Unexpected Snow

I do not think I would be a very good weatherman on TV.  The chance of successfully predicting the weather in the region I reside is a challenge.  Sure, send me to Hawaii, or some coastal city and it would be much easier.  Here, in central Oklahoma, it is a bit more challenging.  I have seen the prediction for a blizzard turn into slight drizzle, with no snow.  This morning I woke up to snow, when they had predicted only snow flurries.  We have sen more snow and cold weather this year, than I can remember having in several years.

Green River Ordinance

I discovered a new band the other day, Green River Ordance.  There is something about the clean, clear, and folksy music that really resonates with me.  I liked their music enough to download their album, which is saying something.  It is difficult or challenging to bucket their "style" which is probably what draws me to their music.  I am no longer impressed with the big head liners like Justin Beiber, Mylie Cyrus, etc., I enjoy great music that is off the beaten path.  Their website describes their music as, "WALKING THE LINES OF COUNTRY, ROCK, POP, AND FOLK, GREEN RIVER ORDINANCE IS A BAND THAT CONSTANTLY CHALLENGES THE BORDERS OF GENRE. HOWEVER AS THEIR MUSIC CONTINUES TO MATURE AND CHANGE, GRO STILL HOLDS TRUE TO THE PURSUIT OF MUSIC THAT SPEAKS TO THE SOUL AND MOVES YOUR FEET."  (It was in all caps on the website, I am not yelling, if I was I would use an explanation point.  Check them out...you may be impressed, I was!

Sunday Supper

Sunday Supper has degraded over the past year, from me spending a good portion of the afternoon, to a I am going to throw something together.  There are several drivers for the change, one is that the kids were not always big fans of what I cooked.  I cannot wait until their tastes expand past the basics.  I am very excited that Mr C actually ate tacos a while back.  I think their was some cousin peer pressure involved, they must be good of my cousin is eating them.  They are contet to have Cheerios (multi-grain of course) for dinner.  

Tonight it was hot dogs, a few weeks ago it was natchos.  They (the children) turned down nachos for dinner and elected to eat oatmeal.  I love hot dogs, always have and probably always will.  They have to have chili, mustard, ketsup, cheese, and relish, to be good.  Tonight's had those ingredients, laid on a whole wheat bun.  It was might tasty, and I only used a sauce pan for the chili, so there is not much clean up.  The kids grinned when I informed them we would be having hot dogs for dinner.

The chili out of a can and into the sauce pan, being heated by natural gas.

I have also always enjoyed cooking shows, and have made the switch to public broadcasting for my cooking show fix.  PBS here has a channel called Create which has the best cooking shows.  Shows with a wide variety of topics and techniques, without the recent reality TV slant which the Cooking Channel and the Food Network consist of.  Most of my knife techniques I learned from watching the tele...  So, here to PBS and create for providing a platform to learn about cooking while being entertained.

Pinewood Derby Day 2014

Today was the eagerly anticipated pinewood derby for the pack.  For the kids it meant a day watching little blocks of wood that had been transformed into race cars, rock cars, minions, the Family Truckster, a spiderweb with candy bars on the inside for weight, to the feared wedge.  There were many cars, and a great deal of creativity expressed in the cars that came to run. Tonight when I go to bed I will hear "three, two, one, GO!!!"  

For the parents it was a day to get out for some, others a day to juggle multiple schedules, a day to look on with pride at what their son or daughter created, and for some, a day to look at the car little Johnny was racing that they built from scratch (they being the parent).

For the leaders it was a day up on their feet, refreshing skills on how to manage a six lane track, and how to organize cars. For the leaders in my pack, or at least for me, it was another event where leaders, parents, scouts, and the cub scouts came together, worked together and demonstrated the core values of scouting to kids.  

Fun, and lots of fun at that, was had by all.  The largest class of cars were the family open race where we had some 35 cars registered and racing, including mine, the land speeder from Star Wars.

Of course, a shot of the track with a view I had for quite a while today.  

Park House Restaurant

Last week I had the opportunity to eat at a new restaurant, which has not been opened too long.  Since I am everyone's source for pop culture and local events, I only accidentally learned of this new place which has been opened for a little more than a month.  I had the Pasta Carbonara, which has - Pappardelle, Pork Belly, Free Range Eggs, Herbed Parmesan Cheese, Roasted Garlic.  It was very tasty, and certainly not what I had expected when I read the menu.  The noodles in the dish were really wide, the thick cream sauce was like a delightful glue, ensuring that all of the peas and other parts of the dish did not get left behind.  I did not find a stand alone, or stand out egg from a Free Range chicken, so either they used caged chicken eggs, or it was a hidden ingredient in the egg noodles.  The pork belly was okay, it was tougher than I expected, and thicker as well.  The taste, completely made up for my minor misgivings about the pork.

It was hard for me to gauge the atmosphere of the restaurant, it was Friday and their was a light lunch crowd.  The building and furnishings were on par with a nice restaurant.  Close your eyes and imagine you are sitting in a park restaurant, where the walls are primarily glass looking out over the park.  As you pan across you view there it is, right there in front of you, a 72 inch wide television with ESPN's sports center playing.  We could not hear the Television, but there it hung, from inside a beautiful restaurant, reminding me, that I cannot able to escape to a nice restaurant without being bombarded by the very visual televisions.  One other odd thing I noticed, the background music at the restaurant, was one album, set of repeat and shuffle.  The only songs I heard were from a single album.  I might not have picked up on it, had it not been an album I have and listen to.

The important questions…
Would I eat there again - Yes
Would I take the kids there - No

Below is a link to the website and a picture of my plate and a shot from inside the restaurant that I did not take.

http://oklahomacitybotanicalgardens.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Park-House-Dinner-Menu_DEC18_WINDOW.pdf

Project 180

It was back to work for some today, while  others remembered Martin Luther King.  I found it interesting in college to learn about the reformation preacher named Martin Luther.  I will save that for another day, along with my thoughts on some of the practices that High Church had back in those days.  We really are enlightened these days.

Now on to more local matters...

They say that Rome was not built in a day, and I am not sure which is faster the construction of Rome or the Revitilization of downtown OKC.  It is all good work, just a little frustritating, especially when you turn down a street only to find that it is really closed due to construction.  Today when I was downtown looking at the sights and sounds after lunch at cool greens I navigated streets that were under construction.  

The city government has some many on going projects I do not see how they keep up.  There are a couple of signs that  projects have been forgotten.  For example there is an intersection at Main and Shartel that has had a temporary stop signs while they wait for the final traffic light to be installed.  No big deal right, well it has been that way for over a year.

IKEA...

Today was the day of all days, it was IKEA day.  If you are not familiar with IKEA it is a cross between bed bath and beyond, and an assemble it yourself furniture store on steroids. Thier furniture is all self assembly, not to difficult, and well made.  We started shopping there in Houston, and have several bookcases, an entertainment center, all of our forks, measuring spoons, and wine glasses.  

 If you have never been there the first trip can be overwhelming.  Here are my recommendations for the first trip.

1. Look at thier website and catalog

2. Go with a list of what you are looking for.

3.  Make measurements of where you want your furniture to go.

4. Understand the cargo capacity of your vehicle, and the size of your purchases 

5.  The store feels like a maze, look at the map, and don't be afraid of cutting through a section.

6.  The kitchen stuff is reasonably priced, I bough my first and only wok from IlEA.  It is great, non stick, and it was only $5.00.

7.  Kids and IKEA, if they don't like shopping they really will not like this place.

8.  While it can be daughnting, thier cafe (yes they have a cafeteria at the furniture store, and this is not only with instant coffee and purchased doughnuts) is pretty good.

9.  Avoid Saturday and Sunday afternoons for your first visit, it will be a zoo.

After a few trips you get pretty comfortable navigating the store, just like me.

All that said, I made two tuns through the store the past two days.  Made what I think is record setting pace with Honey Saturday night, we arrived 35 minutes before they closed.  Found a few things, and filled up the back of my trick with stuff my sister purchased.  We did some creative packing in Lizz and Natty's car. 

The Store

 

My Truck

The Fleece Vest

I have always been a best man, not the fancy wear under your suit jacket best, but the fluffy insulated, fleece, or brown duck carhart type.  I could go through my inventory of vests, however that would turn many readers away.  "Why does he need some many?"  "What on earth is that boy thinking?"  Are questions that may run through your mind.  I like them because they keep me warm without impeding my arm movement.  That and the fleece ones are very versital, if it gets to cold in the office I put it on, if I am working in the garage, I put it on (different vest).  Last night, I slept with one on and stayed just the right temperature.  Today I worn it with a tee short underneath, which is a fashion crisis according to some, regardless I was very comfortable.  

If Linus from peanuts does grow up, he should turn his blue blanket into a fleece vest.  For the record, my vest are not from my blanket.  My favorite one is a dark heather gray and goes with almost anything I wear, just like my Boston Red Sox cap.  

I included an orange vest this year in my list to Sanata and Amy, part of the December birthday cycle.  When it was reviewed by both Sanata and Amy they questioned why I needed another fleece vest.  My feeble response was I liked the color, one of my old vests had a hole, and another if from a different country.

What is Behind the Panel

Men like to do manly things.  This is a pretty obvious thing, particularly when that man has been stuck in meetings for an entire week.  It is not that meetings are unmanly, they just do not involve using your hands or entire body to resolve a problem, unless the meeting is at the boxing club.  That kind of meeting is manly, however, I have never enjoyed watching it.  I would rather watch golf, where the grass is green, everything is in its place, and the boys are wearing dress pants and baseball hats.  

Have you ever wondered why they wear dress pants and baseball hats.  Oh sure, they call them golf pants, bit they are just like dress pants.  They should wear hats with a wider brim all the way around, it would offer more ear protection.  I would not wear them riding a horse changing the oil, or replacing the passenger side door actuator on my pickup.  

That was the thing I did, and when it was completed I had a sense of accomplishment, that felt different the completing a blog.  It was not complex, I just had to figure out how to:

1) get the panels hiding the bolts

2) remove the bolts

3) find more hidden bolts

4) remove more bolts

5) pull the door panel off using a "jerking motion"

6) unhooked the wiring from the switches

7) unhook all the stuff from actuator

9) getting my hand inside the door panel

And so on...

This was the view once the panel was off.

It was whiter than I had expected.  It is now back on and the door lock works great.  I put the extra bolt in the glove box, who knows...

Light in Photography

By enlarge one of the most important parts of pictures and photography is the light.    How much light do you have, what direction is the light coming from, what type if light is it?  All of these questions race through the photographers mind when lining up to take a shot, when planning a photo excursion, or when lining up the family for the annual easter picture.  It is not only important, light can be delicate.  If you have the light just right on the face, you will get a delicate look.   Camera's have many different settings these days, however, most of them relate back to either shutter speed, or aperture.  ost days I have my camera in Program or Automatic mode, rarely do I go into pure manual mode.  Why I can do it and understand it, my life normally moves at a fast pace, and I can't have the kids hang in mid air, while adjusting the shutter speed.

One of my photography professors compared photography to life.  She went on to explain that in life, it was always hard to strike the perfect balance, and often there was giving and taking.  M  Photography was no different, you increase your shutter speed for action photos, the more light you need to get the good picture.  As life goes on, the more her analogy rings true.

I like this picture, what draw it to me is the light breaking through the dust and leaves from above.  I took this one morning close to sunrise.  The position of the sun really illustrates the about of dust that is in the air on this morning, and some of the leaves are translucent, while others look solid and hard as a rock.

"Let's go get a Coke..."

In the town that I grew up in there was no Six Flags, Sea World, Star Bucks or shopping mall to hangout at.  This was unless you counted the strip mall that had JcPenny's, Revco, K-Mart, and A couple of other stores.  So when you were in high school, you spent time driving around, going to the lake or getting a coke.  Now I have to say, that I never actually ordered a coke-a-cola when I went to Sonic (best drive in ever) to get a coke.  We used the term coke to include all soda pops, soft drinks, or non alcoholic carbonated beverages, aside from soda water.  

Additionally before you went on a full fledge date, it was usually preceded by a trip to get a coke, where you would pull up in your red mustang and order a dr. Pepper and an ocean water.  Drink them down, chat, and drive around for half an hour.  Of course in the evening during the summer going to get a coke was thwarted by the snow cone, which we had no alternative name for.  I saw the picture below and though of all the times I went to get a coke.

While it was a smaller town, if you wanted food after midnight we had a place just for you, IHOP it was not.  The all night diner was called "The Loft".  I did not make bit to the loft until I was in college.  My grandmother used to say that nothing food happened after eleven, my parents had a midnight deadline most of the time.  There was the occasion time when I snunk in past midnight.  The trick was getting enought speed in the car so I could kill the engine at Union and Evergteen, make the corner on Aspen, and cost up the hill to the house.  I had it down pretty good, and was able to sneak past Midnigjt the gaurd dog.  Midnight could her my mom's surbaban make the turn on aspen, she would jump up and race down stairs to wait.  Unfortunately, I could not find a picture of the loft, perhaps it is better that way.

Quesadilla

Having grow up in Texas Mexican food has always been part of my diet.  The home town I grew up in had two good Mexican restaurants.  Therefore it is a regular part of my diet.  Tonight I was trying to decide what to eat when I got home and settled on cheese quesadilla, with a cast iron griddle it make cooking these simple.  Two flour tortillas shredded cheese and a little natural gas...  Bam there is dinner.  Throw in a Tecate (3.2 strength of course) some a all natural mango agave fire roasted salsa and you have yourself a meal.  While it may not be Abeluoes, Don Pablo's, or even El Chico, it is nourishment which hit the spot.  I raise my bottle of Tecate to the wild and crazy individual who though melting cheese between two flour tortillas would be a good idea.

 

Pablo Picasso

Picasso's full birth name is - Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso.  After reading that I could see why he went by Pablo Picasso, and have a greater appreciation for just saying, "Picasso."  Like most artist there are some works that I really like, and others that I find to be odd, strange, peculiar.  My favorite styles were the line art.  My favorites are Boquet with Hands and 

La Ronde.  These drawing with their simple style speak volumes about life, love, and people.  The act of love giving flowers to another, be it a friend, family, or lover is captured with a few lines on a white background.  In the other, the joy of the human spirit along with the energy in a group of people lays before me on a white canvas. 

Boquet with Hands

La Ronde

When the Words Do Not Come

Poets, composers, authors, and playwrights are amazing individuals.  While I dabble a little in the world of words, it is just a hobby.  Authors like C.S. Lewis, Tolken, or Tolstory, to mention a few, were able to capture a world of literary interest with thier words on paper.  The same can be said about other creative disciplines above.  

Today Mr C. Inquired about the word offend and offensive.  Which sent me into a five minute discussion that I felt like went in a circle.  All the words which popped into my head to explain what the words meant were more complex (and harder to spell).  To craft the love story, and capture the readers, well some readers, attention for 1,000 pages is simply amazing.  

From the menu today, I had grits.  I can count the numer of times I have had grits on one hand.  That of course does not include fried grits, which are truly amazing, most food that has been fried, covered in butter, and the soaked with syrup are wonderful.  

I fired up the new homemade ice cream machine today, and made some.  It was really quite good, and did not include the hassle with the ice, rock salt, towels, and leaky bucket on the back porch.

Second Trip

Today I made the second trip to the Taylor shop, to drop off a second pair of pants and a jacket.  The pants needed the hem done and the jacket... Let's just say my profile is has changed a bit since 2005.  I was excited though, I had brought a pair of pants for profile modification, but try fit just fine.  Naturally, the fellow only takes cash or check, neither of which I had, so the first pair of pants will remain until next week.  

I was feeling quite frisky after the Taylor shop so I washed my truck.   Correction I went through the machine.  I did a cost benefit analysis, and decided that I could pay the extra 3 dollars to let the machine do it.  When I manually was my truck at the car wash it takes 5.00, the car wash was only 8.00, what would you do?

This was not a spray only wash, it had the vehicle eating spinning brushes, which was probably good, since I cannot remember washing my truck.  It was tired of all the winter road grit being on the sides of the truck, my white truck is nice and white now, instead of gray.  Below is the splendid view I had during the wash.  I can only imagine what my truck thought, "Oh no... Not the brushes!!!!"

Classic Video Games

Over Christmas I busted out my old xbox, which I have not played in over 2 years.  I got it set up over Christmas, and realized that I only had one controller.  Since it is 3 generations behind the latest xbox, I had to go to eBay to find controllers. I was really excited when they came in, the excitement was deflated because it did not include the breakaway cord.  First off, who designs a video game controller that needs a break away controller?  Secondly, it's a video game controller, why would it have not come with the entire cord.  

Tonight the missing cord pieces came in allowing  Mr C and Ms E to race each other without running through the kitchen.  They both crawled into the chair and made some laps in fast cars.  

A certain nostalgia wells up when playing on fibre classic games, like the old ninitendo or the even older Atari.  Those were the days, a basic joystick and a single button.  Instead of a controller with 8 buttons, 2 arrows, two thumb stickes, and a breakaway cord.

Sam I Am

Children's books can be very amusing, and fun.  Dr. Seuss had a great run on fun quirky books.  There are many to choose from, and I think Fox in Sox is one of his harder books to read.  The subjects of his work stretch from getting out of bed, to butter & bread, to brushing teeth, to the "Zans for Cans..."  Oh, the Places You'll Go is one of my favorite Seuss books, I like most of them.  

There is also Margret Wise Brown, who wrote such classics as Goodnight Moon and The Runaway Bunny.  Growing up I read a lot of Mike Mullegan and Maryanne, which is the book about the steam shovel that dug so fast and quick it forgot to dig itself an exit ramp.  

Reading and words have become such an important part of my life, and job.  Someone asked me what I did as a safety person, and my response was... Wait for it... Communicate.  At the time I was either investigating, writing policies, talking on the phone or giving training presentations.  

I can say thanks to my parents, probably more my mom, grandmother, and teachers for instilling the value of reading in my life.  My mom can still recite Bruce's Loose Tooth, a story which she read to me a lot.  My grandmother always asked what is was reading, and helped me get into the Hank the Cowdog seris.  My mom also made sure I was in the jounior great books program in elementary school.  

I have to admit that after college is when I started reading for pleasure, and will also confess that I have read all of the Harry Potter books, at least twice.  John Grishom's books are also very captivating.  Now that I have written, I am off to read.

Fun Kitchen Inventions

Yesterday I was listening to a new podcast on my way to work, it was from America's Trst Kitcehn.  They had reviewed some kitchen gadgets and highly rated a Chicago Mettalic Pie Drip Protector.  It sounds like a great idea, and to top it off, it has a silicon non-slip disk in the middle so the pie dish does not move around when entering and exiting the oven.  

Ok do not cook many pies, this year I think the total was two.  One Jeff David and on Pumpkin Pie.  Based on the frequency of baking, I will probably pass on getting one, if you bake a lot of pies it is worth looking into.

The other gadget that was reviewed (thrashed would be a better description) was a liquid dry material measuring cup/ scale.  Unfortunately I do not have the name of the manufacture.  The reviewed said that t had a whole list of things it could not do: no dishwasher (would not work at Natty's), no microwave, now soap and water... and she went on to say the her measuring cups were real work horses in the kitchen.  I would have to agree with her on that point, which is why I have 5 Pyrex measuring cups (2 - 1 cup, 2 - 2 cups, 1 - 8 cup). The big one does not get used all that much.  There are times when they are all dirty, and while they are not fancy with a scale, I can wash them in the sink, or the dish washer, heat them in the microwave.  

One of my favorite gadgets for Mexican food is the taco holder.  It keeps your tacos from falling over on their side and spilling thier contents, or even worst landing in the beans.  Refried beans are not to bad on the taco, Taco Bell has the double taco with a soft tortilla, Refried beans and then a crunchy shell.  Who knows, perhaps the inspiration came from a taco the fell over.

January Cold

In this fast paced electronic world we find ourselves in, the days of picking up the photo album and flipping through pages have gone.  These days with the digital cameras, I find myself taking many, many more photos that I would have with my old N70 film camera.  Development cost are really reasonable with the digital camera, if I do not like the shot, two buttons and it is gone forever.  Never to see the surface of photo paper.  Tonight, I was doing the modern version of looking at the photo album, staring at the computer screen (similar to my screen at work) and pressing the arrow key as I went from photo to photo.

Don't get me wrong, I really, really enjoy the digital pictures, there are times, when I long for days gone by.  When you would do things like, 

• Swipe your friends camera and take random photos
• Hand out disposable cameras at wedding receptions to see what the crowd sees
• Spend 15 minutes in awl-mart filling out the film pouch before dropping it in
• Starting at pictures, attempting to recall just what the subject was
• Finding the random roll of undeveloped film in the junk drawer in the kitchen
• Standing in the dark room, as the image you captured, magically appears on the 8x10 Kodak paper in Black and White.

Today's picture was not taken today, it is actually from the fall of 2012.  Taken at a great restaurant in Florida.  While flipping through photos, this one made me think of a time when things were warmer, and the air was less abrasive.  Fall on the white beaches of Florida is wonderful, not to hot, not to crowded, and the water is still warm.

The Cruise Ship

Ella and I finished Ella's cruise ship over the Christmas holidays.  Lego's have come a long way since I was a kid.  You can build stars ships, a Harry Potter Castle, or even some of the scenes from "The Lord of the Rings."  I could hardly image what Tolkien would think about the little plastic pieces (which are a killer on bear feet, and household organization) being transformed into his characters and scenes.  What is next for the brick creating geniuses?  The Lego store rates in the top five of places to go shopping, also in the top five are William-Sonomia, and the Apple Store.  Although the Apple store is losing so e of its luster, because I have everything I need, and it is normally super crowded.  While I have everything I "need" at William-Sonomia, I like to look and see thing I would like to have.  Also, it is not as crowded or heitic as the Apple Store.

In other news from the day, many kids went back to school after the Holiday Break, as did many adults, well not to school, back to work.  Thus ending one of my favorite times of the year.  This year it all felt rushed, like trying to make a connecting flight in Atlanta's Hartfield airport.  With turkey day and Christmas Day so close together.  Next year I am going to lobby for Mexican food on Christmas Day.  It is strange to think that the two big turkey and dressing meals in America, are served withinv 30 days of each other.  Maybe some sort of brunch would work better on Christmas Day , just imagine... Grilled  Chicken, with waffles, and biscuits & gravy.  Eaten a around 10:30, after the delights of the stockings are unpacked, promptly followed by a NAP.

The Lego Friends Cruise Ship, Sailing the carpet brown.  Blue carpet just does not work for me.

Gas Station

When I was a kid there were only two, maybe three types of gasoline, regular and unleaded.  I went by the gas station today, and there were 5 different selections, although two were the same thing.  They had premium, mid-grade, regular unleaded, E-10, and (oddly enough) E-10.  Until I relocated to Oklahoma, I can't remember seeing a pump specifically for the E-10 gasoline.  As far as gasoline goes, E-10 only has 10% Ethanol added into it, and it has the same octane as regular unleaded.  

The octane number on the gas is actually the average of two octane test, the Research Octane (RON) and the Motor Octane (MON).  Both are documented in the ASTM test methods, and both use an engine that is made to knock, by adjusting the air fuel ratio.  So on the pump when you see the sticker R+M/2, that is what it is.  

Back in the days when I was cool and drove a 66 Mustang (high school), there was only one station that still sold leaded gas.  It was the Allsups, at the corner of Wilson and McGee.  Back in those days, I did not have a functioning gas gauge so I stopped in every 200 miles for fuel.  

The Thing Is...

Fiestaware, dishes that are manufactured by Homer Laughlin, are dishes that you either like, or could care less about.  I fit into the class of individuals who like, or are emphatic about.  Unlike my varied musical taste, I can attribute my fondness for these Classic American dishes to my parents.  I ate on them when I was a child, and they (the Fiestaware) was painted with lead paint.  Upon discovering they were not the most healthy dishes, my parents retired them, deciding to keep the dishes.    When Homer Laughlin came out with the unleaded dishes our family was back in the Fiestaware business.  My wife likes Fiestaware as well, so when we got married we picked up sets of yellow and colbalt, dishes.  We also have an entire set of the white dishes.  More recently we have collected some green settings, and Amy has gotten some of the Christmas dishes.

Last year I was at the department store looking for a salt and pepper shaker, and asked the sales associate in the dish section about it.  She made the following observation, "I notice that people that are looking for Fiestaware to purchase for themselves really are emphatic about the stuff, and are specific about the colors."  I fit that mold.  Pictures below are my breakfast and cup of coffee, after having a Pack 349 Science lock-in, I was in need of my caffeine filled beverage.

The lock-in was a blast, the kids had fun, the adults had fun, and I fell asleep while watching Stat Wars.  When I was the kids age, before the VHS or even shorter lived Beta tapes, I was luck to catch Star Wars on TV once a year.  These days, I can pop it in anytime in the DVD player and give it a spin.  In a way, the is a very nostalgic view point, it takes some of the magic out of watching the movie.  Needless to say, a great time was had by all.

Five Dollar Shake

Ella and I ran some errands this morning and this afternoon, the list is long, with a lot of variety.  Ella was an excellent trooper and we met up with the rest of the gang for some time at the mall and lunch.  On a side note I did go by a real tailor shop so he could put the hem on some new slacks I purchased.  It was quite the experience, he had a little stage I stood on with 3 mirrors and I could hardly understand the fellow.  On the brighter side he said he could adjust some of the clothes that, well... are a little sung these days.  

While I was in college the epic movie that is not in chronological order came out... "Pulp Fiction."  A movie that included a great deal of interesting dialog, a quote from scripture that is not in my bible (yes I  looked in college), and the dive dollar shake.  Today I can proclaim that I had one of the best shakes ever made, even better than the five dollar shake.  It was the $6.95, shake that Cap and I split.  You will notice in the picture that the straw is huge, which always reminds me of Marian (grandmother on dad's side).  She used to say that the McDonalds straws were like pipelines, because they are so big.

I Need Coffee

Like the Lone Ranger riding off into the sunset I headed to work this morning, of course I was in a pick-up, it was dark and cold.  All in all, to very similar at all, but rewarding none the less.  I tired really hard to go to bed at a decent hour night, perhaps I should have chosen music instead of a podcast. 

I started listening to "Wine for Normal People," thinking that he discussion about grapes from France, or Washington state would put me to sleep but it did not.  I found myself utterly captivated by what gifts to purchases, and conversely not to purchase for those wine loving individuals around the holidays.  I'll give you an hint and say that  I am not in need of any books, not cute wine t-shirts.  

The end result was my drinking a cup of coffee at work, said cup is pictured below.  It was a pretty good cup, I find that the ceramic cups help cool the coffee to a desirable temperature, the fact that it was frigid in my office helped as well.

Yes, that is a little glimps of coffee, new technology (telephone) and old technology, the pen and paper.

Football

It was a relaxing day at our castle today.  There was some Lego building, laundry, a game of apples to apples.  I played a few cards that I did not think would win the hand, yet they won the hand.  Took the kids to ride the mono, however the cold front rolled in about the time we left, so they did not ride long.

I made a list of things I want to do outside of work, some involve work around the house, others are fun.

Since the kids were watching the Rose Bowl, they decided that indoor football would be fun.