Coloardo Helps Hillary become president?

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

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

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

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

I'll have a Betty with cheese

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Overheard

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

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

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

Risotto

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

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

Work hard, play hard.

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

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

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

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

Anyway - its all good.

First day of school

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

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

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

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

M: We can take just the one car.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

:)

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

What a smartie. :)

Driving under water

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

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

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

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

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

A few things I learned:

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

The software awards scam

Interesting article on 5 star awards given to software on download sites:

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

Always watch out for the other guy

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Road Food, Restaurant or both?

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. :)

Yeah, that was me being chivalarous

Yesterday Tina wanted some pizza from Sauce so she called it in and I went and picked it up. As an aside, Sauce is a Fox Restaurant Concept's restaurant, very good. And they have one in Denver. We'll have to check it out!

Anyway, I'm walking out of the place carrying four pizza boxes and a bag with two salads, so yeah, my hands are totally full. I get to the door and I'm trying to push it open with my arm and not drop anything - and these two 20 something (young) girls walk up towards the door. "Cool", I think, "they'll probably hold it open for me." But no, they just kind of stand there and I open it with my arm and then slowly spin around as I'm walking into it, holding it with my back so it doesn't slam against me and knock the pizza to the ground; at which point the girls totally misread the situation and seeing the door open with me apparently "holding" it for *them*, say, "Oh wow, thanks" and whisk into the restaurant; leaving me still balancing the pizza and trying to know it down. I just look after them...

Sure no problem - glad I could be of assistance. :-S LOL

Heading Home

Heading back home today. Guess we can't stay here playing with the Pea, swimming and just generally hanging out, forever. :( - It was a good trip. He is starting to move from new born into baby mode; actually lying around with his eyes open for some amount of time. But work and life call - so we'll be heading home this morning.

I am truly blessed. It was great to be able to come down here on a moment's notice. I actually put in about 24 hours of work this week - which is a blessing too. The ability to be able to work remotely and stay in touch. No email or irc logs to catch up on when I get home. Not *quite* as effective as being in the office - but was still able to get some good stuff done.

So anyway - all in all a good trip; other than I miss riding the bike.

Firsts...

So the Pea and I are watching the National Collegiate Paintball Championship semi-finals... because hey, his Dad is totally into sports, and I'm an ex paintball competitor (yes... I have a few trophies to prove it), so who knows. Anyway, we are watching the championships. Well mostly he is sleeping, but once in a while he wakes up.

I'm a little sweaty, because even with air conditioning its a bit warm here and I have this 6 lbs of warm snuggly human all curled up against me. He is mostly laying on my hip, but he starts waking up so I move him up to my chest. He makes a few squeaks, we watch about another 20 minutes of paintball (he wanted Penn State to win - go Big 10! - and they did), and then he starts looking awake enough that I should go find mom.

So I take him into his room and put him on his "tummy time" mat and he starts practicing paintball moves. Well ok, so he mostly just lays on his back and squiggles around - but hey, that's important in paintball. So I'm laying there starting to cool off, now that he is no longer attached to my body; when I notice that most of my shirt is cooling off except for one spot that feels a little sweating now. So I look down...

OK Pea... you don't have to live up to your name. Yup, a nice wet round circle about 4 inches across in the center of my shirt. I guess all that squealing wasn't just waking up. :O

Well I'm sure it won't be the last time. ;)

Pea Baby - more pics

Here is a link to a photo album that contains pics of the first few days of the Pea's life.

---

Update:

Looking back through the entries, I don't see one announcing PeaBaby's birth. Hmm... in all the commotion I guess I forgot to do that.

Born: 12-Jul-2007, 04:52
Weight: 6lbs, 0.7oz
Length: 19 inches

What a cutie!

At least it was Diet

Not feeling well - slowing looking through code trying to figure out what is wrong with something - waiting for a 3:00 meeting so I can go home and get some sleep. Also absentmindedly sipping on a 32 oz cup of Diet Mt Dew with one hand while slowly scrolling through the code with the other hand.

WHOOSH - the sound of the cup falling out of my hand, hitting my lap, spraying the keyboard with pop and flooding my lap/chair.

The silver lining from a helpful co-worker. "Hey, at least you drink diet so its probably not as sticky." Yeah... a ray of sun-shine. ;)

Byron's Hot Dog Haus

When Tif was 17, we went on a mission trip with Pastor Mark to Chicago. While there we ate at Byron's Hot Dog Haus. Pastor Mark is out there now, and called me and I googled it, found it, and gave them directions (while they were looking at a map) so they could find it. So - they'll be eating a Chicago Dog there today. Very cool. :)

Byron's Hot Dog Haus
1017 W Irving Park Rd

Take the LSD north past Lincoln Park, turn West on Irving and its about 4 blocks down. If you hit two cemetaries, you've gone too far. On the corner of Irving and Sheridan. Sheridan is also one of the side streets for Wrigley, so its about 4 blocks north of there.

If I ever get back to Chicago, I *have* to eat there!

Technology is cool. :)

Love ya Pastor Mark. Hope the dogs are still as good as when we were there!

volcano cake

During the rally last week we were eating dinner with some friends in a nice place. Food and service was good and pretty fast. Then we asked for dessert. The Chocolate Volcano Cake looked pretty good. Something about flour-less cake, chocolate, ganache in the center, raspberry drizzle, etc. Yum.

We waited about 20 minutes.

"Do you know when our dessert will be here?"
"I'll check"... "We're very sorry, apparently the cook is having some issues. It should be out any minute now."

This went on for a while. Finally after about 40 minutes we said we're done, we're out of here, never mind. So they comped the appetizers and salad. The waiter told us:

"There is some process you have to go through to make a volcano cake and the cook has already blown up 6 of them trying to get it right."

Wow... who knew. Volcano cakes really erupt! :)