid-west that we want to avoid". We finally take off and are told "Even though we are 2 hours late, you'll probably make your connecting flights because Dallas is having weather problems and so the planes are way behind." We have 50 minutes to make our connection... and are 2 hours late. Yeah - the math isn't hard to figure out. Anyway, we get into Dallas and all get off the plan at separate times. Hans is off first, and when I come off he is no where in site. I see that our flight has been delayed (Yah!) till 9:30... and its 9:28 now. :( - Everyone else comes off and says Hans already figured gate C- and we are in Terminal A. He is waiting by the train. So we rush over there and the train takes *forever*. But finally it arrives and we jump on, get off, and RUN through the terminal. We get to our gate, "Sorry, the plan is already backing away." Now I'm starting to sweat it... Come on... I've got a rally to go to. Not to mention hotel fees that I can't back out on at this late date, so if we miss the trip, we lose the $$.

Lukily Hans is in the "Admiral's club", so we go there and a guy hooks us up with tickets. "OK, here is what I can do. I'll get you on a confirmed flight to Denver (close enough)... tomorrow at 1:00 PM" (What???) "But there are two flights out tonight, one at 10:30 - so you better rush over there, and if you can't make that one on standby, you can roll over to the 12:00 flight and maybe make that one."

Ok - so there is still a chance. So we quickly head to the gate and get there... and there are people everywhere. There are 63 people on standby. Hans is #4 and the rest of us are #23 - #27, with me being #26. Folks tell me, "You can take my spot so that you can get home and do the rally, if I don't make it I'll only be late for work." Which was a great thought, but turns out you can't do that. Anyway - they call Hans and it looks like he is going to make it; but then a pilot shows up for the jump seat and he misses it by one.

We FINALLY eat dinner at 11:00 PM and then head to the other gate. Get there and there are 63 people on standby - but Hans is #1 and I've moved up to #16. So the odds are looking better - but the last gate only 3 people made it on standby. So we figure Hans will go but maybe not the rest of us. He uses some upgrades to bump us up to first class, in the hopes that will improve our odds. They start boarding and he is called immediately and disappears onto the plane. We are then watching the "standby monitor" and watching our names move up the list. There are quite a few people hanging out - not looking good. Then they start calling people in groups of 5, "Mr Jones, Mrs Smith, etc., etc." - no one shows up! They wait maybe 30 seconds, "Last call for Mr Jones, Mrs Smith..." - nothing. So we just jumped 5 places, then the next group... no one. Then the next group, a few folks show up. We are within 5... we wonder how many seats they have open and whether we'll make it or not. Then they call our names, and we rush the counter. :)

We make it on, and first class no less. I thought they said they didn't have any food service, so I conk out. Its almost 1AM and I've got a rally to leave for at 6:30! I sleep the entire trip and we get to DIA and Hans says, "Man, you didn't even enjoy the cookies, nuts, drinks or anything - see if I ever upgrade you again!" I think he was *half* joking... but he had to spend a ton of upgrades to upgrade 4 of us. Very cool of him.

We land at DIA get a car and head home to COS, grab the jeep and my head hits the pillow at... 4:45 AM. Set the alarm for 6:00 and a little over an hour of sleep and I'm up, quick shower (skipped washing my hair or shaving), and I throw on my leathers, load the bike, and off we go. (Luckily we packed before I left so it only took a few minutes to get everything onto the bike).

We get to the Safeway right off 24 and there is everyone we are going with, most of whom we didn't know. But there is Wes Rutter! - which was very cool. Old friend from Impact and turns out he is a friend of a friend and going with us. All in all we had 14 people and bikes on the road were at least 7 with sometimes up to 11. There were two trucks with trailers and some folks trailered their bikes either down or back and some trailered them off and on during the trip.

The buzz of being on the bike kept me awake and I did pretty good. About an hour out I was driving down a stretch that was pretty straight, with hills on both sides, when I caught sight of a 4 point buck (western 4 point, thats 4 points on EACH side), in mid-flight leaping onto the road from the left side... about 30 yards in front of me and me going 70 or so. Heart-pumping, a quick light squeeze on the brakes and release of the throttle, and he hits the road, leaps from the left lane onto my lane, and I'm about 15 yards away and realize he is going to clear the road, and so I let off the brakes. We flash by him and he is gone and Tina catching a flash of brown out of the corner of her eyes says, "Was that just a deer?"... "Yeah". OK - so I'm totally awake now!

The rest of the trip was really good, although I did zone a bit for a while when Tina was riding in the Hummer with a friend. Next stop I told her that so she got back on the bike and the rest of the trip was pretty good. Going down the million dollar highway (Montrose, Ouray, Silverton, etc.) was BEAUTIFUL. Someone at work told me, "This part of CO is pretty, but that part is the prettiest part of the state." and after seeing it, we agree. Lots of twisties, mountain roads, etc. Great riding. One girl did dump her bike, but it was right when she stopped and her feet hit the gravel and she just teetered over. No harm done, other than a bit shaky. The last 30 minutes or so it starting raining... hard, and I couldn't see very well (I'm going to have to rethink my goggles or something) and was going very slow, which slowed up all the bikes behind me. About 30 miles out from Durango I pulled over and wiped them off and told everyone else to go ahead and the Hummer could just stick with me. Tina was back in the Hummer by now because she didn't want to go over the mountain roads on the bike. But then 2 miles later we got to the place we were staying. None of knew it was going to be so far from town, but it was in a great place and we were so glad to see it sooner than we expected.

So... some cat-naps on the plane, 1 hour of sleep, and then a 10+ hour bike ride down to Durango. It was all good and quite the adventure and a great ride!

This is already quite long for me, so I'll just quickly wrap up the rest of the trip. Into Durango for dinner that night, which is a great ride down the valley. Next morning back into twon (after discovering that a bear had messed with one of the bikes during the night - but luckily didn't hurt anything) and ate at the Durango Diner. Then down to Ignacio to check out the rally. It was a pretty good street rally. Ate some good food. Tina got a great jacket she's been wanted to get. Saw one for $175, and then found one she liked even better for only $75 that matches her chaps. Rallies are great for this kind of thing. Visited with the Bad Pig owner. We always stop in and talk with him. Last time in Red River we talked with him and his wife, discussed grand children, etc. She wasn't with him this trip because her son was in the hospital - serious but recovering, so that is good. (Our prayers are with you guys). Tina got some good discounts for some of the girls with us that wanted to get some Bad Pig clothes. She always does. He laughed when we asked where his wife was. He said everyone was asking. The night before he was in the bar after setting up, and this girl walks up behind him and says, "Hey... what are you doing in here without your wife! I'm keeping an eye on your and telling her if you don't behave." He called her laughing and told her she has spies everywhere. :)

We spent a couple hours there and then Tina was getting hot, so we headed back "home". Hit a bit of rain on the way (looked like it might be worse) and so after stopping quickly at the Durango Harley store and getting some stuff, we returned "home" w/o getting any food or anything. Back into two later that night (which again is a very nice ride) and headed home way after dark. I don't like driving at night, but with someone in front of me it wasn't bad... and I came to ride; so all was good.

Up the next morning, back into town and a quick bite at McDonald's and then home up over Wolf Creek Pass.

All in all a quick, and somewhat exhausting several days, but well worth it. I had great plans for Monday, having been gone a week - like mowing the lawn, grocery shopping, etc. Instead I checked the mail, paid some bills, and zoned in front of the TV with Jaime all day. But like Peter Fonda said in Wild Hogs, "Ride hard or stay home!"

I'd go back down there again. The rally was... ok. No where near as cool as Red River, imo - but the ride is awesome and it was still a good place to check some stuff out. I *definitely* want to go back to the area. I'd like to spend more time there and check out more of the area. Actually go down to Farmington, NM, over to Cortez, hit Utah, etc. Perhaps we'll go that way some trip down to Tucson. We'll see...

Chuck Schumer - who votes for this guy?

2007-09-08T07:49:00.000-06:00

I have no idea of Senator Schumer's voting record, and good things he might have done, etc. - but I can't believe after how he lied the other day, that anyone would re-elect this guy. I truly hope he gets beat in the next election, even if it is by another Democrat. Here is part of what he said:

The violence in Anbar has gone down despite the surge, not because of the surge. The inability of American soldiers to protect these tribes from al Qaeda, said to these tribes: "We have to fight al Qaeda ourselves."

As noted on numerous web sites, including Hugh Hewitt and RadioBlogger; its not so much that he even believes it, its that he felt it would be politically savvy to say so as an anti-war liberal. When is someone going to hold these guys accountable?

Coloardo Helps Hillary become president?

2007-09-08T07:38:00.000-06:00

In Hugh Hewitt's article, As The Campaign Turns, he states:

To win in '08, the Dems will need to get one or more states President Bush won in '04, and the best bets for Hillary are Ohio, Colorado, New Mexico, Iowa, Nevada, and Virginia --in roughly that order of probability.

I guess I never really thought about it. I know that because of the size of Denver and Boulder, CO frequently votes for Democrats, even though the Springs and much of the rest of the state vote Republican. But I guess I just never thought about it long enough to realize that Hillary might take CO and in doing so gain the presidency. What a depressing thought.

On the other hand, looking for a silver lining in his statement (and based on other things he said in the article), with CO being one of the important states, there is a good chance many candidates will be here, and that could be interesting.

Italian/Chinese Stir-fry Chicken and Veggies

2007-09-07T07:00:00.000-06:00

Wanted something quick the other day and was at Whole Foods and they had some great looking Spring Onions - which sparked the whole thing. Decided to stir fry some chicken and veggies. I could get the ingredients and throw it together pretty fast the next night or two when getting home from work.

Chicken Breasts - I'd just grill them, that way they'd cook pretty fast and I wouldn't have to prep them much. Just through them in some Teriyaki sauce, grill them, then slice them after cooked.

I wanted something fresh and green... so I got the Spring Onions, some snow peas that looked really good, and then figured I'd throw in some cabbage I had at home.

So the next night I get home from work and immediately start dinner. (I usually get home a bit late and we are all hungry so I get right after it). Threw the chicken in a ziplock bag with some sauce to marinate for a few minutes and turned on the electric skillet. Chopped the onions and went to put some oil in the skillet and ... ok, wait... What would really be good is an Italian dish! Yeah... olive oil, garlic, these fresh veggies and maybe tomato paste! So I poured in some olive oil, threw in the onions, and then grabbed the chicken and threw it on the grill before the Teriaaki could soak in too much; not that I was opting for Italian rather than Chinese.

Added a bit of broccoli, some sliced up cabbage, and then after cooking for a few minutes minced garlic and the snow peas. Then threw in a few small cans of mushrooms as well. After a few minutes pulled the chicken off the grill, sliced it and tossed it in and let that cook a few more minutes till everything looked done. Then added a small can of tomato paste and stirred until the paste was mixed it. Thought about adding some basil or oregano, but wanted the flavor to be pretty pure.

It was fast and great. I probably wouldn't do the Teriyaki again - but the chicken had been in it for such a short time it didn't add much flavor. And the snow peas in the "Italian" dish were really good. Their sweet flavor and crispy texture were really nice with the deep rich flavor of the tomato paste.

Everyone loved it and it was a hit. :)

Durango Diner

2007-09-07T06:42:00.001-06:00

Went to the 4 Corners Rally last weekend. More on that later. But as you know, I'm always on the lookout for some great "road food". Got in Friday night and Saturday morning we were meeting in the Denny's parking lot before heading down to Ignacio. The small group we were with wanted to go to Starbucks, which I'm usually up for but: a) I'm not doing carbs and needed some protein, and b) I was on a bike trip and so was on the lookout for road food. We headed down Main Street and passed a few places that looked good on our way to Starbucks. Once there I told the others that Tina and I were going to look for somewhere to get breakfast and we'd meet up with them at Denny's at the appointed time.

Heading back up the street I was looking at store fronts where I saw a number of bikes parked. Numerous bikes parked in front of a building early in the morning is either an indication of a place to sleep or a place to eat. :)

I almost missed it, but there was a sign that said "Durango Diner" about a small store front wedged in between two other builds. I said "There we go" and Tina said, "Where?" She hadn't even see it, the front was so small. "Diner" mixed with the look of it screamed "road food" to me. So we stopped and went it.

It was awesome! :)

The building is pretty narrow. A small set of tables up front, all full, and then a long counter. On the right are all the grills and cooking areas, running about 1/3 the length of the building, with about 3 feet for the cooks to work and then the counter running the length of the cooking area, and then a few tables in back. Just enough room between the wall and the counter to get by, and then enough room between the counter and the grills to cook. So we grabbed a seat at the counter, right across from where all the action (cooking) was going on.

There were at least 3 cooks. One making hash browns (to our left), the owner cooking the main ingredients (right in front of us) and another cook plating the dishes - putting them all together, smothering them with green chili, etc.

The hash brown cook just cooks hash browns... continuously. He has a big bowl with peeled potatoes (restaurant baked potato size) and a grater. The kind that looks like a box with a handle on top, opening on the bottom, and different size grates on the 4 sides. He grabs a large potato, grates it holding the grater towards the grill, and then dumps the entire grated contents onto the grill, pilling the hash browns next to the last order. This creates a single "order" that is about 4x2x8. We are talking a large plate covering of hash browns. Not doing carbs anymore... but I could definitely appreciate it. :) The main cook then takes this plate of hash browns, covers it with a helping of scrambled eggs (more like a flat omelet that is about 8 inches around, flipped in half), throws 4 strips of bacon on the top, and hands it to the next line cook who covers it in green chili and then sets it up to be served to a customer. Yeah... we're talking heaven. :)

So I asked for 2 eggs over medium, 4 bacon and smoother it.

Sitting there, talking to the locals (fireman on one side of us talking about the local goings on, teasing Tina about the rally, etc.), folks coming in, the owner turning around and yelling "Hey Joe, your usually", other folks, "Hey, hows the coffee today?", etc. The place had a great feel, and I just sat there, drinking cups of coffee with cream from the kind of creamers that all the restaurants used to have - the metal kind with real cream in them, not little individual containers.

The waitress slide our food to us and it was great. Chili wasn't mild, but wasn't too hot. Could of sat there for a while, but we had to make the meeting at Denny's, so ate up the food, and off we went.

If you're looking for road food and our in Durango, I highly suggest it. As their home page says:

"The Diner" is well known for their nostalgic no-frills meals, local buzz, and the Green Chili, Southwest Salsa, and Enchilada Sauce sold through-out the country.

It was awesome. The best road food find I've had in quite a while. I'll definitely go back next time we are down there, and would have gone again if I could have worked it out with everyone else's schedules.

Prosciutto and Asparagus Appetizer

2007-08-29T20:15:00.000-06:00

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

2007-08-29T05:14:00.000-06:00

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.

Overheard

2007-08-28T09:33:00.001-06:00

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.

Risotto

2007-08-25T20:38:00.001-06:00

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.

Work hard, play hard.

2007-08-19T20:42:00.001-06:00

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

2007-08-19T20:23:00.000-06:00

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

2007-08-19T07:18:00.000-06:00

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

2007-08-19T06:55:00.000-06:00

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.

Always watch out for the other guy

2007-08-02T07:54:00.000-06:00

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.

Road Food, Restaurant or both?

2007-07-21T07:52:00.001-06:00

As I've said before, I like the whole "label" concept that Blogger uses. I use it quite a bit. Today I mentioned Sauce in a post, and I didn't want to label it "Road Food" so created a new label for "Restaurant" and then went back and relabeled a few of my past entries.

So what's the difference? They are both places to eat, and a place to eat is a restaurant. Well to me, road food is a bit more like a diner. Some place regional, not too fancy. Not sure burgers and fries, but maybe Mexican as well - as different locations have their own "road food". Whereas a place listed as a Restaurant might not be so "colorful" or "local". Not a place you might just pull in off the road and grab a bite.

So that's the difference - perhaps not always obvious, but some distinction in my mind. :)