Off to cooking school

(If I can keep mind focused on my topic and not on the Canadiens-Hurricanes Stanley Cup telecast across the room ...)

Tonight is the night when I was planning to drive down to Green Bay (about 130 miles away--yes, THAT Green Bay) to take my wife to a cooking school. We were going to spend the night down there and drive home the next day.

Alas, we forgot to order tickets until the Green Bay event was sold out. But the same cooking school was taking place in Marquette (90 miles or so away) two days earlier, so I exited work early on Monday, and soon we were on our way to the Taste of Home Cooking School, sponsored by Taste of Home magazine.

We had been to one about two years ago, in Escanaba, and agreed we'll go to another. Basically what happens is that there are lot of vendors in a big hall, selling their wares and offering some goodies.




The main event is on a stage (with big-screen TVs on either side) where some recipes are demonstrated and made right before your very eyes. Also up on stage are bags and bags of stuff and various dishes and grills and stuff like that. (You can tell a male is writing this, right?)



As we entered and registered, we got "goodie bags" with Taste of Home's various recipe magazines, coupons, offers and a free sample or two. (Nothing more exotic than paper towels, however.)

The host told a joke about the guy who couldn't find a place to park his car when he was running late. "Lord," he said, "help me find a parking space, and I'll quit drinking for a year." Then he suddenly saw an open slot. "Never mind, Lord--I just found one!"

The main event is the "presenter," a professional home economist who tours the Midwest on behalf of Taste of Home. She walked the audience through the process of making a number of "Simple Celebrations" dishes, demonstrating how you make them, inserting a hint or two along the way. "Are we ready to do some cooking?" "Yeah!!!" the audience responded.

Of course, she has all the nicest kitchen gadgets and tools available. But she did one thing that you wouldn't ever expect a home economist to do: After using a product, such as soup or spaghetti sauce, she lays the container on its side nearby. Why the heck would she do this?



The answer was suspended overhead: a tiny TV camera (see that little white thing above them?), pointing straight down. On either side, those big-screen TVs showed what the camera was seeing. And there, besides the mixing bowls and utensils and the nearly finished chicken parmagiana, was the product, big as day, right side up and brand name in full view. Ahhh!



Incidentally, when she used some non-stick cooking spray, she didn't mention the brand name and put the can off to the side, out of sight, when done. "I guess they couldn't get a sponsor for that," I whispered to my wife, who nodded.

They fudged here and there for time purposes. We didn't twiddle our thumbs for the "bake 10 minutes" part, for instance. "We'll put that in the refrigerator. And now, from our magic kitchen ... " ... "Luckily, we made one this morning ..."

Short videos were run on the TV screens as they cleared away one dish and set up for the next one. She showed a number of tricks. One was making a votive candle holder out of an orange--the orange was cut in half, and the inside of the orange came out just as nice as you please. "Don't you wish it came out like that?" she asked. Her secret remained a secret.

Not everything went perfectly. The final recipe of the day was for a jelly roll. She demonstrated how to make the roll part--then (to avoid waiting 10 minutes) another jelly roll was brought out. But this one had a big crack in it. "Hopefully, yours doesn't do that."

They had a lot of giveaways--each of the dishes she prepared, with some of the special utensils and dishes and all those bags of groceries. My wife won a cookie press two years ago. This year, not so lucky. Also, two years ago, a sponsor was giving away pieces of cookware. Not this time.

But it was a fun night, anyway. We did a little shopping after it ended, then settled in for the long drive home. Got back home at 11:30 p.m., fed the kitties and headed to bed.

(OK, good enough. Canadiens 1, Hurricanes 1, heading into overtime. Time to stop writing.)

The cover of the Rolling Stone

Hi. I'm just going to be brief (for once). Have interviews to do today, a meeting to cover, then a track meet. Plus the water bill! Then hockey tonight! Busy times!

I also have to write an account of yesterday, when I took my wife to a cooking school in Marquette, about 90 miles away. Interesting day.

For now, though, I'll give you some food for thought about the current resdident of the White House. Our good friend, President Shrub. He has made the cover of Rolling Stone magazine, which I saw at the gas station after pumping some $3/gallon gas into my car.

http://www.rollingstone.com/news/profile/story/9961300/the_worst_president_in_history

Three more years. ::shudders:: Didn't we know this was going to happen? Didn't we say this from the start? Didn't anyone listen?

Enough. Read the article.

Droppez zee puck!

Thirty-six.

No, that is not the answer to the ultimate question of the universe.

That's how many unread blog entries I have waiting for me at the present time. Just like in real life, I guess: I subscribe to more stuff than I can read.

Part of this backlog is because I was on the road most of the time for two days this week. The rest of the reason is that I am in that uncertain period as I shift operations from one computer to another. Getting a new computer going and files installed on it is a time-consuming procedure, and I do it so seldom (first time in about five years) that each time I do it, I find myself at the base of the learning curve.

I think we are on the homestretch now. ::he says with crossed fingers:: Still have many programs to install on the new unit, passwords and registration keys to track down and all that good stuff. I wanted to write some of my friends this week. Haven't had the time. Wanted to watch some baseball. Haven't had the time. Wanted to watch some movies with my wife. Found the time!!!

I found time for that because the Stanley Cup playoffs start tonight, in less than three hours, and for the next few months, I'll be following the adventures of the Detroit Red Wings in their pursuit of the Lord Stanley's Mug. Will it be another march to the cup? Or will it be another frustratingly early elimination to a younger, more aggressive team? I don't think Edmonton (their first-round opponent) is going to derail their train. But they might get Calgary in the second round, and they're going to be a handful. Same with San Jose and Anaheim. Color me wary of the California teams.

The NHL missed its entire 2004-05 season because of a lockout, so this is the first Stanley Cup action I'll been able to enjoy in two years. (And I didn't enjoy much of the '03-04 playoffs because of the Wings' early exit.) I am looking forward to it eagerly.

Since our cable system carries CBC (the main Canadian network), we're getting at least one game per night and sometimes a doubleheader ... for the next two months. Just imagine: Coach's Corner as we're eating supper!

I guess I got off track. Back to the computer: I tried some relocation software named in honor of AlohaBob. Long story short: It wasn't equal to the task. Too many settings on the new machine were knocked out of kilter, and I finally hit the undo option and did it myself.

That has gone fairly smoothly, with the help of an external hard drive. Much easier to move about 11 gigs of stuff from one machine to another with that than with recordable CDs (700 megs apiece; and I'm not sure the burner in the old computer is feeling that well). The most aggravating part of this transition--having my e-mail archives on another machine, including the e-mails with the authorization codes--should be fixed this evening. I'm not "there" yet, but I'm getting close. ::he says as he raps knuckles the wooden desk twice::

The other stuff, the grist of daily life, I'll skip over. I will note that I've been meaning to make some more pictures to show you here but ... haven't had the time. And I wanted to write more about last weekend, too.

Maybe over the weekend. Also, I have to tackle that backlog of unread posts.

Tonight, though, is set aside for enjoying hockey. Of course, I will probably yield the main TV downstairs to my wife (so she can watch "Monk" at 9 p.m.) while I work upstairs on installing programs upstairs on the new machine ... lots of time to watch hockey on the little TV while that's happening.

Quick journey south

It's getting late again--for some reason it always seems to do that this time of night--but I just wanted to write briefly about my Saturday trip.

It was an "earth keepers" event at the site in southern Wisconsin, devoted to planting trees and flowers and just getting the site looking nice.

It went pretty well for the most part. I left later than I had planned--about 7:30 a.m.--and get there about 1:15. Brought along a shovel and rake and used both of them.

Alas, I am not as energetic as I used to be, so after a while I discarded the shovel and focused on planting the baby trees instead of digging the holes. There were white pines, plum trees and hawthorns. Later on, I did some raking at some of the campsites, collecting the branches and twigs that had fallen during the winter and putting them in big piles.

While rounding up supplies for the one-day trip, I couldn't find my sunscreen, so I bought a bottle on one of my stops along the way. You know what happened next: Once I arrived there, it clouded over, got a little cooler and breezy. Never had to reach for the sunscreen. If I hadn't gotten any, of course ...

I'm a little disappointed that I didn't have the energy to keep going all afternoon. But hey, I'm not in my 30s any more. On the other hand, I did help (assuming my tree-planting efforts were adequate), so my visit was a net positive.

There were about 10 to 12 people, including a few who just made brief visits. I met some of the people and had a little time to talk and renew acquaintances, but the day was focused on working at the site. About eight of us gathered for a supper (one of them made "hobo wraps") and then (because of the cool breeze) we went down to the circle. No wind there, so we talked, had a water-sharing (Church of All Worlds ceremony) and then sat down and talked again. I left for home at about 7:30.

Long, long drive home. Got back about 1:30 a.m. Next time, I'll stop at a motel on the way back and not try to make the entire second leg of the trip on the same day. Too many miles in one day. I shouldn't push myself too much.

Anyway, I slept a little late (9:30 a.m.) on Sunday and just relaxed with my wife and David the rest of the day--watched a movie at night ("Caddyshack").

Spring sports starts on Tuesday--I'm driving to Marquette for a track meet inside the Superior Dome. On Thursday, I take my wife to Iron Mountain for her pap test and a visit to my mom.

I've got a few pictures that I've been planning to post. Once I get back home tomorrow night, I'll try to work on them.

Heading south

Just popped out of the shower for a 15-minute stream of consciousness experiment. See, I feel I have to get a blog entry out before hitting the road this morning. I've been quiet too long. Not that there hasn't been enough excitement around here.

The biggest impediment to blogging is the new computer that arrived on Monday and that I started working on Wednesday--and am still working on. For some reason, the transition software didn't move over all my Outlook Express files. Check that. They're there--I know they are--but I can't get the program to recognize them.

It had been five years since I had a new desktop, and I found a good deal at a good price. And it was a Dell. So I went for it. Except for the transition software. Grr. I've got it working well enough, and frankly the big problem has been that I haven't had much time to devote to the remedy. And I won't this weekend, either.

Other stuff going on:

--Start of spring sports still weeks away. School vacation this week. Result: very little for next week. Oh well.

--More paperwork for my mom. The final part of the Medicaid application has been completed, and she's in. Now, more bills that are still on my/our shoulders. BTW, drugs here in the States are really, really expensive.

--Taxes. Did them last weekend. It went fast once I finally got to it.

--Movies. Not much time over the last week. I had a meeting Monday night that lasted close to FOUR hours--you read that right--and that messes up your mind for the rest of the week. If they were talking about major issues, that would be one thing. But ...

--Interviews. I serve on a local co-op board and have been involved in interviews for an office position, replacing someone who just left. Nobody else on the board wanted to be part of that. They all work during the day. Like myself. Started them on Thursday.

Today, I'm off to southern Wisconsin, to the place where that I went to that pagan gathering late last June. (That was where I met S--she's not going to be there.)

It will involve planting trees and bushes and flowers and some work on the campsites. I'm taking down a shovel and rake, and we'll see what happens. It will be really nice to meet the people there again. I've missed them. It's been about 9-plus months. Do any of them even remember me?

I'll find out in about six hours or so. Just took a shower. Drying off. Time to get dressed and go ... But I'm planning to drive back home tonight, getting back home after midnight. If I don't get too tired on the way back.

Just for laughs

(No, I didn't write this.)

A husband was in big trouble when he forgot his wedding anniversary. His wife told him, "Tomorrow there better be something in the driveway for me that goes from zero to 200 in 2 seconds flat."

The next morning the wife found a small package in the driveway. She opened it and found a brand new bathroom scale.

Funeral arrangements for the husband have been set for Saturday.

The most beautiful sight

Just on my way to work this morning, I heard something that made me stop and listen.

It had already been a busy morning. I had a meeting at 7 a.m. and had just gotten back home, McDonald’s breakfast in hand, ready to walk the short distance to the office and a busy day at work.

But I heard something. I stopped. And I stood very still, listening hard. I heard it again. I spun around to the east, and that’s where I saw it.

Above me, above the bare branches of the trees, above the final remnants of snow, below the gray sky of morning and the sun trying to break through the overcast, I saw some quivering specks in the distance. These wavering specks were arranged like a giant checkmark, slowly moving to the north. Then they were closer, and you could see each one. And you could hear them all.

It was a flock of Canada geese making their way north, announcing to all the earth-bound creatures along their path that winter is over, that spring has begun.

I really feel this is the most beautiful sight in nature. I feel it is—I eagerly look forward to seeing the geese each spring. This year, I really wanted to take a picture of this moment so I could show it to you. Alas, my camera was inside the house, and there was not enough time to race inside and get it and go back outside and try to get off a picture of the departing flock. That wasn’t what my heart told me to do, anyway.

Instead, I just stood and listened to the honking and watched the giant checkmark moving slowly away to the north, behind the houses along the alley. My heart was beating with emotion and excitement.

Have you heard? Winter is over! The geese just told me.

The road to hell ...

I really, really thought once the winter sports seasons ended, that I'd have more free time to blog and come up with more creative, thought-provoking entries. I also intended to do a number of projects around the home. I really had good intentions. Really, really.

Ah, what's this I hear? Some of you are starting to laugh already! In recognition, perhaps? For you realize how this is going already--there are many delayed projects that are vying for my urgent attention. So which one should I do first? It requires some serious thought.

One of them is watching movies with my wife. An important duty, especially with the Stanley Cup playoffs (televised games each night) on the horizon. It's important--we get to cuddle together, eat popcorn and enjoy each other's warmth. Then, the world's king procrastinator had to get the taxes done and sent out. So that's done. Then he had to go out of town to attend to some urgent business for his mom. Another checkmark.

Now I've got a new computer on order, replacing the model I got in early 2001. But to "make room" for that, I've got to sort out the rats nest of stuff on my computer desk. It's been accumulating for quite a while and badly needs sorting out. The new gear is on the way, so I can't put it off any longer ... can I? THe stuff is supposed to arrive next Tuesday or so.

First, though another big checkmark--taking my wife to the quilt shops out of town. That's being done today. I've been promising that for a long time. But with all the trips to visit my mom or related to her plus the sports stuff, it's been pushed back time and again. Enough waiting. That's being done today.

Another checkmark was made last night: taking my wife to a fish fry, something we hadn't done for a while. Well, we had gone out for a fish fry a few weeks ago, but we opted for a pizza instead. Same place, you know.

I also had intended to put some "end of winter" pictures on this blog, but I haven't gotten to processing them yet. A few new nature shots, too, from my Wednesday trip. But then I got back home and did other stuff. Taxes. Movies. Then it's late, and I've got work the next day. Geez, where does the time go?

I don't know. Too bad Einstein is dead, because I'd like him to look into this rift in space and time. There has to be some "unified theory" to getting all the stuff done that I want to, right?

I'm not known as the kind of procrastination for nothing, you know.

Spring's winning the battle

Remember the picture of the snowshovel by the big snowdrift the morning after a big snowstorm a few weeks ago. Or that big pile of snow that was just as tall as my car, parked next to it? Oh how things have changed!

I really ought to get the camera out to illustrate the difference. The snow in the front yard is just about gone. The mountain range of plowed-up snow next to my car now stands about a foot high. The sun's getting higher, and the snow's getting lower. Another big pile of snow, outside the kitchen window, was down to an area about two inches high late this afternoon. My wife predicts it will be gone by morning.

So it goes. So it melts.

Not much to report--just a few updates. First, my cold is all gone, and my wife's cold is nearly gone. She's down to the final sniffles. We're both trying to be careful, since the weather has been cooler (though still sunny) this week. But the sun will be out tomorrow. More melting is in the forecast.

Her first batch of sunflowers were not lucky. They died. Their little greenhouse (it originally housed a sub sandwich, not cookies) proved to be too hot for the baby plants, as they sat in the sun of the kitchen window, the top closed to keep the heat and humidity inside. So she has planted a new batch, and these will have the top open during the day and closed after sundown. Let's just hope the cats don't notice them ...

Life at work is really slow now. The interim between sports seasons, as we wait for the snow to melt, the grass to get green again and the spring seasons to start. That's a few weeks away yet. The golfers around the area are getting antsy. I don't golf, but I know how they feel.

That's all for this time. I'll try to take the camera with me tomorrow, so I can provide some "after" pictures. You've seen "before" already.

A night at the Nugget

On that day so many years ago, I said to my girl that whatever I have is hers, and vice versa. And as time has gone on, we have both lived up to that promise. We love each other, so we like to do little things for each other. Share and share alike.

If I have something she likes, some goody we both enjoy, I share, and the same with her. Well, maybe we both keep the lion's share for ourselves, but it works pretty well. Even to the last piece of pizza or the last piece of toast in the morning--passing it back and forth until it is gone. Somtimes it seems like we got married 35 days ago, not 35 years. (We hit 35 in August.)

Alas, sometimes we share something we shouldn't. And that has happened now. My cold, the subject of my last post, is history and gone. Yay! And I don't miss it, either, believe me.

But my wife didn't miss it. I gave it to her. So she's been coughing and having the runny head. For the last few nights, she has taken NyQuil. She's feeling better this morning.

Last night, while watching something on TV--and this is standard operating procedure here--I warmed up her thick socks in my normal style: I stuck them down the front of my shirt, against my skin, and soon they are toasty warm. I take off her other socks, give her toes a little massage, then I reach inside for the warm socks and slip them on. Just one of the silly things people do when know each other so well.

Off to another topic:

The highlight of the last few days was the baseball draft on Saturday and the "owners' meeting" the night before. The draft went well. It started at about 9:15 a.m. and ended about 4:30 p.m., letting everyone out in time for the NCAA semifinal games. I got some of the guys I targeted, but I couldn't get them all. (How could I in an eight-team league?) In the end, I was satisfied.

Last night, after watching TV with my wife, warming her socks, helping her change into her nightie and kissing her good-night, I stayed up late and entered all the players into the online computer scoring service. We drafted some 148 players by auction and then another 96 in a "snake" draft, so that was a lot of data entry. But the online system went well. I did that on my laptop downstairs while watching the Oilers and Flames battle for playoff position in the late CBC hockey game.

The owners' meeting? That was on Friday night. Hmm, what can I say? We went to a place called the Gold Nugget, about 40 miles away. And we made a pact, based on the Las Vegas tourism ads currently appearing on U.S. TV: "Whatever happens at the Nugget stays at the Nugget."

But my night was uneventful. I had a few (three) Bud Lights, then switched to Sierra Mist (a lemon-lime soda, if you don't know; it cost $3.50 per can at the Nugget--and 55 cents at the vending machine at my office. Overhead?) And I watched the dancers. They were OK, but too young for my taste. Too thin for my taste, as well. (I'm sure the fashion industry wants to know that I don't hunger for slender young things.)

I gave out a few dollar bills. One of the guys (all at least 15 years younger than me) gave me a token for a "private" lap dance. I showed it to one of the dancers. "Do you get extra brownie points for these?" She said yes. "Well, then take this off my hands." Later, when the guys asked if I had used my token, I smiled and said, "I don't have it any more!" And I didn't.

To be honest, it was kinda boring after about a half hour. There was a lot of waiting around and giving away dollar bills, since the guys stayed there until just before the bar closed at 2 a.m. I got home at about 2:40 and was up at 8 that morning for Draft Day.

I was wondering how many of them would be hung over from their Friday night exertions--some of them partied pretty hard. Anyway, I went to McDonald's to get a Sausage McMuffin before driving to the office, where we hold the draft. As I pulled into the parking lot ... nearly all of them were there, waiting for me to unlock the door and looking no worse for wear because of their exertions at the Nugget.

Saturday night, I stayed home and watched a movie with my wife on TV. Cuddled with her under the comforter. Warmed her socks. Helped her go to bed. Reminded her about the NyQuil. It was a good night.