Finishing Up The Farmers’ Market Haul

Over the weekend, The Civee, Hope and I went to a local farmers’ market.  We’ve been there a few times before, but it’s not like we’re regulars. Most of the good stuff sells out early and the place gets way too crowded on hot summer days.

Despite the drawbacks, we picked up a lot of peaches, stringbeans and tomatoes.  We ate a few peaches used some beans over the weekend, but had a bunch still left to eat.  Tonight, looking at these fruits and vegetables, I realized if I didn’t use them now, I would not have the chance later.

We were having salmon for dinner.  The beans were easy- they would be our vegetable. I could make the tomatoes into gazpacho. But we had six peaches, which I was drawing a blank on how to use. Then The Civee suggested I just use them with the salmon. Actually, it was a rather easy solution. Both are similar colors. Both go well with brown sugar. So why wouldn’t they go well together?

I sauteed the peaches and salmon separately, then added them together at the last minute. And it was good.  I have to say everything went together well.

Hope had some of everything. While she wasn’t really into the gazpacho, she did enjoy the combination of the peaches and salmon. I tried getting a picture of her eating, but I couldn’t get a good one. Instead, I’ll share this one taken at lunch today:

King Tom

The Fool and The Fool Who Follows Him

This weekend we decided to go to a local community event.  It was in an area of Columbus I’m not too familiar with, so I Googled directions before we loaded into the car.

We got to the address where the event was being held, but no event.  Turns out the official address of the place is actually the back entrance, which was not open to traffic. We weren’t the only car there, as there was a car ahead of us and a few behind us who seemed as if they were looking to go to the event too.  There was a person giving out directions and after the previous vehicle (a black SUV) drove off, I stopped, rolled down my window and asked the person how to get to the event.

“Just follow that car,” she said, pointing to the black SUV.

I rolled up the window and proceeded to follow the black SUV.  I think she gave similar directions to at least two other cars, as I could see there was a convoy slowly forming behind me.

So we were the second car in the convoy, and I was trying to keep up with the black SUV as it turned on to a main street, went about a mile, then turned into a subdivision and wound its way through the maze of streets.  All of a sudden, the black SUV stopped and pulled into a random driveway and the driver got out and went in to the house.  I pulled off to the side about a block up and the cars behind us stopped short of the driveway.  I’m sure they did exactly what we did- consult their cell phones (or GPS units) to see what to do now.

Luckily, the main entrance was around the corner and another mile down the road. And we got there without any incident. But the next time someone tells me to just follow another car, I’m going to have a backup plan ready just in case.

King Tom

My First Quake

Growing up on an island in the Atlantic, I was used to certain weather patterns. Cold (but not too cold) winters, hot (but not too hot) summers and springs/falls of a decent length. Just about the only type of severe weather we would get was hurricanes. A tornado hit the island once, but I missed it as I was away on summer vacation.

I moved to Ohio 11 years ago and things are different.  Tornadoes are a seasonal thing.  There is no spring or fall, and I’ve complained several times before about the cold bleak winters.  But one thing I’ve never been subjected to in Ohio or out East was an earthquake.  Until today.

I was sitting in my office when I felt a rumble.  Because I’m up on the 17th floor, I thought it was the building settling or something. It wasn’t until my Tweet Deck started going crazy that I realized it may have been more than that (not to mention clicking on #earthquake froze up my Tweet Deck for an hour or so).

I’m not saying I’d want to go through another one, because I wouldn’t.  And I’m sure if I was closer, I would have felt a lot more than a rumble.  But at least I can say I survived my first earthquake.

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One Year, Two Surgeries Later

This was Hope one year ago today:

It was a few minutes before the surgery to repair her cleft lip (the first of two surgeries she’s had in the last year).  The six-week recovery period after the surgery was a bit rough for Hope, The Civee and myself.  And her second surgery wasn’t any easier.  But Hope has come a long way.  Here she is earlier today:

There are two things I should say about this picture. First, it’s really tough to get a good picture of Hope- she’s always moving.  Second, she’s in a big bottle phase right now.  Not milk bottles, but bottles that The Civee or I use.  The other day, she grabbed a hold of a Fresca bottle and would not let go.  However, she did stand still for a few seconds:

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Stupid Checkout Questions and Banner-Style Receipts

The other day, The Civee and I stopped at a CVS on our way back home from a few hours at the park with Hope.  We had a drive ahead of us and wanted some drinks.  I stepped up to the register with four items- two drinks and two candy bars.  I answered in the negative to the standard CVS checkout question of whether or not I had the loyalty/friend/reward card/number/whatever.  But as I handed the clerk my debit card to pay, the following exchange happened:

Cashier (surprisingly animated for a question of this nature): Would you like to also purchase some hand sanitizer?

Me: Um…what? Why would you ask that?

Cashier (as surprised by my response as I was by his question): Um…we’re supposed to ask…?

Me: Well, it’s a stupid question. And no.

I was a bit surprised by the question.  All I wanted was to buy my drinks and candy bars and get out of there.  It’s bad enough to have to deal with the loyalty card question, but now they all but accuse me of being a dirty, unsanitary person simply because I don’t want to buy a tube filled with scented alcohol.

Are there any stores left where you can just walk up to a register, pay and leave?

And as if CVS wasn’t wasting enough of my time, it seems like they also like to waste paper.  Keep in mind, I had four items.  This was my receipt (I’ve enlisted some of Hope’s toys to give you an idea of the scale):

That receipt is more than a foot long.  I’m not sure whether to throw it out or to give it to a high school marching band so the drum majorettes have something to march behind for their homecoming parade.

The Civee says I should have been nicer to the clerk.  I say spontaneous, honest feedback is the best option in a situation like this. After all, I was the one who went in the store to get the drinks.

King Tom2 Comments

High Energy Physicists Finally Develop Something Worthwhile

Twenty years ago, the Internet was a text-only method of communication used mostly by academic types and those who were really into computers.  People shared files through FTP transfers and talked through e-mail and Usenet, which was a group of bulletin boards comprised of e-mail discussions.

Then, on August 6 1991, Tim Berners-Lee posted an item to the Usenet announcing the creation of the World Wide Web (or WorldWideWeb), a browser-based system to view hypertext.  Or, as he said:

The WorldWideWeb (WWW) project aims to allow links to be made to any
information anywhere. … The WWW project was started to allow high energy physicists to share data,
news, and documentation. We are very interested in spreading the web to other
areas, and having gateway servers for other data.

It was a few more years before graphics could be viewed alongside all the text. But pretty soon after that, the Web was everywhere, and the Internet was no longer the domain of academic types or those who were really into computers.  Even though I’d been online since ’92, it was still a few more years before I used the Web.

Things have certainly changed.  For instance, this blog is slightly more advanced (though not much more mature) than the hand-coded site I made in college.

So if you find yourself being productive (or wasting time) online, thank a high-energy physicist.

King Tom

Hope’s Favorite Night? Ribs Night

So far, Hope has been really good with food.  There have been only a few things she doesn’t like, including eggs, ketchup and barbecue sauce.  Hope will even refuse to eat Montgomery Inn sauce, which to The Civee, is like a knife through the heart, as every Cincinnatians blood is 1/16th Montgomery Inn sauce.

But we can now scratch barbecue sauce off the list of things Hope won’t eat.  Tonight, we were having ribs (along with corn and green beans) and before we knew it, Hope was dominating the ribs.  Midway through the meal, we got gutsy and offered her some barbecue sauce.  She tried it, her face lit up, and all she wanted was more sauce.

I should probably mention that I made the sauce.

I’ve made ribs several times over the past few summers.  Each time, I also made my own sauce.  While always good, each time before tonight, something was off.  Whether the sauce was too watery or the ribs the wrong consistency, I was never fully happy with the result.  Until tonight.  The sauce was perfect (despite me having to make a vinegar substitution) and even though they were a little charred on the outside, the meat on the ribs fell off the bone.  And, as I mentioned, Hope loved them.

I started cooking the ribs around 4:00 and we ended up eating around 7:15.  Both The Civee and I think Hope had more of our ribs than we did.  Thankfully, even though we (with Hope’s assistance) polished off the ribs, there’s a lot more sauce left over.

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The Yankees’ Original Hideki

The summer of 1997 was one of the last in my life which I’d consider carefree. I was between my sophomore and junior years of college. Much like this summer, it was a hot and humid one.  I worked two jobs, one in a restaurant, and the other at King Classic’s lawfirm.  I went to a lot of Yankees games that summer (that year was the first we had the Sunday Plan) and I believe I caught most or part of every game I didn’t attend on TV or the radio.  Most days, I’d go to lunch with King Classic, and on the ride, we’d listen to whatever Yankees discussion was going on on WFAN.

That summer, the city was abuzz over Hideki Irabu, a Japanese pitcher hailed as that nation’s Roger Clemens.  Irabu’s NPB team had dealt him to the Padres, but Irabu would only play for one team- the Yankees.  He was acquired by the Yankees and expected to be the greatest pitcher ever.  Even though he was dominant in his first MLB start against Detroit, the proclaimed superstar stumbled, displaying a bad attitude and all-too hittable stuff.  Still, he had great marketing, selling out his first few starts and having a number of t-shirts on sale at the Stadium memorabilia stands (I still have two, although the Irabu poster I owned had to be thrown out due to water damage).

Irabu went back and forth from The Bronx to Columbus that summer, but actually made the Yankees’ starting rotation in 1998.

In the early months of ’98, Irabu was the teams’ most dependable starter. In a year where injuries threatened the team early on, he kept a sub-3.00 ERA through July, and didn’t get a loss until May 30.  It looked as if the Yankees had the pitcher they expected to get the year before. And unlike in ’97, where he seemed not to care, in 1998, he was pitching like he had something to prove.  Irabu even incited a bench-clearing brawl against the Blue Jays when he charged home plate after hitting Shannon Stewart with a pitch.

Starting in late ’98, Hideki turned back into a pumpkin and floundered throughout ’99 before being dealt away to Montreal, and then ending his career in Texas. Irabu attempted a comeback a few years ago, but it didn’t work out.

Irabu’s name was in the news today, and not for a good reason- the former Yankee was found dead in California.  You never like to read stories like that, especially when it turns out he left a family behind.

Sure, it’s a sad story, and I’m sorry for his family.  But ever since hearing the news earlier today, all I’ve been thinking about was a hot summer when my biggest concern was whether the Yankees would win that day.

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Before the Spill

Hope is getting a lot better at doing things (well, some things) on her own.

Lately, she’s been working on drinking from a cup.  She’s finally got the two-hands thing down. And even though she spilled a little tonight, she now knows to slowly tilt the cup towards her, rather than just dumping the whole thing.

 

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