Jazz
I saw Dr. Billy Taylor and his band at the Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild last night. The MCG is a wonderful place that provides vocational training and has a wonderful performance space. There’s not a bad seat in the house! The acoustics are pretty good in there too. Not too live but not dead.
Dr. Taylor had a show on NPR that I tuned in to on occasion but this was the first time I’ve heard him play. It was truly a treat. The band was at the top of its game. Very tight. Very accomplished.
More for the Chowder
My posting may be limited the next few weeks.
I'm going to manage a group while their manager is out for back surgery. It should only be 2 to 3 weeks but we'll see. I just hope P feels better. I felt bad watching him walking around gingerly.
This group is going to be a challenge.
- 2 of them have bad attitudes and HR issues.
- The other 2 are being negatively infuenced/swayed by the first 2.
- These last 2 may be saved but the first 2 I suspect are lost.
It will be a challenge for me to keep a good attitude and to not strangle these people. I don't handle slackers/lazy people well. Everyone needs to bitch & vent sometime but if that's all you do... that won't work for me. It's OK for you to be disgruntled as long as you have constructive ideas on how to improve the situation.You need to come up with a solution not just say everything is F'ed up and a mess. It's corporate America of course everything is F'ed up and a mess!! No kidding!
If things are really that bad, get the F! out! There's the door don't let it hit you on the way out.
One of my sayings is " Adapt, die, or be grumpy". I guess they are going for grumpy. I tend towards adapt since change is the only thing constant in this universe.
I'm my parent's son. This nut didn't fall far from the tree. I'm a ball buster! Ask HC, she'll tell you. I belive in hard work. Doing the job quickly and correctly. Taking responsibility for your actions/inactions. No excuses for doing a bad job. Or slow work. No excuses for dragging your feet. It's on you unless you can provide me evidence there were mitigating circumstances. On the plus side: I'm not a micromanager. You get an assignment and you work on it. Give me a status update when something significant/a milestone has been completed. If you're stuck? If you're running into resistance? Let me know. I'll see who I can escallate to. It's not your fight. I'll find someone to get what you need. Usually it's a failure to communicate. Don't wait until it's too late or the situation is out of control. It's a lot easier to get people's assistance when they aren't worked up.We'll see how it goes.
Riddle me this…
Elevators.
Do elevators come quicker if you press the button many times? If so, how many presses are required? How quickly do you need to press the button for this to work?
Does yelling at the elevator make it operate faster? If so, are there special words or phrases that need to be used for this?
There was a woman in the elevator with me this afternoon that was quite animated with the number of times she HIT the down button and the lobby button. (She hit the button with authority. I could tell she meant to go D-O-W-N to the L-O-B-B-Y. I think the elevator knew that too.) All the while saying “Come on! Come on! Come on!”
Because Chowderheads want to know…
My weekend
My weekend wasn’t too bad. A nice balance of activity and rest.
Friday evening: Dinner at home and TV. I needed to vege out. My brain was a little less than solid feeling so some mindless TV would give it a rest. Speaking of mindless, we found a show called Celebrity Duets. The show is much like American Idol – contestants perform, judges comment, viewers vote, and contestants get booted off.
As the name implies, celebrities sing duets with real vocalists (Patti LaBelle, Peter Frampton, Al Jareau, Shaka Khan, etc..) The 3 celebrity judges (Marie Osmond, Little Richard, and ???) comment on the performances, viewers vote for their favorites, and tune in on Friday night to see who stays/goes. Man some of those celebrities were rough to listen to. Some of them were painfully funny. At first I thought this was for a record contract since the celebrities had their 15 minutes of fame hours ago. But they are vying for $100,000 for their favorite charity. So that’s cool.
Saturday: Errands, shopping, and more TV. HC's been busy working on her arts & crafts. She rented a space to show off & sell some of her creations so she's busy getting stuff togetyher. Dinner at Café Zinho in the evening with my former boss and her husband. They’re both very cool and fun people. I’m glad we’ve kept in touch. They came back to the house and had an audience with HRH. Dinner was nicely done. HC had the Pork medallions with a Jack Daniel's sauce. I had the Shellfish with risotto and curry cream sauce. If you've never been to Café Zinho I recommend it. Cute little place. BYOB. No credit cards. Good food.
Sunday: Yoga, errands, and wasting time watching that Steelers loss. HC crafting away like mad. J came over for dinner & drinks. Dinner consisted of an appetizer plate (cheese fondue and fruits, peperoncinni, marinated artichoke hearts, roasted walnuts), sautéed cauliflower, and grilled chicken with a garlic and basil topping. That was a nice relaxing way to end the weekend.
Bacon, bacon, bacon
We had J over for dinner last night.
HC decided to prepare a meal heavily influenced by one of our favorite ingredients: bacon.
Mixed green salad with cheese, roasted walnuts, and a bacon vinaigrette
Mixed vegetable cous cous
Bacon wrapped & stuffed chicken
Baked apples with sage and cinnamon
Something nice happened on the way to the bus today
I asked the crossing guard how the boy that got hit last week was. She said he had a few scrapes and bruises but was OK.
A few of his classmates recognized me and thanked me for helping. They thought I was “Awesome” and said I could wait for my bus with them any time.
Where were kids like this when I was their age? I might have been popular. I might have been cool. Nah…. I would have had a swollen head.
An HRH focused weekend
This past weekend was fairly quiet (for a change)
Friday night: I had a nice evening with HRH and the TV. HC was meeting some former co-workers for drinks. It felt good to zone out in front of the TV and play with the dog.
Saturday: We ran some errands and did some grocery shopping. I started cleaning out the garden in preparation for Fall/Winter. We didn’t do much this year in the garden. We typically plant a lot of annuals to go with our perennials. Once the plants start to bloom, we’d do a weekly deadheading session to keep all the flowerbeds looking nice. Not this year. (Life kinda got in the way.) After the gardening, we took HRH to Hartwood Acres to get his run on. He had a grand time running with the other dogs.
Sunday: Last week’s ride & hike at Moraine State Park was so much fun we decided to do it again. We took the back roads this time to keep it interesting. The weather was cooperative. HRH got to be free and muddy. We came home, got cleaned up, and relaxed. It was a perfect day.
Friday's Feast: 111
Appetizer What was the very last song you listened to?
Deep Purple - Stormbringer
SoupWhat is one company/store/corporation you would recommend that people stay away from?Walmart – They treat their employees poorly. They drive the local stores out of business.
Best Buy – Lousy return policy.
SaladOn a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being highest, how much do you enjoy having your picture made?1 - I hate having my picture taken. Hate it, hate it. You want me to smile? Be glad I don't give you the finger and kick you in the .... Sorry. :-)
Main Course Besides a bookmark, what is something you've used to keep your place in a book?A postcard, a binder clip, a throwing knife, a rock, a rubber band.
Dessert Name a food that you like that most people don't?Asparagus, brussel sprouts, pate’, anchovies,
Strange things that have happened recently
I know Paperback Writer and Rob say they have strange things happen to them all the time. I live a fairly quiet life so I’m not used to this.
Anyways in the past few weeks:
- I was a witness to a bank robbery. (The robber was the guy in front of me.) He asked if he could cut in front of the woman next in line. He casually walked up to the teller, spoke to her, she opened her drawer, she collected all her money, placed it in a neat stack, he reached over, collected the stack-o- money, placed it in his pocket, and walked off. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I wasn’t sure if he knew the woman and they were on very friendly terms or if it was a robbery. He was as casual as you or I reaching for the salt & pepper on the dining room table.
I saw a boy get hit by an SUV this morning. He was walking to catch his bus. He walked in front of an SUV that was at a stop sign. The driver was looking at traffic and not paying attention to what/who was directly in front of her. When no cars were preventing her from making a right hand turn, she hit the gas and the boy. The boy was knocked to the ground. He got up and brushed himself off. The driver got out and said a few words to the boy. The boy kept walking. I got the driver’s information and took it to him and the crossing guard. The guard called the police. The boy seemed to be OK. He had a scraped up elbow. (And I’m sure he’ll have bruises.) But I told him to go to the nurse’s office right away and to tell his parents if he doesn’t feel OK in the next few days.
Weird wacky stuff.
I've been tagged
Paperback Writer tagged me so here are my responses to the list 8 secrets meme. Can you handle the truth? I'm not sure I can....- I don’t know how to swim or ride a bicycle.
- I can count the number of girlfriends I've had on one hand.
- I’m afraid of mummies. What can I say?!?! Too many monster movies growing up. Totally irrational fear but it is what it is…
- Many times, I feel alone in a crowd.
- Growing old or dying don’t frighten me. Becoming ill or feeble do.
- I suffer from large amounts of road rage. It is only because of the criminal justice system that I haven't actually killed anyone.
- I wish I were more artistic like the HC.
- I make jokes to hide my insecurities, fears, and inadequacies.
We don’t call him HRH for nothing!!!
We’ve been trying to figure out how to get HRH to not move around so much in the car when he’s out for a ride. When he’s in the back seat, moving around isn’t a problem but it’s a safety and comfort issue when he wants to be copilot. In the copilot seat, he wants to stand and move around.
Translated: He’s standing on the passenger and shifting about. Mashing you with his little feet. He always seems to find sensitive spots to trod upon. (HC – the girls, bladder. Me- the lads)
But wait there’s more. Did I mention the view the passenger gets while they’re being assaulted? They get an eye level view of his butt. That’s right, his butt. HRH is just the right size to moon you while he’s stomping you with his little feet.
So on Sunday we wanted to come up with a good solution. Otherwise it was going to be a really L-O-N-G ride up to Moraine State Park. We think the issue is our scrawny bony laps are not generous enough for him to get into a comfortable position.
What to do? - How about a small board? That’d be dangerous if we got in a wreck.
- A cushion of some kind might work. It’ll have to be firm enough to hold him.
- How about a pool flotation device we cut down to size? That might work if we can find one it’d be cheap this time of year.
We stopped at Wal-Mart to look for a boogie board or flotation device. We didn’t find either of those but we did find one of those cushions meant for sitting up in bed.
“OK. Let’s give it a shot. It’s plush enough for his needs, big enough for him to lay on, and it’s thick so he can see out the windshield while he’s laying down. And if we hook him up to the seat belt he can’t move around too much.”
This solution was acceptable to HRH. Plush enough. High enough. He laid on it the entire trip. He got up and fidgeted a few times but he laid right back down when HC told him to. It is quite the get up to see. I wonder what people in other cars think if they look over.
I’m afraid we may be turning into those kind of people: The crazy pet people. Or is it pet crazy people. You know the ones that buy outfits for their pet. Consider them their children. Treat them better than humans. Birthday cakes. More treats, toys, and accessories than clinically reasonable.
I go back to work to rest
Weekends are action packed/hectic. We end up trying to cram a full weeks worth of activities into a few days. It leaves me dragging butt on Monday morning. I know we all do this but why?
We went to a funeral Saturday. A friend’s Father-in-Law passed away last week. Afterwards we continued the clean out process at HC’s Grandmother’s apartment. She was recently moved into a nursing home. That was tough. A lot of memories for the HC. A lot of things accumulated in the course of living 90+ years. What to keep? What to throw out? What to donate? Saturday evening we had H & J over for drinks on the patio. That was a nice break. We hadn’t seen H & J in over a month so it was nice spending time with them getting caught up. The weather cooperated enough for us to have the chimnea going. Fire good. We love the smell of a campfire. We love messing with the fire.
Sunday we took HRH along with us for a ride and hike. We went up to Moraine State Park for the afternoon. We went to a trail we’ve hiked before and proceeded to walk. This is the first time we’ve taken HRH with us on a hike so we were hoping he’d behave. Once we got away from the road a bit we set the little white menace loose. HRH has never been on a hike with us but he does get to be off leash when he’s taken to Dog Park to get his run on. One of the Dog Parks has some trails that we stay on while he runs around like a crazy beast. He does listen and come back when we’re on those trails so we were hoping for the same behavior on this hike. The weather was perfect for a hike. Partly cloudy, gentle breeze, and not too warm. It was a bit humid but you can’t have everything this is Pittsburgh after all.
Bottom line: We were able to go on a 3 hour hike with HRH off leash. He’d get distracted and need to chase things but he’d always come back. There were a few times we got a bit nervous but he did come back. In HIS timeframe but he did come back. Panting like mad, dirt and mud encrusted. But he did come back. Defiant little bastard.
After the hike we took the scenic route home. Top down. Through some cool little towns. We stopped at a local ice cream shop. (HC has an ice cream dependency.) HRH had some ice cream too. Little beggar dog. Too bad we didn’t have a camera handy. He was very funny looking with Red Raspberry sauce on the end of his nose. I called him Rudolph. He of course looked and blinked at me.
Today is our wedding anniversary.
On this day in 2000 the HC had a lapse in judgement. A moment of weakness when she said “I do”. I tell her she signed up for “Hard time” all the time. ;-)
Every morning I start my day by being thankful that I woke up AND the HC is next to me. I’m the luckiest Chowderhead on the planet. She’s loving, soothing, calming, kind, creative, funny, silly, articulate, compassionate, active, patient, and smart. Just to name a few qualities I love about her. She knows when to let me rant and when to say “You’re on Crack!”. When I’m being irrational she hits me with logic. She gives me balance when I feel off. She tries to talk sense to the Chowderhead. I can be hard to live with. I'm high maintenance. I require constant supervision. I have no delusions about any of these facts! So yeah. I’m thankful she’s around. I definitely got the better end of the deal.
Meatless
We try to eat healthy meals (lower fat, higher fiber, smaller portions) but we don't always succeed. So to mix things up we’ll have a meatless meal once a week.
Tonight dinner consisted of: - a salad with a fresh vinaigrette
- Spicy black bean burgers
- Grilled peaches with a balsamic sauce
Tasty and lower fat, higher fiber, smaller portions.
Sadly, we can't eat like Kings & Queens every night. Our health and wallets won't allow it!
Vacation day #5
Knowing it was the Labor Day weekend AND the remnants of Ernesto were coming through DC, we took our time heading for home. We knew the beltway was going to be congested no matter what time we left so why bother getting stressed about it.
So we stopped in the National Gallery of Art to look at the Henri Rouseau exhibit. I stopped in the gift shop of the Air & Space museum to buy some souveniers. (I'm such a tourist) We had a nice lunch and headed for home.
We didn't know HOW congested the roads were going to be until we got on the beltway. It was bumper to bumper from the beltway to Breezewood. What should have taken us about 2 hours to drive took over 3 hours. The heavy traffic didn't bother me as much as all the speeding up and slowing down. One minute you're going 25 MPH and the next 70 MPH. Then back down to 45. Bumper to bumper at 70MPH doesn't bother me. The speeding up & slowing down is dangerous. It never rained hard enough to merit driving 25 MPH. The roads were wet but the visibility was fine. Whatever... It was what it was...
We decided to stop for dinner 2 hours into the ride home in Frederick, MD at the Mountain View Diner. When it comes to food I'm very strange. I love gourmet food but I also love the greasy nasty food. I don't know why!?! I just love food as long as it's prepaired well.
HC had her expectations set pretty low since it was a diner. A greasy spoon. But I told her some diners make some pretty good food. AND it'll be reasonably priced. It's not like we're going to a tourist trap restaurant.
I had the Lamb Shank and HC had the Mousaka.
Greek food at a diner you say? Yep. Greek food at a diner. It couldn't be any good could it? Yes it was.
The reason: I watched a TV show about diners a while back and they stated a high precentage of diners were owned and operated by people of Greek origin/decent. They didn't explain why but the fact of the matter was "A high percentage of diners was owned by people of Greek origin/decent". Who knew?!?!? So yes, the Greek food at the diner was pretty good. Not the best Lamb Shank or Mousaka we've ever had but it was pretty good AND reasonably priced.After our meal we got back on I-70 and made it to Breezewood. I never thought the sight of Breezewood would make me happy. (I can't believe I'm writing this but it's true). From Breezewood to Pittsburgh it was the standard 2 hours. Home sweet home.
Vacation day #4
We took the Metro to the National Zoo. Neither of us had ever been there before.
We wanted to see the Panada's and the other residents.
These are Red Panda's.
A chameleon.
Sea Lions lounging.
This is a Golden Lion Tamarin, (a.k.a. GLT). In addition to the ones in cages, there are 4 that are allowed to roam the zoo grounds. There are volunteers that follow them around and observe their movements.
The National Zoo is very nicely laid out, well marked, and clean. It was a very nice experience.
Dinner was at Kaz Sushi Bistro. We'd been craving sushi for a few weeks so it was appropriate we satisfied our need. The restaurant was well regarded and a mere block and a half from the hotel. How convenient for us!
I had: Plum Wine infused Foie Gras w/plum wine jelly, a Crunchy Eel roll, a Salmon with Jalepeno roll, and a seaweed salad.
We shared an order of edamame. (soy beans in the pod)
HC had an Unagi Bento Box.
The sushi was really well done. Fresh and flavorful. The Foie Gras was rich and decadent. HC said her Bento box was delicious.
Pictures from DC
Here are some pictures from DC:
I've seen many pictures of these monuments in books but to actually be there and experience them in person was really cool.
Vacation day #3
HC and I went to different museums today. (You can't swing a dead cat in DC and not hit a museum.) I went to the Air & Space Museum + the Annex. HC went to the Gallery of Art, the Hirshhorn, and the sculpture garden.I've always been facinated with military aircraft and spacecraft so the Air & Space Museum really let me get my fix. I got to see some of my favorite aircraft and spacecraft. (The P-51 Mustang, P-38 Lightning, P-40 Warhawk, X-15, SR-71 Blackbird, Spitfire, Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo capsules, and some really cool lifting bodies) Lifting bodies: Remember the TV show the 6 Million Dollar Man? In the intro to the show they show a spacecraft wrecking in the desert. The craft wrecking was a lifting body. Dinner was at McCormick & Schmick’s. I know it's a chain but they do a good job.
A Sad day
OK. Vacation is over for me. Time to go back to
work :-(
Chowder sad...
I had a wonderful vacation: Spending time with the HC, sleeping in, eating like a king, on
MY schedule instead of someone else's, doing what
we wanted to do instead of what other's require of us... But now it's back to reality with me and that horrible R word (Responsibility)
So which one of you intercepted that armored car chock full-o-cash that was headed my way? Come on. I know it was one of you out there... Fess up!!
Vacation day #2
We used the tickets HC had purchased to the International Spy Museum. We spent the better part of 4 hours in there reading the displays, watching the videos, and trying out the hands on items. Very interesting place. We recommend it if you're ever in DC.
Afterwards, we grabbed a bite to eat and a beer. We've found if you spend too much time in a museum you become glazed over and the brain just doesn't want to absorb anymore information. I call it "Museum Head". I had that happen in Paris at the Louve. I had to take a break or the things I was looking at weren't getting their fair attention. (Not cool when they're world famous works of art.)
After our little break, we went to the National Museum of Natural History.
We went to El Chalan a Peruvian restaurant for dinner. We'd never had Peruvian food before so we were both curious. I had the Arroz a la Mariscos which was described as a Peruvian Paella. HC had the Lomo Saltado. Both were quite good.
Dinner at J's
Last night HC and I went to J's for my belated B-day dinner.
J may not be handy around the house but in the kitchen he's quite the expert. He and I both grew up working in our parent's restaurants so he knows his way around the kitchen.
The menu:
- Salad with roasted pine nuts and a balsamic & fig dressing.
- Handmade crab cakes
- Gnocchi with a fresh basil pesto.
- Blackberry Flan.
We took over a bottle of 2000 Clos Pegase Cabernet Sauvignon. There was also champagne & Belgian chocolates.
The meal and the company were out of this world!
Vacation day #1
The drive from Pittsburgh to DC was perfect. Partly cloudy, light traffic, only 1 construction zone. We timed our drive to miss the beltway traffic.
(aw shucks!)We checked into the
hotel. (The Amazing Grace helped HC pick it out.) Very nice place. We would stay there again. We unpacked and hung out for a few minutes. Then it was out for a walk to get a feel for the neighborhood.
We had a few hours to kill before dinner so we decided to head towards the National Mall where the museums we were interested in seeing are located. The walk would have been great except for the hazy, hot, and humid Washington weather. I was a mess! We did walk by the White House and Lincoln Memorial. Very cool to see these places up close.
We stopped in the National Museum of American History. We saw the Star Spangled Banner and read about the preservation process. The highlight for me was seeing Julia Child’s kitchen. Ever since I was young, I have always enjoyed watching her shows. She was always entertaining no matter what she was doing. Or who she was with.
We met up with my sister and D for dinner at
Fogo de Chao a Brazilian Steakhouse. If you've never eaten at a Brazilian style steakhouse, I've got 1 word for you "
Meatfest"!! Servers roam the restaurant with fresh skewers of steak, ribs, chops, lamb, chicken, and sausage. When you're seated, they give you a chip that's
red on one side and
green on the other. If the customer has their chip on the green side, the servers stop by your table and ask if you'd like a serving of whatever they happen to be carving. The servers
don't stop coming by your table until you turn your chip over to the red side. It takes a few times to realize "Oh yeah. They're stopping because someone at the table has their chip set to green." Our favorite cuts in order of preference were: Top Sirloin, Filet Mignon, Rib Eye, and the Lamb. The lamb chops were too salty and over cooked. The filet wrapped in bacon was also over cooked. The garlic rubbed rib eye was OK but the meat was so good it didn't need the help. We didn't try the bottom sirloin, the chicken, the pork ribs, or the beef ribs. Did I mention the salad bar? Yeah, they had that there too. A very nice selection of fruits, vegetables, cold cuts, cheeses, and desserts for those of you that feel a need to have something other than freshly grilled meat. The 3 standard side dishes were always kept full on our table: Cheesy mashed potatoes, fried bananas, and a Brazilian polenta.
It was nice to have a meal with my sister and D.
(Plenty-o-laughs and mastication!!!) I haven't seen her since July. It's been a few years since I've seen D. He's a good guy. I've known him for many years.
We had a good meaty time. HC is always the lighter appetite so I helped her maintain focus on the better cuts to select from.
This probably goes without saying but:
Don't go to a Brazilian Steakhouse if you're on a diet. It isn't worth it. Too many delectable temptations. The aroma of the freshly grilled meats winding their way through the restaurant was intoxicating. The large selection of cheeses and desserts at the salad bar...Heaven. Ahhh!!!!
The food and atmosphere was wonderful. The servers where all dressed in authentic Gaucho outfits. The decor was understated elegance. The wine selection was comprehensive. It was pricey but for a special occasion or as a treat it's well worth it!
It was a wonderful way to start our DC vacation!
Mystery solved: Our vacation was in...
Washington, DC.
We spent a wonderful week in museums and restaurants. The drive down was ideal. Partly cloudy, fairly light traffic.
I'll do a post a day about our trip.
Last Clue
HC gave me this last clue:
This is an activity we will be doing while on vacation.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _We agreed upon the rules on how I would be allowed to guess letters.
Here are my right guesses:
M, R, S, T, N
Here are my wrong guesses:
A, E,F
_ NTERNAT _ _NA _
S_ _
M _ SE _ M
and the answer is
International Spy Museum.
