Artic Grilling

This weekend I did what I like to do and threw some meat on the grill. Only difference is I live about 400 miles south of the Artic Circle and it was -1 outside while I was doing this. The thought occurred to me that I can not be the only idio - uh - enthusiast that grills under adverse weather conditions. Perhaps there are others out there that would like to share their tips, techniques, and possibly recipes with the world at large. Having said that I am putting together yet another blog which I shall call "Artic Grilling" - watch for it on your favorite search engine soon!

Problem Solved

Everyone around here was saying we did not have enough snow and it was not cold enough. Now they are saying...nothing. This week we have gotten a couple of feet of snow and today's high might reach zero - and it might not. The fun thing earlier was watching the little snow plows that take care of the sidewalks. Since Monday, these guys have been employed driving the big rigs trying to keep the streets and highways cleared. And they have done a fabulous job. This is truly a winter wonderland where every Christmas is a White Christmas.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Warm Snap

Probably the worst thing that can happen during the winter around here is a warm snap. The temps rise above freezing and you get rain instead of snow. This means that the ice on the ground is now covered with a wet sheen that really does not do well for tire traction (or for shoe traction for that matter). Couple that with the fact that you know in about 24 to 48 hours the temps are going to drop again, and you are going to have 300,000 square miles of an ice skating rink.

Not a good day!

How Men Fail

In the course of our daily lives, or at least that part of our daily life that passes as our livelihood, we are called upon to make many decisions. Granted, the majority of us are not in those occupations where our decisions could cause someone to loose their life, and this entry does not apply to them anyway.

But the rest of us make many decisions, some small, some not so, during the course of our livelihood. When faced with such a decision, logic would dictate that the more information that was obtained, the better the decision would be. Albeit some decisions must meet a time constraint, a lot of decisions, sometimes affecting millions of dollars, are not time-constrained, and the more information the better. Alas, this does not happen. We listen to a plethora of information, but not from a plethora of sources. It would seem that if we take the time to contact and solicit a plethora of sources, then we would be perceived as weak, or unable to make a decision on our own. So what happens (sometimes) is we listen (a lot) to sales people who tell us all the wonderful attributes of the product we are looking at and either do not mention (or do not know) those wonderful idiosyncratic things that will make the product practically useless to us.

After the product is purchased and the monies expended, the first thing that pops up are, yep, you guessed it, the idiosyncrasies. Now we have the choice of spending even more money (which will make us look bad), or saying, "We messed up" which will make us look worse. So we attempt to push the blame onto the ineptitude of others by saying things like, "you didn't implement this correctly", or, "it wasn't installed correctly", when all the while, we just didn't have the information we needed to make the decision before us in a purely logical manner.

So somewhere down the road, we are left with, "Houston, we have a problem"...

Live large!

A Short Test

Seems there is this new tool where you can post to your blog from your iGoogle homepage, so I thought I would give it a shot. Later...

Description

There is no way I can describe the grandeur of driving up the valley either now or during warm weather. The mountains are so close to the roadway that they have a presence all their own. I could take a million pictures with the world's best camera, and you could still not feel the presence of the mountains. And now, with the temps hovering just below zero, the snow and roadways are covered with a constant frost that can only be likened to diamond dust. It is as if God has sprinkled the earth with diamond dust.

This morning, driving in, it was breath-taking to see the effect of the freezing fog of yesterday. Every tree and every branch is alive with light that is bouncing off of whatever light is present. It transforms what we jokingly call the "stick forest" into a flocked fairyland of frost. Again, it is too beautiful for words!

The Post Modern Conundrum

For a long time we have gone along satisfied that our definition of being was derived from the description of our employment. "I am a computer programmer" was a sufficient statement to describe what I did, what my pursuits were, and indeed, who I was as a person. While this may seem like a shallow assessment, albeit an accurate one, it provided a sense of security and a sense of personal well-being to many. Our descriptions of ourselves defined our passions as well. I started working with computers because the fascinated me, and the more I learned, the more fascinated I became. It was easy for me to trace my computated inclinations to an early age when I studied music and came to the somber realization that while I enjoyed playing the piano, I had no natural "feel" for it. I summarized therefore, that I was a technician instead of a musician. This led to other such summarizations which I feel we all make from time to time. I am a cook, not a chef; and I am a "shade-tree" as opposed to a "certified" mechanic.

Along comes the post modern era and things change. After a rather lengthy (to me) stint of unemployment, I had to search for what I was exactly. Since I was not inclined to describe myself as an "unemployed" whatever, it behooved myself to define myself in some other terms. Who was I exactly as a man, as a human being, as a member of society? And what did I bring to the table if not the skills of my job? This type of soul searching went on for some time until I came to the realization that I was a child of the King and did not need any other moniker to tell the world who I was. Here presents the conundrum: If I am not defined by my job - it my job does not dictate my passions, how do I maintain the enthusiasm necessary to be successful in my job - to excel and advance, which is the natural proclivity of all mankind? When my passions are not in my employment, then I find my mind easily sidetracked to other passions. Of late I have become infatuated with medieval times and having developed a desire to work with metals. This would require a forge and some raw material, but would be easy enough to do. Given this fascination, I find more and more of my otherwise "free" time devoted to these pursuits instead of to increasing my technical competence.

So how do we live in post modern times, and how do we balance the passions of our hearts against the needs of our jobs - when they no longer coincide?

Oh, the picture was taken yesterday at 5:00 p.m. outside my office. It was about 11 degrees at the time and breathtakingly beautiful!

A Hankering

I have a hankering to build a forge and pound some iron. Not really sure where this is coming from, but have been fascinated with medieval times, here of late, and would like to learn the trade of a swordsmith. Have studied some of the medieval martial arts, and realize I am too old to partake of those pleasures any longer, but to be able to make the best swords around - now that would be something.

Lots of wishful thinking, I guess...

Now That's More Like It!

We got our first significant snowfall of the season and it is about time! We have had snow in the mountains since the first day of fall (see "Termination Dust"), but it took from then until now to get some snow in the lowlands! So far we have only gotten about three to four inches, but we are supposed to pick up another three or four today, and that will be just fine by us. Christy is taking some kids sledding tomorrow, so the more snow the better!

Now the holidays can begin!

Termination Dust

In this part of the world, the first snow of the season happens high in the mountains, but is visible from the lowlands and is called "termination dust" - that ever so light covering of snow at the very peaks of the mountains. This morning as I was riding to work I saw the first termination dust back up the river valley on two of the tallest peaks. Perhaps it is coincidence that this was the first morning in a while where we woke up to temperatures in the 30's.

Looks like winter is just around the corner.

Sunday Dinner

Sunday for dinner my lovely wife and I went to Mackeys on 23rd Street. Mackeys is not on the block between Eads and Fern, but is on the West side of Jefferson Davis Hwy on 23rd Street. Mackeys is a Public House in the Irish tradition so that is where I wanted to take my wife next. Being a Sunday evening it was not overly crowded (us and a couple of others) so we had the opportunity to relax and enjoy our dinner. We ordered the Shepherd's Pie - my wife had always wanted to try it and I wanted to compare it with the Shepherd's Pie I had eaten in Colonial Williamsburg.

It was a true Shepherd's Pie and the best I have ever had. Shepherd's Pie was designed to be a "refrigerator cleanout" type of dish, and this was it and more. We both enjoyed the dish, served with Irish dark bread and a glass of good wine. This was the type of dish we will eat again in Alaska when the temp is below zero outside and your need something to warm your insides. It was that good.

Seriously, if you are ever by the DC area, you have got to wonder down to Crystal City to enjoy the culinary treats along 23rd Street in Arlington!

Sunday Lunch

For lunch on Sunday I ventured back to 23rd Street between Eads and Fern in Crystal City and had lunch at La Bettola Italiano. This is another small, quaint place which is decorated in the Tuscan style, so I tried the Baked Manocotti with Sausage and the house Chianti. It took a while for the manocotti to come out (considering I was the only customer in the place), but I enjoyed soaking up the atmosphere and sipping on my Chianti. Almost immediately I was served a salad (small but tasty) and a loaf of what I call Tuscan Bread. Both were delicious, and I had to convince myself to save some of the bread for the main course.

When the main course came out, I could smell it before I saw it and it smelled fabulous. One taste of the manocotti and cheese filling and I knew I had not had anything this good since Naples. The sausage (unlike the pizza sausage on Saturday) was a mild blend of meats that accented the manocotti perfectly. And the chianti was the best I have had in a long time.

This is another place worth the visit if you are ever in the DC area!

Saturday Nied ght Dinner

On Saturday night my lovely wife and I walked back up to 23rd Street (between Eads and Fern) in Crystal City and ate at Cantina Mexicana. We were hailed off the street by the greeter who invited us to come in for "the best food on the block". Being fond fans of Mexican fare (from living in El Paso and Southern Cali) we gladly accepted the offer. We both wish we had not. The atmosphere was good and the place was certainly living up to it's name, until the food was served. The best thing on the plate was the frijoles, after that it was all decidedly bland. I ordered the Durango Plater which was two enchiladas and a tamale. The enchiladas were bland (plenty of meat and sauce, just no spice - at all) and the tamale looked like it was made with a little old lady with arthritic hands. I thought they had left it off the plate, but found it hiding under the beans. I take pills for my heart bigger than the tamale was in size.

Score - one star, and that is for the greeter who is successful in pulling numerous touristas off the street.

Culinary Journey

This week my lovely wife is engaged in a residential colloquim for school at the Hyatt Regency in Alexander, Virginia. I have tagged along as companion, confidant, cohort, consol and comforter, as is appropriate. Since she is engaged most days from 8:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. or later, that leaves me to my own devices for Lunch. Fortunately for me there is 23rd Street, just past Eads headed away from the Jefferson Davis Hwy. For a block, you have, on both sides of the street, a cornucopia of eating establishments that are best described as "Mom and Pop" meaning they are not a part of a chain restaurant. To this street I have dedicated my stomach to travel every day at lunch to sample the various fares, and to report on them here.

Yesterday was the Pizzaiolo. Featured in the June 2008 Washingtonian's "100 Best Bargain Restaurants", the Pizzaiola features stone cooked pizza, among other tantelizingly sounding pasta and sandwich dishes. While there I had the Diavala Pizza which is a New York style pizza featuring sun dried tomatoes and hot Italian sausage. Having eaten my way across more than one continent, I can attest to the variety of "hot Italian sausages" that exist, but was willing to give this one a try.

When the pizza arrived, it was as tantelizing to the eyes and nose as it sounded. A paper-thin, properly cooked crust topped with an aromatic blend of sauce, cheeses and sausage made the waiting worth while. On my first taste of the pizza I thought that I had eaten hotter sausage before, but then my hair folicles started to tingle and I knew I was in for a real taste treat. With my second bite my forehead started to pop out in sweat, and my sinuses achieved a new sensation of clarity. This was no ordinary sausage pizza!

Topped off with a local amber ale and a tall glass of ice water I am hoping that sometime during this week I will go back. If my wife has to come to Alexander again for another such event, I know I will be back. If you find yourself within a 50 mile radius of Alexander, Virginia, head on down to Jefferson Davis Hwy, close to the Ronald Regan Airport, and turn up-hill on 23rd Street. On the corner of 23rd and Eads you will find the Pizzaiolo, and it will be worth the trip!

Interesting Angst

Yesterday afternoon my lovely wife and I went to the movies and saw "Julie & Julia". It was a delightful movie which I will certainly buy as soon as it is released on DVD. Watching the movie there is a scene where Julia Child (Meryl Streepe) is frustrated over the amount of time she has spent on her cookbook with no results and she laments about, "spending eight years of my life because I wanted something to do". It is a poignant moment where she wonders if she has been wasting her time over something because she just didn't want to be bored.

As a human being, but I guess most notably a male of that specie, I often wonder if I have been wasting my time doing "things" because I just didn't want to be bored. I believe we all have the need to feel that something beyond ourselves will last beyond ourselves. The innate need to be creative and know that what we create will stand the test of time. Have I done anything worthy of note, or have I just facilitated others to achieve things worthy of note? More importantly, is the facilitation of others worthy of note?

These are questions which I shall never know the answer to, for how can you know the answer to transcendent questions when you are finite in nature?

It poses and interesting angst...

New Book

I have been reading a new book lately entitled, "The Innovator's Prescription" - a work by Clayton Christensen, one of my favorite authors. This book looks at the ongoing debate over the reform of health care and makes some really startling and informative statements. I am using the book as a reference work for a research paper I am working on, so the reading has taken on more intent than was original.

The basic problem, according to Christensen, is that we are using a "fee for service" basis for our government paid systems already (Medicare and Medicaid). This type of system means the more service you provide, the more you get paid, so anyone would certainly provide as much service as the law would allow. Additionally, we have hospitals ("solution shops" in Christensen's venacular) that are not only trying to do hospital work, but are also trying to do focused work and rules based medicine. When you have one organization trying to live up to three separate business models, inefficiencies abound.

It is a great book, and puts a whole new twist onto the debate over health care reform. One point is clear, according to Christensen, that government will never be able to reform health care, and it should not even try.

Get the book, read it and start your own little revolution.

Comes A Time

There comes a time when you have to remember to be nice. It seems a great-niece of mine has cornered the market on this, but it behooves the rest of us to remember it from time to time. A little note "from your secret admirer" takes only seconds to write and can leave a lifetime of warm fuzzies all over the place. Thanks, Alexis, for lifting my spirits today and reminding me that sometimes even grizzled old great-uncles can remember to shed tears of joy.

God bless and live large!

Healthy People Must Buy Insurance

We have gone a long way to get people to stop smoking by taxing it to the point where no one can afford to smoke. We made the argument that these taxes would be used to pay for “smoke related illnesses” that the American taxpayer was currently paying. That seemed like a good argument, except that the real reason was the campaign to convince people how unhealthy smoking really was just was not working. If I can not convince you that smoking is bad for you, then I will make cigarettes $10 a pack instead of $10 a carton so you can not afford to smoke. According to the statistics, a large number of people have finally “seen the light” and quit.

The problem we are having now is that the healthy people, the “non-smokers” of healthcare are saying, “I’m a healthy person, why should I pay high premiums for health insurance I never use?” This type of logic would seem to make good sense from a personal perspective. I know people who live in large metropolitan areas who don’t own cars. They live and shop in their own neighborhoods and commute to work using mass transit. When they want to leave town, they rent a car and that is cheaper than the monthly upkeep and insurance on a car.

The President is quoted as saying, "People have made some pretty compelling arguments to me that if we want to have a system that drives down costs for everybody, then we've got to have healthier people not opt out of the system," Okay, so if we want to make sure the American automobile industry stays sound, then every American should be compelled to own at least one American made car. Buy as many of any other car as you like, but you must buy at least one American made car at least once each decade. Truthfully, if everyone is compelled to have health insurance, as President Obama desires, then the cost for all to have health insurance will surely go down; won’t it? I mean, if we equally share in the bounty of our economy then we can eliminate poverty, right? At least great thinkers like Karl Marx have thought so.

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1. "ABC News Exclusive: President Obama Shares His Health Care Vision - ABC News." ABCNews.com - Breaking news, politics, online news, world news, feature stories, celebrity interviews and more - ABC News. 24 June 2009. 24 June 2009

Old Friends

I connected with an old friend today, Rick Marshall. We didn't meet, but I found his blog and was able to do a little catching up. Rick and I go back a ways, having both worked at the Seattle VA for a spell. We collaborated on some things with World VistA, and we have had some interesting discussions over the years. Rick is the all-round genius on a lot of things, and it is always a joy just to sit and listen to him expound on just about anything. His energy is contagious and his enthusiasm knows no bounds. I look forward to watching his blog and commenting here and there where I think I understand what he is talking about :)

You Will Be Assimilated!

I guess one of the most surprising things about living in Alaska has been how quickly we have acclimated to the climate. We had a couple of weeks this winter when the temp never got above zero; the the ice was about a half-inch thick on the inside of the windows; and when the temperature gradient between inside and outside approached 100 degrees. So when the temperature got back up in to the mid- to upper-20's, we were ready to pull out the shirt sleeves and the shorts!

Today we were doing our usual Saturday shopping and running around and we were in jeans and t-shirts and were really comfortable. Then we noticed that the outside temp was 49 degrees and could not help but laugh. In late August/early September, Christy and I are going to be in the D.C. area for Christy to attend a practicum for her school. We figure we will just melt into puddles and they will have to send us home in a blotter!

Redoubt...continued

So Mt. Redoubt was downgraded from Red to Orange yesterday afternoon and then sends up another explosion (the biggest so far) this morning. Check out the news at http://www.ktuu.com/Global/story.asp?S=10076548. Here is a photo from the news service:

They are still saying the ash won't effect Anchorage...much, but some say we could get 1/8 inch of ash. Doesn't sound like much, but any ash is like small glass particles and it really messes up your car and your electronics (like this computer). All you can do is try to "seal" your windows and doors and cover your electronics. We put our computers in the bags and put them away in the closet and throw blankets over the TV and other stuff. Right now there is no ash here and even if it gets to Anchorage, it might not come this far. Will keep you posted.

Redoubt Explodes

So after many weeks of wondering, Mt. Redoubt finally erupted last night (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29833845/). The ash plume headed North and East from the mountain, so we are okay for now. The heaviest ash fell north of the Mat-Su valley in quantities of about 1/8 to 1/4 inch. The problem with the ash is that is like little pieces of sharp glass. It can really mess up your car engine and your computers and other electronics, so you end up covering things up to keep the dust out.

Right now the wind is taking the dust away, but the wind doesn't blow in the same direction all the time. The last time Redoubt erupted it blew on and off over a period of five months, so we have taken the precautions we need to make sure everything is okay.

You can check the NOAA site for the latest info.

Long Time

Guess it has been a while since I posted anything here, but things have been rocking along about like normal. Christy is working on her Masters Degree and I am working on my Bachelors so all of our "free time" is spent doing schoolwork, mostly. We took a Sunday afternoon a couple of weeks ago to drive up to Wasilla to see what we could see. Mostly it is small-town USA with more snow. That was about the size of it. The weather here hasn't broken yet, but our snowfall is way below normal. There isn't even a good inch on the ground right now so it looks like we will be trucking in snow again to start the Ididarod race next month. Hard to believe it is almost March, but then it is also hard to believe that I just turned 57. Not exactly a "milestone", but a little daunting. Actually, for the first time in a long time I don't feel old. Being in school again has gotten me excited about the future. A friend of ours Mother just died at the age of 97; so I figure I have another good 40 years or so!

So - so

I guess we are starting to settle into a routine. Melissa is off on Monday's now, and Ian is off on Tuesdays. Our Saturdays, which we had hoped to make family days, are rapidly turning into school days for both Christy and I. We wondered this last Saturday why she was able to have Saturdays free in Washington, and then finally remembered that she had Fridays off - which is when she got the bulk of her schoolwork done. Since I didn't start school until we moved here, that made Saturdays our day, except when we were busy with church business (which was most Saturdays!).

We think we may have found a home church, and we are delighted about that. It has been too long since we were connected, but I do have to admit the break has been nice. We realized that in Washington the church was our life, and that meant we didn't have a lot of time for each other. Of course, with the kids and grand kids around we still don't have a lot of time for each other, but we can see the light at the end of the tunnel as things settle down. Melissa is talking about getting a car with her tax return, so that will give her a lot more freedom and liberty. She has also saved up the money to pay for her schooling, and pay cash for it, so that is a really big accomplishment.

Stay tuned for more. The Winter is still upon us, and the Spring doesn't hit until the end of April or the first part of May. Oh yeah, the high temp for today is 10!

More later...

Bucket List

In the move "Bucket List", Jack Nicholson writes down, "kiss the most beautiful girl in the world". Morgan Freeman asks how he plans to accomplish this, and Mr. Nicholson answers in one word, "Volume". Later in the movie, Mr. Nicholson meets his granddaughter for the first time and kisses her, whereupon he promptly lines out that item on his "Bucket List".

Today, I had the pleasure of taking my granddaughter out into the snow to play. She delighted in simple things like throwing the snow up into the air and watching it fall. She giggled when neighbors came out and waved, and when one neighbor brought out their puppy to play. Afterwards, we came inside where I had the privilege to fix us some hot chocolate (one of her favorites) and watch her wipe chocolate lips onto the sleeves of a white blouse. I giggled in delight at her innocence.

There is an older granddaughter that I never had the opportunity to play with in the snow. Maybe someday I will, but that is entirely up to her. She is old enough now to make those decisions for herself, and the family dynamic is such that she may not want to. That will be my loss. Anyway, I will relish and enjoy the time now, because the essence of "now" can never be recaptured. It has taken me nearly six decades to realize that.

Living large!

Another N'ice Day

So we have about twelve days straight of sub-zero temps and then it warms up - to the 40's no less. You would think that this would be a good break, but instead it turns into a n'ice break. Let me explain. The ground is frozen and covered with ice - a mixture of compacted snow, sand and gravel, more compacted snow, more sand and gravel, more compacted snow, and then sub-zero temps for twelve days; you get the picture. The temperature suddently warms up, and it starts to rain. The rain does a pretty good job of clearing the roofs, but what happens on the ground is rain water on top of ice. You want to talk about slick! That stuff in the bottom of bat caves got nothin' on this!!

So for the last two days the schools have been closed because it is too warm. Well, actually, they are closed because the roads are just too slick to have people try and get out. The police are asking people to stay home (which they didn't do when it was snowing), and road crews are having trouble getting gravel out because the heavy trucks are sliding off the road and having to be pulled out themselves. It has been nuts around here for the last two days.

Good part is that everyone has been home and we have spent the last two days getting our school work caught up from the start of the new term - sweet!

I would take some more pictures, but everything just looks dirty - kinda like wet snow - go figure!

Bowling Golf

One of the things that Lydia and I like to do during the day is go downstairs into the garage and play ball. The garage isn't "outside", but some of the same rules apply. Lydia can run in the garage (but not in the house) and she can use her "outside" voice in the garage. Plus the garage is heated, so it stays around 60 degrees there, which beats the -11 degrees that it is outside right now.

There are only so many ball games you can come up with using just a couple of balls, so I had this idea on a new twist. I took three empty coke bottles and set them up in a triangle and then had Lydia back off with one of her balls and try to roll the ball to knock them over. A very small variation on bowling. She loved it and gave a delighted, shrill cry when she was successful in knocking them down.

After a while, Lydia invented her own variation to help her win. She would go to where ever the ball had quit rolling and roll it from there. Her success rate went up drastically with her small variation of golf. Viola - Bowling Golf.

She wanted to set up the bottles herself, but has not yet mastered getting the triangle shape down pat, so I took some masking tape and marked the spots on the floor, so she just had to put the bottles back on the tape to have them set up correctly.

It wasn't long before she had it down pat of putting the bottles back on the tape and we had a wonderful time today in the garage. I left the tape on the floor so we can start tomorrow with no effort, and the tape doesn't do anything but sit there waiting to be used!

What To Do

So when the temperature outside is so cold that your lungs hurt to breath, and you start getting that old "cabin fever" feeling; what are you suppose to do...


Why make cookies, of course!

While Christy was off for the holidays, and the temps were hovering in the double-digits below zero, there really wasn't anything to do but go stir-crazy, so she decided to let Lydia go stir-crazy on some cookie batter. Their efforts resulted in a couple of dozen of really good M&M cookies, that have quickly disappeared.

Yesterday morning while I was enjoying a cup of coffee, I shot this picture of the townhome across the parking log. I think it was -17 at the time, but if you notice, you can actually see the wood framing under the windows, including the 2x12 floor joists. This means the temperature gradient between the inside and the outside was enough for the inside heat to penetrate the wallboard, the wood, and the external layers of the home so that the frost did not stay where the wood was installed, but instead only stayed on those parts that were insulated. This was the start of our sixth day with temps below zero, but hey, they are saying we should get up to 10 by this weekend. Christy and I figured we would have to pull out the short-sleeved shirts if it gets that warm!!

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to one and all. We ended 2008 without much of a "bang", but the neighbors around us made up for it! There are no laws against fireworks here (at least that we could tell last night), so it was a big celebration all around. Downtown was the big "Fire and Ice" celebration, with fireworks and ice scultures, and some hardy people willing to brave the -14 degree weather to actually be there.

We enjoyed watching Time Square (on time delay, of course) and sitting inside where it was warm.

Our hopes to you all for this new year!