Wow, so many things to report on this weekend.
I put together a yummy chicken dish - a variant on a recipe my mom gave me: raw chicken parts (thighs usually, bone in is just fine), 1 C soy sauce, 1 C white vinegar, fresh ginger 4 each of 1/4 inch slices, 4 garlic cloves, and 1 star anise. You can, of course, vary the quantities as you desire, but the rule of thumb is 1:1 soy to vinegar. Throw it in a covered pot (crockpot) and bake 1 hour at 350, or until the chicken is done. The meat falls off the bone, and it's super yummy. You can cook it longer with no ill-effects.
I started drinking my new batch of rootbeer. I made it last weekend, using Hoptech's concentrate #2. Perhaps I did something wrong, but the rootbeer is pretty uninspiring. It doesn't taste bad, it just doesn't taste much like rootbeer. The flavors are all very muted, which allows the flavor of the ale yeast to come through (not a positive thing in my book). Still, it was very satisfying to take a cold bottle of something I made out of the fridge, pop the flip-top off, and drink the lightly carbonated drink in the heat of the day. And this batch has a little bit of head as I added some of the foam enhancing solution.
Mom and dad came down this weekend to help us do more prep work for the path. With their help we dug out almost all of the path (I finished the second patio on Sunday), broke down the little playhouse (t'was infested with termites), planted the front bed, and spread 4 yards of compost-soil mixture. Except for some touch-up digging (to correct the grade), we're done with the digging. We just have some little projects before we start laying gravel. We need to replace the supports for the roof of our deck, bury some hoses for watering, remove a board that used to support the back deck, and relocate a downspout and it's sewer connection.
I figure we dug up around 5 yards of dirt on Saturday, which expands to 7 or 8 when it is loose soil (as opposed to packed earth). What the heck are we going to do with that much soil? Well, it's lying in a big pile in the corner of the yard. Later on we'll use it to level out the back yard, which suffers from a pretty steep slope in one corner. But, that project will have to wait until the fall at the very earliest.
Some time soon, I hope, I'll put up some pics of the progress. Perhaps then, Paul will be able to visualize all the work we've done. He complained that his visualization surely didn't match reality.
I watched the most excellent movie Riding Giants after the long day on Saturday. This has to be one of the best movies I've watched in a long time. I've always been fascinated by surfing, and this flic does an amazing job of showing the history and characters of big-wave surfing. And, of course, the surfing footage just blows you away. I cannot recommend this movie enough - go out and rent it right now, or put it in your NetFlix queue.
Monday, June 13, 2005
Tuesday, June 07, 2005
Short Ride
I got all gussied up for the Tuesday night sponsored by Cyclotopia.
Again, there were just two other guys riding, Glenn and a guy I'll call Cream-Puff. Glenn is the co-owner of the shop, and Cream-Puff is a guy who is almost always on these rides (named because he rides the Cascade Cream-Puff race, and I can't remember his name).
Unlike last time, these guys were here to ride. Glenn had other duties tonight, so we were just in for a short ride, up the road and down Dan's trail. And it was a fast ride. I averaged 11+ mph for 20 miles, and I'm sure they averaged more because they had to wait for me at all the intersections. My ego-boost for the evening was catching up with a different three-some who were riding up. I passed two of them, the third looked like a frenchman ready to ride the Tour de France.
Going down Dan's I got another ego-boost because I could almost keep up with Cream-Puff - something I've never dreamt of before. The ego crumpled when I learned his front tire had tool low pressure and he had to be careful going around corners so that he wouldn't roll the tire off the wheel. I've ridden with too low pressure in the front, and it's no fun.
No epic ride, just a short one that avoided the rain-storms. But, I got out of the house and rode up to the top of Dimple Hill faster than I've done solo.
Again, there were just two other guys riding, Glenn and a guy I'll call Cream-Puff. Glenn is the co-owner of the shop, and Cream-Puff is a guy who is almost always on these rides (named because he rides the Cascade Cream-Puff race, and I can't remember his name).
Unlike last time, these guys were here to ride. Glenn had other duties tonight, so we were just in for a short ride, up the road and down Dan's trail. And it was a fast ride. I averaged 11+ mph for 20 miles, and I'm sure they averaged more because they had to wait for me at all the intersections. My ego-boost for the evening was catching up with a different three-some who were riding up. I passed two of them, the third looked like a frenchman ready to ride the Tour de France.
Going down Dan's I got another ego-boost because I could almost keep up with Cream-Puff - something I've never dreamt of before. The ego crumpled when I learned his front tire had tool low pressure and he had to be careful going around corners so that he wouldn't roll the tire off the wheel. I've ridden with too low pressure in the front, and it's no fun.
No epic ride, just a short one that avoided the rain-storms. But, I got out of the house and rode up to the top of Dimple Hill faster than I've done solo.
Sunday, June 05, 2005
Patio Project Day Two
Well, today was day number two.
Again, my ambition was a bit more than my capacity to shovel dirt.
I was able to dig out the rest of the patio area next to the sliding doors. This certainly was the hardest part to dig out. The sprinkler soaked dirt was a bit easier to dig out, but there were still some sections that took a lot of work to chip away 1/2 inch by 1/2 inch of soil. The dirt was so hard that when you did manage to slice off a small chunk, the shovel left a shiny, mirror-like finish on the remaining dirt. This is not your mom's potting soil.
It also happened to rain last night, and rained off and on throughout the day. Not only did that make digging in the mud a little less fun, it also meant that the light and fluffy soil I'd tilled the day before had turned into a very gooey, waffle batter-like layer of sludge.
Long story short, I ended up digging out and carting away over 2 cubic yards of dirt. That's half a 11 foot diameter circle, 4 inches deep. That's over 5000 pounds of soil. I'm going to be sore tomorrow.
I figure the rest of the digging will go much faster because I won't have to deal with the super-hard soil. Hopefully things will dry out a bit so I may have the chance to use the rototiller again.
What does one do with a bunch of extra soil? Mound it up in the corner of the yard that slopes off sharply, right behind the tiny little playhouse we never use. I almost started tearing that thing down, but figured I shouldn't get too distracted. I've already got a pretty big pile of boards and clipped branches that need to be hauled off to the dump - a few more boards wouldn't have mattered.
But, back to the soil, we might need to put a retaining wall in on the south-west corner. For now the dirt will just sit there, unrestrained. Like my appetite for blueberry peach cobbler (yes, I ate the last bit tonight).
Again, my ambition was a bit more than my capacity to shovel dirt.
I was able to dig out the rest of the patio area next to the sliding doors. This certainly was the hardest part to dig out. The sprinkler soaked dirt was a bit easier to dig out, but there were still some sections that took a lot of work to chip away 1/2 inch by 1/2 inch of soil. The dirt was so hard that when you did manage to slice off a small chunk, the shovel left a shiny, mirror-like finish on the remaining dirt. This is not your mom's potting soil.
It also happened to rain last night, and rained off and on throughout the day. Not only did that make digging in the mud a little less fun, it also meant that the light and fluffy soil I'd tilled the day before had turned into a very gooey, waffle batter-like layer of sludge.
Long story short, I ended up digging out and carting away over 2 cubic yards of dirt. That's half a 11 foot diameter circle, 4 inches deep. That's over 5000 pounds of soil. I'm going to be sore tomorrow.
I figure the rest of the digging will go much faster because I won't have to deal with the super-hard soil. Hopefully things will dry out a bit so I may have the chance to use the rototiller again.
What does one do with a bunch of extra soil? Mound it up in the corner of the yard that slopes off sharply, right behind the tiny little playhouse we never use. I almost started tearing that thing down, but figured I shouldn't get too distracted. I've already got a pretty big pile of boards and clipped branches that need to be hauled off to the dump - a few more boards wouldn't have mattered.
But, back to the soil, we might need to put a retaining wall in on the south-west corner. For now the dirt will just sit there, unrestrained. Like my appetite for blueberry peach cobbler (yes, I ate the last bit tonight).
Neighbors
New neighbors moved in behind us. The previous couple left 4-6 months ago (he was in the military) and the house has been vacant since then.
The new neighbors look nice enough, they must have a kid because they have a bunch of brightly-colored plastic play things, but I've not seen the rugrat yet. Oh, and I think they must like hasenfeffer because they have a bunny the size of a small beach ball in a cage.
They also broke out the pink flamingos on sticks yesterday. Mary was a bit aghast, though I think she secretly wants them for our front yard. I'm planning a midnight reconnaissance mission sometime soon.
And, crazy lady (CL), from the house to the east, showed up today. She talks a lot and doesn't really listen. Her rose bed is totally overgrown with weeds and the mint is tall enough to hide the aforementioned large rabbit. Evidentially, CL was in an accident when they were in Africa last year. She didn't say what happened, yadda yadda yadda, she was in a wheel chair for many months and just got back on her feet a little while ago.
She came over to see the beginnings of our patio/path plans and talked up a storm. After a few minutes of talking at us, she excused herself and talked all the way back to her house, and began talking at her roses. She's contemplating tearing them all out to put something in that needs less work. Hopefully she doesn't mean more mint.
And, to our west, grandma finally showed up. She'd been gone for 4 months or so, taking care of a new grand child on the east coast. Her husband has been here, all alone, tending to the roses. They do have some of the prettiest roses I've seen in a while. The bushes are nearly exploding with flowers.
To the west of grandma, the empty lot has been getting a little bit of attention. Yesterday, two guys installed a pole with an electrical box, so we may have some new construction going in soon.
We don't really speak to any of our neighbors, as one is crazy, another doesn't speak English, and the third just moved in with the flamingos... I wonder what they think of us.
The new neighbors look nice enough, they must have a kid because they have a bunch of brightly-colored plastic play things, but I've not seen the rugrat yet. Oh, and I think they must like hasenfeffer because they have a bunny the size of a small beach ball in a cage.
They also broke out the pink flamingos on sticks yesterday. Mary was a bit aghast, though I think she secretly wants them for our front yard. I'm planning a midnight reconnaissance mission sometime soon.
And, crazy lady (CL), from the house to the east, showed up today. She talks a lot and doesn't really listen. Her rose bed is totally overgrown with weeds and the mint is tall enough to hide the aforementioned large rabbit. Evidentially, CL was in an accident when they were in Africa last year. She didn't say what happened, yadda yadda yadda, she was in a wheel chair for many months and just got back on her feet a little while ago.
She came over to see the beginnings of our patio/path plans and talked up a storm. After a few minutes of talking at us, she excused herself and talked all the way back to her house, and began talking at her roses. She's contemplating tearing them all out to put something in that needs less work. Hopefully she doesn't mean more mint.
And, to our west, grandma finally showed up. She'd been gone for 4 months or so, taking care of a new grand child on the east coast. Her husband has been here, all alone, tending to the roses. They do have some of the prettiest roses I've seen in a while. The bushes are nearly exploding with flowers.
To the west of grandma, the empty lot has been getting a little bit of attention. Yesterday, two guys installed a pole with an electrical box, so we may have some new construction going in soon.
We don't really speak to any of our neighbors, as one is crazy, another doesn't speak English, and the third just moved in with the flamingos... I wonder what they think of us.
Patio Project Day One
Yesterday was the first day we really began prepping for the cobblestone path and patio. I'd hoped to get a little further than we did, but I'm often a little more ambitious than realistic.
I got the entire side yard and front path area rototilled. The old rototiller we got from Mary's parents rumbles and bounces around, but it does the job nicely. It's old (old even when Mary's parents got it) 5 horse power machine with tines in the front. Last week, Miles and I debated the virtues of front tine versus rear tine in rototillers. Of course, you couldn't fill a thimble with our combined experience with rototillers, but it was and interesting discussion nonetheless. True to common wisdom, our front-tined rototiller bounces around some and is a little tricky to handle. Luckily, I'm big enough to control it - and I've gotten good enough that I can come within two inches of the house/fence.
Of course, about half-way through it all, the rototiller broke.
Yup, just broke. A set of wheels/pulleys on a single bolt just popped off. Without it, the rototiller wouldn't do anything but make engine noise. Fortunately, for me, the engine still ran (b/c I know nothing about engines). I took a look at the newly liberated parts and saw that the bolt holding them on had worn down like a table leg on a carpenter's lathe. A section about half an inch long was worn down to the diameter of a toothpick.
And, wouldn't you know it, the local hardware store had recently closed down and moved away. So I headed to Philomath to find their hardware store. Walking around a hardware store always makes me feel a little more important and knowledgeable than I am. Guys just belong in hardware stores, so, by association, I'm more manly because I'm in one. Two dollars and ninety-six cents later I walk out with my little bag of bolts and a squeeze bottle of chalk.
Was I able to get the rototiller back together? Yup. It successfully bounced me around the yard for an hour longer.
Then the task of actually digging up the yard began.
Mary and I discussed the size/location of the paths and patios - we're going to have a LOT of area to cover with the cobblestone.
Except for under old deck, and next to the driveway in the front, we won't have to remove more than about 3 or 4 inches of soil.
I started digging away and immediately hit bedrock near the back doors. I couldn't rototill everything under the awning because of a PVC drainage pipe. And the soil there hadn't seen moisture since 1995. And I don't have a pick-axe. After nearly bending my shovel blade I decided to water the area - of course I would have been out there all night if it weren't for Mary's suggestion of using a sprinkler. I shoveled a bit more outside the deck area and found myself spending more and more time "thinking" about how this was all going to work out. After one round of "thinking" I had an actual thought to quit for the night and clean up.
I started the sprinkler (using the handy-dandy timer) and went in for the night.
Now I'm just procrastinating heading back out. The rain has stopped and I actually see blue sky, must be time to work.
I got the entire side yard and front path area rototilled. The old rototiller we got from Mary's parents rumbles and bounces around, but it does the job nicely. It's old (old even when Mary's parents got it) 5 horse power machine with tines in the front. Last week, Miles and I debated the virtues of front tine versus rear tine in rototillers. Of course, you couldn't fill a thimble with our combined experience with rototillers, but it was and interesting discussion nonetheless. True to common wisdom, our front-tined rototiller bounces around some and is a little tricky to handle. Luckily, I'm big enough to control it - and I've gotten good enough that I can come within two inches of the house/fence.
Of course, about half-way through it all, the rototiller broke.
Yup, just broke. A set of wheels/pulleys on a single bolt just popped off. Without it, the rototiller wouldn't do anything but make engine noise. Fortunately, for me, the engine still ran (b/c I know nothing about engines). I took a look at the newly liberated parts and saw that the bolt holding them on had worn down like a table leg on a carpenter's lathe. A section about half an inch long was worn down to the diameter of a toothpick.
And, wouldn't you know it, the local hardware store had recently closed down and moved away. So I headed to Philomath to find their hardware store. Walking around a hardware store always makes me feel a little more important and knowledgeable than I am. Guys just belong in hardware stores, so, by association, I'm more manly because I'm in one. Two dollars and ninety-six cents later I walk out with my little bag of bolts and a squeeze bottle of chalk.
Was I able to get the rototiller back together? Yup. It successfully bounced me around the yard for an hour longer.
Then the task of actually digging up the yard began.
Mary and I discussed the size/location of the paths and patios - we're going to have a LOT of area to cover with the cobblestone.
Except for under old deck, and next to the driveway in the front, we won't have to remove more than about 3 or 4 inches of soil.
I started digging away and immediately hit bedrock near the back doors. I couldn't rototill everything under the awning because of a PVC drainage pipe. And the soil there hadn't seen moisture since 1995. And I don't have a pick-axe. After nearly bending my shovel blade I decided to water the area - of course I would have been out there all night if it weren't for Mary's suggestion of using a sprinkler. I shoveled a bit more outside the deck area and found myself spending more and more time "thinking" about how this was all going to work out. After one round of "thinking" I had an actual thought to quit for the night and clean up.
I started the sprinkler (using the handy-dandy timer) and went in for the night.
Now I'm just procrastinating heading back out. The rain has stopped and I actually see blue sky, must be time to work.
Friday, June 03, 2005
Bummer Dude
Chris King moved to Portland, but they're not yet doing factory tours. The nice lady on the phone said they weren't completely moved in yet.
While I'll gladly wait for a factory tour, her excuse that they haven't completely moved in yet seems a little fishy. They moved to Portland in January of 2004, and produced their first part (in Portland) that month. I'm confused how they can be producing products for a year and a half and not be moved in...
While I'll gladly wait for a factory tour, her excuse that they haven't completely moved in yet seems a little fishy. They moved to Portland in January of 2004, and produced their first part (in Portland) that month. I'm confused how they can be producing products for a year and a half and not be moved in...
CEOs blogging
The CEO of Intel (Paul Otellini) is "blogging" on an internal web page at Intel.
He started last December, and has done one post a month. I guess it's nice that Paul is trying to reach out on a personal level to people, but the whole thing comes off a little stilted. He only posts twice a month, and the layout is horrible.
But, worst of all, there is no RSS feed.
CEO of one of the richest hi-tech companies in the world, and he doesn't have an RSS feed.
He started last December, and has done one post a month. I guess it's nice that Paul is trying to reach out on a personal level to people, but the whole thing comes off a little stilted. He only posts twice a month, and the layout is horrible.
But, worst of all, there is no RSS feed.
CEO of one of the richest hi-tech companies in the world, and he doesn't have an RSS feed.
Thursday, June 02, 2005
One year anniversary.
I've been posting for a year now. Happy birthday BFW!
What have I been blogging about in the past year? The same old crap.
Broken rear wheels, awesome rides, rants about people at work, etc.
One thing has changed, I'm totally hooked on RSS, and as my second post shows, I didn't know about it when I first started.
Perhaps I'll turn a new leaf this coming year, but I doubt it. I'm pretty predictable.
What have I been blogging about in the past year? The same old crap.
Broken rear wheels, awesome rides, rants about people at work, etc.
One thing has changed, I'm totally hooked on RSS, and as my second post shows, I didn't know about it when I first started.
Perhaps I'll turn a new leaf this coming year, but I doubt it. I'm pretty predictable.
Tuesday Night Ride
I went on my first Tuesday night ride, hosted by Cyclotopia.
Only two other guys rode, Mike (one of the owners) and a free-spirit named Chris. I'd ridden with Mike before, he and Chris seemed to know each other pretty well. Lucky for me, neither of them were speed demons, so we cruised around Mac forest without killing ourselves.
Total ride time, 2h30min, 22.5 miles. A nice distance, and a nice pace.
Now, the ride itself was most excellent. We rode two trails I'd never heard of, the first was Funnel Cake, which dropped in off one of the dirt roads that passes Extendo. Funnel Cake was nice and windy, with a pretty steep section (about the second steepest dirt trail I've ridden). The trail conditions were perfect tonight - no longer muddy, but not so dry that things turned dusty. The trail ended with a pretty long bomb down a narrow trail - reaching over 20 miles per hour (the end of this reminded me of Newton Road in Forest Park). Very cool.
We then leisurely climbed up some roads, ending near the top of the road we'd originally came in on. Mike pointed out the start of Innuendo, a trail to take down to Extendo - but that was not for tonight. We continued on down the road and hit "Rock Slide". Evidentially, "Rock Slide" is a good winter trail because the rocky trail stays rideable in the winter. It was fast tonight, and I made all the log crossings. This one wound a bit more through small trees, making me very glad I had my sunglasses on to protect my eyes. Another great trail.
We then rode up the path to Upwards and down Extendo - my favorite, readily accessible trail in Mac forest.
Riding with these two guys was good because I definitely got pushed faster than I would have normally ridden. I definitely rode Extendo faster than I have before.
Now I just need to charge my light so that next time I'm prepared for when we stay out past sunset.
All that riding, and I wasn't even completely pooped at the end.
Only two other guys rode, Mike (one of the owners) and a free-spirit named Chris. I'd ridden with Mike before, he and Chris seemed to know each other pretty well. Lucky for me, neither of them were speed demons, so we cruised around Mac forest without killing ourselves.
Total ride time, 2h30min, 22.5 miles. A nice distance, and a nice pace.
Now, the ride itself was most excellent. We rode two trails I'd never heard of, the first was Funnel Cake, which dropped in off one of the dirt roads that passes Extendo. Funnel Cake was nice and windy, with a pretty steep section (about the second steepest dirt trail I've ridden). The trail conditions were perfect tonight - no longer muddy, but not so dry that things turned dusty. The trail ended with a pretty long bomb down a narrow trail - reaching over 20 miles per hour (the end of this reminded me of Newton Road in Forest Park). Very cool.
We then leisurely climbed up some roads, ending near the top of the road we'd originally came in on. Mike pointed out the start of Innuendo, a trail to take down to Extendo - but that was not for tonight. We continued on down the road and hit "Rock Slide". Evidentially, "Rock Slide" is a good winter trail because the rocky trail stays rideable in the winter. It was fast tonight, and I made all the log crossings. This one wound a bit more through small trees, making me very glad I had my sunglasses on to protect my eyes. Another great trail.
We then rode up the path to Upwards and down Extendo - my favorite, readily accessible trail in Mac forest.
Riding with these two guys was good because I definitely got pushed faster than I would have normally ridden. I definitely rode Extendo faster than I have before.
Now I just need to charge my light so that next time I'm prepared for when we stay out past sunset.
All that riding, and I wasn't even completely pooped at the end.
Bling Bling Baby
I got my bling-bling today.
Tooth #15 is now capped with a shiny gold crown. It's far enough back that you can't really see it unless I open my mouth nice and wide, but it's there. Now I can finally floss my darned teeth.
Tooth #15 is now capped with a shiny gold crown. It's far enough back that you can't really see it unless I open my mouth nice and wide, but it's there. Now I can finally floss my darned teeth.
Thursday, May 26, 2005
Family Feud
Family Feud has to be about the most worthless game show on TV today.
The idea is good enough: get two gomer families to compete guessing the most popular responses to rather ordinary questions. It's simple, you can play along while watching.
What's stupid is the money.
These two families battle over a grand total of $10,000 (oh, wait, update, in 2001 they doubled the grand prize to $20,000!).
Now, I'm not one to turn my nose up against $20,000 - but that's the limit, that's all an entire family can win! Divide by five, and you get $4,000 per person. The Feud organizers probably make that much money just selling popcorn to the audience during the shows.
Most of the time the family doesn't win the grand prize, they $5 per point (200 points is the grand prize) and generally score 140 points or so - a grand total of $700. Perhaps the family has picked up two thousand along the way to getting to the "final round". The average winnings are probably less than $3000 (for those who don't win the grand prize).
Let me contain my excitement.
Now, Fear Factor is a real game show...
The idea is good enough: get two gomer families to compete guessing the most popular responses to rather ordinary questions. It's simple, you can play along while watching.
What's stupid is the money.
These two families battle over a grand total of $10,000 (oh, wait, update, in 2001 they doubled the grand prize to $20,000!).
Now, I'm not one to turn my nose up against $20,000 - but that's the limit, that's all an entire family can win! Divide by five, and you get $4,000 per person. The Feud organizers probably make that much money just selling popcorn to the audience during the shows.
Most of the time the family doesn't win the grand prize, they $5 per point (200 points is the grand prize) and generally score 140 points or so - a grand total of $700. Perhaps the family has picked up two thousand along the way to getting to the "final round". The average winnings are probably less than $3000 (for those who don't win the grand prize).
Let me contain my excitement.
Now, Fear Factor is a real game show...
Hanks
Mary and I stopped by Cost-Plus yesterday, under the guise of picking up some rootbeer for me. We ended up finding our favorite wine for sale there, so we picked up a few bottles.
Luckily, the shop also had Hank's rootbeer, so I picked up a four-pack. Nice flavor, a little cream-soda-ish, but mostly a rootbeer flavor. It tastes as though it is going to be super-sweet, but it turns out to have the right balance. I'd put it in the top 5 rootbeers.
So, pick up a bottle if you see it, it's worth the dollar.
Luckily, the shop also had Hank's rootbeer, so I picked up a four-pack. Nice flavor, a little cream-soda-ish, but mostly a rootbeer flavor. It tastes as though it is going to be super-sweet, but it turns out to have the right balance. I'd put it in the top 5 rootbeers.
So, pick up a bottle if you see it, it's worth the dollar.
Tuesday, May 24, 2005
Fast Squirrel
While riding down Dan's trail yesterday I came across a squirrel.
The little bugger ran down the trail in front of me for a good 20 seconds - at over 15 miles per hour.
Wish I had that kind of speed.
The little bugger ran down the trail in front of me for a good 20 seconds - at over 15 miles per hour.
Wish I had that kind of speed.
Monday, May 23, 2005
Back Deck
The back deck is gone.
I tore it out.
Since we're putting in a path and a patio, it's time to get new tools. I almost bought a sledge-hammer, b/c we'll probably want one for installing the bricks (a rubber one). But, at the stone shop, the rubber hammer was $45. No-way Jose! And they had a neato 48-inch, laminated, wooden level with brass edges - $80 or so. No-way Jose!
We went to Home Depot and picked up a $10 level (bright plastic yellow), and punted on the sledge hammer.
I started tearing apart the deck and quickly realized that my little "crow bar" was a little to little, and a little too flimsy to do the trick. So I just used the back of my trusty claw hammer. That actually worked pretty well. And, when it came to hammering boards apart, I just used both of my trusty claw hammers at the same time - swinging them like some raged barbarian out of one of those fantasy books I like to read. Yeah, it took more effort than if I'd borrowed a 5 pound sledge hammer, but it was fun.
Now we have a patch of uneven, cracked soil where the back deck used to live.
Only thing is, we still have a 12 foot board bolted to the side of the house. It's going to be tough to remove for several reasons:
First, one of the bolts is rusted on. Yes, I sprayed it with penetrating oil. That didn't help, I just turned the nut and the bolt together - so now they're spinning like a top (not so effortlessly) but not moving anywhere. So I'm not quite sure how to get that portion off.
B, I can't pry the board off (even with a nice, big, sturdy crowbar) because the house is made of cement ... and styrofoam. It's bolted directly onto the styrofoam - and I don't know that I really want to damage the styrofoam horribly to get this board off.
And, because it's styrofoam, there's really not a whole hell of a lot to leverage against.
Lastly, it's a 12 foot board, and I really need to work on one of the four bolts at a time.
So, I'm gonna have to get a saw (think my dad has one) that lets you cut a hole in a flat surface. I don't want any fancy power tools b/c I don't want to cut into the siding/styrofoam. Every screw up I make will be visible, so no screw-ups.
The other things that were uncovered by removing the deck are:
There's an access pipe to the sewer right by the back door (good thing nobody told us). We need to figure out how to make it accessible without making it look like the sewer is protruding through the patio.
The storm water drain pipe (from the downspouts) runs right through the back patio area - basically at ground level. So we'll have to adjust our patio height to accommodate that.
And last, but not least, we have a downspout that connects directly to aforementioned storm water drain pipe that we need to somehow pretty-up, so that (again) it doesn't look like the sewer is protruding through the patio.
Oh, but I forgot to mention, the supports for the back deck's awning. They're just resting on small patches of cement. With one good blow from my hammer I could easily bring down the entire awning. And, the supporting cement patches - they're well above ground level. So, unless we want yet another super-ugly sore in the middle of what will be a beautiful path/patio, we need to dig those out and replace the supporting posts with newer, longer beams - all without letting the roof fall down and killing our 8 year old grape vines.
But, the good news is that our property is sloped nicely, and we won't have to do all that much digging to get the grade we want.
Oh yeah, and I got to Roundup a bunch of weeds in the yard. die weeds die!!!!
I tore it out.
Since we're putting in a path and a patio, it's time to get new tools. I almost bought a sledge-hammer, b/c we'll probably want one for installing the bricks (a rubber one). But, at the stone shop, the rubber hammer was $45. No-way Jose! And they had a neato 48-inch, laminated, wooden level with brass edges - $80 or so. No-way Jose!
We went to Home Depot and picked up a $10 level (bright plastic yellow), and punted on the sledge hammer.
I started tearing apart the deck and quickly realized that my little "crow bar" was a little to little, and a little too flimsy to do the trick. So I just used the back of my trusty claw hammer. That actually worked pretty well. And, when it came to hammering boards apart, I just used both of my trusty claw hammers at the same time - swinging them like some raged barbarian out of one of those fantasy books I like to read. Yeah, it took more effort than if I'd borrowed a 5 pound sledge hammer, but it was fun.
Now we have a patch of uneven, cracked soil where the back deck used to live.
Only thing is, we still have a 12 foot board bolted to the side of the house. It's going to be tough to remove for several reasons:
First, one of the bolts is rusted on. Yes, I sprayed it with penetrating oil. That didn't help, I just turned the nut and the bolt together - so now they're spinning like a top (not so effortlessly) but not moving anywhere. So I'm not quite sure how to get that portion off.
B, I can't pry the board off (even with a nice, big, sturdy crowbar) because the house is made of cement ... and styrofoam. It's bolted directly onto the styrofoam - and I don't know that I really want to damage the styrofoam horribly to get this board off.
And, because it's styrofoam, there's really not a whole hell of a lot to leverage against.
Lastly, it's a 12 foot board, and I really need to work on one of the four bolts at a time.
So, I'm gonna have to get a saw (think my dad has one) that lets you cut a hole in a flat surface. I don't want any fancy power tools b/c I don't want to cut into the siding/styrofoam. Every screw up I make will be visible, so no screw-ups.
The other things that were uncovered by removing the deck are:
There's an access pipe to the sewer right by the back door (good thing nobody told us). We need to figure out how to make it accessible without making it look like the sewer is protruding through the patio.
The storm water drain pipe (from the downspouts) runs right through the back patio area - basically at ground level. So we'll have to adjust our patio height to accommodate that.
And last, but not least, we have a downspout that connects directly to aforementioned storm water drain pipe that we need to somehow pretty-up, so that (again) it doesn't look like the sewer is protruding through the patio.
Oh, but I forgot to mention, the supports for the back deck's awning. They're just resting on small patches of cement. With one good blow from my hammer I could easily bring down the entire awning. And, the supporting cement patches - they're well above ground level. So, unless we want yet another super-ugly sore in the middle of what will be a beautiful path/patio, we need to dig those out and replace the supporting posts with newer, longer beams - all without letting the roof fall down and killing our 8 year old grape vines.
But, the good news is that our property is sloped nicely, and we won't have to do all that much digging to get the grade we want.
Oh yeah, and I got to Roundup a bunch of weeds in the yard. die weeds die!!!!
Friday, May 20, 2005
NetFlix
Mary and I decided to join NetFlix.
We watch a few movies a month, not a lot. But we've actually gotten lazy/forgetful and have gotten a few late fees in the last month or two (yes, we still use Hollywood - not Blockbuster).
Mary got all psyched up about using NetFlix when she found that it's real easy to use - that you can control the order in which you get movies and all that. So, we signed up.
We looked, briefly, at Blockbuster's online DVD rental. It's the same price (we just got the 2-DVD at a time option) as NetFlix, but gives you a little more. We decided that we wouldn't notice the difference between 2 at a time versus 3 at a time, and we'd rather support the "little" guy - or at least the new kid on the block.
But then I found out that NetFlix and WalMart are forming a partnership where NetFlix gets all the rental business, and WalMart gets the sales. I don't like WalMart, so I started wondering if we should really use NetFlix.
But I justified it as just a partnership - we're not going to buy WalMart DVD's, so we won't be supporting WalMart.
It did throw me for a loop.
We watch a few movies a month, not a lot. But we've actually gotten lazy/forgetful and have gotten a few late fees in the last month or two (yes, we still use Hollywood - not Blockbuster).
Mary got all psyched up about using NetFlix when she found that it's real easy to use - that you can control the order in which you get movies and all that. So, we signed up.
We looked, briefly, at Blockbuster's online DVD rental. It's the same price (we just got the 2-DVD at a time option) as NetFlix, but gives you a little more. We decided that we wouldn't notice the difference between 2 at a time versus 3 at a time, and we'd rather support the "little" guy - or at least the new kid on the block.
But then I found out that NetFlix and WalMart are forming a partnership where NetFlix gets all the rental business, and WalMart gets the sales. I don't like WalMart, so I started wondering if we should really use NetFlix.
But I justified it as just a partnership - we're not going to buy WalMart DVD's, so we won't be supporting WalMart.
It did throw me for a loop.
Monday, May 16, 2005
New Thing For The Day
This will help shave seconds off my triathlon time, how to tie the "Ian Knot" - the world's fastest shoelace knot.
Watch the video, or watch the flipbook animation.
Watch the video, or watch the flipbook animation.
1500 baby
The three people that read my blog have hit the 'refresh' button enough times to make my stat-counter reach 1500. What a milestone!
Yard work and cobbler
We didn't quite make the dent I was hoping to in getting ready to put down the path. I took up all the black plastic and got it folded up and put away, and I removed three of the 5 old fence posts. I helped Mary with weeding the front bed some, and she planted about half of the impatients (did you know that impatients are native to Africa?) she'd raised from seed. So the front bed looks great, and the side yard looks dead, but that's about it. The next big task is to actually tear out our back deck.
On the plus side, I think we've decided which stones to use for our path, Appian interlocking pavers. We like the look, and they come in shapes that easily create circular patios. We're leaning towards the "classic" color.
After a long, hard day working in the yard (3.5 hours felt like forever), we made some yummy dinner, and even better dessert.
First, Mary started making some blueberry peach cobbler. She used the same cookbook I've been using - and though it seemed to have more steps than your average cobbler recipe, it not only looked great, it tasted awesome.
While that was cooking, I really wanted to try out my new marshmallows in some hot chocolate.
First, let me tell you the results of my marshmallow experience. It was a hoot. There is something really cool about making a food product as odd as marshmallows starting with only sugar, corn syrup, water, and gelatin. To start, all the ingredients form a clear syrup, tinged faintly brown. But after you've whipped it up, they turn into a glossy bright white. And after it's cooled enough to touch, the result is super sponge-like. Simply amazing.
I pulled the marshmallow out of the pan onto the cutting board, cut a few pieces, dusted them with powdered sugar and popped one into my mouth. It tasted *exactly* like your standard marshmallow. I don't know why this is so amazing, but it was very surprising. Mary was just as surprised when she ate her first.
Now I've got a pile of marshmallows I need to pawn off on people at work...
But, Mary had the insight to recommend making some hot chocolate and trying the marshmallows out on that. Genius! I knew there was a reason I married her.
I grabbed some of the best hot chocolate I've found, dagoba hot chocolate. I whipped some up, and threw in half a dozen small marshmallows. mmmm..... The difference between the storebought marshmallows and my homemade ones? Mine actually melt in the hot chocolate. It was divine.
On the plus side, I think we've decided which stones to use for our path, Appian interlocking pavers. We like the look, and they come in shapes that easily create circular patios. We're leaning towards the "classic" color.
After a long, hard day working in the yard (3.5 hours felt like forever), we made some yummy dinner, and even better dessert.
First, Mary started making some blueberry peach cobbler. She used the same cookbook I've been using - and though it seemed to have more steps than your average cobbler recipe, it not only looked great, it tasted awesome.
While that was cooking, I really wanted to try out my new marshmallows in some hot chocolate.
First, let me tell you the results of my marshmallow experience. It was a hoot. There is something really cool about making a food product as odd as marshmallows starting with only sugar, corn syrup, water, and gelatin. To start, all the ingredients form a clear syrup, tinged faintly brown. But after you've whipped it up, they turn into a glossy bright white. And after it's cooled enough to touch, the result is super sponge-like. Simply amazing.
I pulled the marshmallow out of the pan onto the cutting board, cut a few pieces, dusted them with powdered sugar and popped one into my mouth. It tasted *exactly* like your standard marshmallow. I don't know why this is so amazing, but it was very surprising. Mary was just as surprised when she ate her first.
Now I've got a pile of marshmallows I need to pawn off on people at work...
But, Mary had the insight to recommend making some hot chocolate and trying the marshmallows out on that. Genius! I knew there was a reason I married her.
I grabbed some of the best hot chocolate I've found, dagoba hot chocolate. I whipped some up, and threw in half a dozen small marshmallows. mmmm..... The difference between the storebought marshmallows and my homemade ones? Mine actually melt in the hot chocolate. It was divine.
Friday, May 13, 2005
Friday Night Hilights
Exciting Friday nights.
I made the marshmallows tonight. Mmmm.... sticky. I just poured them into the pan, so I'll have to wait until tomorrow to see what they taste like. But, from what I tasted while licking the bowl, they tasted like marshmallow. No big surprise.
What was cool was how some molten sugar and some rubbery gelatin would mix together to make such an oddly textured food.
We watched Motorcycle Diaries. Great movie. I had no idea what it was about, little did I know it was based on a true story. Worth watching on a big TV, and a good sound system would help - we're thinking of getting the soundtrack (it sounded great).
And now for snooze time. Gotta gear myself up for a ride in the rain tomorrow. More singletrack is what the doctor ordered.
I made the marshmallows tonight. Mmmm.... sticky. I just poured them into the pan, so I'll have to wait until tomorrow to see what they taste like. But, from what I tasted while licking the bowl, they tasted like marshmallow. No big surprise.
What was cool was how some molten sugar and some rubbery gelatin would mix together to make such an oddly textured food.
We watched Motorcycle Diaries. Great movie. I had no idea what it was about, little did I know it was based on a true story. Worth watching on a big TV, and a good sound system would help - we're thinking of getting the soundtrack (it sounded great).
And now for snooze time. Gotta gear myself up for a ride in the rain tomorrow. More singletrack is what the doctor ordered.
Thursday, May 12, 2005
Drinking too much can kill you
No, not that kind of drinking.
Several times now I've heard of this study that talks about how some marathoners become overly hydrated. Basically, they drank too much while running (enough to actually *gain* weight during the race), and their electrolyte levels got way out of whack.
I'm sure that people do this, but in all the coverage I've seen (and as far as they've reported about the study itself, there's no real critical thinking going on here.
Yes, if you drink too much water you are going to cause problems. People have even died of this. Fine. And some marathoners (evidentially the slow ones) end up getting too much.
So you're supposed to weigh yourself before and after your training runs to gauge how much you sweat and how that compares to the amount of water you're drinking.
But nobody talks about other alternatives. What about drinking sports drinks? What about actually eating something (pretzels, bananas, energy bars, etc.) to help balance things out? What about slightly salty water?
Wake up reporters - how about some critical thinking...
Here are two of the reports: the first and the second.
Several times now I've heard of this study that talks about how some marathoners become overly hydrated. Basically, they drank too much while running (enough to actually *gain* weight during the race), and their electrolyte levels got way out of whack.
I'm sure that people do this, but in all the coverage I've seen (and as far as they've reported about the study itself, there's no real critical thinking going on here.
Yes, if you drink too much water you are going to cause problems. People have even died of this. Fine. And some marathoners (evidentially the slow ones) end up getting too much.
So you're supposed to weigh yourself before and after your training runs to gauge how much you sweat and how that compares to the amount of water you're drinking.
But nobody talks about other alternatives. What about drinking sports drinks? What about actually eating something (pretzels, bananas, energy bars, etc.) to help balance things out? What about slightly salty water?
Wake up reporters - how about some critical thinking...
Here are two of the reports: the first and the second.
Cooking Again
I've been cooking some again.
My cooking seems to go in spurts. I'll really be into it, and then I won't do anything more exciting than warm meusli or sauteed spinach.
Well, last weekend I made meatloaf - using a recipe out of the Cook's Illustrated cook book. Cook's Illustrated tries to approach cooking scientifically, for example they'll roast 55 different pot roasts, varying the time/temperature/brining/seasoning to find the very best. The cook book describes some of what they go through in coming up with each recipe. I highly recommend it, it's very interesting. Miles even thinks so. Anyway, meatloaf. It was awesome even without the bacon (I didn't have any). It's not that different from your standard meat loaf recipe, except that it has yogurt and a glaze. The yogurt gives it a slightly rich and creamy taste and texture, and the glaze (almost a sweet and sour) is just delicious. Oh, I also used quick-cook oats as a binder (as opposed to the traditional breadcrumbs).
Tonight I made a kick-ass burrito with some left over chicken. Nothing fancy, but very tasty. Though this opinion might be influenced by the fact I'd only eaten three boiled eggs and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich all day.
I'm thinking of making marshmallows from scratch. I've been excited about the idea ever since I read a blog entry by Cooking For Engineers. If nothing else, his recipes are displayed very concisely and are easy to follow. Perhaps I'll flavor them with mint!!!
Last, and certainly not least. We had my in-laws over for dinner last night. Both their birthdays, mother's day, father's day, and their anniversary occur in about a 45 day span. For my birthday they gave me a beer-can-chicken stand. The basic idea is you stick a half empty beer can inside a chicken, stand it up on the grill, close the lid, and voila! Ninety minutes later you have a meal. The stand makes the whole arrangement very stable (I can't imagine trying to balance a raw chicken on top of a beer can). I rubbed it with a some oil and a spice mixture and threw it on the grill. The skin browned up beautifully, nice and crisp. And the chicken was amazingly moist. I didn't taste any of the beer (Coors lite), but we're thinking of trying the process with wine next time.
marshmallow!
My cooking seems to go in spurts. I'll really be into it, and then I won't do anything more exciting than warm meusli or sauteed spinach.
Well, last weekend I made meatloaf - using a recipe out of the Cook's Illustrated cook book. Cook's Illustrated tries to approach cooking scientifically, for example they'll roast 55 different pot roasts, varying the time/temperature/brining/seasoning to find the very best. The cook book describes some of what they go through in coming up with each recipe. I highly recommend it, it's very interesting. Miles even thinks so. Anyway, meatloaf. It was awesome even without the bacon (I didn't have any). It's not that different from your standard meat loaf recipe, except that it has yogurt and a glaze. The yogurt gives it a slightly rich and creamy taste and texture, and the glaze (almost a sweet and sour) is just delicious. Oh, I also used quick-cook oats as a binder (as opposed to the traditional breadcrumbs).
Tonight I made a kick-ass burrito with some left over chicken. Nothing fancy, but very tasty. Though this opinion might be influenced by the fact I'd only eaten three boiled eggs and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich all day.
I'm thinking of making marshmallows from scratch. I've been excited about the idea ever since I read a blog entry by Cooking For Engineers. If nothing else, his recipes are displayed very concisely and are easy to follow. Perhaps I'll flavor them with mint!!!
Last, and certainly not least. We had my in-laws over for dinner last night. Both their birthdays, mother's day, father's day, and their anniversary occur in about a 45 day span. For my birthday they gave me a beer-can-chicken stand. The basic idea is you stick a half empty beer can inside a chicken, stand it up on the grill, close the lid, and voila! Ninety minutes later you have a meal. The stand makes the whole arrangement very stable (I can't imagine trying to balance a raw chicken on top of a beer can). I rubbed it with a some oil and a spice mixture and threw it on the grill. The skin browned up beautifully, nice and crisp. And the chicken was amazingly moist. I didn't taste any of the beer (Coors lite), but we're thinking of trying the process with wine next time.
marshmallow!
Garden and Strawberries
Last weekend we worked in the garden.
Mary and I had weeded some of it already, and she'd planted a few things like spinach and other greens. But we finished up all the prep work - and the garden looks pretty nice. Mary planted two types of beans - bush beans (green beans) and some scarlet runners. She also planted a couple different types of peas. Both the peas and beans have nice little trellises (trellisi?) on which to grow.
I mostly ho'ed the other beds, making them soft and manageable and ready to plant. This was, of course, after I mapped out the house and yard - getting ready for putting in a path and beds for plants.
The most exciting thing was the strawberry patch. It's 16' long by 5' wide, and packed FULL of berry plants. I almost pulled a couple out because they looked so foreign - I've never seen berry plants like this before. Mary counted 25 berries on a single plant. wow. In just a few weeks these puppies will be ripe, and then it's nothing but strawberries and cream for me (diet be damned).
I'll blog about the path/patio/plant beds another time, but it's our spring project (if we ever get actually started - I've got some work to do to get ready). We'll have a much nicer side yard to hang out in after it's done.
We're also going to put down 18 inches of gravel (that's width, not depth) around the house to help prevent weeds from growing right next to the house. But first, I get to spray round-up. Woo-hoo! It's so satisfying, it just kills everything (except those darned blackberries - unless, that is, you really saturate the ground). Evidentially, we've got some bind-weed in one corner of the yard (by the play structure), and the only realistic way of getting rid of it is round-up.
So be warned plants, I'm coming to get you!
Mary and I had weeded some of it already, and she'd planted a few things like spinach and other greens. But we finished up all the prep work - and the garden looks pretty nice. Mary planted two types of beans - bush beans (green beans) and some scarlet runners. She also planted a couple different types of peas. Both the peas and beans have nice little trellises (trellisi?) on which to grow.
I mostly ho'ed the other beds, making them soft and manageable and ready to plant. This was, of course, after I mapped out the house and yard - getting ready for putting in a path and beds for plants.
The most exciting thing was the strawberry patch. It's 16' long by 5' wide, and packed FULL of berry plants. I almost pulled a couple out because they looked so foreign - I've never seen berry plants like this before. Mary counted 25 berries on a single plant. wow. In just a few weeks these puppies will be ripe, and then it's nothing but strawberries and cream for me (diet be damned).
I'll blog about the path/patio/plant beds another time, but it's our spring project (if we ever get actually started - I've got some work to do to get ready). We'll have a much nicer side yard to hang out in after it's done.
We're also going to put down 18 inches of gravel (that's width, not depth) around the house to help prevent weeds from growing right next to the house. But first, I get to spray round-up. Woo-hoo! It's so satisfying, it just kills everything (except those darned blackberries - unless, that is, you really saturate the ground). Evidentially, we've got some bind-weed in one corner of the yard (by the play structure), and the only realistic way of getting rid of it is round-up.
So be warned plants, I'm coming to get you!
Sick Cats
Our cats have been sick again lately.
Fysh got a nasty upper respiratory infection. It sounded like she was breathing through a thin layer of mud - her breaths were all spluttery. And she'd do her reverse-sneezing bit pretty often, resulting in big snot globules hanging from her face or all over the wall/window where she stood. We felt horrible and got a round of anti-biotics. Some of that, another drug, and her asthma inhaler, and she was back up to snuff in less than a week.
Then Jupiter threw us for a loop. He started doing lots of dry heaves, horrible sounding dry heaves. I mean scary, exorcist scary. And some of the time he'd puke up some bile. Plus, he stopped meowing. That was the weirdest. He's an odd cat, and will often wander around the house, meowing loudly in various places. There's no rhyme nor reason to/for his meowing. And he'll usually stop as soon as you let him know you're listening. But then, 5 minutes later, he might very well start up again.
So, we took him to the vet, and she said he was super dehydrated. Well, first she said he was impossible to handle, then she said he was a sick cat and really dehydrated. So, Mary being a doctor and all, we gave him subcutaneous fluids for a couple days. Like how I used the lingo? I'm learning through osmosis (pun intended - subcutaneous fluid ... osmosis ... get it?). Basically you stick this huge needle (pencil lead sized, not your mechanical pencil led, but those old-fashioned wooden pencil pencil leads) into the scruff of his neck and pump in 120 CC's of fluid (4 ounces or 1/2 cup) of liquid in there. Cats can absorb it like that.
After a couple of days like that, he regained his spunkiness, but had lost his voice. The vet said it might take up to a month to get it back. No such luck, he was meowing loudly within days.
But, back to the vet saying he was impossible to handle... Normally, Jupiter is about as low key a cat as you can expect. We've had kids around him and he just soaks up their attention, patiently hanging out as they hang him over their arm - feet dangling. You can thump him like you're fluffing up a pillow, and he just purrs louder and louder.
Well, at the vet's office, as soon as one of the helpers (nurses?) goes over to his cat carrier, he beings to hiss real loudly. And evidentially, he continues to hiss and refuses to be held or handled in any way the entire time. He doesn't bite and scratch, but wiggles around and makes it impossible to do any exam (he's rather like a slippery worm when he doesn't want to be held). When I picked him up the nurse went into the back room to fetch his carrier - and as soon as she opened the door he began hissing again. He hissed the entire time until I picked up the carrier and walked out the door of the vet. He immediately stopped hissing.
Later on, during the treatment phase, the vet called to ask how he was doing. She also mentioned, rather firmly, that we might consider finding a vet who does house calls if he needs further treatment.
We've been fired as clients (for Jupiter).
Fysh got a nasty upper respiratory infection. It sounded like she was breathing through a thin layer of mud - her breaths were all spluttery. And she'd do her reverse-sneezing bit pretty often, resulting in big snot globules hanging from her face or all over the wall/window where she stood. We felt horrible and got a round of anti-biotics. Some of that, another drug, and her asthma inhaler, and she was back up to snuff in less than a week.
Then Jupiter threw us for a loop. He started doing lots of dry heaves, horrible sounding dry heaves. I mean scary, exorcist scary. And some of the time he'd puke up some bile. Plus, he stopped meowing. That was the weirdest. He's an odd cat, and will often wander around the house, meowing loudly in various places. There's no rhyme nor reason to/for his meowing. And he'll usually stop as soon as you let him know you're listening. But then, 5 minutes later, he might very well start up again.
So, we took him to the vet, and she said he was super dehydrated. Well, first she said he was impossible to handle, then she said he was a sick cat and really dehydrated. So, Mary being a doctor and all, we gave him subcutaneous fluids for a couple days. Like how I used the lingo? I'm learning through osmosis (pun intended - subcutaneous fluid ... osmosis ... get it?). Basically you stick this huge needle (pencil lead sized, not your mechanical pencil led, but those old-fashioned wooden pencil pencil leads) into the scruff of his neck and pump in 120 CC's of fluid (4 ounces or 1/2 cup) of liquid in there. Cats can absorb it like that.
After a couple of days like that, he regained his spunkiness, but had lost his voice. The vet said it might take up to a month to get it back. No such luck, he was meowing loudly within days.
But, back to the vet saying he was impossible to handle... Normally, Jupiter is about as low key a cat as you can expect. We've had kids around him and he just soaks up their attention, patiently hanging out as they hang him over their arm - feet dangling. You can thump him like you're fluffing up a pillow, and he just purrs louder and louder.
Well, at the vet's office, as soon as one of the helpers (nurses?) goes over to his cat carrier, he beings to hiss real loudly. And evidentially, he continues to hiss and refuses to be held or handled in any way the entire time. He doesn't bite and scratch, but wiggles around and makes it impossible to do any exam (he's rather like a slippery worm when he doesn't want to be held). When I picked him up the nurse went into the back room to fetch his carrier - and as soon as she opened the door he began hissing again. He hissed the entire time until I picked up the carrier and walked out the door of the vet. He immediately stopped hissing.
Later on, during the treatment phase, the vet called to ask how he was doing. She also mentioned, rather firmly, that we might consider finding a vet who does house calls if he needs further treatment.
We've been fired as clients (for Jupiter).
Single track with the new wheel
I took the new wheel out for a spin yesterday.
I love riding in Corvallis in the spring. The singletrack trails are just incredibly beautiful. You ride under a canopy of fir/cedar/oak trees and pass moss covered nurse logs, wild rose, coastal iris, buttercups, sword and brachen ferns, and vine maple. I even spotted a rabbit while on the Midge Cramer path. Luckily, I didn't see any poison oak and haven't had any signs that I ran into any unseen (knock on wood).
The wheel finally came. I got the same rim back with a Chris King stainless steel rear hub. Two weekends ago I put on the new rotors (I scratched the others while riding on the Slick Rock trail because my brake pads wore out), adjusted the rear derailer but didn't go riding on the account of mango.
So yesterday was the first ride. It felt great. First of all, the wheel didn't break. It made the little buzzing noise that Chris King is known for, and it rode beautifully. And the weather was perfect, just a little sunny, and slightly cool. It had rained the day before, so the trails were a tiny bit muddy - and there's just nothing like riding around with a little mud splatter to make you look like a real mountain biker.
On my way back I rode on the road that cuts across the OSU farm/ranch land (and through the covered bridge). A college class of some sort had assembled on the path - so I whistled and they parted, making two columns of bodies for me to ride through. I felt like Lance Armstrong, riding in the French countryside with excited cycling fans eagerly waiting for a glimpse of greatness. Sure enough, their faces showed the disappointment when it wasn't Lance but an overweight weekend warrior wearing spandex and no giblet cover.
But, I didn't let that dampen my enthusiasm. I rode on.
Before I go, I recently found out that Chris King had moved to Portland. I'm very excited about this for three reasons.
First of all, they sound like an awesome company to work for. They seem to treat their employees very well, and their attitude toward the environment is incredible. Almost no waste leaves the building - they recycle their oil, their water, everything. Read about their environmentally sound manufacturing processes here, and why they choose to continue to manufacture their products in the US in this article.
Secondly, I want to go on a tour of their shop - and it's much easier now that they're in Portland (as opposed to southern California).
Third of all, if my rear hub breaks, I can drive up there and throw my rear wheel at them and yell, "Fix it damnit!"
I love riding in Corvallis in the spring. The singletrack trails are just incredibly beautiful. You ride under a canopy of fir/cedar/oak trees and pass moss covered nurse logs, wild rose, coastal iris, buttercups, sword and brachen ferns, and vine maple. I even spotted a rabbit while on the Midge Cramer path. Luckily, I didn't see any poison oak and haven't had any signs that I ran into any unseen (knock on wood).
The wheel finally came. I got the same rim back with a Chris King stainless steel rear hub. Two weekends ago I put on the new rotors (I scratched the others while riding on the Slick Rock trail because my brake pads wore out), adjusted the rear derailer but didn't go riding on the account of mango.
So yesterday was the first ride. It felt great. First of all, the wheel didn't break. It made the little buzzing noise that Chris King is known for, and it rode beautifully. And the weather was perfect, just a little sunny, and slightly cool. It had rained the day before, so the trails were a tiny bit muddy - and there's just nothing like riding around with a little mud splatter to make you look like a real mountain biker.
On my way back I rode on the road that cuts across the OSU farm/ranch land (and through the covered bridge). A college class of some sort had assembled on the path - so I whistled and they parted, making two columns of bodies for me to ride through. I felt like Lance Armstrong, riding in the French countryside with excited cycling fans eagerly waiting for a glimpse of greatness. Sure enough, their faces showed the disappointment when it wasn't Lance but an overweight weekend warrior wearing spandex and no giblet cover.
But, I didn't let that dampen my enthusiasm. I rode on.
Before I go, I recently found out that Chris King had moved to Portland. I'm very excited about this for three reasons.
First of all, they sound like an awesome company to work for. They seem to treat their employees very well, and their attitude toward the environment is incredible. Almost no waste leaves the building - they recycle their oil, their water, everything. Read about their environmentally sound manufacturing processes here, and why they choose to continue to manufacture their products in the US in this article.
Secondly, I want to go on a tour of their shop - and it's much easier now that they're in Portland (as opposed to southern California).
Third of all, if my rear hub breaks, I can drive up there and throw my rear wheel at them and yell, "Fix it damnit!"
Monday, May 02, 2005
Qwest
I'm not a big fan, but they're my home phone provider. Mostly because that's what everyone uses around here.
Well, the last bill was almost triple what it normally is, due to a few calls to Australia. Since we didn't have the "international" calling plan, they socked it to us for over $1 a minute. Friggin highway robbery.
So I got all pissed and called them up. The guy tried to calm me down, but there was no reasoning with me. I remember when I signed up for the Qwest plan - I got some trainee and spent nearly an hour on the phone with him/her. I figured somebody had to suffer, I'd do my part. Evidentially they neglected to ask if we ever make international calls.
Anyhoo, I started looking for alternative providers. There are MCI and AT&T, but they're probably just as bad as Qwest. It also turns out that there are co-operatives like Pioneer. I really wanted to sign up for Pioneer, but they don't serve our area. It looked like it'd be cheaper and I could support a local company. But, the Oregon PUC says who gets to have phone service where, so no small companies for me.
Today I called up and gave Qwest a chance to keep my business, and the guy did the right thing - he reduced our bill to what it would have cost had we had the international plan (a savings of $85). And, he gave us caller id.
Now I'm spoiled (after 3 whole phone calls), and I don't know if I'll ever be able to not have caller id.
Well, the last bill was almost triple what it normally is, due to a few calls to Australia. Since we didn't have the "international" calling plan, they socked it to us for over $1 a minute. Friggin highway robbery.
So I got all pissed and called them up. The guy tried to calm me down, but there was no reasoning with me. I remember when I signed up for the Qwest plan - I got some trainee and spent nearly an hour on the phone with him/her. I figured somebody had to suffer, I'd do my part. Evidentially they neglected to ask if we ever make international calls.
Anyhoo, I started looking for alternative providers. There are MCI and AT&T, but they're probably just as bad as Qwest. It also turns out that there are co-operatives like Pioneer. I really wanted to sign up for Pioneer, but they don't serve our area. It looked like it'd be cheaper and I could support a local company. But, the Oregon PUC says who gets to have phone service where, so no small companies for me.
Today I called up and gave Qwest a chance to keep my business, and the guy did the right thing - he reduced our bill to what it would have cost had we had the international plan (a savings of $85). And, he gave us caller id.
Now I'm spoiled (after 3 whole phone calls), and I don't know if I'll ever be able to not have caller id.
Sunday, May 01, 2005
Another Weekend
My wheel finally came. Yay. After 5 months, I finally have my full-suspension bike back. I would have ridden it this weekend, except my left eye swelled up so much that I looked like an overweight Borris Yeltsin. Yup, the mango inflammation just got worse over the weekend. No riding for me. Just resting with either an ice-pack or a tea bag (hey, it works) on my left eye.
I did finish two books though, "Absurdistan" and "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy." One is about unbelievable craziness one guy finds during his travels, and the other is a science fiction book. ba-dum-dum!
But seriously, my brother-in-law and sister-in-law-law picked up "Absurdistan" for me thinking I'd like it. Sure enough, they were right - I had trouble putting it down. Half the book was witty and funny, the other half was rather scary. Kind of how the first scene in "Saving Private Ryan" reaffirmed my certainty that I didn't want to go to war, "Absurdistan" reaffirmed my believe that as messed up as I might think the U.S. is, I could be living in any one of those horrible situations reported in the book. And not that this could replace a "thank you" card, but my Auzzie relatives can expect to get a card saying pretty much what I just wrote. Two thumbs up on the book.
I read "The Guide" because the movie adaptation opened this weekend, and I needed a refresher on the storyline. It's a fast read, and I'm not sure how they're going to turn it into a movie, but I'm sure the DVD will be worth a rental (I'm too cheap to watch movies in the theater).
And while I'm speaking of random things, my Cat, Jade, is a seat thief. She takes everyone's chair/sitting-spot. If you get up to go to the bathroom, or perhaps one of the cats gets up to drink some water, you're sure to find Jade sitting in your spot just seconds after you've vacated your position. I can't figure it out. Perhaps she likes the already warmed-up cushion. She even picks on Jupiter, not waiting for him to leave, but bothering him until he leaves - then settling in for a nap. I can't quite figure out the attraction - perhaps she's just attention starved.
ps. I only mowed 100 gallons of grass this weekend. I'm keeping on top of things.
I did finish two books though, "Absurdistan" and "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy." One is about unbelievable craziness one guy finds during his travels, and the other is a science fiction book. ba-dum-dum!
But seriously, my brother-in-law and sister-in-law-law picked up "Absurdistan" for me thinking I'd like it. Sure enough, they were right - I had trouble putting it down. Half the book was witty and funny, the other half was rather scary. Kind of how the first scene in "Saving Private Ryan" reaffirmed my certainty that I didn't want to go to war, "Absurdistan" reaffirmed my believe that as messed up as I might think the U.S. is, I could be living in any one of those horrible situations reported in the book. And not that this could replace a "thank you" card, but my Auzzie relatives can expect to get a card saying pretty much what I just wrote. Two thumbs up on the book.
I read "The Guide" because the movie adaptation opened this weekend, and I needed a refresher on the storyline. It's a fast read, and I'm not sure how they're going to turn it into a movie, but I'm sure the DVD will be worth a rental (I'm too cheap to watch movies in the theater).
And while I'm speaking of random things, my Cat, Jade, is a seat thief. She takes everyone's chair/sitting-spot. If you get up to go to the bathroom, or perhaps one of the cats gets up to drink some water, you're sure to find Jade sitting in your spot just seconds after you've vacated your position. I can't figure it out. Perhaps she likes the already warmed-up cushion. She even picks on Jupiter, not waiting for him to leave, but bothering him until he leaves - then settling in for a nap. I can't quite figure out the attraction - perhaps she's just attention starved.
ps. I only mowed 100 gallons of grass this weekend. I'm keeping on top of things.
Friday, April 29, 2005
Who would have thunk it?
Mango is in the same botanical family as Poison Ivy.
My eyes itched a little yesterday, my left cheek had an odd texture, and my lips were kind of chapped. I figured that I must have had some bad wine or something at dinner the night before.
Well, I woke up this morning to find the left side of my face all puffy and irritated.
Mary thought it was Poison Oak (something I've encountered before), but that just didn't make sense to me because I didn't have any on my legs and I never got off my bike (let alone stuck my face in any plants) on my last ride.
Upon seeing my disfigured face, Mary did the kind thing and Googled poison oak. She found that Mango sometimes had the same effect.
And we've been eating a lot of fresh mango.
Eureka!
So watch out for the mango (just the cut skin actually).
My eyes itched a little yesterday, my left cheek had an odd texture, and my lips were kind of chapped. I figured that I must have had some bad wine or something at dinner the night before.
Well, I woke up this morning to find the left side of my face all puffy and irritated.
Mary thought it was Poison Oak (something I've encountered before), but that just didn't make sense to me because I didn't have any on my legs and I never got off my bike (let alone stuck my face in any plants) on my last ride.
Upon seeing my disfigured face, Mary did the kind thing and Googled poison oak. She found that Mango sometimes had the same effect.
And we've been eating a lot of fresh mango.
Eureka!
So watch out for the mango (just the cut skin actually).
Thursday, April 28, 2005
Univega Update
This past weekend I added more stuff to the Univega. Mary wanted a basket, fenders, speedometer, that kind of thing.
So we went shopping, got some cute things - including a bell.
I spent part of an afternoon putting it all together (have yet to put the rack on - the girl's bike geometry means I need to get a couple little brackets). The shifting had to be adjusted because the basket attachment impeded the shifter's range of motion, but I got that all dialed in. The fenders fit nicely and will keep my sweetie relatively dry. The bell is conveniently located. And the basket is awesome - it's Mary's favorite feature.
Needless to say, Mary thinks the bike "rocks!"
She's ridden it to work 3 days this week, even when wearing a tight, full-length skirt. She's ridden it to the farmer's market, an appointment or two, everywhere. And, with the handy cycle computer, she even knows how far she's gone.
I've gotta take a picture of it.
So we went shopping, got some cute things - including a bell.
I spent part of an afternoon putting it all together (have yet to put the rack on - the girl's bike geometry means I need to get a couple little brackets). The shifting had to be adjusted because the basket attachment impeded the shifter's range of motion, but I got that all dialed in. The fenders fit nicely and will keep my sweetie relatively dry. The bell is conveniently located. And the basket is awesome - it's Mary's favorite feature.
Needless to say, Mary thinks the bike "rocks!"
She's ridden it to work 3 days this week, even when wearing a tight, full-length skirt. She's ridden it to the farmer's market, an appointment or two, everywhere. And, with the handy cycle computer, she even knows how far she's gone.
I've gotta take a picture of it.
Work has sucked lately.
Without getting too technical, work has really sucked lately.
First of all, my group had to make a few changes for the "global good" - which meant scrapping a good, working, system, for the crappy, universally used system. Imagine, if you will, exchanging your cell phone with the telegraph system. Horrible step backward, yes? That's what we had to do. Everyone else is using the telegraph system, and "yes", it can be made to work, but that doesn't mean it's a good idea.
And, I've lost the last two weeks converting my group from the cell phones to the telegraph system. Crappy.
'nuff said about the stupid system.
The other reason work has sucked is the customer. I don't normally hate the customer, but this customer happens to be an internal customer - as in "we're in the same department." We'd be first-cousins, twice-removed if the org-chart were a family tree. I'll leave names out in case any Intel folks read this.
But anyway, the reason I'm currently hating them is that they're not listening. They're not applying any analytical thought to the problems at hand. A "real" customer (a chip designer - someone my customer interacts with) wants to do something, so they're mucking with some numbers in a particular file. Fine, the designer wants to change our tool's behavior. Great, I'm happy to oblige. All I ask is, "Why are they doing X? Is it because they intend for this particular consequence? If that's the case, then why not use this well-defined interface?"
That's it, I'm asking for what the designer really wants. And, if it's what I think it is, they just have to do something a little differently. And for good reason.
To put it in English, and not vague terms. Let's say you're a tool manufacturer - you make hammers, screwdrivers, chisels, etc. One customer comes in and says, "This hammer is broken, fix it!" You look at the hammer, it appears to be in good shape. You would likely ask the question, "What are you doing with the hammer? What is it you want to get done?" Simple questions. But you only get back the answer, "It's not doing what I want it to do."
Around and around you go. Never getting an answer.
You have a sneaking suspicion that the customer really wants to screw two pieces of wood together, and the hammer just isn't doing the job that well. So, you politely suggest, "I think you're trying to screw two pieces of wood together, perhaps a screwdriver would be more appropriate? We've got this fine selection."
But there's no direct response to that question, only, "Get the hammer to work."
Seriously, it's that bad.
I've presented an alternative, nearly pain-free (just a tiny bit of education is needed) solution. I've asked several times for the customer's desire, and I'm just being stone-walled.
The best "answer" I've gotten so far is that "all the customers are going to use hammers, so you'd better get them to work."
It's just a one-way street, and all the shite is running down the gutters my way.
First of all, my group had to make a few changes for the "global good" - which meant scrapping a good, working, system, for the crappy, universally used system. Imagine, if you will, exchanging your cell phone with the telegraph system. Horrible step backward, yes? That's what we had to do. Everyone else is using the telegraph system, and "yes", it can be made to work, but that doesn't mean it's a good idea.
And, I've lost the last two weeks converting my group from the cell phones to the telegraph system. Crappy.
'nuff said about the stupid system.
The other reason work has sucked is the customer. I don't normally hate the customer, but this customer happens to be an internal customer - as in "we're in the same department." We'd be first-cousins, twice-removed if the org-chart were a family tree. I'll leave names out in case any Intel folks read this.
But anyway, the reason I'm currently hating them is that they're not listening. They're not applying any analytical thought to the problems at hand. A "real" customer (a chip designer - someone my customer interacts with) wants to do something, so they're mucking with some numbers in a particular file. Fine, the designer wants to change our tool's behavior. Great, I'm happy to oblige. All I ask is, "Why are they doing X? Is it because they intend for this particular consequence? If that's the case, then why not use this well-defined interface?"
That's it, I'm asking for what the designer really wants. And, if it's what I think it is, they just have to do something a little differently. And for good reason.
To put it in English, and not vague terms. Let's say you're a tool manufacturer - you make hammers, screwdrivers, chisels, etc. One customer comes in and says, "This hammer is broken, fix it!" You look at the hammer, it appears to be in good shape. You would likely ask the question, "What are you doing with the hammer? What is it you want to get done?" Simple questions. But you only get back the answer, "It's not doing what I want it to do."
Around and around you go. Never getting an answer.
You have a sneaking suspicion that the customer really wants to screw two pieces of wood together, and the hammer just isn't doing the job that well. So, you politely suggest, "I think you're trying to screw two pieces of wood together, perhaps a screwdriver would be more appropriate? We've got this fine selection."
But there's no direct response to that question, only, "Get the hammer to work."
Seriously, it's that bad.
I've presented an alternative, nearly pain-free (just a tiny bit of education is needed) solution. I've asked several times for the customer's desire, and I'm just being stone-walled.
The best "answer" I've gotten so far is that "all the customers are going to use hammers, so you'd better get them to work."
It's just a one-way street, and all the shite is running down the gutters my way.
Dude, someone broke into my car...
Last Thursday I got up, got ready for work, and walked out to the rusting Mazda.
I found the door ajar and thought, "Shite, I left the door open. The dome light will have been on all night, and now the battery is dead."
I don't usually (ever?) leave the door ajar - the trunk perhaps, but not the door. But whatever, I'd made a mistake.
I open the door, check the light, it's off. Damn.
Wait, it's "OFF" - not out, but actually turned off.
eh? Why would it be off? The only reason I know is that it's turned off when people break into a car so they aren't noticed rummaging around.
Son-of-a-bianchi! Somebody broke in.
Well, they "opened-in" because I haven't been locking the Mazda, but seriously, someone got in.
I look around the car, the glove box was open, and most of the contents were on the passenger seat. Ok, nothing of value in there, and nothing missing as far as I could tell.
Ash tray? Still there. The $20 in change in the ash tray? Still there.
Stereo? Still there.
CD's? Still there.
I cracked open the trunk to see if they'd gone in there, nothing missing.
WTF? Somebody bothered to "break" in, and they didn't take anything?
How insulting.
I found the door ajar and thought, "Shite, I left the door open. The dome light will have been on all night, and now the battery is dead."
I don't usually (ever?) leave the door ajar - the trunk perhaps, but not the door. But whatever, I'd made a mistake.
I open the door, check the light, it's off. Damn.
Wait, it's "OFF" - not out, but actually turned off.
eh? Why would it be off? The only reason I know is that it's turned off when people break into a car so they aren't noticed rummaging around.
Son-of-a-bianchi! Somebody broke in.
Well, they "opened-in" because I haven't been locking the Mazda, but seriously, someone got in.
I look around the car, the glove box was open, and most of the contents were on the passenger seat. Ok, nothing of value in there, and nothing missing as far as I could tell.
Ash tray? Still there. The $20 in change in the ash tray? Still there.
Stereo? Still there.
CD's? Still there.
I cracked open the trunk to see if they'd gone in there, nothing missing.
WTF? Somebody bothered to "break" in, and they didn't take anything?
How insulting.
Total disappointment
I had a craving, a craving for ice cream.
I'm trying to be good and eat less, so I went to the co-op to get some of Julie's organic sorbet (their ice cream is yummy too).
I picked up a couple of other useful things like yogurt and apples, and then I stood in front of the cooler, gazing at the myriad of choices.
Blackberry sorbet. That was it.
I reach in, grab a pint ... squish.
eh?
I quickly examine a few other pints, other flavors, other brands. All squishy.
Total disappointment.
I'd grown to expect this in Fred Meyer and Safeway, where moronic customers would stand in front of the cooler, the door wide open, spilling cold air onto the floor. I learned to avoid "sale" ice cream for that very reason. Too often I'd be lured by the reduced price, only to get home and find the ice cream was either hard as a rock (b/c it thawed and then re-froze into an ice cube) or it was terribly mushy.
But I'd expected more from my fellow co-op shoppers.
So I resorted to Jennies macaroons (no I'm not a no-carb freak).
Total disappointment.
I'm trying to be good and eat less, so I went to the co-op to get some of Julie's organic sorbet (their ice cream is yummy too).
I picked up a couple of other useful things like yogurt and apples, and then I stood in front of the cooler, gazing at the myriad of choices.
Blackberry sorbet. That was it.
I reach in, grab a pint ... squish.
eh?
I quickly examine a few other pints, other flavors, other brands. All squishy.
Total disappointment.
I'd grown to expect this in Fred Meyer and Safeway, where moronic customers would stand in front of the cooler, the door wide open, spilling cold air onto the floor. I learned to avoid "sale" ice cream for that very reason. Too often I'd be lured by the reduced price, only to get home and find the ice cream was either hard as a rock (b/c it thawed and then re-froze into an ice cube) or it was terribly mushy.
But I'd expected more from my fellow co-op shoppers.
So I resorted to Jennies macaroons (no I'm not a no-carb freak).
Total disappointment.
Thursday, April 21, 2005
What I Learned Yesterday
Do not leave your iRiver 799 plugged into the USB port of your computer overnight for it shall drain all life from the battery.
Seems like a dum "feature" to me, but at least I know now.
Seems like a dum "feature" to me, but at least I know now.
Monday, April 11, 2005
250 Gallons of Grass
We finally mowed the lawn this weekend. Yeah, I know, it's mid-April, but I started to feel sorry for Fysh (our cat) when she walked outside. She could no longer walk through the grass, she had to do that bounding thing that you see dogs do in the wheat fields.
Part of why we waited so long was that the lawn mower needed some work. Mary ran over the starter cord, then we didn't pick the thing up for a week or two, then we found that the plastic shielding next to the blade had come loose. The lawn mower dude said, "It's a Sears model? Cut it off!" Not real encouraging.
But I'm happy with our little mower. When using the bag attachment, it pretty easily handled patches of grass 36 inches high. Yup, I mowed through grass growing up past my knees, and sometimes at the top of my thigh. I've got to give a hearty thumbs up to the Craftsman 7.0 HP mower, it certainly does the job for us.
We must have about a dozen different types of grass in our yard. Some grew tall, some stayed about 3 inches high, some wide blade. There were spots where the grass had grown so thick that interior patches of grass died out and left bare soil. The grass was thick enough that, in places, I had to lift the mower over the grass because I wasn't strong enough to push the mower through it.
An hour and a half after starting, I finished and figured I'd mowed 250 gallons of grass.
eh?
250 gallons?
Yup.
We have one of those yard-debris cans with a capacity of 98 gallons. I filled it about a third of the way into the back yard. One patch was thick enough that I could barely finish the 5'x5' square before I had to empty the bag. The only reason I didn't reach 300 gallons was that about a quarter of our yard is under black plastic. Because I like slip-n-slides, that's why. No, it's because we're killing the grass and weeds so we can put in beds of plants and a path/patio.
But, speaking of slip-and-slides, the two best slip-and-slide moments ever:
#2) Not so much for the slide itself, but ... my first girlfriend and I were walking around Reed college one summer when we noticed a huge slip-and-slide some kids had set up. It had to be 60 feet long, going slightly downhill. All in all, an impressive slide. Being Reed, there was a naked guy participating in the activities. But wait, that's not the good part. Down the hill and a little off to the side were an older couple (60's-70's). The woman was on her side, with her back to the action, but her husband was peering over her side using a camera with a telephoto lens - apparently taking pictures of the sorted affair.
#1) The best slip-and-slide moment I've seen was after a trail ride in Washington (probably Lewis River). Sam and I were driving back, enjoying the beautiful weather with the windows rolled down. We were in the country-side and were passing a house with some kids playing in the front. They'd set up a slip-and-slide with a little inflatable pool at the end of it. One of the boys ran and slid right as we were passing by. He so much speed that he launched himself over the pool onto the grass. Sam and I hoot and hollered like a couple of rednecks, thinking it was awesome. I'm sure the kid heard us because he looked over at us in mid-flight. Best slip-and-slide moment ever.
Back to the grass. Our yard looks somewhat respectable now (ignoring the black plastic), and I'm not so embarrassed when I drive up.
Part of why we waited so long was that the lawn mower needed some work. Mary ran over the starter cord, then we didn't pick the thing up for a week or two, then we found that the plastic shielding next to the blade had come loose. The lawn mower dude said, "It's a Sears model? Cut it off!" Not real encouraging.
But I'm happy with our little mower. When using the bag attachment, it pretty easily handled patches of grass 36 inches high. Yup, I mowed through grass growing up past my knees, and sometimes at the top of my thigh. I've got to give a hearty thumbs up to the Craftsman 7.0 HP mower, it certainly does the job for us.
We must have about a dozen different types of grass in our yard. Some grew tall, some stayed about 3 inches high, some wide blade. There were spots where the grass had grown so thick that interior patches of grass died out and left bare soil. The grass was thick enough that, in places, I had to lift the mower over the grass because I wasn't strong enough to push the mower through it.
An hour and a half after starting, I finished and figured I'd mowed 250 gallons of grass.
eh?
250 gallons?
Yup.
We have one of those yard-debris cans with a capacity of 98 gallons. I filled it about a third of the way into the back yard. One patch was thick enough that I could barely finish the 5'x5' square before I had to empty the bag. The only reason I didn't reach 300 gallons was that about a quarter of our yard is under black plastic. Because I like slip-n-slides, that's why. No, it's because we're killing the grass and weeds so we can put in beds of plants and a path/patio.
But, speaking of slip-and-slides, the two best slip-and-slide moments ever:
#2) Not so much for the slide itself, but ... my first girlfriend and I were walking around Reed college one summer when we noticed a huge slip-and-slide some kids had set up. It had to be 60 feet long, going slightly downhill. All in all, an impressive slide. Being Reed, there was a naked guy participating in the activities. But wait, that's not the good part. Down the hill and a little off to the side were an older couple (60's-70's). The woman was on her side, with her back to the action, but her husband was peering over her side using a camera with a telephoto lens - apparently taking pictures of the sorted affair.
#1) The best slip-and-slide moment I've seen was after a trail ride in Washington (probably Lewis River). Sam and I were driving back, enjoying the beautiful weather with the windows rolled down. We were in the country-side and were passing a house with some kids playing in the front. They'd set up a slip-and-slide with a little inflatable pool at the end of it. One of the boys ran and slid right as we were passing by. He so much speed that he launched himself over the pool onto the grass. Sam and I hoot and hollered like a couple of rednecks, thinking it was awesome. I'm sure the kid heard us because he looked over at us in mid-flight. Best slip-and-slide moment ever.
Back to the grass. Our yard looks somewhat respectable now (ignoring the black plastic), and I'm not so embarrassed when I drive up.
Saturday, April 09, 2005
Univega is now rideable
I put together Mary's Univega bike this afternoon. It needed a new bottom bracket, crank, pedals, front derailer, and tires/tubes. It's easier to change a cartridge bottom bracket than it is to adjust brakes - who would have thunk.
Anyway, after about two hours of putzing around, I hopped on the bike and rode down the street. Woo-hoo, our first cruiser bike.
And it even fits Mary.
Anyway, after about two hours of putzing around, I hopped on the bike and rode down the street. Woo-hoo, our first cruiser bike.
And it even fits Mary.
Rally
Sam's 30th birthday is coming up real soon now. And we're going out on the town to celebrate. It's his 30th, so he gets to do what he wants (next year though, I'm choosing the activity, and it'll be knitting).
But, being the good brother I am, I'm always on the look out for new and exciting things to do. It turns out, that weekend is also the weekend that Oregon is hosting a rally car event, Oregon Trail Rally.
I don't know why rally hasn't picked up more in the U.S. It's got souped-up cars, racing around, often wrecking. Oh, right, they're not just going in an oval, and the cars don't look all exactly the same.
Anyhoo, we're going to check out the rally event before the party starts. Hopefully it'll be interesting. But then again, maybe all the rednecks will be right and NASCAR is where I should be spending my time.
(20 reasons why NASCAR sucks)
But, being the good brother I am, I'm always on the look out for new and exciting things to do. It turns out, that weekend is also the weekend that Oregon is hosting a rally car event, Oregon Trail Rally.
I don't know why rally hasn't picked up more in the U.S. It's got souped-up cars, racing around, often wrecking. Oh, right, they're not just going in an oval, and the cars don't look all exactly the same.
Anyhoo, we're going to check out the rally event before the party starts. Hopefully it'll be interesting. But then again, maybe all the rednecks will be right and NASCAR is where I should be spending my time.
(20 reasons why NASCAR sucks)
Friday, April 08, 2005
Toy almost makes running enjoyable
For my birthday, my parents got me an MP3 player, the iRiver iFP 799. My mini review is that it rocks. The controls are easy enough to use (though adjusting volume without skipping ahead/behind in a song can be tricky), and the functionality is exactly what I wanted. The radio reception works well, and the software to put music on the player is easy to use.
I took it jogging today, and at times I was able to (mostly) forget I was jogging and just listen to the music. The volume is plenty loud (Mary's MP3 player, MPIO's DMK sometimes doesn't go loud enough), and, thanks to the flash, it didn't skip a beat.
One feature that is kind of unusual is the playback speed control. You can adjust the playback speed in increments of 10% until the songs play about half or double the speed (Alvin and the Chipmunks or a drugged Barry White). I doubt I'll ever be using that, but it was fun to find.
I took it jogging today, and at times I was able to (mostly) forget I was jogging and just listen to the music. The volume is plenty loud (Mary's MP3 player, MPIO's DMK sometimes doesn't go loud enough), and, thanks to the flash, it didn't skip a beat.
One feature that is kind of unusual is the playback speed control. You can adjust the playback speed in increments of 10% until the songs play about half or double the speed (Alvin and the Chipmunks or a drugged Barry White). I doubt I'll ever be using that, but it was fun to find.
Wednesday, April 06, 2005
Success
Monday night I went to the unicycle club again. I was totally psyched to see how far I could take it this time. I showed up to find even more kids than normal, which is a bit intimidating. You see, the kids zip around like little remote-controlled cars - constantly dodging and weaving with no discernible pattern. This makes it very difficult to navigate for fear of crushing one of them under the my wobbly wheel. The session before, I took out a kid when my unicycle shot out behind me right in front of one of the kids.
The club organizer (Angela?) had a bunch of the kids in a circle, showing them the two basic free-mounts. Oh, how I wished to be in that circle. All in due time. It just didn't make sense to learn how to mount if I couldn't stay on the unicycle.
After letting the butterflies settle, I mounted the unicycle and pushed off the wall. 10 feet. hmmmm.... I'd hoped to ride in circles, wishful thinking. The second time I made it nearly half way across the gym. A few tries later, all the way across. Whew, I just might get the hang of it.
One of the kids (Stephen, I later found out) came over and asked if I could free-mount. I don't quite get it. The kids can see me flailing around, and yet they ask if I can do advanced tasks. I responded, "No, I can't even really ride yet." He said he thought I looked pretty good. Wow, a compliment. Little did I know, he was buttering me up for later.
Sure enough, I was getting better. I crossed the gym several times, getting more and more consistent each time. I got to the point where one out of every other start resulted in a trip across the gym. Yay!
Then Stephen swooped in for the kill.
"I'll race you."
eh? One of the zippy kids was going to race me? I must be moving up in the world.
I have to admit, my wheel is larger than his (means less revolutions), and I probably outweighed him by 5X. But I felt up for the task.
"Sure."
We lined up on the wall, he said, "on your mark, set, go!" And off we sped. It was neck and neck all the way to the end, both of us tapping the far wall at the same time. I wasn't exactly in control at that point, but I'd tied him.
So, we raced again. The second time I was going too fast and lost control, he made it to the wall, I didn't.
The third race he said he'd spot me two seconds. I said I didn't need it, so we split the difference. 1 second. We raced and I bailed out on the account of a little girl who peddled into my path, risking life and limb. I bailed out and demanded a rematch. He gave me the rematch, and still gave me the 1 second start, and I crushed him. No, not literally, but I beat him by several seconds. Victory was mine.
At the end of the night (I was one of the last to leave), I was crossing the gym almost every time I got on the unicycle. I now consider myself a unicyclist. One that needs a support to start, and one that can only go (sort of) straight, but a bone fide unicyclist.
Next time, the free mount.
The club organizer (Angela?) had a bunch of the kids in a circle, showing them the two basic free-mounts. Oh, how I wished to be in that circle. All in due time. It just didn't make sense to learn how to mount if I couldn't stay on the unicycle.
After letting the butterflies settle, I mounted the unicycle and pushed off the wall. 10 feet. hmmmm.... I'd hoped to ride in circles, wishful thinking. The second time I made it nearly half way across the gym. A few tries later, all the way across. Whew, I just might get the hang of it.
One of the kids (Stephen, I later found out) came over and asked if I could free-mount. I don't quite get it. The kids can see me flailing around, and yet they ask if I can do advanced tasks. I responded, "No, I can't even really ride yet." He said he thought I looked pretty good. Wow, a compliment. Little did I know, he was buttering me up for later.
Sure enough, I was getting better. I crossed the gym several times, getting more and more consistent each time. I got to the point where one out of every other start resulted in a trip across the gym. Yay!
Then Stephen swooped in for the kill.
"I'll race you."
eh? One of the zippy kids was going to race me? I must be moving up in the world.
I have to admit, my wheel is larger than his (means less revolutions), and I probably outweighed him by 5X. But I felt up for the task.
"Sure."
We lined up on the wall, he said, "on your mark, set, go!" And off we sped. It was neck and neck all the way to the end, both of us tapping the far wall at the same time. I wasn't exactly in control at that point, but I'd tied him.
So, we raced again. The second time I was going too fast and lost control, he made it to the wall, I didn't.
The third race he said he'd spot me two seconds. I said I didn't need it, so we split the difference. 1 second. We raced and I bailed out on the account of a little girl who peddled into my path, risking life and limb. I bailed out and demanded a rematch. He gave me the rematch, and still gave me the 1 second start, and I crushed him. No, not literally, but I beat him by several seconds. Victory was mine.
At the end of the night (I was one of the last to leave), I was crossing the gym almost every time I got on the unicycle. I now consider myself a unicyclist. One that needs a support to start, and one that can only go (sort of) straight, but a bone fide unicyclist.
Next time, the free mount.
Sunday, April 03, 2005
Beaver Freezer Stats
So the results of the race were on-line last night. I placed 107th overall in the road race (men and women) with a time of 1:15:17, out of 234 finishers (not including the two who were disqualified). Out of the men, I placed 73rd (out of 121), and I was 7th (out of 9) in my age group (Men 30-34). Out of everyone, in all age groups, genders, bike styles, everything: I placed 111th out of 276 total racers.
Obviously, in my class, I fared poorly. But, considering the fact that the top three finishers overall were in my class, I think I should be cut a little slack. My time was around the middle of the pack, and a minute or two difference would change my standings by 10 or 20 places.
I took a look at the numbers and broke down my results a little more. There were basically 5 parts to the race, the swim, the bike, the run, and the two transition times. After looking at the breakdown of my race (see table below), I can see that the dreaded run is by far the worst of my legs. Any improvement there would really help bump me up in the standings. My transition times were also sub-par. I mentioned I couldn't find my spot on the rack after riding the bike, and it showed with a slow transition.
Here's a breakdown of my race, showing position in the race of each stage, and after each stage:
So there you go, more details about the race then you ever cared to know.
Obviously, in my class, I fared poorly. But, considering the fact that the top three finishers overall were in my class, I think I should be cut a little slack. My time was around the middle of the pack, and a minute or two difference would change my standings by 10 or 20 places.
I took a look at the numbers and broke down my results a little more. There were basically 5 parts to the race, the swim, the bike, the run, and the two transition times. After looking at the breakdown of my race (see table below), I can see that the dreaded run is by far the worst of my legs. Any improvement there would really help bump me up in the standings. My transition times were also sub-par. I mentioned I couldn't find my spot on the rack after riding the bike, and it showed with a slow transition.
Here's a breakdown of my race, showing position in the race of each stage, and after each stage:
| Stage | Time | Pace | Place in Stage | Cumulative Time | Cumulative Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Swim | 8:15 | 1:39.0 | 86 | 8:15 | 86 |
| T1 | 2:37 | 120 | 10:52 | 95 | |
| Bike | 36:16 | 19.9 | 62 | 47:08 | 72 |
| T2 | 2:12 | 142 | 49:20 | 73 | |
| Run | 25:57 | 8:22.3 | 150 | 1:15:17 | 107 |
So there you go, more details about the race then you ever cared to know.
Saturday, April 02, 2005
Beaver Freezer
I just finished my first triathlon ever, the Beaver Freezer. My goal was 1h30min, but I kicked ass and came in at just over 1h15min (unofficial time - my watch). I did way better than I expected to, and had a great time.
Sam got a flat (his first in months) and was unable to finish, Nick and Reyna finished - though Nick wasn't happy with his run. I also ran into Paul, a friend and former boss of Mary's, who was competing as well.
Because my heat was so much later than Sam's and Nick's, they were there to cheer me on during my bike-run transition and during the run. Mary's mom also showed up and was there for the entire race which was very nice. Mary, on the other hand, was busy helping a couple deliver their baby at home, and didn't get to see me in my glory.
The swim went pretty well, I was the slowest in my lane according to our self-reported times, and the fastest guy did pass me about 3/4 of the way through. Another guy (some dude with a OSU Beaver outfit) talked about finishing the race in 1h05min and riding at 22mph turned out to be slower than me (7:45 500 my ass), and he didn't pull over when I swam into his feet. That was a bit frustrating, mostly because he was the big talker. But, no big deal, I swam about the pace I wanted and finished with plenty of breath left (unlike Sam who flew and was the first in his heat - only to be passed on the way to the bike because he couldn't jog).
I successfully made it out of the pool (I saw some people who almost fell back in and I was fearful that might be me) - I even almost made it look good. I just swam up to the edge and w/out pausing, lifted myself onto the deck - looking as smooth and sexy as Bo Derek in 10. Anyhoo, I had plenty of energy to jog to my bike and begin to make the transition. I tried cracking a joke (relatively funny) but nobody was in the mood.
The ride went smoothly, though I didn't have a cycle-computer (battery died two years ago) so I had no idea how fast or slow I was riding. For most of the time I rode behind a guy with a really awkward ride (his shoulders bobbed with every pedal stroke). I tried to catch him several times, but he kept a good pace. Finally, on the flat back toward campus I was able to get by. My only real pass (the couple others were going way slower).
Three notable things happened on the ride. The first happened early on, a guy was trying to get his water bottle (or something) and crashed right in front of me. Fortunately, my quick reflexes saved the day and I bunny hopped over him ... ok, so I got lucky because I was grabbing my water bottle at the same time and happened to be pointed to the right of him - reflexes factored in a little, but I got real lucky. Next, some dude flew past me wearing see-thru spandex - not cool. I considered stopping just to let him out of eyesight, but I continued to race. There were a bunch of flats, and the first guy I passed looked fairly serious and I felt for him. I needn't have worried because he fixed the flat and nearly caught me on the ride (he passed me during the run). Turns out, he spent a summer working in a bike shop for some resort where 90% of the work was fixing flats. He was fast.
I had trouble finding my spot on the bike rack (need my shoes), so next time I think I'll bring a flag of some sort - it cost me several precious seconds. But I made the transition pretty fast, and headed on the dreaded run. Nick came out just of the finish area just as I was beginning my run, and Sam and Gin both cheered me on as I started my 3 laps around the quad.
I finally felt the dreaded bike/run transition feeling. My legs were heavy and I could only take short, choppy strides. I'd practiced the transition on my own, but this was the first time I actually had a hard (harder than normal) time running. So I settled in for the long haul and watched as people passed me right and left. Other than the really heavy legs, the worst part of the run was a short hill that just sapped my energy.
Oh, the hill and the fact that I'd never practiced drinking water out of a cup while jogging (I can't really say I was running). I almost drowned myself trying to get some water down. The next time I found the trick of pinching the cup so the water comes through a narrow opening - much easier to drink that way.
Right about the third lap I realized I was doing pretty well. My brain didn't work so well when I first started running, but I started to comprehend that I had a chance of breaking the 1:15 barrier right about the beginning of the third (and final) lap. Yeah, I just called it a "barrier", as though I have a bunch of experience doing this. I lengthened my stride a bit and tried to pick up the pace, which worked pretty well down the back stretch. Every time I realized I was reverting to my choppy stride I'd pep myself up, telling myself I only had to keep it up for a few more minutes. I even "flew" up the hill (almost collapsing at the top). I gave a good push, sprinting at a zippy 9 mph or so into the center of the quad to cross the finish line. Sam, Nick and Gin were there, taking pictures and asking if I wanted to run another lap.
My unofficial time was 1:15:25, we'll see what the real time keepers have to say.
All in all, I was very happy with the result. The run went tons better than expected, I enjoyed every minute of the race (thanking every one of volunteers who stopped traffic for us at the intersections). Big kudos to the race organizers.
Now it's time to find the next triathlon.
Sam got a flat (his first in months) and was unable to finish, Nick and Reyna finished - though Nick wasn't happy with his run. I also ran into Paul, a friend and former boss of Mary's, who was competing as well.
Because my heat was so much later than Sam's and Nick's, they were there to cheer me on during my bike-run transition and during the run. Mary's mom also showed up and was there for the entire race which was very nice. Mary, on the other hand, was busy helping a couple deliver their baby at home, and didn't get to see me in my glory.
The swim went pretty well, I was the slowest in my lane according to our self-reported times, and the fastest guy did pass me about 3/4 of the way through. Another guy (some dude with a OSU Beaver outfit) talked about finishing the race in 1h05min and riding at 22mph turned out to be slower than me (7:45 500 my ass), and he didn't pull over when I swam into his feet. That was a bit frustrating, mostly because he was the big talker. But, no big deal, I swam about the pace I wanted and finished with plenty of breath left (unlike Sam who flew and was the first in his heat - only to be passed on the way to the bike because he couldn't jog).
I successfully made it out of the pool (I saw some people who almost fell back in and I was fearful that might be me) - I even almost made it look good. I just swam up to the edge and w/out pausing, lifted myself onto the deck - looking as smooth and sexy as Bo Derek in 10. Anyhoo, I had plenty of energy to jog to my bike and begin to make the transition. I tried cracking a joke (relatively funny) but nobody was in the mood.
The ride went smoothly, though I didn't have a cycle-computer (battery died two years ago) so I had no idea how fast or slow I was riding. For most of the time I rode behind a guy with a really awkward ride (his shoulders bobbed with every pedal stroke). I tried to catch him several times, but he kept a good pace. Finally, on the flat back toward campus I was able to get by. My only real pass (the couple others were going way slower).
Three notable things happened on the ride. The first happened early on, a guy was trying to get his water bottle (or something) and crashed right in front of me. Fortunately, my quick reflexes saved the day and I bunny hopped over him ... ok, so I got lucky because I was grabbing my water bottle at the same time and happened to be pointed to the right of him - reflexes factored in a little, but I got real lucky. Next, some dude flew past me wearing see-thru spandex - not cool. I considered stopping just to let him out of eyesight, but I continued to race. There were a bunch of flats, and the first guy I passed looked fairly serious and I felt for him. I needn't have worried because he fixed the flat and nearly caught me on the ride (he passed me during the run). Turns out, he spent a summer working in a bike shop for some resort where 90% of the work was fixing flats. He was fast.
I had trouble finding my spot on the bike rack (need my shoes), so next time I think I'll bring a flag of some sort - it cost me several precious seconds. But I made the transition pretty fast, and headed on the dreaded run. Nick came out just of the finish area just as I was beginning my run, and Sam and Gin both cheered me on as I started my 3 laps around the quad.
I finally felt the dreaded bike/run transition feeling. My legs were heavy and I could only take short, choppy strides. I'd practiced the transition on my own, but this was the first time I actually had a hard (harder than normal) time running. So I settled in for the long haul and watched as people passed me right and left. Other than the really heavy legs, the worst part of the run was a short hill that just sapped my energy.
Oh, the hill and the fact that I'd never practiced drinking water out of a cup while jogging (I can't really say I was running). I almost drowned myself trying to get some water down. The next time I found the trick of pinching the cup so the water comes through a narrow opening - much easier to drink that way.
Right about the third lap I realized I was doing pretty well. My brain didn't work so well when I first started running, but I started to comprehend that I had a chance of breaking the 1:15 barrier right about the beginning of the third (and final) lap. Yeah, I just called it a "barrier", as though I have a bunch of experience doing this. I lengthened my stride a bit and tried to pick up the pace, which worked pretty well down the back stretch. Every time I realized I was reverting to my choppy stride I'd pep myself up, telling myself I only had to keep it up for a few more minutes. I even "flew" up the hill (almost collapsing at the top). I gave a good push, sprinting at a zippy 9 mph or so into the center of the quad to cross the finish line. Sam, Nick and Gin were there, taking pictures and asking if I wanted to run another lap.
My unofficial time was 1:15:25, we'll see what the real time keepers have to say.
All in all, I was very happy with the result. The run went tons better than expected, I enjoyed every minute of the race (thanking every one of volunteers who stopped traffic for us at the intersections). Big kudos to the race organizers.
Now it's time to find the next triathlon.
Friday, April 01, 2005
Big day tomorrow
Well, the triathlon is tomorrow. I've been training for it since December or so, though the trip to Puerto Rico was a big void in the training schedule.
Sam and Nick are also doing the triathlon (Nick and his wife, Reyna, are tag-teaming it), and we're all aiming to finish at about the same time. Sam's biggest hurdle is his slow swim time (he guessed poorly), and Nick's biggest hurdle is his mountain bike. My hurdle is the fact that I'm a slow runner.
So, the big question is who can finish first. I'm rooting for myself, but I've a feeling that Sam will pull through and win on the run. I don't think Nick will be able to overcome his mountain bike handicap.
My goal is 1h30min, which would put me toward the end of my age group (comparing to 2003 results), and about 80 percentile overall. Hmmm.... I've got to get in better shape.
Sam and Nick are also doing the triathlon (Nick and his wife, Reyna, are tag-teaming it), and we're all aiming to finish at about the same time. Sam's biggest hurdle is his slow swim time (he guessed poorly), and Nick's biggest hurdle is his mountain bike. My hurdle is the fact that I'm a slow runner.
So, the big question is who can finish first. I'm rooting for myself, but I've a feeling that Sam will pull through and win on the run. I don't think Nick will be able to overcome his mountain bike handicap.
My goal is 1h30min, which would put me toward the end of my age group (comparing to 2003 results), and about 80 percentile overall. Hmmm.... I've got to get in better shape.
Tuesday, March 29, 2005
Monday, March 28, 2005
Birthday Steak
My parents came down this past weekend to celebrate my birthday early. I got the obligatory birthday card (which appeared to be an optical illusion involving stacked turtles - but it was a real photo), and a birthday cake.
Mom came through with a bundt cake - I'd been craving one for a while, and this was a glorious tunnel of fudge cake. Tasty.... that was breakfast and lunch today.
But even better, mom and dad brought down some rib-eye steaks from Garners Meats - a meat shop pretty close to their house. They say the meat shop is full of beautiful cuts of meat - and I can believe it. The three steaks each weighed in well over a pound, 18-20 ounces, and were close to two inches thick. They were so bright red, pink almost, that it was a shame to cook them. But that was their lot in life.
So I marinated them briefly in a little garlic, soy sauce, oyster sauce, ginger, and red-pepper flakes. Just long enough to give a little flavor to the little bits of meat hanging on the edge of the main portion of the steak. Then I threw them on the grill.
Mom and Mary's (they were splitting one) went on early, and got the medium-well done treatment, just barely pink. Dad's and mine went on just as the potato planks were ready to flip. Our steaks grilled up beautifully, dark grill marks on the outside, warm but mooing on the inside. After the obligatory 5 minute wait to let the juices re-distribute themselves, we dug into the steaks.
Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm........
I must say, that was the best steak I've ever grilled myself, and certainly one of the top 3 I've ever had. So very tender, done perfectly (without the aide of a thermometer), and all 18 ounces of it was mine.
I'm gonna have to make a point of checking that shop out next time I'm in Portland for a weekend.
Mom came through with a bundt cake - I'd been craving one for a while, and this was a glorious tunnel of fudge cake. Tasty.... that was breakfast and lunch today.
But even better, mom and dad brought down some rib-eye steaks from Garners Meats - a meat shop pretty close to their house. They say the meat shop is full of beautiful cuts of meat - and I can believe it. The three steaks each weighed in well over a pound, 18-20 ounces, and were close to two inches thick. They were so bright red, pink almost, that it was a shame to cook them. But that was their lot in life.
So I marinated them briefly in a little garlic, soy sauce, oyster sauce, ginger, and red-pepper flakes. Just long enough to give a little flavor to the little bits of meat hanging on the edge of the main portion of the steak. Then I threw them on the grill.
Mom and Mary's (they were splitting one) went on early, and got the medium-well done treatment, just barely pink. Dad's and mine went on just as the potato planks were ready to flip. Our steaks grilled up beautifully, dark grill marks on the outside, warm but mooing on the inside. After the obligatory 5 minute wait to let the juices re-distribute themselves, we dug into the steaks.
Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm........
I must say, that was the best steak I've ever grilled myself, and certainly one of the top 3 I've ever had. So very tender, done perfectly (without the aide of a thermometer), and all 18 ounces of it was mine.
I'm gonna have to make a point of checking that shop out next time I'm in Portland for a weekend.
Friday, March 25, 2005
Studded Tires
One of my pet peeves is the fact that people in Oregon are allowed to use studded tires. For 5 months out of the year, people drive with studded tires, even though for 95% of them, 95% of the time, they're driving on either dry or wet pavement.
The amount of damage caused each year is incredible. In Washington (who seems to have the same rules), each year $10 million of damage to roads is caused by studded tires alone. This figure does not include damage caused by accidents due to the fact that cars with studded tires have longer stopping distances and poorer handling characteristics. Nor does the figure take into account the damages caused by accidents due to wear on the road (the ruts fill with water and can cause hydroplaning).
One report (written in 2000) shows that parts of US 97 paved with the standard surfaces had to be replaced 4 times in 9 years (yes, once every 2.2 years) because of damage due to studded tires.
I think we should totally outlaw the use of studded tires. Most of the people in the state do not need them, and should stay home when there is any frozen precipitation at all (don't get me started about the time people abandoned their cars on HWY 26 after it snowed 3 inches). If you need to drive in those conditions - put chains on.
Oh, just found this little article about a proposed fee of $10 per studded tire because Oregon spends $11 million per year to fix studded tire damage. That fee appears to be in line with a study found here.
And to make things even more confusing, an Idaho bill in 2003 stated that Oregon has $24 million of damage per year due to studded tires.
The amount of damage caused each year is incredible. In Washington (who seems to have the same rules), each year $10 million of damage to roads is caused by studded tires alone. This figure does not include damage caused by accidents due to the fact that cars with studded tires have longer stopping distances and poorer handling characteristics. Nor does the figure take into account the damages caused by accidents due to wear on the road (the ruts fill with water and can cause hydroplaning).
One report (written in 2000) shows that parts of US 97 paved with the standard surfaces had to be replaced 4 times in 9 years (yes, once every 2.2 years) because of damage due to studded tires.
I think we should totally outlaw the use of studded tires. Most of the people in the state do not need them, and should stay home when there is any frozen precipitation at all (don't get me started about the time people abandoned their cars on HWY 26 after it snowed 3 inches). If you need to drive in those conditions - put chains on.
Oh, just found this little article about a proposed fee of $10 per studded tire because Oregon spends $11 million per year to fix studded tire damage. That fee appears to be in line with a study found here.
And to make things even more confusing, an Idaho bill in 2003 stated that Oregon has $24 million of damage per year due to studded tires.
Cactus Bloomage
I'm not much of a green thumb. I pretty much can only grow plants that can survive a month or two without water and perk up with the occasional over watering. So I have a few cacti.
Not only do cacti need very little water, they often are some of the coolest looking plants around.
Somehow I did something right and one of my cacti was actually happy enough to send out a bloom. I've never had that before, and considering the fact that I have no idea what I did differently, I doubt it'll ever happen again. But at least I got a couple pictures of it before the bloom died.
Though I have a feeling my cat ate the bloom. I caught him prying one of the cacti out of its pot earlier today...
My next foray into the cactus world is to try to start from some seed I purchased while in Arizona last February.
Not only do cacti need very little water, they often are some of the coolest looking plants around.
Somehow I did something right and one of my cacti was actually happy enough to send out a bloom. I've never had that before, and considering the fact that I have no idea what I did differently, I doubt it'll ever happen again. But at least I got a couple pictures of it before the bloom died.
Though I have a feeling my cat ate the bloom. I caught him prying one of the cacti out of its pot earlier today...
My next foray into the cactus world is to try to start from some seed I purchased while in Arizona last February.
Friday, March 18, 2005
Over 100
I have 113 (this is #114) posts on this blog, in just over a year. That makes my posting frequencey about 3 times per week. If blogger's stats were working, we could see how many words I've written. Surely enough to fill a small, boring book, but a book nonetheless.
I'm kind of surprised I kept it up this long and this steady.
I'm kind of surprised I kept it up this long and this steady.
Par 3
Mary and I took advantage of the beautiful weather and played a round of golf.
I'll keep the scores secret so as not to embarrass anyone, but Mary did very well considering this was her first time ever golfing. I tried my best to give her a couple of pointers, but since I've only golfed about half-a-dozen times altogether, I kept quiet.
Par 3 golf is nice because your mistakes just aren't as big (you're only using a pitching wedge). And even if you can't hit very far you can still finish a hole in 5 or 6 strokes.
Amazingly, Mary hit her ball into mine while driving toward the green. Not once did she do this, but twice. What are the odds?
I'll keep the scores secret so as not to embarrass anyone, but Mary did very well considering this was her first time ever golfing. I tried my best to give her a couple of pointers, but since I've only golfed about half-a-dozen times altogether, I kept quiet.
Par 3 golf is nice because your mistakes just aren't as big (you're only using a pitching wedge). And even if you can't hit very far you can still finish a hole in 5 or 6 strokes.
Amazingly, Mary hit her ball into mine while driving toward the green. Not once did she do this, but twice. What are the odds?
Thursday, March 17, 2005
Univega
This week I picked up my mom's old 12-speed. It's a Univega women's bike, candy-apple red. She hasn't ridden it since I was in middle-school, and Mary is looking for a commuter bike she can ride while wearing a skirt or dress.
The bike has been hanging in the garage for the past 15 years, and slowly my dad has cannibalized parts off it to fit his Univega. Luckily, he still had the original 27-inch wheels (not the now standard 700C). I just need to get a new crank, 2 chain-rings, and a front derailer. And, of course, some new tires and tubes.
The shifter levers are old-school, friction shifters, and are mounted up on the handlebar stem. The handlebars themselves are the swept back style often found on cruisers.
It'll be a fun project for the evenings.
The bike has been hanging in the garage for the past 15 years, and slowly my dad has cannibalized parts off it to fit his Univega. Luckily, he still had the original 27-inch wheels (not the now standard 700C). I just need to get a new crank, 2 chain-rings, and a front derailer. And, of course, some new tires and tubes.
The shifter levers are old-school, friction shifters, and are mounted up on the handlebar stem. The handlebars themselves are the swept back style often found on cruisers.
It'll be a fun project for the evenings.
Sunday, March 13, 2005
First Taste
I tapped into my first bottle of home-brewed rootbeer.
Drum roll please...
I could easily see the yeast sediment in the bottle, so I treated the bottle carefully so as to keep the yeast settled. When I flipped open the top I heard a very satisfying pop of carbonation. The rootbeer had the familiar caramel color, but it was a little cloudy, and I could smell a slight yeasty smell. The carbonation bubbles were nice and small, just what I'd expect in a soda.
But what about the taste? Sadly, it tasted a little yeasty. Not too yeasty to drink, but a little different than I would like. The rootbeer flavor was fairly good, a little bitter - I could have used a little more sugar. I think I'm going to let the rootbeer sit for a while in the fridge, as that's supposed to help reduce the yeast flavor.
Next time I'll use less yeast and a different sweetener - probably either honey or brown sugar, and I'll use a little more than this last batch.
Drum roll please...
I could easily see the yeast sediment in the bottle, so I treated the bottle carefully so as to keep the yeast settled. When I flipped open the top I heard a very satisfying pop of carbonation. The rootbeer had the familiar caramel color, but it was a little cloudy, and I could smell a slight yeasty smell. The carbonation bubbles were nice and small, just what I'd expect in a soda.
But what about the taste? Sadly, it tasted a little yeasty. Not too yeasty to drink, but a little different than I would like. The rootbeer flavor was fairly good, a little bitter - I could have used a little more sugar. I think I'm going to let the rootbeer sit for a while in the fridge, as that's supposed to help reduce the yeast flavor.
Next time I'll use less yeast and a different sweetener - probably either honey or brown sugar, and I'll use a little more than this last batch.
City Trees
This question has been on my mind for a couple of weeks now...
You've probably noticed the large trees in the downtowns of cities that line the sidewalks. For example there are the trees the line the sides of the main branch of the Multnomah County library in downtown Portland. These trees are 40 feet tall and have good-sized trunks. But they're planted in the middle of the city, in a sidewalk, right next to the street. There's very very little bare earth next to these trees, practically none.
So where on earth do they get their water?
You've probably noticed the large trees in the downtowns of cities that line the sidewalks. For example there are the trees the line the sides of the main branch of the Multnomah County library in downtown Portland. These trees are 40 feet tall and have good-sized trunks. But they're planted in the middle of the city, in a sidewalk, right next to the street. There's very very little bare earth next to these trees, practically none.
So where on earth do they get their water?
Newport
Yet another beautiful weekend in Oregon this winter. Mary and I headed to Newport for the afternoon to take a nice, long walk on the beach. Unfortunately, the wind was blowing at a steady 15-20 miles per hour, so our walk was short.
But we had a yummy bowl of chowder, some homemade ice cream, and stopped by a couple of nice little shops. Truth be told, the shops were more up Mary's alley - mostly having the home decorating spin. There were pretty cloths, glassware, (women's) clothing, etc. The shop I was most interested in was the needlework shop, the Twining Thread. Like most shops of its type, it focuses primarily on cross-stitch, but it had a few books and magazines on embroidery (my gig).
Joey remembered us, or at least made a good guess (b/c we've only been in once before, about a year ago). She and her husband own and have run the shop since 2003. She's very enthusiastic about needlework, but she's realistic about the business side of things. So, about a year ago, they created their web page, and it's now the major source of their revenue. Joey was very excited about the web page (it's nice and simple) and we chatted about it (and web business in general) for quite a while.
I've heard of a way to make money by somehow having product searches go through your web page, and somehow you get a few pennies from each sale. It seems like magic because your web page doesn't show any of those products, and the people clicking on the links don't know they're going through your web page, but you can make money. A guy I knew from Intel makes a couple hundred dollars a month from this type of thing. It's not enough to live on, but it sure gives him spending money. I'm going to try to hook up the Twining Thread folks with that information and see if they can get it to work for them.
Half the time we were in Newport I couldn't stop thinking about Root Beer. You see, I mixed it up and put it in bottles just the night before. And when we got home the bottles were pressurized and ready to go into the fridge. I'll be popping one open this afternoon after my bike ride, I can't wait. I'm just a little nervous that I put too much yeast in - so it might have a yeasty flavor. The yeast packets come in a 15 gram size (well, this variety did), but you only need 3 grams for a gallon of rootbeer. I don't have a way to measure 3 grams reliably (the kitchen scale goes from 0 to 2 to 4 grams) so I sort of guessed. Oh well, it only took about 20 minutes to put together.
But we had a yummy bowl of chowder, some homemade ice cream, and stopped by a couple of nice little shops. Truth be told, the shops were more up Mary's alley - mostly having the home decorating spin. There were pretty cloths, glassware, (women's) clothing, etc. The shop I was most interested in was the needlework shop, the Twining Thread. Like most shops of its type, it focuses primarily on cross-stitch, but it had a few books and magazines on embroidery (my gig).
Joey remembered us, or at least made a good guess (b/c we've only been in once before, about a year ago). She and her husband own and have run the shop since 2003. She's very enthusiastic about needlework, but she's realistic about the business side of things. So, about a year ago, they created their web page, and it's now the major source of their revenue. Joey was very excited about the web page (it's nice and simple) and we chatted about it (and web business in general) for quite a while.
I've heard of a way to make money by somehow having product searches go through your web page, and somehow you get a few pennies from each sale. It seems like magic because your web page doesn't show any of those products, and the people clicking on the links don't know they're going through your web page, but you can make money. A guy I knew from Intel makes a couple hundred dollars a month from this type of thing. It's not enough to live on, but it sure gives him spending money. I'm going to try to hook up the Twining Thread folks with that information and see if they can get it to work for them.
Half the time we were in Newport I couldn't stop thinking about Root Beer. You see, I mixed it up and put it in bottles just the night before. And when we got home the bottles were pressurized and ready to go into the fridge. I'll be popping one open this afternoon after my bike ride, I can't wait. I'm just a little nervous that I put too much yeast in - so it might have a yeasty flavor. The yeast packets come in a 15 gram size (well, this variety did), but you only need 3 grams for a gallon of rootbeer. I don't have a way to measure 3 grams reliably (the kitchen scale goes from 0 to 2 to 4 grams) so I sort of guessed. Oh well, it only took about 20 minutes to put together.
Wednesday, March 09, 2005
March 7th
I finally got back to unicycle club. Mary and I missed the last two weeks of the club due to our little trip to Puerto Rico. I was anxious to see how well my body would remember the little gains I'd made during the first night of unicycle club. Mary was unable to join me because of book club, so I had to go it alone. The gym was packed with nearly 20 kids, all zipping around, playing tag, and learning to cycle backwards. I clung to the wall half out of fear of falling, and half out from worrying about crushing one of them while awkwardly pedalling the one wheel. I needn't have worried because the kids saw my obvious lack of skills and nimbly avoided me while I flailed my way across the gym.
Happily, I had some success: two trips nearly all the way across the gym, 5 half-way, and about a dozen that went 30 feet. I certainly missed having Mary there to lend a hand - it's a lot easier to start with a little help, but I made some good progress. I'm confident that I'll soon be able to wobble my way around the block.
Speaking of bikes, the wheel builder finally has the replacement hub from Chris King. Supposedly, he'll be able to lace it up this week and ship it to me very soon. I'm rather anxious about this because it's been several months. Luckily I've got the single speed to keep me occupied for the few trips I've made into the woods.
Right now I'm flying over Corvallis in Intel's chartered shuttle from Hillsboro to San Jose. The customer wants a face-to-face meeting, and it's always good to show some moral support. Relations continue to be a little rocky for some reason, so my group is making efforts to have face-time at the Santa Clara site.
I stayed at a colleague's house because we were both on the early flight. We got to the airport late and only one of our seats were still available. He graciously gave the seat to me, and he'll try to catch the later flight. My stupid phone ran out of battery (I had two bars going to bed), so the alarm never went off, and he was a little too lax in waking me (his ride) up. I knew it was going to be a problem from my last experience of being late to the shuttle.
The traveling is but a diversion from my latest hobby - brewing root beer. All the supplies arrived over the weekend, and I removed the labels off the bottles. I just need to sanitize the bottles, mix up a batch, and try it out.
I tasted the couple rootbeers I picked up at CostPlus last week. The Bulldog brew tasted lightly like honey and (what I assume is) sassafras; good, but not as spicy as I would really like. I liked the Briars a little more as it had a little more spice and had more of a brown sugar flavor. It is going to be hard to determine my "favorite" rootbeer because they all taste different. I definitely like the spicier brews, but the sweetener used has such an impact on the flavor that the spices take somewhat of a back seat. Hopefully I can find a good source of relatively fresh spices - the brewshop has bags of dried spices that look as old as the shop, and the co-op doesn't wintergreen (maybe I could special order it).
Mary and I checked out the local brewing supply shop over the weekend. Like probably any brewing place, they've got everything I would have needed, but I'm glad to have purchased the concentrates from a place that makes their own. The shop even has the roots and herbs for flavoring rootbeer from scratch - including sasparailla poupori. Turns out sasparilla is carcinogenic, so it has to be labeled as poupori and not a food item. Nobody says how carcinogenic the stuff is, so I'm unsure whether I'm going to give it a try or not.
The brewshop also has wine, and Mary picked out a wonderful bottle with a risque name, 2003 Menage a Trois Red (because it has three varieties of grape) from Folie a Deux. It has to be one of the best red wines I've had in years (not that I drink very much wine). It tasted sweet, and very fruity, almost like a great sangria in a bottle. We'll probably pick up a couple of bottles to have around.
Happily, I had some success: two trips nearly all the way across the gym, 5 half-way, and about a dozen that went 30 feet. I certainly missed having Mary there to lend a hand - it's a lot easier to start with a little help, but I made some good progress. I'm confident that I'll soon be able to wobble my way around the block.
Speaking of bikes, the wheel builder finally has the replacement hub from Chris King. Supposedly, he'll be able to lace it up this week and ship it to me very soon. I'm rather anxious about this because it's been several months. Luckily I've got the single speed to keep me occupied for the few trips I've made into the woods.
Right now I'm flying over Corvallis in Intel's chartered shuttle from Hillsboro to San Jose. The customer wants a face-to-face meeting, and it's always good to show some moral support. Relations continue to be a little rocky for some reason, so my group is making efforts to have face-time at the Santa Clara site.
I stayed at a colleague's house because we were both on the early flight. We got to the airport late and only one of our seats were still available. He graciously gave the seat to me, and he'll try to catch the later flight. My stupid phone ran out of battery (I had two bars going to bed), so the alarm never went off, and he was a little too lax in waking me (his ride) up. I knew it was going to be a problem from my last experience of being late to the shuttle.
The traveling is but a diversion from my latest hobby - brewing root beer. All the supplies arrived over the weekend, and I removed the labels off the bottles. I just need to sanitize the bottles, mix up a batch, and try it out.
I tasted the couple rootbeers I picked up at CostPlus last week. The Bulldog brew tasted lightly like honey and (what I assume is) sassafras; good, but not as spicy as I would really like. I liked the Briars a little more as it had a little more spice and had more of a brown sugar flavor. It is going to be hard to determine my "favorite" rootbeer because they all taste different. I definitely like the spicier brews, but the sweetener used has such an impact on the flavor that the spices take somewhat of a back seat. Hopefully I can find a good source of relatively fresh spices - the brewshop has bags of dried spices that look as old as the shop, and the co-op doesn't wintergreen (maybe I could special order it).
Mary and I checked out the local brewing supply shop over the weekend. Like probably any brewing place, they've got everything I would have needed, but I'm glad to have purchased the concentrates from a place that makes their own. The shop even has the roots and herbs for flavoring rootbeer from scratch - including sasparailla poupori. Turns out sasparilla is carcinogenic, so it has to be labeled as poupori and not a food item. Nobody says how carcinogenic the stuff is, so I'm unsure whether I'm going to give it a try or not.
The brewshop also has wine, and Mary picked out a wonderful bottle with a risque name, 2003 Menage a Trois Red (because it has three varieties of grape) from Folie a Deux. It has to be one of the best red wines I've had in years (not that I drink very much wine). It tasted sweet, and very fruity, almost like a great sangria in a bottle. We'll probably pick up a couple of bottles to have around.
Thursday, March 03, 2005
Starbucks Chantico
About a week before Puerto Rico I went to a lift class - we did so many lunges and squats that I had trouble walking for the next three days. But, that's not the point.
I was in a class full of women (therefore I had to do all the lunges, couldn't be shown up), and while working out they talked (who the hell has enough breath for that?). The subject of Starbuck's new chocolate drink, Chantico (trademarked no less), came up. For some reason, the gals thought it'd take 3 or 4 people to finish one off. My first thought was, "bring it on."
While waiting for the plane to Puerto Rico in Chicago, Mary brought me my very own cup of liquid chocolate. Turns out, the cup is only about 6 ounces. Six ounces of yumminess I must say. I have no idea how they make it, somehow they keep an entire chocolate bar melted and liquid while in the cup. When a little drip dried out on the lip of the cup, it turned into a piece of chocolate. The Chantico tastes of cinnamon - like Mexican hot chocolate. It's what I always try to make at home and fail.
I had no problem polishing it off, but it was very rich. In fact, it has nearly twice the calorie density as the icing-flavored shake. It's almost got the same number of calories as 2 Hershey's chocolate bars. So, it's not your average beverage.
I was in a class full of women (therefore I had to do all the lunges, couldn't be shown up), and while working out they talked (who the hell has enough breath for that?). The subject of Starbuck's new chocolate drink, Chantico (trademarked no less), came up. For some reason, the gals thought it'd take 3 or 4 people to finish one off. My first thought was, "bring it on."
While waiting for the plane to Puerto Rico in Chicago, Mary brought me my very own cup of liquid chocolate. Turns out, the cup is only about 6 ounces. Six ounces of yumminess I must say. I have no idea how they make it, somehow they keep an entire chocolate bar melted and liquid while in the cup. When a little drip dried out on the lip of the cup, it turned into a piece of chocolate. The Chantico tastes of cinnamon - like Mexican hot chocolate. It's what I always try to make at home and fail.
I had no problem polishing it off, but it was very rich. In fact, it has nearly twice the calorie density as the icing-flavored shake. It's almost got the same number of calories as 2 Hershey's chocolate bars. So, it's not your average beverage.
Wednesday, March 02, 2005
Root Beer
I like rootbeer. Never liked beer, but rootbeer is pretty tasty.
Generally I prefer Barqs, but will drink Mug or the other name-brand flavors. Thomas Kemper does an ok job, and Heny Weinhard makes a tasty beverage they call rootbeer (but tastes more like cream soda).
Virgils makes a yummy rootbeer, of which Sam and I drank a party keg over Christmas.
Well, I've decided to start brewing my own rootbeer. It's quick and sounds real easy, mix water, flavoring, sugar and yeast (for carbination), wait two weeks, and you're done. I've got the ingredients on order from hoptech, which sounded like it has a couple of different flavors.
While doing research to find out the way to properly brew rootbeer (use ale yeast because champagne yeast can lead to exploding bottles), I found this guy's list of nearly 300 rootbeers, with comments on all of them. While he doesn't like Virgils, he does like Bulldog, which luckily can be found locally. So I stopped by Cost Plus and picked up a couple of bottles, as well as a bottle of Briars rootbeer and red birch beer. I look forward to trying both (they're chilling in the fridge right now). Perhaps I'll learn the error of my ways.
Generally I prefer Barqs, but will drink Mug or the other name-brand flavors. Thomas Kemper does an ok job, and Heny Weinhard makes a tasty beverage they call rootbeer (but tastes more like cream soda).
Virgils makes a yummy rootbeer, of which Sam and I drank a party keg over Christmas.
Well, I've decided to start brewing my own rootbeer. It's quick and sounds real easy, mix water, flavoring, sugar and yeast (for carbination), wait two weeks, and you're done. I've got the ingredients on order from hoptech, which sounded like it has a couple of different flavors.
While doing research to find out the way to properly brew rootbeer (use ale yeast because champagne yeast can lead to exploding bottles), I found this guy's list of nearly 300 rootbeers, with comments on all of them. While he doesn't like Virgils, he does like Bulldog, which luckily can be found locally. So I stopped by Cost Plus and picked up a couple of bottles, as well as a bottle of Briars rootbeer and red birch beer. I look forward to trying both (they're chilling in the fridge right now). Perhaps I'll learn the error of my ways.
Puerto Rico
Mary and I recently returned from a 2 week vacation in Puerto Rico. Our friends Tim and Maria have a condo about half-way between San Juan and Fajardo (right next to the Westin Rio Mar).
Neither of us had ever been to Puerto Rico, nor had we ever even really thought about that little island, we barely even knew where it was.
Needless to say, Puerto Rico was a great place to visit.
The quick synopsis of the trip was 3 nights on Vieques, a couple days of Maria's parents showing us San Juan, some towns in central Puerto Rico, San Juan, and all sorts of Puerto Rican food. We hiked a couple of times in El Yunque, took a snorkeling trip on a catamaran, hung out on the beach, relaxed in the condo. Some unforeseen things came up, so we didn't get to see quite as much of the island as we would have liked, and we were a bit disappointed that it rained 4 days during the last week we were there.
But, all in all, a good trip.
If we were to go back, I'd spend 80-90% of our time on Vieques and Culebra. Two little islands off the west coast of Puerto Rico. Why? Because they each have postcard-perfect beaches. Amazing white sand, movie-like blue water, and almost nobody on the beaches. Mary and I were both blown away by the beauty of it all - I hope the pictures turn out.
If you go to Puerto Rico, you'll have to rent a car. There really aren't any convenient ways to get around otherwise. I guess you could hire a cab if you wanted, but that'd get expensive real fast. Plus, driving in PR is something to experience first-hand.First of all, very few people signal - Francisco said that if you signal you're letting the other person know your intention and they're ore likely to cut you off. And, inexplicably, about a third of the cars do not have functioning break lights. This makes no sense because most of the cars are newish - late 90's models if not 00's. There's a ton o traffic because there are 2 million cars for the 4 million inhabitants of Puerto Rico. Because of the traffic, and stop-lights on the major highways, you get lots of backups at the lights. Well, people will make U-turns around the people in the left-hand turn lane. This is a common occurrence. And you have all the motorcyclists that regularly ride between the lanes. Then you have the people inching out into traffic. If you're at an busy intersection and can't get in, you just slowly, but continuously inch out into the traffic until someone stops for you. This works both on the side-streets, as well as the major highways.
Surprisingly, there was no road rage. Honking is a common thing, but it's not a "get out of my you fscker!" but more of a "let's go" or "I'm here" kind of honk. We commonly came across people who were driving 40 miles an hour in a 55 mph zone. Nobody seemed to be annoyed, the car just parted around the slowpoke like a stream avoiding a rock. Driving was almost relaxing. Though the lack of street signs was frustrating when we were trying to find places. And the "mileage" markers were in kilometers, while all the signs told you the number of miles that remained.
The roads in Puerto Rico are pretty wild. Most of the roads are full of pot holes (oddly, we didn't see a single road crew). And the roads on Vieques and in the middle of the mountains were like roller coasters, as steep and windy as the little plastic tracks you used with Hot Wheels as a kid. I swear we achieved lift-off on one of the peaks on Viragoes - it felt just like a roller coaster.
I really enjoyed hiking in El Yunque. Mary described it aptly by saying it looked like house plants gone wild. There were groves of bamboo, ferns 20 feet tall, plants that grew on the sides of trees, hand house plants with leaves large enough Mary could hide behind them. The day we hiked on "La Mina" trail it was raining real hard, so we didn't swim under the waterfall because the water was a bit rough, but it looked like it'd be fun.
The food was good, everything is wrapped in plantain and fried. Yum. Tostones, mofongo, pinones and alcapurias were both very tasty, however, I could have done without the blood sausage and the tripe (served with boiled green bananas). But, there was almost no fruit, and definitely no vegetables (other than plantains and roots). I'd hoped for fresh orange juice, but each time we tried to order it, they people tried to give us either Fanta or orange punch.
I can't thanks Tim and Maria enough for their help with setting things up and for the use of their amazing condo. Plus, Maria's parents were a hoot, and showed us many things we would have never seen without their guidance.
Nobody in Puerto Rico had mint, so I was only able to try one Mojito while I was there. Everybody had their own version of a rum punch, which usually tasted like canned pineapple juice. The best rum punch I had was made by a mother/daughter pair we met at La Finca on Vieques - that was yummy. The other good drink I had was "Licor 43" - a schnapps-like liqueur that tastes of vanilla. Yum. I brought a bottle back with me.
And I loved La Finca, a rustic place to hang out in the middle of the jungle on Vieques. The showers have no roof, one of the cats has a black face with a tiny white mustache named "Tienes Leche?", hammocks on the porch, and fruit trees on the grounds. We ate fresh star-fruit, and I took a machete to a coconut and hacked it open. Nothing tastes as good as a coconut you chopped open with a rusty machete by yourself.
Neither of us had ever been to Puerto Rico, nor had we ever even really thought about that little island, we barely even knew where it was.
Needless to say, Puerto Rico was a great place to visit.
The quick synopsis of the trip was 3 nights on Vieques, a couple days of Maria's parents showing us San Juan, some towns in central Puerto Rico, San Juan, and all sorts of Puerto Rican food. We hiked a couple of times in El Yunque, took a snorkeling trip on a catamaran, hung out on the beach, relaxed in the condo. Some unforeseen things came up, so we didn't get to see quite as much of the island as we would have liked, and we were a bit disappointed that it rained 4 days during the last week we were there.
But, all in all, a good trip.
If we were to go back, I'd spend 80-90% of our time on Vieques and Culebra. Two little islands off the west coast of Puerto Rico. Why? Because they each have postcard-perfect beaches. Amazing white sand, movie-like blue water, and almost nobody on the beaches. Mary and I were both blown away by the beauty of it all - I hope the pictures turn out.
If you go to Puerto Rico, you'll have to rent a car. There really aren't any convenient ways to get around otherwise. I guess you could hire a cab if you wanted, but that'd get expensive real fast. Plus, driving in PR is something to experience first-hand.First of all, very few people signal - Francisco said that if you signal you're letting the other person know your intention and they're ore likely to cut you off. And, inexplicably, about a third of the cars do not have functioning break lights. This makes no sense because most of the cars are newish - late 90's models if not 00's. There's a ton o traffic because there are 2 million cars for the 4 million inhabitants of Puerto Rico. Because of the traffic, and stop-lights on the major highways, you get lots of backups at the lights. Well, people will make U-turns around the people in the left-hand turn lane. This is a common occurrence. And you have all the motorcyclists that regularly ride between the lanes. Then you have the people inching out into traffic. If you're at an busy intersection and can't get in, you just slowly, but continuously inch out into the traffic until someone stops for you. This works both on the side-streets, as well as the major highways.
Surprisingly, there was no road rage. Honking is a common thing, but it's not a "get out of my you fscker!" but more of a "let's go" or "I'm here" kind of honk. We commonly came across people who were driving 40 miles an hour in a 55 mph zone. Nobody seemed to be annoyed, the car just parted around the slowpoke like a stream avoiding a rock. Driving was almost relaxing. Though the lack of street signs was frustrating when we were trying to find places. And the "mileage" markers were in kilometers, while all the signs told you the number of miles that remained.
The roads in Puerto Rico are pretty wild. Most of the roads are full of pot holes (oddly, we didn't see a single road crew). And the roads on Vieques and in the middle of the mountains were like roller coasters, as steep and windy as the little plastic tracks you used with Hot Wheels as a kid. I swear we achieved lift-off on one of the peaks on Viragoes - it felt just like a roller coaster.
I really enjoyed hiking in El Yunque. Mary described it aptly by saying it looked like house plants gone wild. There were groves of bamboo, ferns 20 feet tall, plants that grew on the sides of trees, hand house plants with leaves large enough Mary could hide behind them. The day we hiked on "La Mina" trail it was raining real hard, so we didn't swim under the waterfall because the water was a bit rough, but it looked like it'd be fun.
The food was good, everything is wrapped in plantain and fried. Yum. Tostones, mofongo, pinones and alcapurias were both very tasty, however, I could have done without the blood sausage and the tripe (served with boiled green bananas). But, there was almost no fruit, and definitely no vegetables (other than plantains and roots). I'd hoped for fresh orange juice, but each time we tried to order it, they people tried to give us either Fanta or orange punch.
I can't thanks Tim and Maria enough for their help with setting things up and for the use of their amazing condo. Plus, Maria's parents were a hoot, and showed us many things we would have never seen without their guidance.
Nobody in Puerto Rico had mint, so I was only able to try one Mojito while I was there. Everybody had their own version of a rum punch, which usually tasted like canned pineapple juice. The best rum punch I had was made by a mother/daughter pair we met at La Finca on Vieques - that was yummy. The other good drink I had was "Licor 43" - a schnapps-like liqueur that tastes of vanilla. Yum. I brought a bottle back with me.
And I loved La Finca, a rustic place to hang out in the middle of the jungle on Vieques. The showers have no roof, one of the cats has a black face with a tiny white mustache named "Tienes Leche?", hammocks on the porch, and fruit trees on the grounds. We ate fresh star-fruit, and I took a machete to a coconut and hacked it open. Nothing tastes as good as a coconut you chopped open with a rusty machete by yourself.
Sunday, February 27, 2005
New Corvallis Foods
This weekend, Mary and I checked out a couple of new things in Corvallis. The first was the farmers' market - while this isn't new, I've never been to the winter market before. It is small, which should be expected as not too much grows in the winter. The farm we get our CSA box from, Denison, had a table, and we got some salad mix there. There were people selling some pottery, soup, flowers, etc. All the usual things.
There was table I'd never seen at the summer market, Oregon Gourmet Cheeses. They had some yummy cheeses for sale, so we bought a slice of their smoked, raw-milk cheese. Very creamy, soft, faintly smoky - similar to a smoked Gouda, but not as dense. I was a little disappointed that the people at the table didn't have more information about themselves, but I did find their nice little web page. Happily, I discovered the milk used is organic, though the cheese doesn't appear to be certified organic. I recommend you try some if you ever get a chance. It's better than the Wallace and Gromit cheese I picked up the other day.
The next stop on our whirl-wind trip was the new meat store, Bald Hill Farm. They have frozen beef, lamb, goat, and (in spring and fall) chicken. There are also some select fresh cuts available as well. I'd been looking for a local butcher shop in our area. Just a tiny bit out of town is Emmons Meat Market which sells wonderful jerky and smoked meats (they also sell whole roasting pigs - U-roast or they'll roast). But I'd wanted a place with fresh meat. The co-op sells fresh meat, but it'd be nice to have direct access - especially since I'd potentially be able to order a large roast in the future. Mary and I picked up some flank steak and I grilled it tonight. Mmmmm.... delicious, marinated in soy/ginger/fish sauce, grilled rare (with some cooked longer (medium) for Mary's tastes). Plus some grilled potatoes and a fresh salad (mentioned above). I don't know why I don't cook more often.
The last new place we tried was the recently opened french pastry shop, "Le Patissier" (no web pages yet). We tried the chocolate croissant (divine) and took a gander at their other offerings - creme brulee, napoleons, cakes, all sorts of goodies. This is a dangerous thing, as they open up at 6:30 during the week (right when I head to work, and it's on the way...).
Now if I could just find some local sausage...
There was table I'd never seen at the summer market, Oregon Gourmet Cheeses. They had some yummy cheeses for sale, so we bought a slice of their smoked, raw-milk cheese. Very creamy, soft, faintly smoky - similar to a smoked Gouda, but not as dense. I was a little disappointed that the people at the table didn't have more information about themselves, but I did find their nice little web page. Happily, I discovered the milk used is organic, though the cheese doesn't appear to be certified organic. I recommend you try some if you ever get a chance. It's better than the Wallace and Gromit cheese I picked up the other day.
The next stop on our whirl-wind trip was the new meat store, Bald Hill Farm. They have frozen beef, lamb, goat, and (in spring and fall) chicken. There are also some select fresh cuts available as well. I'd been looking for a local butcher shop in our area. Just a tiny bit out of town is Emmons Meat Market which sells wonderful jerky and smoked meats (they also sell whole roasting pigs - U-roast or they'll roast). But I'd wanted a place with fresh meat. The co-op sells fresh meat, but it'd be nice to have direct access - especially since I'd potentially be able to order a large roast in the future. Mary and I picked up some flank steak and I grilled it tonight. Mmmmm.... delicious, marinated in soy/ginger/fish sauce, grilled rare (with some cooked longer (medium) for Mary's tastes). Plus some grilled potatoes and a fresh salad (mentioned above). I don't know why I don't cook more often.
The last new place we tried was the recently opened french pastry shop, "Le Patissier" (no web pages yet). We tried the chocolate croissant (divine) and took a gander at their other offerings - creme brulee, napoleons, cakes, all sorts of goodies. This is a dangerous thing, as they open up at 6:30 during the week (right when I head to work, and it's on the way...).
Now if I could just find some local sausage...
Saturday, February 05, 2005
So many things...
There have been a lot of little items to blog about, but I've just not made the time.
Mary has started taking care of a (it's starving, really) stray cat. It's a cute cat, though it sprays on things (the grill cover, the mazda's front left tire).
I've been pretty good about training for the Beaver Freezer triathlon, except for this last week, I'd biked/swum/or run 5 or 6 days a week for 4 weeks. My 500 yard swim is just above 8 minutes, and I successfully ran 5k outside - in 34 minutes, including about 6 minutes of walking.
Mary and I are heading to Puerto Rico for 2 weeks of vacation this Tuesday - yay yay yay. It's gonna be awesome.
I just got a "RaceCenter northwest" magazine that has all the tri/duo/run events in the northwest for this year. There are a bunch that sound interesting - perhaps I'll like them enough to decide to do an ironman. yeah, right.
The winter weather has been awesome, I've been able to ride my single speed a number of times (quite often going to the gym).
And I've been working a lot, which sucks. But, off to Puerto Rico!!!!!
Mary has started taking care of a (it's starving, really) stray cat. It's a cute cat, though it sprays on things (the grill cover, the mazda's front left tire).
I've been pretty good about training for the Beaver Freezer triathlon, except for this last week, I'd biked/swum/or run 5 or 6 days a week for 4 weeks. My 500 yard swim is just above 8 minutes, and I successfully ran 5k outside - in 34 minutes, including about 6 minutes of walking.
Mary and I are heading to Puerto Rico for 2 weeks of vacation this Tuesday - yay yay yay. It's gonna be awesome.
I just got a "RaceCenter northwest" magazine that has all the tri/duo/run events in the northwest for this year. There are a bunch that sound interesting - perhaps I'll like them enough to decide to do an ironman. yeah, right.
The winter weather has been awesome, I've been able to ride my single speed a number of times (quite often going to the gym).
And I've been working a lot, which sucks. But, off to Puerto Rico!!!!!
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