January 4, 2009
New Years Resolutions 2009 and First Week of meals
This year we have a shared goal of not using the credit card for anything other then replacing the furnace and air conditioner (this will depend on if I use the tax refund(s) for this or to pay off my car, which will be paid off by September).
My goal for this year, is to use my cookbooks more and plan and make dinners according to the plan. Too often I'll depend on the old standbys because I feel tired or just can't think of what I want to make.
So for the week of Sunday January 4th through Saturday January 10th, I'll be cooking from The Best 30-Minute Recipe mostly.
Tonight it'll be Lasagna (not from the book, or any book for that matter) and then in no particular order:
- Skillet Tamale Pie (pages 119-120)
- Skillet Shepherd's Pie (pages 118-119)
- Curried Chicken and Rice (page 110)
- 30 Minute Pork Vindaloo (Page 83)
Posted by SammyD at 11:28 AM | Comments (0)
January 1, 2009
For new years, we took our third trip in two weeks to Cedar Rapids.
The drive there was a bit silly. Roads were clear and clean, but covered in state troopers. I slowed down a bit, because I didn't want to push my luck.
At the Matta's we showed up, settled in, had a nice simple dinner, before the girls were packed up to spend the New years with Grandma and Grandpa Matta. We waited till around 8:00 PM before we started to dig into the prepared snacks. From Nathan's roasted nuts (many jokes ensued) to goat cheese pizza drizzled in a herb infused olive oil, they put on quite a selection of delicious things to eat.
The theme drink of the night was cocktails made with sparkling white wine. The base being a wonderfully fruity Asti (very similar to what was served at Josh and Lindsay's Wedding). So we had everything form your standard mimosas, Poinsettias to the odder Black Velvet (surprisingly good), Nelson's Blood (not really good or bad), and others. I brought quite a good bottle of port (Trevor Jones Tawny Port Jonesy), which I really enjoyed...and I'll be replacing.
Along with Shannon and I, Jenny and Nathan, Clif, Scott, Jane and her husband (and even though I've met him a couple of times now, I can't bring up his name), and then another couple Scott and someone...that I had not met before. Enough to like you aren't forced to do things together, but not so much that it's hard to do anything.
So as the night wore on and several of us got into the spirit. We played games on the Wii (Boom Blox is awesome). And then ended up watching CNN's coverage of the New Years.
CNN's coverage was awful...and I mean bad. Crappy bands and I love the 3 second before midnight cut over for those of us in the central time zone.
Anyways...people started to clear off, and some chatting continued well into the night. Eventually around 2:30 or 3:AM we called it a night and slept.
In the morning, I was up first (I never sleep long). Read a bit, played with my iPod Touch, drank all Shannon's water...and then got up to search for more water.
Colby (the dog) followed me downstairs, wanted to go out, so I let him...remembered that Diego (the dog) was in the crate, so I let him out and into the backyard too. I drank water, read some more and eventually others joined me. Waffles for breakfast, got cleaned up and headed over to Shannon's sister's.
Sean seems like he's becoming a bit more anti-social...but it could just be the day. Shannon's parents joined us and Mike's friend.
We had some cake and ice cream chatted with the family, watched Sean get a bunch more from Dr Who.
We eventually left and headed over to Culver's to eat before we drove home. However, it was closed. So we ended up at Ruby Tuesday's. I don't know why we keep going there. The food is never that good, and apparently nobody there wanted to be there and the service was lousy too.
Being that I was still a bit tired, we headed over to Starbucks (I'm not sure where the non-starbucks places are in CR), went through the drive through, ordered (Peppermint Mocha Twist for me, water for Shannon) and drove up to the window. We were behind two cars, waited for the first. and the a Caddy CTS and finally got to the window.
The barista said that the people ahead of us had paid for our drinks and wished us a Happy New Year. By this time they were already gone so no way for us to give our thanks, so we thanked them, and headed back to Des Moines.
Certainly was an unexpected surprise.
I've been told that I need to pay it forward...so I guess I'll see what I can do.
Posted by SammyD at 10:14 PM | Comments (0)
December 26, 2008
I was thinking about staying home, and just delaying things until New Years...
Christmas eve day we headed down to Cedar Rapids, the drive was relatively easy, and the roads weren't too packed with travelers. We arrived at the Matta's around 2. We settled ourselves into the guest room, and hung out with the Matta's for a while.
Shortly after Jenny's mom and uncle (I think) arrived, we headed over to Shannon's Parents for Christmas Eve. We arrived first, even beating Shannon's dad from work. Shortly after we got there, Kim's family (Shannon's Sister) arrived, and just right on their tails, Shannon's Dad.
We went for the stockings first, getting a small amount of things from that. Sean and Sheileigh (is it bad that I have no clue if that is spelled right?) seemed very excited to start off the season. We then sat down fro some homemade chicken noodle soup. It was good. Then the kids passed out each round of gifts. This helped slow the pace of the torrent of presents down.
It's fun watching kids open presents. Chatting, some game playing (princess checkers with Mike vs Sheileigh & Grandpa). After the time grew late, the Kim & Mike packed up the loot and the kids and headed home. I started to do the same, and had the car warming up.
I came back in and we chatted. After quite a while, I went back out, turned off my car, and then came back in to chat some more. We spent a lot of time chatting with Shannon's parents. History, the story behind the story, thoughts, opinions. One of the things we were worried about, when Shannon moved in (unmarried, mind you) was Bob's reaction to the whole situation. But he told us his experiences and his personal opinions on things. I actually thought he was far more conservative in his beliefs. Around 11:20, I made some nudges and we headed back to the Matta's. We helped as much as we could with setting up Christmas morning with Taylor and Cali and then headed to bed.
This is where the pain started for me. I think I woke up 4 or 5 times in the space of 6 hours. It was either struggling to breath, because my CPAP machine was having trouble getting through the nasal air passage (which was blocked). So I got up to blow my nose, several times. Laying back down, getting comfortable, and hoping sleep would come...I would often read a bit again, before I could fall back asleep. Around 7:am, I figured the girls would be up, they weren't, but decided to just stay up and read anyways. Around 7:30 Jenny's mom came in, which caused some barking from Diego (black dog), which I think, in turn woke up the girls.
Christmas morning at the Mattas was fun as usual. Jenny and Nathan got the girls a kitten for Christmas (so that's 3 cats, 2 dogs, and a few fish in the house) and that seemed to be popular. However, I think the girls are used to the older, lazier kitties. With the new kitten, which was ended up being named Santa Claws by the little girls.
We had a good breakfast of roasted pears, egg casserole, and hot chocolate to fill up our belly. Before Shannon headed upstairs to get ready for the day. I stayed down and watched the girls open up the presents under the tree, before I joined Shannon and got cleaned up too.
We headed back downstairs and opened up the last of the presents (what we gave to them and what they gave to us). Shortly afterward, we packed up the car and headed over to my Parents. We got there a bit before noon.
By this time I was starting to feel more and more like a little bit of leftover death. Lack of sleep on top of a super-cold, left me feeling grumptacular. We did the short present exchange (I gave my parents a new version of one of the first games they had gotten when they were married, and Joseph a good chef's knife).
We chatted with family a bit before lunch was served and we feasted on roast beast (beef) with quite a set of trimmings. After dinner I checked on the weather, saw that possible freezing rain was coming, so we quickly packed up and headed back home.
Last night we snuggled in, and camped out and vegged out. We had some chocolate, I drank a lot of water and then we headed for bed.
We slept in separate rooms, since I'm still snoring like a wildebeast, even with my machine. I only woke up once last night, so I think I'm on the way to recovery. I had a nice day of today, heading into the weekend here. Shannon had to work today, for the first time in a week...so she had a nice time to just not think about work.
Posted by SammyD at 5:26 PM | Comments (0)
December 21, 2008
So I've had this thing for over 3 weeks now.
I've gotta say that I'm sold.
I will be getting an iPhone when I pay off my car. Hopefully by then they'll have the next edition of it by that time.
Between the apps, the music, photos, and the convenience of it. It's cool enough for me to use frequently and does enough interesting things.
I had a PDA a long time ago, but to get it to do anything useful was such a pain in the bum.
This one, I've already used it to remind me to do things, join conference calls and what not.
At the Matta's it helped me feel connected (email and what not) without having to bring a laptop along.
Posted by SammyD at 9:00 PM | Comments (0)
Jenny made some cookies. Rosemary cookies...they were fragrant and quite good.
Posted by SammyD at 8:55 PM | Comments (0)
On Friday, we had our team holiday dinner. We headed down to Centro to have a lunch, and quite the lunch it was. Keith, instead of joining us, headed home to lay down, since it was feeling a bit sickly.
We started off with a small Margherita pizza. I had pesto steak sandwich and many others had their own. It was quite good. After lunch we walked down the street a bit, after the drivers plugged the parking meters, and headed to Django for dessert. Between the six that we present, we had an Baked Apple Galette, Lemon curd, and this other dessert that Proctor had been there three times that week to eat. All three were quite delicious.
Saturday, we headed over to Cedar Rapids to the Matta's. We waited for the storm to pass, and then got on the road. The interstate wasn't too bad, though it seemed that whenever there was a car, truck or trailer in the ditch, traffic seemed to slow dramatically. Or around the snow plows and what not. So it took us quite a bit longer to get from Des Moines to Cedar Rapids then it normally does. We did catch up to the storm and got hit by it again as we headed north to Cedar Rapids.
We came in from the wind and the cold.
We settled for a bit (and played some hide and go seek) and packed up in the minivan and dropped off the girls with Jenny's mom and headed over to Winifred's.
We were there early, and seated down and started chatting. Eventually we were joined by Scott (living in CR), Cameron (in from Japan), and Dave (in from Michigan). It was nice to see and chat with everyone. We finally got around to ordering and we split a full order of their onion rings, which were pretty good. Shannon had Chicken Angelo, and I had the beef tips with cognac sauce. I started with a lobster bisque, which was...well...just ok. And they brought out the beef tips. Presentation wise, they were very lacking. It honestly looked like dog food...I was kind of turned off. However, once I tasted they were quite good. The beef was tender, the sauce was round and robust. I tasted Shannon's chicken, with what they called prosciutto....it was way to thick...It tasted good, though...but the texture seemed wrong.
The detractions, from Winifred's were small, but annoying. I admit that we started off slow, however, the service was, generally attentive, but slow. Water was refilled a lot, but the speed that the food came was just a bit too slow. The bathroom was more or less hidden, and the vinyl walls, made to look like the tile, just looked cheezy in comparison with the rest of the restaurant. The wine list was large, but not that I'm a huge wine aficionado, but between Scott and I and the Mattas, other then one brand which could range quite a bit in quality, most everything else we didn't recognize. And with no wine steward to help...it's kind of hard to get through.
The conversation for the night ranged all over the place, from the economic crisis, to just silly inane things.
We skipped dessert, since most of us were full and the Matta's were a bit late in picking up their children.
After we got them, we head back to their home and met up with the whole crew and drank mulled wine, some beers that I had brought. We were later joined up by Richard, who had drove in earlier that day with his wife and child from New Jersey.
Conversation went into the night...very late, where eventually quite a few of us were having trouble staying awake. So the party broke up and people went on their way home.
Sunday morning, we were slow in getting up...though once the light started hitting my face, I had trouble keeping my eyes closed. The Matta's eventually headed over to their first Christmas with Nathan's parents. We got cleaned up, and headed over to the American Skillet. Found online that day, and not too out of our way out of town.
I don't really have much nice to say about the place. I didn't like the orange juice (not even remotely tasting fresh), I didn't like the bacon (to dry?...it was just wrong). The Dallas skillet was ok. Shannon said that she and been spoiled by omelets at La Mie.
However, not all is wrong with the American Skillet. The Fruit & Fiber Cakes, which I had read were good, were actually quite good. It's basically a pancake, set up on one side, adding granola, cinnamon to the other, and then finishing the cooking with the granola. A bit of crunch, some pancake, some blueberries and some butter and syrup. It's like a dream imagined in pot smoker's haze.
The drive back to Des Moines was much much easier, though with the head wind drove down the miles per gallon. It took about 1/3rd of a tank to get to Cedar Rapids, and a little less then half on the way back.
It's nice to catch up with long time friends.
Posted by SammyD at 7:30 PM | Comments (0)
December 12, 2008
This is a bit overdue...since it happened this past Saturday.
We headed over to Bravo!, near Jordan Creek, and we were ushered into a side room with all of the other staff and significant others for the party.
Even though I've been to a few of these, I still feel uncomfortable, but that's really just me. I don't know the names of a lot of people (this is probably more just me, then anyone, since the remember names part of my brain doesn't work). I don't know anything about what they generally want to talk about. So the extra shy part of me comes out in force. I do think it's a great thing for JCAH to do as a whole and I think it does really show how much they appreciate their employees.
So there were appetizers out, drink orders being taken and eventually the entertainment for the evening came out. It was a murder mystery...I've never been to one of these before, though I've heard of them, and it just struck me as a bit odd. It does seem like something that would help a group of people who don't know each other well as opens to join in conversations. The other part is that I thought the instructions on the card we were given, were a bit lengthy...I didn't think I could remember all of the things. Also, some information wasn't there (it was based on Dicken's works).
Over all it was silly...interactive theater I guess it would be called. Fun and not too embarrassing for the people.
After we found out that there was NO murder, we saw a short video presentation by Dr. Whitney. Apparently in January of this year, there was a dog that left a little present on the sidewalk... Being that it was cold, it was frozen to the sidewalk on the side of the building. And so because of the security camera, we got to watch a quick view (maybe 4 frames a minute) of two staff members trying to remove it... They tried multiple snow shovels, shovels, an ice scraper (which you could see it get thrown away) and after a while it finally was freed up and thrown away.
It was very funny to watch.
Afterwords, we headed home.
Posted by SammyD at 10:32 AM | Comments (0)
December 3, 2008
On day one (Monday), I headed down to the Polk County Courthouse, went through the metal detector, and headed up to floor three. This being my first visit to the courthouse, I was pretty impressed by the grandeur of it all. Though beneath the grandeur, one could tell that the building was quite old and starting to show its age. I guess that is why they want to build a new one (plus the fact that they're basically jamming offices in there with a crowbar).
I thought I was running late, however apparently, as with most things with the government, it's a hurry up and wait situation. So I went and stood over by a door, and then they crammed us into one of the courtrooms. The clerk of that courtroom stuffed everyone in there and showed us a super cheesy 70s style video of the details of court service. We were then greeted by the Judge, who, instead of appearing in his robes, like most have done in the past (according to him), appeared in normal wear and proceed to tell a joke and describe the situation.
After a bit more, the clerks of the various courts came up and called people for their jury panel for their courtroom. We got a bit of a break, and then were lined up and headed down to the courtroom on the first floor. It was a civil trial. A lady was suing a Plumbing company for poorly installing a water heater. She claimed it caused carbon dioxide poisoning, and a bunch of other stuff because of that.
The jury interviews and selection took forever...Interviews lasted to about 12:30 before we took a break for lunch, came back, and interviewed some more. I thought the questions that both of the lawyers asked were fairly transparent as to what they were trying to get at. Given the small size of the courtroom, when they were doing the juror strikes. The lawyers passed a pice of paper from themselves, to the clerk to the other lawyer back to the clerk and etc. At around 2:30 in the afternoon, they Judge read off the names of the people that would be serving...and apparently I had gotten the axe...
I headed home.
On Wednesday, I headed back down to the courthouse. They said to report at 8:30 instead of 8:AM, which for me is better, since I have trouble making it to places before 9:AM. So I left early, but due to the snow storm, traffic was a mess, and it took me 30 minutes to get from home to the courthouse, which would usually take less then 15 minutes. I headed up to the jury selection room. Waited until around 10:AM, when they finally came up and called for the jury panel...which I made again (woo). The rest got to go home (boo!).
The clerk told us that the judge wanted to start at around 10:15, so she'd be back shortly.
The definition of short took on a whole new meaning that day. Though I guess in the grand timeline of the entire universe, it was very short, but beyond that...we didn't hear back from them until around noon, where they announced that a plea bargain had been reached and we were no longer needed.
We all got our parking validated and left.
Unlike the first day, where it was actually interesting and even though I didn't get picked, it was an experience none the less. The other time just led to a whole lot of time that was wasted. Now I don't know about others time, but my time is far more valuable then that. I understand the whole reason for it...but I still feel like my time was wasted.
So I headed back to work. I'm glad to be finished....but it would've been interesting to serve on a jury.
Posted by SammyD at 9:59 PM | Comments (0)
December 2, 2008
More Details about Benjamin George Kraczek
He weighed 8 lb 6 oz and is 20 inches long.
Posted by SammyD at 7:32 AM | Comments (0)
November 29, 2008
Welcome to the World, Benjamin!
Early Thanksgiving morning, 11/27/2008 at 1:47 AM, Benjamin Kraczek was born to my sister Emily and her husband Brent. Apparently labor and delivery went very quickly once it started.
So Congrats to Emily and Brent!
Posted by SammyD at 11:48 AM | Comments (0)
November 28, 2008
Thursday morning I headed out, tried to see if I put a Netflix at the central post office, if it would go any faster (it didn't), topped of the tank, headed back home, filled up the car with nuclear brownie cookies and leftover nuclear brownies, and then we headed over to La Mie to pick up some bread.
I had Joe (owner and proprietor of La Mie) try out one of the nuclear brownies (he liked them, said they were very fudgy) and we bought some coffee, hot chocolate, and a cranberry and walnut challah, some rolls (kind of in the form of muffins), and this wonderful bread with gouda in the middle that I can't remember the name of. It really was fantastic. Afterwards we headed to my parents.
Now I will admit that traffic on I-80 was lighter then other Thanksgivings, but like I told Nathan later, it seemed like all the pleasant people stayed home and just left the rest of the jerks on the road. Seriously, why do you call it a passing lane, when..well...the majority of cars are in that lane? It was tried by a BMW x3 and some gigantic of an locally grown SUV to basically kill me...the running up in the regular lane, thinking they can cut in front of me as I'm right behind someone else...I hate that.
Anyways, we were the first guests to arrive. Joseph got home from a hour something run (he had a bit of a unibomber type look to him (Beard + crazy hair)). I saw the senior pictures that we went back to CR to take with my brother. And saw the preparations of the massive feast that was about to take place.
People started to arrive. As with most of the recent events, it usually ends up being the parents, the boys in the family and their families, and a few other random people. In attendance were: Hyrum and Diane and their kids (5), myself and Shannon (2), Jed and Stephanie (2), Joseph (1), Isaac (1), Parents (2) and then Rod & Shanna (2) and a couple of their brood (2), a couple of missionaries (2), and to top it off, the family that Stephanie nannies for (lets just say 4); for a grand total of 23 people at my parents.
Before dinner there was a bit of foosball palying, some Stratego (played my nephew), lots of goofing off, catching up and etc.
Lots of food...and I mean lots. A couple of homemade pies, cookies (mine included), tons of side dishes, including several sweet potato dishes, cranberry sauces, breads (banana, Jed made, La Mie, etc), 4 or 5 jello dishes, and turkey. This is probably the juiciest turkey I've had of my mothers. So kudos to her for that.
There were 4 tables. One tiny table (for the little kids), a card table (for bigger kids, but ones that may still be messy) and the two bigger tables.
The hits of most of the night wast the gouda filled bread that I got at La Mie, my cookies, and Shanna's homemade Lefse. The La Mie bread didn't make it much past the prayer (people started eating it before hand). I also really liked Shanna's low fat, low cal stuffing, which was nicely spiced...I was actually surprised it was low cal and low fat...
After the dinner settled and desserts started making the rounds, we hung out for a bit longer before we headed over to the Mattas.
At the Mattas were Jenny & Nathan, Taylor and Cali, Nathan's parents Pat and Terry, CJ and Emily (I think that's what her name was). Eventually we were joined by Nathan's older sister Cherokee and her family (Cherokee used to babysit both Nathan and I).
Jenny and Nathan were mostly busy in the kitchen putting the final touches on their meal. We chatted, played with Taylor and Cali (which for the most part involved playing catch with Taylor and her Horton stuffed animal).
So when they were about to eat, we exited stage right, but before we did so, we tried little piece of the turkey they made (holy bajesus it was good. butter and bacon fat under the skin, so you had turkey + spices with a nice bacon finish), and got a thermos full of mulled cider (alcohol free) and headed home.
Traffic on the way home was much lighter.
My older sister Emily had a child on Thanksgiving morning...I am waiting for more details.
Shannon worked a bit today, and I left shortly after her to brave the mall crowds.
Now normally I avoid black friday like the plague. I mean I plan on staying in the house, my car not leaving the driveway, not participating in any sort of commerce on that day.
I don't like malls, I don't like crowds, and the combination of both makes it extra annoying. However Apple was having a sale, and my iPod recently lost it's life, and being that the iPod Touch was on sale, I figure if I can get the 10% iPod recycling discount, then I'd get it...it's not like i'll be able to get it much cheaper. I was able to, and did so. I got an iPod touch, so that way when the drive strikes me, I can listen to almost anything out of my music collection rather then a mere 10% of the total music collection...
So since I was already there, I figured I'd check out Williams Sonoma and Barnes and Noble. I ended up getting a good (comparatively) deal on some non-stick cookware, so that I can have a pan to do omelets and etc in. 2 pans for ~$60, when one of them costs $125 normally...which makes me think that they just have a great big profit margin...but...anyways...
By the time I got out of the mall, I was about ready to die... People wearing too much perfume, strong smells that hurt my nose. and just the mass of people.
I got out and after avoiding people who don't know how to drive, I got home...and proceeded to disconnect from people and play with my new toy.
Shannon got home, and we spent the rest of the day safe from crowds.
Posted by SammyD at 10:54 PM | Comments (0)
November 6, 2008
putting some touches on the house
So now that the dining room is painted we have rearranged some things to put them away.
First we bought a clock for the family room...since the only real one visible at all times is the VCR and the time it keeps is...terrible at best (it gained 10 minutes in 6 months). And the fact that I think it's been over a year since I've last used the VCR....
Second, we got two small bamboo trays to hold our personal effects (wallet, keys, etc), which allows us to organize a bit. Plus, we also got a bigger one to hold my unread magazines (mostly cooking plus a couple of others) and new mail. Also moved the small table that it's on to the back of the room, so that it'll be close to an outlet, so Shannon will be able to charge her phone easily. It also has the hand sewn...table runner I guess? that my Great-Grandmother (I believe) made.
Above it (kitchen wall) we put the Tudzarov that we bought at the last Des Moines Art Festival (why does it always take so long to get new art hung). On each side of that we put the big wooden spoon and fork that was above my grandparent's (father's side) table.
On the Stair side wall of the dining room, we put the book cases and alternated between my cookbooks and Shannon's nick-knacks and some photos, plus on top we put the Irish table runner that we got as a wedding present.
We rotated the table 90 degrees, since the dining room is basically square.
The living room got the cupboard that was in the dining room...but now it's less covered with all my crap, and now holds our wedding photo and some other wedding stuff.
So the dining room is more utilized, and the living room is opened up a bit. We also talked about, unless we need them, putting away the folding chairs out of the dining room...which I like generally...but I don't really know where we'd put them.
I like it and it feels like we'll be more organized and we'll have a place for every day things and I like that...
Posted by SammyD at 9:42 PM | Comments (0)
November 5, 2008
The time has come to savor a victory. However, this cannot last very long.
We are at a turning point in history, and what happens over the next few years will be very telling about the future of the country. I will not deny that I was moved to action and actually donated money (not a ton) to help Obama achieve victory last night, but when it comes to it, it's time to face facts.
We are in a crisis. Not just a perceived crisis, but a real one. The wars, the economy, and the future hang in the balance of what is going to happen. The groundwork laid here (revamping, economic regulations, changing the focus of social issues, and perhaps new supreme court justices), can have a huge impact on the future.
Anytime when any one group has amassed such an amount of power, it can cause a lot of problems. As is very evident by 6 of the past 8 years.
Remember that power is fleeting in this country, and even if we are unable to get all the action items of the Plan done, unless significant progress will be made, people will remember.
I have wonderful hopes for the future, but know that power can corrupt and if it does, I'll be voting people out of office, just like I helped vote them in.
Now as to people and their opinions, scanning through comments on both a local news site and a national "news" site, and it still shocks me as to how misinformed people are. I can understand challenges to the ideas and what will be best for the country, but using name, race, supposed religion, and just outright lies and restating them as fact is just not the way to do things. If you read something, even if it sent to you by a friend, you need to check it for facts.
One of my new favorite sites over the last while here has been FactCheck.org. It cites where it gets information from and doesn't take facts for granted.
Anyways, it is time to bring a bitter time to a close and work toward the future. Celebrate a bit, then take the signs down...all of them. There is a lot of hard work ahead.
Let us once again become Americans to move our country forward into the future.
Posted by SammyD at 12:50 PM | Comments (0)
November 3, 2008
This morning, when collecting my things to head out for work, I picked up a big book to return to the library and my iPod being on top of it, slid off and hit the floor.
This, being not the first second or 3rd time I've dropped this iPod from this height, looked like it was still fine. I was able to scroll around, see the podcasts, music and etc, so I pack up and head out to my car.
In the car, I plug it in, start my podcasts and it immediately goes through each one, just blip blip blip, not actually playing anything. so I try music, and it does the same thing.
So I head back in the house, and hook it up to power and reset it...on the reboot, it came up with the folder with the exclamation point, as if it couldn't reach the mini hard drive.
Doing some research, I find that it's probably the case...so I update the iPod that Shannon got from work and head off to my job.
So I replaced the battery in the iPod once....so it lived a long life.
I listened to it at work, home, making food, playing video games, cleaning, walking, driving and etc. If I assume that I used it 40 hours a week for 5 years, it'd be a life or 10,400 hours or 433.3 days of use.
It is kind of funny that I'm now using an iPod nano 3rd generation (Shannon's) now...
So now comes the big decision, do I wait to see if I can get one for Christmas, or do I just go out and get one...considering I use it so much. Plus I think that Apple would give me a 10% discount if I went in and bought a new iPod.
Posted by SammyD at 10:07 AM | Comments (2)
October 28, 2008
A very blustery day and my car not going anywhere led to the piles...even though there are no large trees in my yard...
Posted by SammyD at 9:39 PM | Comments (0)
October 22, 2008
Last night Amelia Ann Lewis was born to her parents Ryan and Alissa Lewis. She was born at 8:22 PM and weighed 7 pounds 11 ounces and was 20 inches long.
Congrats to Ryan and my sister Alissa.
(Updated with better picture and middle name.)
Posted by SammyD at 7:03 PM | Comments (0)
Podcasts I find comforting, in times like these
So I do not like it when things are happening that affect me that I do not understand. So over the past few months I've been adding more and more financial information to my podcast listening.
Planet Money: Answers questions, covers issues, explains ideas and concepts that are often very complicated. Generally posted weekdays, special for this financial crisis.
Marketplace: Weekdays after the markets close. General market news, in depth stories on various financial topics. I generally listen to this when I make dinner.
Marketplace Money: Weekly show, many topics, lots of good coverage. Updated Weekly.
Marketplace Morning Report: News in the morning, before the markets open, general updates on overnight happenings, quick reports on other financial markets. Usually listened to on the way into work.
Over time, I've learned quite a bit more about whats going on...and even though I can't change anything, it does feel comforting to at least know whats going on.
Posted by SammyD at 9:48 AM | Comments (0)
October 20, 2008
This weekend we put on two coats of a red paint (it's something bahama, but I can't remember). I remember the Boelmans painting their bathroom red, and to get the red they wanted they had to put on 4 or 5 coats or something like that...Well with two, you can still see a few flaws, so we're hoping that with the 3rd coat we can call it good.
I've been reading a bit more and have been enjoying reading most of the graphic novels listed (I've gone off of quite a few best graphic novel lists to go from there). I must say that it really has made me feel like a kid again and I've been staying up later and later reading a few of these. Some of them were not the best. I was reminded why I'm not a huge fan Superman (might over intelligence) or Justice League (problems have to be so ridiculous that they seem silly). The exception has been Kingdom Come, where the artwork was stunning and the story was really good.
I also have apparently forgotten that I've read High Fidelity, which I think I even own. Though in reading it I find myself more identifying with what I remember from the movie, then what I had read before.
I remember the book The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper from my childhood...considering how much I read as a youngster, to have a book stand out in my memory is pretty shocking. I finally watched the movie that was based on the book...The movie was terrible. I'm glad that Scott told me not to go to it in the theater.
Posted by SammyD at 9:46 AM | Comments (0)
October 7, 2008
After putting it off for a long long long time (trying to spend only cash we actually have and fit it into the budget and actually avoiding doing it when it's hot out), we have finally double coat primer painted the dining room. So now, instead of having to look at a mostly red wall, where the wall paper border used to be, and then the dingy white, it is now all a bright super clean white.
Now all we have to do is paint it red again.
We decided that we'd have someone else paint the ceilings, front hall, staircase and landing, because...well...painting ceilings sucks.
Monday I went to Cedar Rapids, on the invite of my youngest brother Isaac, to recreate, to some extent, the senior picture that I had taken. In that picture I was laying to my side and baby Isaac was sitting in front with lederhosen. While we weren't able to find lederhosen (well we didn't try too hard), we did take pictures. Shannon came along too, since she had the afternoon off. We were fed white chili, cornbread, melon and apple crisp and played some hearts before dinner.
On the way there, a magic bug went splat against my windshield and even though I used wiper fluid several times (4 or 5), it had little affect against the smear of it. However on the way back, it rained...quite a bit. While driving, we semi-hydroplaned a few times and had the wipers on high, to no noticeable results. After slowing down to well under the limit, it finally got viewable again.
Tomorrow we're going to go see Religulous. I'm looking forward to it.
Posted by SammyD at 5:51 PM | Comments (0)
October 4, 2008
Congrats to my younger brother Joseph and oldest sister Cara on completing the marathon they ran today. Joesph's first...and I think Cara's second.
Posted by SammyD at 5:23 PM | Comments (0)
September 22, 2008
Friday, after going to lunch with most of my work crew at Woody's Smoke Shack (meat was good, potato salad was meh, corn bread not as good as Wendell's, I heard good things about the cheesy potatoes), we headed down to Gong Fu Tea. Proctor suggested this tea, which I can't remember what it was called, but it honestly tasted like a peat smoked scotch. It was bizarre to have that taste without having the same warmth of alcohol...but only the warmth of the tea. Weird.
Friday night, Shannon and I headed down to Django to have the first of our two nights out celebrating our two year anniversary (second is on Tuesday, on our actual anniversary). We had lots of great food, and I had quite a bit of wine and I gotta say that I love cassoulet and must make it.
Saturday morning, we woke up...eventually... and watched the Beaverdale Fall Festival parade go by our house. I think it was longer this year, then it has been in the past. I wish they would've spaced out the marching bands more...since they are always fun to watch. Lots of political candidates...Obama was well represented, but there was not a McCain entry in the parade....which both Shannon and I found odd.
Then after the parade cleared our house we quickly finished getting ready and headed over to Adventureland for my work's day at the park. With the discounted tickets (free for us), we also had it so that the cheaper tickets were available for Shannon's Sister's family for our niece's birthday celebration. We had a lot of fun...but by the end of the day, I was worn out...Since the only thing that was new was the water park that I wasn't about to go to, it's just not something that you can spend all day at...Anyways we eventually left, and gave Sheilagh her present and headed back to the heart of Des Moines.
We were going to try to go to Woody's Smoke Shack, but it was closed, so we headed over to Uncle Wendell's. They were, technically, closed...but their open sign was still on, so they served us. I'm glad I did, we left there with a half pound of pulled pork, a few sides and cookies, and some Smoked Prime Rib. Now they told me that normally that they would grill it a bit, but I told them not to, since I did catch them as they were closing, I'd just heat it up at home.
I took it home, seared it a bit on both sides in a pan, and holy cow was it good. Smokey, beefy and deliciously tender.
Sunday, I mowed the lawn, for what I hope is the last time of the year (though if the weather holds out, I somehow doubt it) and then we were fairly lazy for the rest of the day.
Centro has a La Quercia acorn raised pork special for a week, starting last Friday....so I am very much looking forward to going to get to try these tomorrow night.
Posted by SammyD at 10:30 AM | Comments (0)
September 18, 2008
So I'm bit embarrassed by the whole thing, so I won't go into much detail. Needless to say, Allstate, Chapman Auto Glass, and Stiver's Body Shop have been pretty good about the whole thing. Stiver's did estimate the repairs at one maybe two days...but it did turn into three.
You might recognize my car...
Anyways, I'll put it behind me and move forward.
Posted by SammyD at 8:07 PM | Comments (1)
September 5, 2008
So apparently in March, I mentioned that I loved the pot and would make Chili soon. I think my definition of soon is out of whack.
Had a lemon pastry from La Mie around lunchtime. My boss had been raving about it...it was like a Danish (only a fluffier, flakier crust) with a lemon and creme cheese mixture...very good.
I'm not so much looking forward to going back to work on Monday, or going back on call on tomorrow. But I guess it is a necessary thing...
I went to the Franklin Avenue Branch of the Des Moines Public Library and got myself a library card. I spent so much time in the library as a child, I think it was time again to get a library...I didn't actually check anything out...cause I had a couple of ideas on what to get...but I had forgotten. Anyways, it was nice to walk around a library again.
Posted by SammyD at 7:16 PM | Comments (0)
September 1, 2008
George wants to play with a bunny...
Thought this was pretty funny...
Posted by SammyD at 4:59 PM | Comments (0)
August 21, 2008
I've always thought that perhaps one day I might run for some public office, thinking that perhaps I could do some good or another. When it comes down to it, being in some sort of public office requires you to be personable and attend a lot of meetings...neither of which I excel at.
My friend Jenny Matta is running for School Board in Cedar Rapids, and it would be interesting to get that sort of inside track as to what goes on with all of that, if she were to win.
Posted by SammyD at 11:40 AM | Comments (0)
August 4, 2008
We took a short trip to Cedar Rapids this past weekend. I'll skip over the first part of our trip and just summarize the rest.
Saturday around noon, we spent a bit of time with Joseph and went and got some BBQ (it was pretty good, Nicki's BBQ, Joesph's favorite in CR). Saturday night we spent time with the Mattas, Clif, Scott, Dan and Marisa, and Dan's parents. It was nice to see everyone and spend time with Taylor and Cali (the Matta's Girls). Got home late Sunday afternoon. Just a short trip, to get out of the house.
Before we went over to spend some time with Joseph (rest of the family was at a family reunion in Wyoming), we headed to downtown Cedar Rapids to see what was still going on down there. We've seen a lot of things on TV and on websites, but it really didn't hit to the same place of the heart. It was kind of removed. It was shocking to see some of the things that I remember from my childhood, more or less, mostly destroyed. The sewing/cloth place where Shannon and I got parts of her and the flower girl's wedding dress, was basically gone...the building was boarded up...and...well...doesn't look like it was coming back. We saw lots of trash, crumbling power infrastructure (one power sub station looks like it was about to collapse in on itself), broken wires and loads of cleaning trucks, fans, large scale portable generators.
Looking down the edge of the riverbank and you can see how much the water had to come up to trash, not only the parking meters, but the first floor of the library, beyond. I know that Clif, who was working in Florida when the floods were happening, said that most people just didn't get how big of a deal it was...
I remember when they moved from the old library (which is now an art museum, I think), to the new one, and I spent huge amounts of time. I watched movies, reading books (hundreds of books). I remember taking the bus from my parents, and spending a good chunk of the day down there, and sometimes I would take the bus home with my dad (or get a ride when mom picked dad up). It was my way to get away from the crowded house...it was quite, well air conditioned and had nice comfy places to read. It broke my hear to peer into the windows and see what remains of the first floor of the library. Seeing the land and possible structural damage to the building... Just heart breaking.
The Paramount Theater also go hit hard...and I went to several of the Cedar Rapids Symphony performances when I was young (My dad's company donated money to them, I think, and always had tickets...which apparently almost nobody but my parents wanted). The CR Symphony can be credited with my early love of music (almost all kinds).
We took a few pictures, and headed over to my parents to see Joseph.
Posted by SammyD at 10:45 AM | Comments (0)
July 29, 2008
After two days without my RSX-S, my car is now back in my possession and I got to say that the scratches are gone and the bumper looks like it did before.
Props to Acheson Auto Body West for getting it it restored back to it's original beauty.
Posted by SammyD at 6:31 PM | Comments (0)
July 28, 2008
Not something I expected to see...
Sunday evening, we're downstairs being lazy, watching some DVR'd things. And we both hear a loud thump against the basement window closest to the front of the house (near the northeast corner). I get up to investigate, and there is a tabby cat (stray I'm assuming) and in her mouth is a fairly large bunny rabbit (lots of clover in my yard, so we have lots of rabbits). She looked shocked to see me and quickly jumped out of the shallow window well and started to drag the kill away from our house. Shannon got up and went to the other window (near the southeast corner), to see it drag it further down the dead end.
Certainly not something I expected to see...
Posted by SammyD at 7:24 AM | Comments (0)
July 17, 2008
So after one of the worst days of my working life (I'd like to say...but work policies prevent me from doing so...but I'll just say that the SAN admin that setup my drives deserves a swift kick in the butt....but he doesn't work here anymore), I headed over to the Gateway Market to find something for dinner...and in walking around I started thinking about what to make for Adam's Birthday Party (for us, not to share). So lamb burgers it is! Found a wonderfully smelling cheese that I think will fit with the lamb well...I'll do the prep before we go there and then cook 'em up on the grill.
I think I'll make some cookies to share..or something...haven't decided yet
Anyways, knowing that I don't have to go back to work until Monday (took Friday off)...has helped relax me quite a bit.
Posted by SammyD at 7:15 PM | Comments (0)
July 12, 2008
So in waiting at Chris and Holly's to go over to the movie theater to see Hellboy 2, apprently Dave's parking break failed..and well...his car rolled back down the hill on the driveway...and ran into my front bumper...
The damage doesn't look too bad (in the dark).
I guess we'll see what the professionals say...
But it is kind of funny...you'd think that the first accident in my car would happen...I don't know...while I was in it...
Posted by SammyD at 12:02 AM | Comments (0)
July 6, 2008
After Shannon got back from giving Spunky a shot of insulin (Chris & Holly's huge kitty), we headed down to the Western Gateway Park to go to the Friday's shot of 80 - 35.
We missed the Des Moines Boyz and a bit of Ingrid Michaelson. I actually liked some of her music, so I may end up buying a CD. We hunkered down and watched Andrew Bird, who put on a good show, even though I prefer to see them in a group...but in watching it, it reminded me that I still need to get a Martin Dosh album or two (probably starting with one).
Then The Flaming Lips took the stage. With a combination of giant balloons (pushed out into the audience), huge confetti cannons, encouraged sing alongs, a big ball to get tossed around the crowd on, and a round screen behind them they put on a visually stimulating show. Going though a lot of music that I know and a bit that I wasn't as familiar with, it was probably one of the better shows that I've been to. Shannon enjoyed the spectacle of it too. It was a fun way to spend the 4th.
On both nights there were sets of painted ladies. Where they were wearing boy shorts and the rest of their body was spray painted (nipples covered with tape). It was interesting...
On the 5th, I was scheduled for work at 5:PM, but being that I didn't have much to do, I headed down at around noon. And found out that the morning shift was full, with nothing to, I headed back home and headed back down again around 4. I eventually got assigned to go work at a ticket booth selling tickets for water, soda, red bull, and ice cream along with tickets for beer (much more popular). The selling of tickets was not too exciting, but people kept buying in bursts. Over the night there were a few highlights. One less then sober individual gave me a 10$ tip (not that I was taking tips, but he wouldn't let me not take a tip). So I then proceeded to use that and others, to round out peoples money so they could get 3 tickets, rather then two.
There was a little girl that got a missile pop and proceeded to hold the Popsicle by the Popsicle switching off hands and when she'd switch, she'd wipe the off hand on her shirt and then switch back and wipe her other hand. She did this until she was showed how to hold it by the stick. I got to say that it was very cute.
About an hour and a half before the show was done, a guy came up and bought 100$ worth of tickets (30 beers). I was stunned, but who am I to say no?
At some point, we were told to just give away the frozen things (since they didn't want to have left overs). So the kids of some of the people helping at the booth (I think one was a principal at one of the local Des Moines schools), went out with boxes of ice cream sandwiches, lemon cups, etc, and would come back in 5-10 minutes with an empty box. It was pretty amazing.
While the volunteer thing worked, for the most part. I think most stations were covered. However, they needed to have things better organized on the front end. There was a lot of confusion about where to get the volunteer meals, where the assignments were (I would've taken the mini-map, X'ed where they were supposed to be for every person). When and were they made assignments. I showed up, they told me to wait, and then others showed up and they started sending them out to do things, so I got back in line and got assigned to do what I did. I would've made a clear distinction int he booths selling water, soda, red bull and the ones selling beer, and having the the wristbands entirely separate (some places they were, some, not so much). Maybe they didn't have enough people on the top end telling people what to do. They'll get better next year though.
So it sounds like it was a a success. 15,000 tickets Friday and Shannon said the news was estimating another 15,000 today, which probably more then paid for the $650,000 budget for the show (somewhere in the range of $750,000 - 1,050,000). I talked to one of the finance guys and apparently for their sponsorship, Olde Main Brewing Company donated the beer, and DMMC got to keep the profits. Which I applaud them for. And considering I personally stuffed an envelope 3 times with 3 inch or so stacks of twenties and one time when I was off eating another one there handed over a big stack, and we were just one of the many ticketing counters.
For Olde Main Brewing Company, I had, over the two days, tried all the beers that they served. The only one I didn't like was their light beer, which was a lot like bud light...and...well...I'm not a huge fan of bud light. But the rest were pretty good. I had already bought some of their Off Kilter Scottish Ale from Hy-Vee and gotten through most of the six pack.
So it sounds like it was a success. The weather was awesome (2nd day being hotter and a bit more humid then the first, but still fairly pleasant), and I hope it means they'll have one next year too. It's a great thing for Des Moines.
Posted by SammyD at 6:29 AM | Comments (0)
June 11, 2008
Floodwaters are out to get you...
So I went downtown to pick up my boss to get some coffee, and we ended up driving around, going to the East Villiage and seeing the swollen river. It is quite impressive. I can't really compare it with the floods of 1993, since, well, I didn't live here. Looks like things are going fairly well so far, and the city is well prepared.
I've not seen much in the way of what Cedar Rapids has gone through yet, but, it now sounds like they are talking as if this will be a 500 year flood (how do you calculate that?). I know at work they are preparing some contingency plans, due to the large amount of servers we have in the downtown area there. We called our parents last night, and my mom said dad and my younger brothers were downtown helping to sandbag.
Though I haven't asked any neighbors that have lived here in 1993, though no in our neighborhood seems concerned. The family to the west of us had a little water in the basement, but they didn't seemed concerned. I'm not either.
I am kind of concerned about the 63rd Street Bridge...the water seems to be getting fairly close to coming over the road...but I think the city is out there.
Posted by SammyD at 5:51 PM | Comments (0)
June 6, 2008
A plethora of entries combined for your convenience
Jimmy's 30th Birthday Party
Last Saturday, we headed up to Boone, to help celebrate Jimmy's 30th. On the drive up we passed through lakes...well...they looked like lakes, but really it was flooded out farm fields and what not. One of the gas stations near the I35 - Highway 30 exchange almost had the floodwaters up to their back door. It was quite crazy. We got to Boone, I handed Jimmy the dozen and a half or so oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, which he proceeded to go hide. It was a nice meet up with many salt of the earth people, kids, parents, grand parents, friends, neighbors. Quite the gathering.
A few things I noticed, quite a few smokers...but I rarely saw any name brands...or at least not that I recognize. Lotta love (even though there was a lot of jokes thrown around). Worry and tension about the economy and jobs.
A few interesting things. Both Bob and Jackie (who were dating when I was in college) got married on the same day (to different people). Their receptions...were well...right across the parking lot from each other. It sounds as if Bob had checked on where Jackie's was, but it was already booked. It was a strange to hear the stories. Jackie's got a beautiful child.
As night grew on, many got quite a bit on the drunker side of life. Eventually we headed home.
Just a s a side note, we did drive Shannon's car to save a few bucks...though driving with no cruise control...kinda sucks....my car is more comfortable anyways...at least for me.
Ahnaka's 2nd Birthday Party
Last Sunday we went to Backyard Adventures to celebrate 2 years of life in Jerry and Nay's oldest, Ahnaka's. It was actually quite fun, because the equipment is apparently built well enough that even my fat self can play. Shannon slid down a few slides, I did some swinging and even made a silly attempt to shoot some baskets (I suck).
It was fun, got lots of pictures of silliness. They put out some cupcakes, ice cream treats and we fun...
There was a like a old peoples swings and I gotta say i'd like that by it's self...put it in the back yard, and just sit out there and ready while swinging.
Ground Chicken?
So we used a coupon to buy some ground chicken on our last shopping trip. I combined it with some leftover ground pork and made mini burgers for movie night. Spiced it a little (I didn't think enough), used some of the Gateway market dinner rolls, some arugula, some Bubbies pickles, a sliced up tomato, several types of mustard, catsup and mayo. Quite good. That with some over baked fries...mmm...pretty good...and simple too.
Cleaning!
We both had the day off today, so I spent the day doing some outside work, while Shannon got some parts done on the inside. I mowed the lawn, and after a bit got to cleaning the garage. I threw a way a bunch of stuff (some left behind by the previous owner...yeah yeah I know I've lived here for over four years). And then decided to leave more for next week (since the garbage can was filling up quick). I also filled up the divot in the side yard with a bag of dirt that Brandon gave me. Then covered it in grass seed, fertilizer and some water. Shannon got quite a bit of the walls in the dining room cleaned off, from the remaining paste and what not left from peeling off the wall paper.
Medical
My foot is feeling better, walking is no longer a challenge. Though rotating it to the left and the right, still feels wierd and a little painful. I went for a blood draw today, to find out how my liver is doing after being on the Tricor for 3 months. I'm gonna try to restart exercising on Monday, and see how it goes.
Posted by SammyD at 8:04 PM | Comments (0)
May 26, 2008
Long and relatively busy Memorial day weekend
I took Friday off, to make it into a four day weekend, and Friday was my lazy day, for the most part, I did make it out of the house to run an errand or three, but beyond that, I mostly stayed at home and goofed off.
Saturday we met the Mattas at Blank Park Zoo and wandered around the zoo with them and their girls and Jenny's mom. We got to see the elephant and it's baby and doing the tricks. Saw some more, including the jellyfish. It was pretty fun. We split up, they headed off to the mall (to wander and play for a bit and go to target) and we went and got dinner. We picked up quite a bit of food from Uncle Wendell's. Out of a Nathan, his pulled pork got a "pretty good" and the beef brisket got an "Excellent". I noticed a difference in the pulled pork, thought it might just be me. thought I think it was better then previous times I've been there. A little spicier...maybe.
Jenny and Nathan put the girls to bed, and we proceeded to chat and goof off in the basement (Nathan being impressed and now desireing a PS3). He did mention that he'd like a Wii, to get the girls to play (wife and kids) but he wasn't even sure that would work.
Sunday morning I made a big breakfast (Nathan cut fruit for me) of bacon, sausage, french toast, pineapple, strawberries and blueberries. Got everyone all full and sent the Mattas off on their day at Adventureland. I needed to make cookies, so it didn't make much sense for us to go. The weather got all warm, the oven made the kitchen hotter and after making about a dozen and a half oatmeal raisin cookies and the same of oatmeal chocolate chip (60% Ghirardelli). It wouldn't have been too bad, if the cookies weren't so big and had to bake for ~23 minutes per 6 cookie batch. The kitchen got into the 90s...warm weather and warm oven equals hot kitchen.
Monday we packed up the cookies, some water and headed up north to Pine Lakes State Park. After we got there we had trouble finding the supposed beach there, so we called Hyrum and ended up going to the boat ramp area. So Hyrum and his family showed up 10 or 15 minutes after we had been told to meet (11:30). Then Jed and Stephanie. Then nearly an hour and a half after or so, Mom and Dad showed up (they had gotten lost) and then since they were going back and forth too much, Lovina had refused to follow them until they knew where they were going. So after dropping of my mom, and Isaac, Dad went back to get Lovina, her two girls and Joseph.
After that, food started to get prepared, but people were already digging into the cookies, since it was a bit late. People started eating. Pea and Pasta salad and a strawberry jello salad from Diane, fresh baked buns from Jed, cheese and bacon stuffed burgers from Joseph, some chips, salsa, turkey hot dogs, condiments and a pumpkin cake from my mom.
After lunch, people wandered down by the boat ramp (not much of one) and watched the lake. It wasn't too much longer after that, that Shannon and I decided to head home. We headed back up to Steamboat Rock and stopped at their (I assume) only gas station, the Rock Stop....that's right the Rock Stop. We then headed out of town and tried to stop by the Eagle City Winery and Vineyard...but they are apparently closed on Mondays...so, we didn't go down the gravel road, to even see if it was open. Which is too bad I guess. I have been thinking about trying to visit as many producers in Iowa as I could and since we were already up there...but oh well.
The trip back home was farily unevently.
Posted by SammyD at 5:24 PM | Comments (0)
May 21, 2008
So Jenny came over from Cedar Rapids, and Shannon, Jenny and I headed down to the rally being held over in the East Village. So we went down a bit early (I was going to go down earlier, but since I heard that they were just opening up the gates at 7:30 and that Obama was probably not gonna speak until after 9:PM). So we waited in line...which eventually started moving slowly. We were hit up by people selling buttons, t-shirts and to sign up to volunteer (which I believe all three of us were). Then hit up by Fallon's Campaign, Boswell's Campaign, and Americans For Health Care (sponsored by the SEIU) (didn't sign their stuff, since 1. don't like the SEIU (seems like they are a union to protect unions rather then to actually make reasonable demands to companies about employee rights and benefits) and 2. I'm not a single issue voter, because being a single issue voter is BS).
The line wrapped around a few blocks, crossed a street and wrapped around the blood center. When we finally got up to be searched by security (kinda like an airport screening, but not as invasive, since you don't have suitcases with you). We got ourselves placed with a semi-obstructive view of the staged. We listened to a local band Faculty Lounge (they were ok), then the Isiserettes performed for a while (they're always fun to see). With much more waiting we eventually heard from a few from the Obama campaign. Found out there was representation from all around the state. We noticed the Secret Service, Des Moines Police, and their STAR team, with snipers on the roofs of the surrounding buildings.
Eventually a bit after 9:PM, Obama finally took the stage and gave a good speech (like he always does), announced that he had the majority of the delegates (to a roar of applause) and was very complementary to the Clinton campaign. After the speech was over people started to leave, and so did we. Lots of waiting, but it was still fun (lots of people watching, a very diverse crowd (especially for Iowa)).
Watching the events on the both of the decent local news (8, and 13), we saw that there were protestesters, but obviously they didn't know a good location to pick, because I never saw them (in coming or going). We headed back home, and after a little sit and drink water time, Jenny headed back to Cedar Rapids.
Posted by SammyD at 11:49 AM | Comments (0)
May 19, 2008
For as much crap as I've taken over the years from being from the backwaters of Iowa (even if the smallest place I've lived was Ames at around 50,000 people), all I can say is that at least I'm not from West Virgina...The interviews they had from people there are just shockingly misinformed. From what I've read, it didn't take much for the reporters to find those people.
Yesterday, my dad, youngest sister, Lovina, and her two girls drove through and I fed them dinner. It was nice, but the children were obviously a bit restless, considering they have driven from California (Lovina's staying with my parents while her hubby finishes up the last parts of his military training).
Saturday, I missed out on Django's preview (My boss used the tickets in my name, said the food was great), but I had the opportunity to go see Shannon's niece and nephew in the Cherie's Dance Studio Recital. It was...well...long. Obviously parts of it was cute (the parts with them in it) and parts were interesting (the elite dancers are pretty good), but over all, by the end of the night I was anxious to go home (2.5+ hours is a long time to sit). As a note to my siblings who wonder why I don't go to their children's activities. If we can drive to it, and you give us enough notice and we're not already doing something, then we'll consider it. But if you call me the week before and ask me to attend, don't be surprised if we can't make it.
Our upcoming camping trip with friends, got it's location changed from the Decorah area, to much closer to home, and with the price of gas, I'm quite happy about that.
My foot/ankle is betterish, though there is still some residual pain...I thinking about seeing the doctor again this week...
Posted by SammyD at 9:30 AM | Comments (0)
May 6, 2008
So the new roof is on...it's pretty close to being the same, but it has some alternating colors.
Before:
After:
Posted by SammyD at 8:11 PM | Comments (1)
May 5, 2008
So when we were staying with the Matta's the weekend before last, I showed Cali and Taylor something I remember from my childhood. So it's the give me five, on the side, cut the pickle (two fingers held together), tickle tickle (where you tickle people). and apparently they have not stopped doing it, much to the annoyance of their parents...
hee hee hee...
Posted by SammyD at 4:25 PM | Comments (0)
May 1, 2008
So since Cam was coming to visit from Japan and Dave (Middle School through College friend) drove down from Madison. So last Saturday (4/26/2008) we got together. So we chatted, topics ranging from food to politics to whatever. Jenny and Nathan were there, along with Shannon and I and Clif. Good time all around.
So the previous week, I dropped off lamb from Iowa for Joesph to smoke. and that was the main course of this snaky meal. Popular. Very good...the smoke, I think accentuates the lambyness of it, so if you don't like lamb...it might be a bit much for you. Jenny made a corn and soybean salad...I can't remember what she called it...but that was good too.
So I went all over the metro to find items from around the state of Iowa. So lets start with food. First we had Feta (which was award winning, but I can't remember where in Iowa it was from). We had some Chevre from Northern Prairie Chevre and Reichart's Dairy Air (seriously get a website people). We got two other cheeses called Prairie Breeze from Milton Creamery (I saw their pamphlet at Gateway Market, but no website). And last, but certainly not least, were the red pepper cheese curds from Picket Fence Creamery (This is where we generally get our milk and they have pretty good ice cream too). I was hoping to get some of the swiss and white cheddar from Maytag Dairy Farms, but apparently they don't sell anything but their blue in stores...which I find kind of annoying. I know I've bought some of the cheddar and swiss last year at the farmers market...
To go with the cheese or by itself, we got some of the extraordinary La Quercia Prosciutto Americano...though to save a few bucks we got the crumble...Which goes great on pizza, crackers, with cheese and just by it's divine self. Who couldn't love pork?
We had two kinds of salsa from Juan O'Sullivans. We could've gotten some from Mad Butcher's, while I'm thinking about it...but I had forgotten...the Juan's was more of a thought that I might not have enough salty food (outside of the cheeses)...
For the desert side of things, we brought a box of cheesecake bites from Flarah's and a box of truffles from Chocolate Storybook and to top that off, a bag of gourmet marshmallows from Beaverdale Confections. Now for the marshmallows, we've gotten them before, and we had trouble finishing them (too sweet was Shannon's comment), though I liked them. They were on a stick. And this back were just cubes of marshmallows...and they were a bit gritty, like the sugar hadn't been fully incorporated. I think I said something about it like chewing on sugar. Not to say they're bad...but the experience so far as been fairly varied. The cheesecake and chocolate were both big hits (especially with the ladies).
On the alcohol side, we had a wide selection of wines (reds and whites, though we never got into any of the whites), beers and a couple of bottles of the harder stuff. We had a varied selection pack from Millstream Brewing, which I had some varieties that were pretty good, though it was later in the evening, so by that time, my tastes were getting pretty liquid impaired. We started off on the Snus Hill Winery's Sven Red. Which was the one that fairly well balanced and a bit sweet. Next up, was the Jasper Winery 2005 Chancellor...which was...really good (so good that when Cam came through on Monday, he ended up buying the last two bottles from the Gateway Market, one for the wedding he's going to in Canada and another for taking back to Japan). Then we opened the Madison County Winery's Frontenac, which was a dry red wine....and being that, it wasn't as popular. For the hard stuff, we sampled the Cedar Ridge Vineyards Winery & DistilleryClearHeartâ„¢ Vodka (we had a couple of bottles of their wine, which I've had before, but they didn't get opened). The vodka was...well vodka. It was better then many I've had, but not the top of my list. Though when I brought it home, the bottle was so tall, I'm not sure where to put it... Also from them (late addition), we had their port which is fantastic. And for one of my favorite things to come out of Iowa, we opened up my 2nd bottle of the Templeton Rye. When I was at the liquor store, he said that they sell 3-4 bottles a day of it.
People starting clearing out and going to bed...good party...if I had come up with the idea earlier, I could've perhaps taken some trips to get some of the things I couldn't get in Des Moines. Though I think I may try to do a party like this again, since it was very good. The only drawback here is that all the crackers, chips and etc were from outside the state.
I had a lot of fun searching and finding and then eating all these things.
Posted by SammyD at 9:59 AM | Comments (0)
April 25, 2008
An odd time at the barber shop
I got my hair cut at my barber and their was this older gentleman there getting his hair cut (I think I was the youngest in there by at least 30 years). He wasn't big fan of Bush (because of what's been happening to his pocketbook). And he pretty much said that he thought McCain was not right in the head (can't argue with that), didn't really like Hillary, but having Bill around there would probably help out, and didn't really trust Obama. And he said, I shit you not, "He might want to put the whites into poverty".
I tried to explain that He's a Harvard educated man, and I doubt very much that it would possible for that to happen (Bush is already putting us into poverty), but I guess you got to expect some of that type of thinking...It still kinda makes me a little sick to think that this still goes on, but I know it does. I know I'm not really exposed to racism too much, but it's still bothersome.
The process continues...I'm looking forward to a final decision on this whole process.
Posted by SammyD at 9:50 PM | Comments (0)
April 24, 2008
Woot! It's the weekend...(taking off tomorrow to slow down the growth of my PTO bank)
Tomorrow I go pick up some more Iowa things for the "Remind Cam of Iowa" party over in Cedar Rapids for a friend who's in to visit from Japan. An apparently another that's taking a break from his school (gotta be grad school by now) studies to come down from Madison.
So my brother's got some Iowa Lamb, he's gonna smoke it on Saturday. Gotta get some more goats cheese (I ate some like the over eater that I am). And some pretzels. I've got some jam I'm gonna take over and I'll get some bread on Saturday (so It's nice a fresh). I got a bottle from Snus Hill winery (Holly this was the blush I was talking about that Shannon liked, it was the Sven Red). And Maybe I'll get some more...pick up some millstream (Iowa beer). Get some more Iowa things...
So...uh woo! I'm looking forward to it.
Posted by SammyD at 8:21 PM | Comments (0)
April 20, 2008
So last night after eating some bbq from Uncle Wendell's at Chris and Holly's we went off to see Forgetting Sara Marshall. Get back, hang out for a bit, go out to my car...
And Shannon saw something on the windshield...turns out that the hooligans were apparently having fun at my expense. A good portion of an egg was on the passenger side of the window, some egg shells...So I raged a bit, cursed and what not...
So I headed across the way got a wash, and it got the majority of the egg off...deciding it wasn't enough I remembered that there was a gas station down the way (I needed gas anyways) that had a wash that actually touches the car...so I filled up, and went through that wash...almost all of the egg was gone, then went back and got a squeegee and rubbed and scrubbed off the rest.
Even though my car is made by Acura, it's not like it's the most expensive car in the world...they don't even make it anymore...Oh well...no accounting for the obnoxiousness of kids...
Posted by SammyD at 8:43 AM | Comments (2)
April 19, 2008
I think the gremlin travelled with me...
So at work, I found out that a core assumption that I made was...well..false...I think I figured out how to fix it...sort of...but I'm not sure until I actually try...whee!
Then, after I left work, and headed out of the metro, and was proceeded to be tailgated (though I was speeding, and I couldn't get over since there was no room in the traffic leaving Des Moines) for miles... I finally got over and passed. And here's what got funny...later when the limit went up to 70 and I increased my speed, I ended up catching up with the person and passing them. So it seems like they're willing to go 15 over when in the metro, but not so much in the country? That doesn't make sense to me.
Travelling up I380 (HOLY GOD THEIR ROADS ARE CRAPPY), I pulled off to a gas station (I think it was the same one that a bunch of wet cribber campers were at when we got downpoured on a few or so years ago) cause I had to go...
Got back on the road and headed north, and the traffic just got slower and slower...finally stopped...I was first complaining about the number of commuters between Iowa City and Cedar Rapids...then it became something else...then...about 30 minutes later, it was more the thought, if I don't see a dead body, I'm gonna have to make one... :-D
Finally got up to the accident. It was a 3 car on the left side of the road (near the interchange of I380 and Highway 30E (I think)). A car was crunched by a pickup, which was in turn hit by another car. I thought this couldn't be it...this is already off the road...maybe a little slow down, but not a stop...
Then on the on ramp up from 30W there was another problem. A semi, towing a large chunk of a pre-fab house had several (maybe 3 or 4) tires that had blown and the trailer looked like it was on the rims...on the interstate ramp...
I got to my parents hung out a bit and headed over to the Mattas.
Nathan was just finishing up with bathing Taylor and Cali and getting them in they're PJs...We played with the girls a bit before Nathan put them to bed...
So he went to check on the basement (since they do have an issue with water coming into the basement). He takes a step down, and comes up withe a wet sock...on the finished, carpeted part of the basement...So it turns out that the water tile that runs through the back of his yard was...well...full, so his sump pump is basically pumping into a place that is already full of water. So...in the unfinished part of the basement he had an inch or two of standing water....
We hooked up his hose from his wet dry vac to the output from the sump pump, then had that feed into another hose, and into another to get it out on to the lawn...which was pretty much already saturated with water...After about an hour or so, parts of his basement were pretty dry, while others were pretty wet...so the basement doesn't really slope towards the drain or the sump pump...and is very uneven (as the water shows)...
Shortly after that I took off to drive home (and going only 4 over, which was a good thing, cause there were cops everywhere on I80).
Posted by SammyD at 7:38 AM | Comments (0)
April 11, 2008
Welcome to the World, Madeline!
Earlier today Madeline Olivia Hoffman was born to her parents Adam and Tiff. She was born at 1:30 PM and weighed 8 pounds 5 ounces and was 19.25 inches long.
More details and pictures at the Hoffman Family Blog.
Congrats to Adam, Tiff, & Savannah.
Posted by SammyD at 9:09 PM | Comments (0)
April 9, 2008
I made a sausage, bean and tomato soup on Monday for movie night. It turned out very well...good recipe from Cook's Country. It was interesting to take about half the beans with some stock and blend it up to make a general base for the soup...I've been having a lot of less recipe thoughts in my head and more formulas. So instead of spicy Italian sausage and white beans, switch it over to say some ground chuck or cut beef and kidney beans and you got a thickener for chili (which I still haven't made).
I bought a big leg of lamb (from Iowa), I'm going to have my brother smoke it and use it for a party to celebrate a friend visiting Iowa (from Japan). It has to be the most I've spent on a single piece of meat...I've had steaks in restaurants that cost more, but I didn't pay for them...
I got a new chair at work yesterday. It was nice, adjusted a bunch of things, but in sitting on it today, I'm not sure that I like it. I just don't think it has enough give or cushion on the seat or the back. I think...all the adjustable things were nice, but for long term sitting, I nead a bit more padding. As Shannon tells me, I have no butt, so more padding is nice.
George was making slight movements with his paws and mouth. I wonder if cats dream, and if they do dream if there has been any studies on what they might dream of. I know I heard a story...on NPR I think about mice dreaming...and they dreamed about running mazes (the brain patterns on the mice running the maze were the same when they were sleeping and then they also adjusted to apparently run made up mazes)...So it was just an interesting thought.
We've been collecting roof and gutter bids...they weren't as much as we thought...which is nice. So if you know any roofers or gutters...let me know.
Posted by SammyD at 6:23 PM | Comments (0)
March 24, 2008
So we headed over to Cedar Rapids for easter. The drive over wasn't too bad, though there seemed to be a plethora of drivers who were in such a hurry that they had to drive like extreme jackholes...
We stopped first and Shannon's parents and chatted while they ate dinner. Sean was feeling under the weather (ear infection) but Sheighliegh (sp?) seemed to be as chipper as normal.
It was pretty fun...good to catch up
We headed over to my parents around 3 to have a late lunch/early dinner. At my house the attendance was fairly light, comparatively, with only my parents, us, Jed and Stephanie, Joseph and Isaac for a total of 8. Josephy made a smoked a leg of lamb and we had quite the setting of sides. For dessert we had pie, pumpkin (mom still has lots and lots of pumpkin) and basically a chocolate nut fudge pie...both in my grandma's crust recipe (made with lard!). Dinner was great, the lamb was smokey, lamby, and juicey. Big fan. I also got to try Joesph's attempt at BBQ sauces. One he wanted to have a root beer undertone, but wasn't able to achieve it, although it was still a pretty good sweet sauce. The second was a mustard based sauce w/ bacon...it was very good. In fact at a recent church potluck, he was asked many times for the recipe....
After dinner, we chatted a while, and then we headed home. Traffic was much worse coming on, including an incident with a douche on the south side of CR, in a crappy looking red Hyundai Elantra, got on I380 on the Highway 30 on ramp, proceeded to cut me off, accelerate, and then exit at the VERY NEXT EXIT...
There were numerous people that were in such a hurry, that they had to drive like total jack holes, to gain a mere car length. When I think about the tickets that I have received over the years, which I've received many, I get a little miffed, that my speeding is ticketed, but these guys driving relatively recklessly is not. I don't generally drive in such a future fashion, and yet I'll get dinged for 12 over...oh well.
Posted by SammyD at 11:32 AM | Comments (0)
March 11, 2008
I've been having a lot of trouble lately. My moods have been swinging all over the place. Feelings of accomplishment, only to be dashed by more requests that are getting more and more minute. Feeling good to waking up in the morning in pain. I know that a lot of my health problems are self induced (yes, cholesterol and blood pressure tend to run high in my family, but the extra pounds doesn't help either). And even with the knowledge that it's really only me that can do it, I still over eat and it's very depressing. On the other side of that, eating still brings me comfort, so it's a kind of silliness...even if I eat healthier things, I tend to over do it.
I'm also depressed about our finances. Even though we're certainly better then we were last year, and we're not to a point where we're just looking over the edge (we can certainly see the edge). But even with that, faced with putting a new roof on the house is gonna remove any progress that we made and move it back into probably a tighter place then where we were at the worst of it. I guess I can't really say cause I have no idea what it would cost to do it...I had an estimate, but I'm sure prices of both labor and material has gone up since then...
And because of this, it also effects my hobby (which also effects the weight wee). Most of our meals are fairly simple, lot of them made from scratch (using cheaper ingredients). This can range for the price of the email, sometimes it's more, sometimes it's less (then pre-packaged garbage or take out or restaurants). The only real exceptions I have is movie night (where I pretty much have no limitations, though the last meal, excluding the price of the cheeses, was under 10$ for 4 people w/ leftovers) and special occasions. Though the thought of buying another 2 pounds of lobster meat frightened me (since I'm not allowed to buy live lobster), just...luckily we probably have enough leftover from the last time...
I really don't know what eludes me about frosting a cake. I don't know if my frosting just sucks or I do. Or maybe I'm just not patient enough to wait for the frosting to form properly...Looking at what I made tonight, the frosting didn't look like it was ever going to have the consistency of mayonnaise, like it said in the recipe...even after letting it cool for 2 hours or so... It became a separate style of frosting a cake...since apprently the other way wasn't gonna happen. Or maybe it's because I ran out of granulated sugar, and had to use powdered sugar...which I guess is the only really amazing thing. I bought a 10 pound bag of sugar for the desserts I made for my birthday, and in less then a year (about 9 months), all of that sugar is gone...not that we ate all that, but it's still something...
My iPod's battery is getting worse and worse. I didn't even make it halfway through making the cake, before the battery said it was dead...it's really getting annoying...I guess the option here is to get a charger for the kitchen. I have one for work, one in my car, I can hook it to my laptop down here and charge it...I dunno...maybe I just want a new one...which we really can't afford.
Being responsible sucks.
Posted by SammyD at 10:46 PM | Comments (0)
February 29, 2008
random ranting and other things
Well I guess I don't have much bad to say about mediacom, 2/3rds of my last payment came back. So I guess that's a good thing. I got the check about a week ago.
I'm sick of winter. The snow, then the warm up, then the icy snow, then a warm up...I heard we're over 50 inches for this winter...which, while isn't record breaking, is quite a bit above normal.
So with the kitchen cart, the saga continues. I finally opened up the big box that contained a door and two hinges...quite the over packing. To find out the door was the wrong one...but I only found it after I had to break the door that was on there (with the mis-drilled holes), to try to get it on. So I called and another door is on the way...hopefully for the last time.
I got my new glasses today. I got them from Russ' Uptown Optical, where I had what I think is the best eye exam I've had, and then proceeded to drop a chunk of change (mmm...pre tax dollars) on the new ones. They're pretty nice...light and the new coating on them makes the outside look quite a bit better.
I took the day off...I'm starting to like this every other Friday off thing...and considering I can do that and still gain time in my PTO bank (mine is 87% full).
Posted by SammyD at 1:17 PM | Comments (0)
February 20, 2008
So in our continuing interest in the restaurants in Des Moines, we went to Lucca over in the East Village.
Lucca is owned by Steve Logsdon, who is the brother of Joe Logsdon who owns La Mie (who needs a website), which is one of our favorites (bakery and restaurant). Steve also does Basil Prosperi breads, which are also fantastic.
So the had a 3 course menu, which consists of a appetizer, main and usually a cheese course, from the cheese cave. Since I am writing this way late, I'll provide just general details, rather then specific ones, since I didn't take notes, and I'm forgetting the terms.
Shannon had Gnocchi and a Duck Pasta, and I had a pork based appetizer and Beef and Mashed potatoes (which ended up being pasta, since they had run out of mashed potatoes). So everything we had was very good. The duck was probably the best I've had (in my limited, but growing experience). My beef was very tender and delicious.
For dessert, which was special, since they normally do the fromage (cheese), they had a vanilla bean custard type of a thing with hand made chocolate truffles. Both being very very good.
Service started off a bit slow, but being that we were at the tail end of the people going to the show at the Civic Center. After they cleared out, the speed picked up dramatically.
I had a couple of glasses of wine, and Shannon had none. With all that we were just a bit under 100$ for the two of us without tip. I'm looking forward to going again...and so is Shannon.
Posted by SammyD at 8:13 PM | Comments (0)
February 15, 2008
Lamb Chops on a bed of rice w/ pancetta, white onion, garlic and shallots with a salad of baby spinach with blue cheese crumbles with a pear and roasted red pepper vinaigrette (no pictures, forgot to take).
Went pretty well, cooked the lamb a little longer then I wanted to (they were still a little pink in the middle but not enough for my taste.
For dessert we had a piece of chocolate mouse cake and chocolate cake (from Gateway Market). I had plans of making some cookies on Wednesday night (then taking to my work and sending to Shannon's), but when I got home I didn't feel very good, so I didn't so much bake anything
Posted by SammyD at 6:29 AM | Comments (0)
February 10, 2008
In a move to piss me off further, Mediacom has sent me a bill for the next months service.... This is almost exactly 1 day shy of 2 weeks or when I dropped off my equipment at the Mediacom office (I still have my receipt for dropping it off).
According to what I have already paid for, I still have a week left of service. So that means they owe me a refund for nearly 3 weeks (just 1 or two days shy (depending on if you count the Monday as a day I have to pay for or not).
I called and had the direct pay removed my account and the person told me not to worry about it...but until I get a refund for services not used, this is n
