Onion Slices

So, as I drive I think about a bunch of things. Here are some from today:

·         I heard a AAA commercial. I really love their service, and Julie and I have used it several times. If you drive anywhere, it’s a good investment even if you don’t ever use it.

·         I’ve been listening to “terrestrial radio” since my Toyota blew up. Before that I was listening to music from my phone and I miss it terribly. I don’t like being forced to listen to commercials. The Pilot has XM/Sirius Radio, and the commercials are just as bad. I will NOT pay a monthly fee to get my commercials streamed from satellite.

·         I’m in the process of getting cable dropped. I have Julie mostly convinced, since all of her shows can be found online, or through broadcast. Once I have a media center PC set up, I’ll be axing Comcast’s cable and getting by on Internet alone.

·         This brings to mind all the technology and services that I would LOVE to pay for if it was offered

o   IPTV – Television streamed over my Internet connection, able to be consumed on any device I choose.

o   A la cart Cable – I would keep cable if I could pick the stations that I actually want to consume. It’s been a pipe dream for a long time

o   No Commercial TV – Right now it looks like downloading episodes from iTunes is the only way to get it, but I would gladly pay for a Netflix-like service to stream TV with no commercials (Similar to IPTV)

o   Car-sized parking spaces – In much of the PNW, the parking spaces are all REALLY small. I would love to pay a bit extra at a garage when I go downtown to know that I will be able to easily get into and out of my car, and that no one will whang up the sides and doors.

·         Voters aren’t stupid, just easy to manipulate through the media. There is no politician who actually wants to make a better world, just a better world for himself or herself. I have never, in my life, seen the government (or anyone from the government) make a sacrifice. Ever.

·         I see a lot of technology and advancement that is done just for the sake of doing it. Someone sat in a meeting and said, “you know, it would be really cool if….”

The more I look over the things I’ve written in the past year or so, the more I notice that I’ve got Twitter-itis. This is the affliction that comes from attempting to fit everything I want to say into 140 characters, and while I am successful most of the time I try it, it’s not really good for well-reasoned and thought out responses and replies.

In our culture of quips and quotes, we all strive to have a blurb that will be re-Tweeted, re-posted, talked about, read and passed around. We all want to be noticed, and remembered and followed. It’s a natural part of being human, and certainly part of American culture.

I was struck with how well a comment I wrote expressed my views when I responded to a friend’s Facebook status. I was overjoyed because it had flown naturally from my fingers. Instead of wrestling with word choice to pick which words to leave out for the reader to insert with context clues, I managed to hit the right combination. Short, sweet and un-ambiguous.

Sadly, it might have just been a fluke. I won’t know until I post more. Back to the keyboard!!!

Here are some of the thoughts that I’ve had recently:

·         Canada is pretty nice

o   All the parking spaces in Winnipeg were “real-sized,” not like in Seattle

o   People actually knew how to drive in the snow

o   All of the people I met were friendly and helpful

o   Everyone had delightful accents! Well, they used words and phrasings different than anywhere else I’ve lived (:

o   The metric system isn’t hard to get used to

·         Canada is pretty silly

o   The “everything in English and French” looks like it’s more effort than it’s worth

o   The street signs and lights in Winnipeg were difficult to see/find

o   There seems to be some oddness about using credit cards/debit cards. Couldn’t figure out quite what was wrong, but I got funny looks when I handed cards to cashiers

·         I love using my iPad, but I do think it’s silly to have to turn it off for take-offs and landings when I’m on a plane

·         We got rear-ended in our new car last night. Of course it happened the day after the first payment cleared!

·         I do like having a job, but it’s hard for me to get as excited about it as some I’ve had in the past

·         Our kittens are wonderful! They really make me smile and I love it when they snuggle with us

·         Julie and I are still eating well and losing weight. Julie is approaching 10% of her starting weight and I am very proud of her!

·         I am looking forward to this coming weekend. Just because it’s the weekend!

When I left my position at 3Sharp, I knew that I would probably settle in another job that didn’t have as much travel, and I knew that I would miss it. While working at 3Sharp, I gained a much more relaxed attitude towards travel and became much happier in the airport as a result. At my current job, there isn’t much travel required, but I did get an opportunity to come to Winnipeg, Manitoba, in Canada.

My trip started off well in Seattle with first a delay while a malfunctioning plane was switched, and then a cancellation and switch to another flight when that plane broke down as well. Switched onto a later flight to Vancouver, the Horizon Air people were able to hop me on to a later connection from Vancouver to Winnipeg. Friendly and helpful, they made it easy to not be frustrated with the changes.

The actual flight from Seattle to Vancouver was bumpy, short and full of American pseudo-science (“You can’t have on ANY electrical devices because that may break the plane!!!”). I didn’t add cramped to the list because even with two normal flights joined into one, the Horizon Air people were able to book me on a row where I was the only occupant. I was able to stretch out a bit and enjoy the 40 minutes in the air.

Once I landed in Vancouver I was struck with how much I liked the airport. It was clean and fresh, and most importantly, empty. Going through customs wasn’t troublesome, but I would have liked to have had clearer instructions. I think having people used to hopping back and forth from the US and Canada as the bulk of travelers breeds a bit of assumption about the understanding of people who aren’t regular. I had my form looked at and then handed back to me. I had no idea what to do with it, but I’m glad I didn’t throw it away! I had to turn it in, once I got my luggage, to move on to the rest of the airport.

My wait in Vancouver wasn’t bad, but I wasn’t thrilled with the fact that the wings of the airport are very segregated from one another. In the US, with the draconian security, most airports have changed to have most of the shops and services INSIDE the secure area, so with a long layover, there is still a lot to entertain yourself with. I had a good book, and found a tasty burger, so it wasn’t too hard a wait.

The flight to Winnipeg was wonderful! First, there was a lot more room in the seats than a plane in the US. Instead of adopting the “2-3” row format, the seats were “2-2” which gave me enough space between the armrests that I could easily fit my hands between my hips and the armrests. This is a big difference than the cattle-cars that I normally have flown in. Additionally, I was by myself in a row witch just sweetened the deal. Even though we had a long delay at the gate as one passenger got off and they had to find his luggage, the flight went by too quickly as I was completely comfortable. On the plane, I was pleasantly surprised by the cleanliness and thoughtfulness of the plane as well as the size. In the back of the seat in front of me was a lovely touch screen with many viewing options, as well as a USB port for charging small electronic devices. Genius! I was also pleasantly surprised when I found out that Horizon Air also credited me with some money for meals on the plane, so I was treated to a lovely chicken wrap, cheese and crackers at no cost. Wow, Canada Air is classy!

Once we landed in Winnipeg, I was brought back to reality. The airport was somewhat older and it reminded me very much of Detroit’s Smith terminal. It wasn’t smelly or that dirty, but it was decidedly older than I had expected. Grabbing my bag and heading out into the cold, I ventured to the next building to pick up my rental car and had the first experience of my beard freezing. Back when I was in the cold weather all the time, I was clean shaven, so this was a very new and odd feeling.

Getting the rental car was a simple process and they man at the counter was quite helpful and nice. I ended up in a Elantra. It’s quite a nice little car with a good heater. Just what I needed for the -30 degree weather. I was stuck with a strong jealous rage as I saw a man in the Hertz parking lot hop into a rented Honda Pilot. I do miss my wife, but I can talk to her on the phone and through e-mail. I don’t get to drive the Pilot, or snuggle with my kittens. As I was driving out into the night, snow deeply covering the road, I thought about how much nicer it is when everyone knows how to drive in the snow!

This has gotten to be a long post, so I’ll write up my hotel experience later tonight!

With the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day fast approaching, I just wanted to pop up a post with some of my thoughts about it.

I am so very glad that I live in a country that has embraced diversity and equality. I know it’s not perfect and there are many people out there that are just dirt-bags, but on the whole, people are trying to be better. The second thing I think about is the fact that MKL, Jr. was so dedicated to the principles of non-violence. Too many people, governments and other groups think that violence is an effective tool, but I am glad to say that I am willing to stand up and say that, “no, it isn’t.” In some cases it will end a conflict, but it will never solve the conflict.

While that’s something of a depressing point, what I am choosing to take away from this day is that people can choose. They can pick a side to be on, and that means that they never have to give in to hatred, violence or pain, if they don’t want to. Sometimes the choice is sucky (give in or die), but it still exists.

So, here’s to you, Dr. “We all deserve to be treated by the content of our hearts and not the color of our skin.” I’ll be raising a glass to you tonight and remembering that there is the capacity for humanity to shine.

Woo!

Last weekend, I decided that I was interested in getting back into the cooking swing of things. I dug around in boxes and found my copy of the “Good Book” and away I went! I decided to make the American Sandwich Bread, since I had made it before and it turned out well. On Saturday I made a list and got the ingredients and on Sunday I doughed it up! Here are some pictures of the process.

Everything ready to start!

Kneading, kneading, kneading and more.

Some hand-shaping to get it ready for the first rising.

Mmmm.. Exchange 2010 and bread!

Doubled in size, ready to be placed in the loaf pan.

“Now witness the firepower of this fully armed and operational loaf of bread!”

Some additional thoughts:

I had some “Active Dry Yeast” that I upgraded to instant yeast in accordance with the recipe. Even so, I don’t feel that the bread is as light and risen as it was in the past. I think I made the liquid mixture too warm. The book warned against this, but the thermometers that I have aren’t “instant” enough. Next time I think I’m going to let the milk get to room temp, add the warm water, and not heat it up at all.

I think the next time I make this, I might add some cinnamon or something when putting the dough into the loaf pan. Not much, but just something to give it a little distinction.

I’m planning on making something this weekend, as well, but I’ll be leaving to go to Winnipeg on Monday, so I might not do another whole loaf of bread. The shelf life isn’t great on home-made foods, so maybe I’ll freeze it (:

Wow! It's been six whole months that Julie and I have lived in our house. It's been a wonderful time, but it's still a big empty and pretty cold place.

I'm just now putting curtains up in the "cougar room" (so named for the old decor and the fact that it's our current "cat room") so I'm hoping that will warm up the room a bit. It's where I've set up my office, so I would like to be a bit more comfortable while I'm computing.

Some random thoughts:

·     The previous owners did an awesome job leaving behind all the extra paint and labeling it very well. It looks like the cans didn't hold up well, though, as the one that I've tried to use wasn't sealed because the can rim was actually rusted open. I'm planning on contacting the paint store they bought it from and getting a couple of cans for my touch-up work.

·     I don't understand why almost every garage I've ever been in is about 2 feet smaller in width than it really needs to be.

·     In a house with no basement, there needs to be storage of some sort. When the garage is 2 feet smaller than it needs to be (see above point), that is right out. I'm looking at installing some ceiling mounted racks in the garage to store all the holiday and seasonal stuff. I think it's a great idea because there is nothing else to use that space for.

·     Julie and I both LOVE the kitchen. Julie's been cooking a bunch and I've started to make bread! It's wonderful to be able to set out all the things you need, work with them, and then clean them up without feeling like you're in a small pantry.

·     We still need a bunch more furniture, but it has to be appropriate. There are a LOT of spaces in the house that really need SOMETHING there, but I also don’t want to spend hundreds of dollars on something that is just eye candy. I want what I put at the top of the stairs to be good looking and functional. I can see why it takes years to get a house where you want it.

·     I love that there’s so much I WANT to do. It’s nice to be motivated to want to make things better/align them with my needs. It’s also nice to be able to change things, but the desire is a good feeling.

·     I still don’t know what I’m going to do about the yard. This spring and summer I’m going to work on it more, but some of the things might be a bit difficult to get done. I may just start to replace the entire thing, one strip of sod (and a bunch of topsoil) at a time.

I have many more things, but I’m trying to keep these things short so I can keep them coming.