Back in Charlotte

Linda and I arrived in Charlotte yesterday around lunch-time after an 8 hour drive. Actually it was about 7.5 hrs which was one of the shortest drives we've made to here. We came down I-75 then East on 40 through the mountains to just short of Asheville where turned Southeast toward Charlotte. In the past I've hesitated going this way because of the slow drive from East of Knoxville to Asheville (steep, winding roadway and 60 mph speedlimit). Sun and clear skies the whole way.

When we got to Charlotte we stopped at an upscale grocery store called EarthFare. You know the kind, lot's of organic produce, meats and other products. Expensive. But, the food is excellent. The last time we were here (June) we saw some nice rain barrels but didn't buy them. Now they're available at a $40.00 discount so we're going to buy one and maybe two. I laugh thinking about us driving home with those two barrels taking up the inside of our car.

I brought Aiden a balsa wood airplane and after school we went to the park and played and played. He had a terrific time and wore himself out. That was after his treat of water and blueberry scone from Starbucks.

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.