Friday, December 26, 2008

Enough Already!

I'm done....

We have now had snow for almost two weeks and I am ready for it to go away. It is seriously getting on my nerves now...

If the temperature would stay constantly below freezing I wolud be loving it, but the last two days it has been around 35. The once nice light dry snow is now the consistency of wet cement. ...and just about as heavy.

The neighborhood road is packed about ten inches thick, higher than the sidewalks, with ruts where people have spun their tires to the asphalt. Coming back from the gocery store there was a fella in a minivan stuck at the corner so I had to stop. Five minutes later when he decided to back out, he almost slid into me so I had to back into some deep snow to get some clearance. This, just about got me stuck. I had to use all the tricks in the book short of a shovel to get the RDX to the driveway. With the deep ruts I think it is starting to float on its belly so it doesn't get all its weight on the ground. I need to remember to throw my avalanche show shovel in the back next time I venture out.

Since the snow was melting today, I cleaned the entire driveway clean. then guess what happened. It snowed two more inches of concrete.

With all this 'global warming' I think I may invest in a snow blade for the truck.

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Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Seattle Sports

Carrie email me an interesting article on Seattle Sports today.

The Worst Year Ever
Think the last 12 months were rough? It could be worse. You could be a sports fan in Seattle.


It tells the story of how miserable a sports year can be...








Has any city ever endured a year in sports like the one the Emerald City is just completing? A 101-loss, last-place baseball season, despite a payroll of $117 million; a 62-loss, last-place NBA season; a 12-loss, last-place college football season (the first 0-12 season in the history of the Pac-10); an 11-loss (and counting) NFL season; four coaching/managerial changes; one general manager dismissal; and, of course, the hijacking of its basketball team to Oklahoma @$&%ing City. Sure, other cities have lost their teams or endured epic losing seasons, but for it all to happen in one calendar year? To end December without a single head coach or manager who was employed in January returning for the next year?


It's really quite amazing when you think about it... I think the Seahawks are the biggest surprise. Their bizarre flurry of injuries, especially to the receivers, and their drop in wins makes me wonder what kind of bad karma has come over this city.

One of the coolest thing about last Sundays game in the snow, other than the weather (pun intended), was the fact that the stadium was still packed for a 3-11 team that is going nowhere this year. If you didn't know any better you'd think the Hawks were playing for a playoff spot, the crown still brought the noise.

Don't feel sorry for me though. I take it all in stride. Sure, I'd love for all the teams to win every game. But I thing a year like this is good. It is galvanizing, a sports fans 'thinning of the herd'.

One of my least favorite this is the fan that thinks he can run the team better than the people that are paid to do it. You know the guy... Constantly second guessing the coaches play calling, bitching about draft picks, tackling, this and that. "Fire the coach"
"The GM has to go"
And on and on.
These people ruin the game experience for me. I watch football for entertainment, not to listen to people moaning about this and that. Like I've said before, if my team wins, my day is better, if they lose, no change. I don't take it that seriously, because it is just entertainment.

I noticed that by the end of the year, 'that guy', wasn't coming to the games anymore. He gave up his tickets to people that just wanted to see a football game... It was quite pleasant in the stands. We just enjoyed the game that was played in front of us. No distractions. Refreshing.

My favorite quote from the article...
Anyone can show support when the team is winning. The mark of true fans is showing support when their teams are losing.


Merry Christmas everyone!

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Sunday, December 21, 2008

Snow Game!!!



Edit: More Pics!


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Whole Chicken

I am now a huge fan of buying whole chickens... It's really easy to do and it is fantastic!

I started with a Jaime Oliver recipe from his first book "The Naked Chef". I had to improvise a bit as I didn't have the stuff to do it identically, but hey, that is the fun of cooking... When it works! (this did)



After rinsing and drying the chicken, I rubbed the insides with salt, and stuffed it with a lemon (halved) and some rosemary and bay leaves. I made pockets between the breast and skin and put various spices and some olive oil in there. On the outside I rubbed olive oil and some more spices. Cooked it for and hour plus ten and it was finished. Honestly some of the best chicken I have had!

The beauty is, for less than we pay for the two trimmed breasts, I get two meals out of the thing, and I can make a homemade stock out of the carcass.

Don't be afraid of the skin and the nasty bits, the end result is well worth it!

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Saturday, December 20, 2008

More Snow!


2-3 inches of snow have fallen since my last post, and it is still going pretty steady. My nice clear shoveled driveway needs to be done again.

Carrie and I are going to the Hawks game tomorrow, but instead driving in to downtown, we are going to take the train to the game. The transportation geek inside of me is pretty excited. The ride should be pretty with the snow and the waterfront... It just isn't worth messing with Seattle's hills in the snow. Sure we are insured, but it isn't worth the hassle. We might even start a new game day tradition!

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Snow Boots

Just ordered up some boots for Clyde the dog. We got these from Ruff Wear.




You are probably thinking that I am nuts, why would you pay $60 on a pair of shoes for a dog?

The reasons are threefold.

  • snow/ice
  • hiking trails
  • broken glass

Clyde has some pretty tough feet, but I want to take him out hiking a few times next year. One of my nightmares is being a few miles out and having him lay down because his feet are beat up. There is no way I could carry the guy for very far. These will help a great deal with that fear.

The snow is a no-brainer. I make a couple of bare handed snow-balls and I am done. He goes for a half hour walk on it... He doesn't complain, but I am pretty sure it isn't great for him. I'm just giving him an extra edge.

Pretty amazing when you think about it, dogs walking around in all conditions barefoot. Us humans with the advent of shoes have pussified our feet.

We'll be sure to shoot video when we put them on for the first time... I hear it can be pretty hilarious!

BTW, it is snowing again. We may just be able to have a white Christmas this year. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

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Friday, December 19, 2008

Brrrrrr......

Well, it is still cold here in Sea-Town. A winter wonderland. I don't think that the temperature cracked thirty all day.


This is looking down the street from my house. Apparently people forget how to park when everything is white. Yesterday, some bonehead from down the street went around the corner too fast and skidded up over the sidewalk where that Volvo is parked. If you zoom in you can see his skid marks.

The roads are pretty brutal. Carrie and I drove to the supermarket in the RDX (It has AWD) and at the stoplight before a main road, it was glare ice. All the anti-lock in the world does nothing if there is no traction to be had. The RDX wasn't gonna stop and traffic was coming. I made a split second decision and decided to go. We made it just fine.


Here are the Christmas lights. I love Christmas lights in the snow!

This year I went with the LED lights. I am not too big of a fan of the White C9's lining the roof line. Their color is too cold for me, I think of florescent lights in an office when I see them. I love the multi's on the three trees. I am going to use more of them next year.

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Sunday, December 14, 2008

Winter Wonderland



Yay! It has snowed! Clyde is ecstatic/annoying as all he wants to do is go out and play. Constantly.

We learned a long time ago not to leave Clyde's outdoor toys on the porch. Balls, sticks, squirrels... When the toys are visible to him he will paw at the sliding door and whine, wanting to be let out. Snow is one great big toy for him. As I am typing this, he is by my side whining.

As you can see from the picture we have been out in it already. He likes to run around with his nose in it. No yellow snow on the porch yet!

Last night before the snow started Carrie and I went downtown for my birthday dinner at one of my favorite restaurants. While I often complain about the downfalls of a birthday so close to Christmas, there is one huge plus to its timing. It is a wonderful festive time. The decorations, the music, everything is a little more special at this time of the year.

We had a fantastic dinner, the whole time with the jazzy Christmas music that is my favorite in the background. When we came out to collect the car from the valet, it was snowing pretty decent. Carrie drove (two martinis, a glass of wine, and a scotch with dessert took me out of the running...) us to Olympic Manor, a neighbor hood that goes all out with lights. Christmas music was playing on the XM, and snow was on the ground, a literal icing on the whole scene. I love it!

If I was born in July there would be none of this. Yes, there is the Fourth, but that is nothing compared to the juggernaut that we call the Christmas season.

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Saturday, December 13, 2008

Simple Pleasures

So I have been doing ten hour days at work again, going to work in the dark, driving home in the dark... Can be a bit depressing.

Thursday I was getting on I-5 to head home on an on-ramp where they have two lanes with the stoplights to let you on the freeway. The lights were going green-green almost in sync (other lane first) so it was like a drag race for the hole shot. I normally don't launch at these things anymore, but I had Captain Impatient lining up next to me.

Sure enough, we get our turn and Captain Impatient is anticipating the light, lurching multiple times until his back wheels are past the line, but still no green for him. Usually guys like that just go, but at least he was still waiting for green. His light was still red when I got my green. I barked the tires and roared off, laughing.

It made my evening, I laughed about it for a good part of my trip home. Simple pleasures.

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Sunday, December 07, 2008

Christmas Tree



'Charger Girl' asked, charger girl received.

Here is our Christmas tree this year. Been up for a week and the beast (Clyde) has yet to touch it.

That's good news, I don't need to be cleaning up any sparkly poops this year...

BTW, That is a 'fake' pre-lit tree, I love it. Pull it out of the box, plug it in, no fire/squirrel hazard. Plus, it is 'green', no trees were harmed.

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Roofs

It is absolutely pouring outside right now and Carrie and I aren't going to the Seahawks game.

The reasons we aren't going is three fold...


  1. The Hawks have nothing to play for, and quite frankly they aren't that good this year.
  2. Arguably the two best players (Matt Hasselbeck, Walter Jones) are not playing because of injuries.
  3. It's raining and cold.



If any of those factors were different, I'd be there. I enjoy watching football, even when my team isn't doing well. Like I have said many times, if the Hawks win, it is a net positive in my mood, if they lose, no change. That takes care of the first two.

The problem is the last one.



I enjoy being in the cold and rain... ...when I am doing an activity the ups my mood. Say fishing, taking the dog for a walk, even camping. I am a Seattlite with a few years in Alaska thrown in. We have all the right gear too. It's just watching a game with those other two conditions thrown in means there is fairly high chance that nothing good will happen. I can stay dry and warm, watch the game on my HD big screen, save some cash, and gain the extra two hours back that it takes to get to and from the game.

This is why they put roofs on stadiums.

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Saturday, December 06, 2008

My Head...

Sipping a cup of joe, nursing a headache this morning...

Spent last evening at the Winter Beer Fest with a few beer-buddies. A neat event, lots of good beers were tasted. A lot! I really enjoyed the smoother "woolly sweater by the fireplace" beers. My favorite beer was the 2007 Industrial Ho!Ho! from Diamond Knot Brewery. It was aged for a year with bourbon-aged oak chips. Fantastic!

I'm thinking that I need to change my strategy as to how I attack these festivals. Last night we basically attacked the thing like a bunch of twenty year old that just got the legal right to drink. I think in future beer fests I would like to go with a plan and a limit, and then retire to a nice eatery and discuss. That way I won't be a zombie when I am dropped off at my house at the end of the evening. I also think that I am going to join Washington Beer Lovers and go to more events than just three a year. This way I won't feel the need to binge on the fantastic nectar that Washington micro-breweries produce.

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Wednesday, December 03, 2008

Freakin' Rock!



Hot damn! That freakin' rocks.... I hear Hum will be playing a reunion show on the new years this year, I'd sure love to be there. Probably my favorite during my formative years, many hours were spent with this on 10 in the old GTI. Sniff, memories...

Edit... More! This time Engine Kid.


To bad the sound is a bit off in this video, epic stuff.

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Tuesday, December 02, 2008

And Now, Something Completely Different...

C.H.iP.'s! Yeah!



Whole episodes over at Sling.com. Bitch-in!

If C.H.iP.'s isn't up your alley, there are plenty more shows to choose from over there... Didn't spend too much time looking around because I was drawn directly to Seven Mary 3 & 4, but it look like an aggregator of sites like FOX and Hulu.com. Very cool to be able to see some of the shows that I grew up on.

Jeff... No luck so far finding 'THE' episode, but I am keeping my eyes out...

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