Glen Beck

I hesitate to even write anything about this person but I feel compelled to say something. Linda and I just got home from out walk and I had some quiet time to just think things through a little bit. My conclusion, GB is a showman, a clown who just says incendiary things with the clear intent to rile up not only his listeners but those who revile him. He knows what he's doing; make no mistake about it. His modus operandi is to make money, to further feather his nest and the larger nest of Fox news.

I think about Lady Gaga and Madonna before her; both of these women are incredibly savvy and know exactly what they're doing. Mick Jagger, Steven Tyler; rock and roll is filled with showmen. GB is just a little brother to the other flame throwers out there: Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter... I mean, do they really believe the stuff they say? I choose to believe otherwise; they know where the paths to riches lie and they play the lie for all it's worth.

They're really no different than some folks on the other side of the fence; they just have bigger microphones (Al Sharpton are you listening?).

What I do know is that divisiveness serves no purpose other than to distract and evade working on the real problems we face as a nation and can only solve by working together; put differences aside and find some common ground and move forward from there. GB might have something to add but I can't get beyond the just plain meanness of his message.

International Space Station

A great evening for stargazing. The skies were crystal clear making for a clear view of the ISS as it flew over the house at 20:49. Flying West to East it appeared as a very bright star almost directly overhead. It was clearly visible for about 5 minutes before falling off the horizon directly East Northeast of the house. I think it's supposed to be visible again tomorrow night but I doubt if the viewing conditions will be quite as nice.

Fall is on the air...

Yeah, I know, the heat will be back but the weather changed dramatically over the past few days bringing an early hint of fall. Temperatures have been in the 70s with a breeze, low humidity and lows in the high 50s. It's a refreshing change from the previous couple of weeks with temperatures in the 90s and humidity to match.

Currently converting all my music from WMA files to the I-Tunes format on my computer. I think I have close to 4 gigs of music. That's not much by some folks standards and most of the music is relatively old but it's nice to have it all in one place so I can access it and move it back and forth from my I-Phone and I-Pod.

I've been gradually figuring out how to use the I-Phone but I'm sure I've just touched the tip of the iceberg. I'm really enjoying the different apps but I think what I like most is just the simple utility of the tools it brings to the ordinary. Like being able to listen to voice mail without going to a "mailbox" or sending text messages in a "conversation" string. I also love how I can easily download e-mail. I continue to believe it's one of the best investments I've ever made.

Spent a couple of hours this morning on a conference call putting the final touches on an Abstract to be sent to the Society of Critical Care Medicine for their national conference in January (San Diego). It would be too cool if it's accepted.

I-Phone 4

I bought 2 I-Phone 4s on Monday. I was fed up with the customer service (lack thereof) from CBW and despite having had service from them since 1996 jettisoned them! It felt good to finally be done with it. I'm a little bit sad that my land-line telephone number was also disconnected. It had been in the family for almost 40 years. Things change.

We love the I-Phone. It's amazing. I'm sure we'll discover some warts as things move forward but so far it's one of the best purchases I've ever made. We shall see moving forward.

Bison (Buffalo) Flank Steak

Linda and I love flank steak. My dad turned us on to it several years back and we've been eating it regularly ever since. This past Saturday we were shopping at Whole Foods and they had Buffalo Flank Steak on sale for less than $10.00/lb. So I bought  a small one that weighed in at about 12oz. I didn't freeze it; just left it in the 'fridge until this morning when I pulled it out, unwrapped it, drizzled it in EVOO and balsamic vinegar, seasoned it with salt and pepper, covered the glass container sheltering it and put it back in the 'fridge to marinate throughout the rest of the day. I guess about 5 hours or so. This evening I grilled it over high heat for about 15 minutes and served it with steamed zucchini, fresh tomatoes and mozzarella. It was delicious. In fact, I believe it was the best tasting flank steak I've ever eaten. I would be hard pressed to say it tasted any different than beef but it sure was much more tender. Very surprising. I laugh because when I bought it the butcher said "you do know this is bison, don't you" like there was something wrong with it.

It's HOT

That about sums it up: It's HOT!

The temperature at 06:30 was 75. I think we're expecting a high of 92 or so, not bad, but the humidity is so oppressive you feel like you're in a sauna and it's 10 degrees hotter. Last night Linda and I went for an leisurely stroll after 21:00 and it was still over 90 and the sun was below the horizon. Now, does this prove global warming, no but something sure is going on. Where's that swimming pool I always wanted when I need it?

I was watching a great show on PBS Monday night about "breakfast dives" and right about now I could go for trying one out. Of course maybe some of the appeal was that it was produced in the fall or winter because everyone was wearing sweaters, jackets and coats so maybe its a subliminal message of some sort. I don't know but I'm hungry.

Nothing on my agenda today, so far. We'll have to see how the day goes. More later...

Well so far the day has not disappointed. It was 94 degrees before 12:00n. Now that was on my car's thermometer so it's probably off a few degrees. The weather person on WNKU says we're supposed to reach a heat index of 105 later today.

I called my dad this morning to see if he wanted to go for lunch. He said he was already cooking his lunch and declined the offer. My mother was going to the Tennis Matches today; I sure hope they have plenty of cold water available. Since dad declined lunch Linda and I just went to Whole Foods and bought a gallon of Snowville Creamery heavy whipping cream (one for us, one for Charie) some Greek EVOO, a little jar of Coconut Oil and some organic avocadoes. While in the store I was comparing coconut oils. Whole Foods brand is called "356." Now, you can buy a jar of  "organic, expeller pressed virgin coconut oil" in their cooking oil section for $6.99/14oz. or you can buy "organic, expeller pressed virgin coconut oil" in their vitamins section for $9.99/16oz. The only difference I could discern was the one in the vitamin section came in a fancy black plastic container with lots of nutrition labeling and included an additional 2oz. When I asked Jenny in the vitamin section about the difference between the two she really couldn't come up with one. Who knew?

Now you might ask what Linda and I do with all that "heavy whipping cream." First Snowville Creamery is un-homogeneized milk from pastured cows (grass-fed). Heavy whipping cream has no carbohydrate in it and tastes great with just about anything: coffee, fruit, smoothies... you name the delight. But, more importantly, we make ice cream with it. Over the weekend we made plain vanilla and added crushed almonds; it was to die for! Today I'm going to make it again with 1/2 the sugar and see how it turns out. My suspicion is that it won't have as good "mouth feel."

For now, off to the library and maybe a coffee at Starbucks.

We didn't get to Starbucks but we did get to the library. Dinner was interesting. We used our clay roaster to cook two plump chicken breasts that I cut into halves and smothered them in an indian sauce made with tomatoes, curry and spinach. We roasted this along with a spaghetti squash for about an hour. It was spectacular. The chicken was perfect and the squash was a very nice accompaniment in place of rice or pasta. We simply roasted it with olive oil, salt and pepper then drizzled it in cultured butter.

Desert, however, was even better. As noted above I made vanilla almond ice cream with just a 1/4 cup of sugar, 1 cup of whole milk, 2 cups of cream and 3/4 tsp of vanilla extract. That's it. We served the ice cream over fresh picked peaches that were truly delicious.

Welcome Followers

I'm glad that just maybe someone else is finally reading what I post! The downside, of course, is that I can't promise what you read is worth the effort. However, the bloggers whose blogs are in my blogroll are worth reading so, if nothing else, follow the links. I really like the first one on the list which is really an aggregator of blogs dealing with a low-carb lifestyle. Most of the blogs on my blogroll are included. Take a look.

Off to Work, again....

"America is now on the unlit, unpaved road to nowhere." - Krugman, Paul, NYT 8/8/10

 What a discouraging statement to read this early in the morning! In fact, what a discouraging, almost apocalyptic opinion piece. Nevertheless, my fear is that this is the road we're travelling down. All I have to do is look around and the evidence is there. Will the lights go out in our town? I suspect it might eventually come down to that; to me its logical to remove the least objectional of necessary services before real cuts are made and if a city, county or state budget has to be balanced, what choice do you have? One of my colleagues in a rural Ohio county community has no bus service for her children. She can manage to find a work around but what about those families that can't? Do they not go to school?

Here's the thing, if you want to have these services you have got to pay for them and the middle class is tapped out or no longer exists. So those that have are just going to have to pay more or they will suffer the consequences just like everyone else. We are all in this together.

Another Sunday Morning

I like Sundays. I like being off work on Sundays but I don't mind working on Sundays either. Sunday is just a great day. This is probably true because people are just more laid back on Sunday, period. You know I just don't know but that's what it seems like.

 This Sunday morning is cool and Sunny; a great weather morning. I've been up since 05:45 when I turned on the coffee-maker. Truth...I went back to bed but didn't fall back to sleep. I listened to the BBC until 10:00 GMT (06:00 local) and finally climbed out of bed for good. The coffee was great. Added a little heavy cream and it was good to go.

I read the Times. There wasn't really a lot of things to interest me this morning but I did skim most of the features and read a few things of interest. As usual it led me to read a few more things and now I'm thinking about what to do with the rest of the day.

So, more later....

Now, just a little more. Linda and I went off on a nice, leisurely drive down Rt. 8 for a visit to McGlasson Family Farm to get another supply of peaches. I think I've bought a bushel of them over the past week and a half. Unlike apples you have to buy peaches in small lots and eat them quickly before they spoil. These peaches aren't like the grocery store varieties because they were picked off the trees and placed on the stand for sale within 24hrs. They are incredibly sweet. Why you would even want to put sugar on them I don't know. I wanted to buy some fresh, ripe Gala apples but Linda wouldn't let me buy any more apples until  I finish the Paula Reds I already have in the 'fridge. I did buy one, though, and ate it on the drive home. We also bought some slicing tomatoes; ours just haven't ripened despite the work we put into them.

We left McGlasson's and did a little exploring. We drove out Rt.8 until it dead-ends with a small enclave of homes. I guess it's about another 5 miles or so. There's quite a lot of interesting properties as you meander catching glimpses of the mighty Ohio through the trees.

Lunch was tomatoes, basel, mozzarella, and avocado drizzled in balsamic vinegar and EVOO. We're going to have baked curried chicken (pasture raised and locally purchased at the farmers' market) over spaghetti squash. We might have some fresh tomatoes too!

Ciara, Matt and Aiden were off to Lake Norman to "swim with the fishies" so I'm waiting for a full report.

I haven't heard from Aiden and that's disappointing but I did want to post just a bit about dinner. It was fantastic! I guess I should really start keeping track of what I add and don't add and the amounts. All I can say is that I used the clay roaster, cut up the chicken and arranged it nicely in the bottom, added salt, pepper, yellow curry, red pepper powder, cumin and doused it with coconut milk; then, into the oven at 225 for about 2hrs and finished out at 350 for another hour or so. We had roasted spaghetti squash and tomatoes as an accompaniment that was really terrific. We topped it all off with my homemade vanilla almond icecream and peaches. It doesn't get much better.

Tuesday Morning Ramble

It's getting hot already and it's only half-passed eight! Humid too. At least there's a breeze. I believe we're supposed to top out at a high of 94 today. Ian says Little Rock has been and will be over 100 today and tomorrow; in fact I think it's supposed to be over 104. That's HOT! (actually miserable is a better word). As I look out on the deck the sun's up there's a light breeze and it's very hazy. It's days like this that I wish I had a pool!

I'm working on several new books. The one I started last night is The Passage by Justin Cronin. He's a Professor of English at Rice U. in Houston, TX. I bought the kindle version last night after reading the cover jacket at Barnes and Nobles. Further investigation reveals it to be the first book in a trilogy about vampires. I'm going to reserve judgment at this point but the reviews I've read are excellent.

Getting back to the weather thing; my trees look spectacular they've really grown in big spurts. My 3 pin oaks have grown at  least two feet. The maples have grown 3 feet. It's really quite amazing. Having said that my garden has been pathetic. Our squash and zucchini plants have shriveled up and died. My tomato plants have grown quite well but the fruit has been very slow to ripen.

More later...

Well, it didn't get quite as hot as predicted but the humidity made things very challenging. I believe the ambient air high was 90. Much hotter with the index.

Walked twice. Once late this morning for about 75 minutes and again this evening. By myself this morning with Linda tonight. I'll see how my right knee feels in the morning.