Sheri bought me a box of the World's best chocolates this week. Belgium of course.
She has to hide them from me (at my instance) and dole then out to me slowly. Otherwise they would be gone in a day and I would end up in a diabetic coma.
Friday, December 31, 2004
This evening arrived with no New Year's plans made. I decided I didn't feel like cooking anything because I didn't want a mess to clean up. We decided against just getting take-out and eating at home because just sitting at home for so long would make us feel like bumps-on-a-log. So through this process of elimination we decided we wanted to go out for a dinner, but not know where.
We didn't want to get dressed up for a really nice restaurant partly because we just didn't feel like it and partly because those kinds of places were probably already booked with New Year's reservations.
We wanted to do something a little bit nicer than our normal haunts. We decided to drive downtown (as opposed to the Loop or the City) and walk around and see what sounded good.
We stopped in Catch 35 first to look at the menu. Too much seafood for Sheri. It was also a little bit more formal than we were dressed for. The wait staff was all black tie.
We started walking south. We thought about the Brick House Pizzeria, but that wasn't different enough. We were really close to going into Buonaro's Café, but for some reason it just didn't turn us on.
We ended up walking to Sullivan's Steakhouse. We weren't dressed for their dining room, but they also serve food in their small bar area. We sat at a small, but tall, bar type table. To make eating a meal a little more formal in the bar area she folded a cloth napkin in half and then placed it in front of us with the fold facing us and the point pointing away. I thought that was clever.
I was thinking about just getting a big hamburger, but they do not have hamburgers on their menu. Sheri loves their lettuce wedge with blue cheese dressing so she got that, a side order of their creamed spinach, and a side order of au gratin potatoes. I knew she wasn't going to be able to finish all of that so I just ordered their 24oz bone-in "cowboy" ribeye medium-rare and nothing else. It worked out perfect! Sheri had a bite of my steak, but she was mostly in the mood for their lettuce wedge.
Our waitress was a cute little darling thing, and the bartender was built like… whew! We liked it when she bent over in her tight low cut top to wash glasses in the sink facing us. Jiggle jiggle jiggle!
Anyway, we are home now. We put on our comfy lounge clothes and are getting ready to go downstairs, put in a fire, and watch The Manchurian Candidate while waiting for the new year.
We didn't want to get dressed up for a really nice restaurant partly because we just didn't feel like it and partly because those kinds of places were probably already booked with New Year's reservations.
We wanted to do something a little bit nicer than our normal haunts. We decided to drive downtown (as opposed to the Loop or the City) and walk around and see what sounded good.
We stopped in Catch 35 first to look at the menu. Too much seafood for Sheri. It was also a little bit more formal than we were dressed for. The wait staff was all black tie.
We started walking south. We thought about the Brick House Pizzeria, but that wasn't different enough. We were really close to going into Buonaro's Café, but for some reason it just didn't turn us on.
We ended up walking to Sullivan's Steakhouse. We weren't dressed for their dining room, but they also serve food in their small bar area. We sat at a small, but tall, bar type table. To make eating a meal a little more formal in the bar area she folded a cloth napkin in half and then placed it in front of us with the fold facing us and the point pointing away. I thought that was clever.
I was thinking about just getting a big hamburger, but they do not have hamburgers on their menu. Sheri loves their lettuce wedge with blue cheese dressing so she got that, a side order of their creamed spinach, and a side order of au gratin potatoes. I knew she wasn't going to be able to finish all of that so I just ordered their 24oz bone-in "cowboy" ribeye medium-rare and nothing else. It worked out perfect! Sheri had a bite of my steak, but she was mostly in the mood for their lettuce wedge.
Our waitress was a cute little darling thing, and the bartender was built like… whew! We liked it when she bent over in her tight low cut top to wash glasses in the sink facing us. Jiggle jiggle jiggle!
Anyway, we are home now. We put on our comfy lounge clothes and are getting ready to go downstairs, put in a fire, and watch The Manchurian Candidate while waiting for the new year.
We have belonged to the Wal-Mart DVD rental program for about a year and loved it. It costs $17.36 per month, and we could have three movies out at a time. It works exactly like the original Netflix which is $17.99 per month.
Sometimes, though, it would be movie night and we would be between movies, so we would have to (well we didn't have to) drive to the rental store. This disrupted the whole beauty and, more importantly, the economics of the on-line rental program.
Because of this we were considering switching over to the Blockbuster program. It was just a few cents more per month, but you got two coupons each month that you could take into a Blockbuster store and get two "free" movies. Perfect! Kind of like insurance. If the weekend showed up and you were between movies, you were protected.
So we talked about switching, just never got around to actually doing it. Well last week Blockbuster dropped their price to $14.99 per month! Now it's a no-brainer. $2.37 per month less than the Wal-Mart program plus we get the two in-store rentals each month.
Last weekend we printed out the 60 movies that were in our Wal-Mart queue, cancelled, and signed up with Blockbuster and just re-entered the movies into our new Blockbuster queue.
Our first Blockbuster movies should show up in the mail today. We have already tried one of the free in-store coupons and it works as advertised. Just give them the coupon and walk out of the store.
I think the $14.99 price is being offered for a limited time only, so if you are interested do it now. They guarantee that price through January of 2006 once you sign up. You can try it free for two weeks if you are the cautious type.
Sometimes, though, it would be movie night and we would be between movies, so we would have to (well we didn't have to) drive to the rental store. This disrupted the whole beauty and, more importantly, the economics of the on-line rental program.
Because of this we were considering switching over to the Blockbuster program. It was just a few cents more per month, but you got two coupons each month that you could take into a Blockbuster store and get two "free" movies. Perfect! Kind of like insurance. If the weekend showed up and you were between movies, you were protected.
So we talked about switching, just never got around to actually doing it. Well last week Blockbuster dropped their price to $14.99 per month! Now it's a no-brainer. $2.37 per month less than the Wal-Mart program plus we get the two in-store rentals each month.
Last weekend we printed out the 60 movies that were in our Wal-Mart queue, cancelled, and signed up with Blockbuster and just re-entered the movies into our new Blockbuster queue.
Our first Blockbuster movies should show up in the mail today. We have already tried one of the free in-store coupons and it works as advertised. Just give them the coupon and walk out of the store.
I think the $14.99 price is being offered for a limited time only, so if you are interested do it now. They guarantee that price through January of 2006 once you sign up. You can try it free for two weeks if you are the cautious type.
We watched a movie last week that I think was one of the best I have seen in a long time. What makes this more surprising is that it is subtitled and takes place almost entirely inside of an old Norwegian bachelor's kitchen in the early 1950's.
The movie is Kitchen Stories, and it is based around a set of studies that Sweden performed regarding efficiency in the home. They would observe and document every step and move that housewives did in the kitchen, and from that presented what they said was the most optimal kitchen configuration.
After the perceived success of those studies they thought they would do the same for elderly bachelors. An observer is assigned to each bachelor and they put a big tall tennis judge chair in the corner of the kitchen. The observer is not allowed to talk with the subject. The subject is to be observed for a couple of months.
If you watch the trailer below and I think you will for sure want to rent the movie. I can't do it justice in just a couple of paragraphs.
Trailer for movie. (in English)
Swedish site for the film. (catchy background music)
The movie is Kitchen Stories, and it is based around a set of studies that Sweden performed regarding efficiency in the home. They would observe and document every step and move that housewives did in the kitchen, and from that presented what they said was the most optimal kitchen configuration.
After the perceived success of those studies they thought they would do the same for elderly bachelors. An observer is assigned to each bachelor and they put a big tall tennis judge chair in the corner of the kitchen. The observer is not allowed to talk with the subject. The subject is to be observed for a couple of months.
If you watch the trailer below and I think you will for sure want to rent the movie. I can't do it justice in just a couple of paragraphs.
Trailer for movie. (in English)
Swedish site for the film. (catchy background music)
Wednesday, December 29, 2004
Sunday, December 26, 2004
Huh?
"I always jest to people, the Oval Office is the kind of place where people stand outside, they're getting ready to come in and tell me what for, and they walk in and get overwhelmed by the atmosphere. And they say 'man, you're looking pretty.' "
George W. Bush — Washington, D.C., Nov. 4, 2004
George W. Bush — Washington, D.C., Nov. 4, 2004
Friday, December 24, 2004
We have a six pound leg of lamb roasting in the oven right now and it smells absolutely delicious! It has been in for an hour and has another hour to go. I cut little slits all over it and then pushed in little slivers of fresh cut garlic. I rubbed kosher salt, basil, and fresh ground black pepper over it before putting it in the oven.
I am going to steam some fresh broccoli and cauliflower and serve it with some hot melted cheese sauce. (I bought a double boiler just for this.)
After dinner we will watch I, Robot. If we finish that and still want to watch another movie we have the A Christmas Story DVD and will watch it with the director’s commentary turned on.
I think it is time for me to start cleaning and cutting the broccoli and cauliflower.
I am going to steam some fresh broccoli and cauliflower and serve it with some hot melted cheese sauce. (I bought a double boiler just for this.)
After dinner we will watch I, Robot. If we finish that and still want to watch another movie we have the A Christmas Story DVD and will watch it with the director’s commentary turned on.
I think it is time for me to start cleaning and cutting the broccoli and cauliflower.
Thursday, December 23, 2004
Monday, December 20, 2004
Sunday, December 19, 2004
Saturday, December 18, 2004
Thursday, December 16, 2004
Tuesday, December 14, 2004
The NHL is in day 90 of a player lockout because they can't negotiate a contract with the player's union. They have had to cancel 414 regular-season games as well as the 2005 All-Star game.
I don't care if they drive the NHL into the ground. I liked the days of the small local hockey teams like the Toledo Goaldiggers (isn't that a cool name?) or the Columbus Chill (isn't that a stupid name?). Everyone could afford to go to a game, and the games were much more intimate and exciting. The players played because of a true love for the game.
I don't care if they drive the NHL into the ground. I liked the days of the small local hockey teams like the Toledo Goaldiggers (isn't that a cool name?) or the Columbus Chill (isn't that a stupid name?). Everyone could afford to go to a game, and the games were much more intimate and exciting. The players played because of a true love for the game.
There are only eleven times in history when the "F" word has been considered acceptable for use. They are as follows:
11. "What the fuck do you mean we are sinking?"
--Capt. E.J. Smith of RMS Titanic, 1912
10. "What the fuck was that?"
--Mayor of Hiroshima, 1945
9. "Where did all those fucking Indians come from?"
--Custer, 1877
8. "Any fucking idiot could understand that."
--Einstein, 1938
7. "It does so fucking look like her!"
--Picasso, 1926
6. "How the fuck did you work that out?"
--Pythagoras, 126 BC
5. "You want WHAT on the fucking ceiling?"
--Michelangelo
4. "Where the fuck are we?"
--Christopher Columbus, 1492
3. "Scattered fucking showers, my ass!"
--Noah, 4314 BC
2. "Aw c'mon. Who the fuck is going to find out?"
--Bill Clinton, 1998
1. "Geez, I didn't think they'd get this fucking mad."
--Sadaam Hussein, 2003
11. "What the fuck do you mean we are sinking?"
--Capt. E.J. Smith of RMS Titanic, 1912
10. "What the fuck was that?"
--Mayor of Hiroshima, 1945
9. "Where did all those fucking Indians come from?"
--Custer, 1877
8. "Any fucking idiot could understand that."
--Einstein, 1938
7. "It does so fucking look like her!"
--Picasso, 1926
6. "How the fuck did you work that out?"
--Pythagoras, 126 BC
5. "You want WHAT on the fucking ceiling?"
--Michelangelo
4. "Where the fuck are we?"
--Christopher Columbus, 1492
3. "Scattered fucking showers, my ass!"
--Noah, 4314 BC
2. "Aw c'mon. Who the fuck is going to find out?"
--Bill Clinton, 1998
1. "Geez, I didn't think they'd get this fucking mad."
--Sadaam Hussein, 2003
"This is the day the world changes."
--John Wilkin, University of Michigan
This is so cool! I can barely contain myself.
Google is going to start scanning books from major libraries and make them freely available on the web. The full text of books no longer under copyright will be fully available. Books still under copyright will only have a page or two displayed; similar to what you are able too see when you read excerpts of books from Amazon.com.
The libraries lined up so far are:
Michigan University (all 7,000,000 books; estimated to take 6 years)
Stanford University (all books)
Oxford University (all books published prior to 1901)
Harvard University (40,000 of their 15,000,000 books to test the process)
The New York Public Library (only a small portion of books no longer under copyright)
--John Wilkin, University of Michigan
This is so cool! I can barely contain myself.
Google is going to start scanning books from major libraries and make them freely available on the web. The full text of books no longer under copyright will be fully available. Books still under copyright will only have a page or two displayed; similar to what you are able too see when you read excerpts of books from Amazon.com.
The libraries lined up so far are:
Michigan University (all 7,000,000 books; estimated to take 6 years)
Stanford University (all books)
Oxford University (all books published prior to 1901)
Harvard University (40,000 of their 15,000,000 books to test the process)
The New York Public Library (only a small portion of books no longer under copyright)
This is strange. We ordered our dishwasher last night (bisque by the way), and because we are having it installed, there is no sales tax on the dishwasher! I have heard of the labor not being taxed, but I guess they can lump the whole purchase as a service and the dishwasher is just a component of the service.
So at 7.5% sales tax we saved an additional $34. The dishwasher was on sale for $70 off, and there is a $35 mail in rebate for the installation. Yeah us!
So at 7.5% sales tax we saved an additional $34. The dishwasher was on sale for $70 off, and there is a $35 mail in rebate for the installation. Yeah us!
Useless bit of Brad trivia: My favorite telephony term is "dark fiber". I think it sounds kind of mysterious.
Why would I be familiar with that term? The first 12 years of my career were spent in the telecom departments of national and international banks.
I would estimate that over 99% of the population doesn't know how to pronounce "telephony". A postcard in your name will be on its way if you leave me a voicemail pronouncing it correctly.
Why would I be familiar with that term? The first 12 years of my career were spent in the telecom departments of national and international banks.
I would estimate that over 99% of the population doesn't know how to pronounce "telephony". A postcard in your name will be on its way if you leave me a voicemail pronouncing it correctly.
Monday, December 13, 2004
This petition has been initiated by Consumer Reports. I just added my name. Will you please add your name as well? Thanks.
-Brad
---------------------
Do you remember when they found a mad cow in Washington state last December? Well it could happen again and we might have no way of knowing which meat is safe to buy and which isn’t.
That’s why I just sent a message to the US Dept of Agriculture to reform the recall policy that’s leaving us all at risk. Send your free letter to Secretary Veneman now by clicking on the link below.
http://cu.convio.net/nimf
Even if meat or poultry has been identified as potentially contaminated, the USDA does not have the authority to recall the food or to require the meat producers and processors to come forward once their products are proven to be contaminated.
Shockingly, the USDA has a policy of keeping the names of retailers selling potentially contaminated meat secret from the public. Whose side is the USDA on?!
This secrecy threatens our health. Please join me in speaking out against it by clicking the link below to send your letter now.
http://cu.convio.net/nimf
Then forward this message to all your friends and family and ask them to do the same.
Thanks for your help.
-Brad
---------------------
Do you remember when they found a mad cow in Washington state last December? Well it could happen again and we might have no way of knowing which meat is safe to buy and which isn’t.
That’s why I just sent a message to the US Dept of Agriculture to reform the recall policy that’s leaving us all at risk. Send your free letter to Secretary Veneman now by clicking on the link below.
http://cu.convio.net/nimf
Even if meat or poultry has been identified as potentially contaminated, the USDA does not have the authority to recall the food or to require the meat producers and processors to come forward once their products are proven to be contaminated.
Shockingly, the USDA has a policy of keeping the names of retailers selling potentially contaminated meat secret from the public. Whose side is the USDA on?!
This secrecy threatens our health. Please join me in speaking out against it by clicking the link below to send your letter now.
http://cu.convio.net/nimf
Then forward this message to all your friends and family and ask them to do the same.
Thanks for your help.
I think this is the dishwasher for us. It is either Sears model #17032 (white) or #17034 (bisque).
It is regularly $519, but there is a $70 sale until 12/18/04 which brings the price down to $449.
This is only from on-line research only, so it still has to pass our in-person inspection, but I think it is just what I am looking for. Maybe we will even go to the store tonight to order it.
We still have to decide between white and bisque though. What do you think?
White
Bisque
It is regularly $519, but there is a $70 sale until 12/18/04 which brings the price down to $449.
This is only from on-line research only, so it still has to pass our in-person inspection, but I think it is just what I am looking for. Maybe we will even go to the store tonight to order it.
We still have to decide between white and bisque though. What do you think?
White
Bisque
Thanks Jake and Greta for the Bosch dishwasher endorsements. Consumer Reports rated them as the number one performer, however, as you can see from the graph, almost 15% of Bosch machines bought between 1998 and 2003 required repair service. I'll cross my fingers that your machines are in the 85% group!
[click for larger image]
[click for larger image]
Sunday, December 12, 2004
Sheri has January 7 off of work, and we need a new dishwasher, so we are going to order one to be installed for that day. That gives me a couple weeks to do my research and figure out where to buy it.
I always like to start off my analyzing past repair histories for brands. The two dishwasher brands with the best repair histories are Whirlpool in first place and Kenmore in second. Surprisingly KitchenAid placed third from last. Surprising because they are made my Whirlpool and their other products are usually fairly reliable. We have a KitchenAid washer and dryer and have not had a lick of trouble with either of them in over 11 years.
The latest Consumer Reports ratings have a Kenmore in the number 4 slot. Units from Bosch and Siemens are in the first through third positions, but I don’t like their repair histories. So I guess it is going to be a Kenmore.
The main feature I am interested in is a unit that heats the water. To sterilize dishes, the dishwasher requires the hottest water in the house. Keeping 50 gallons of water hot just for dishes is a waste of energy. If the dishwasher can heat the water to the required temperature on its own, you can set the hot water heater back to an appropriate level for the washing machine and showering and hand washing.
A plastic tub (rather than stainless steel) is fine with me, and I think a built in garbage grinder and self cleaning filter is just something to break in a few years. The only thing left to choose then is the interior rack configuration and the exterior appearance. I know I don’t want a stainless steel exterior. That just always looks dirty from finger prints. I guess white is the most neutral and easy to match.
I always like to start off my analyzing past repair histories for brands. The two dishwasher brands with the best repair histories are Whirlpool in first place and Kenmore in second. Surprisingly KitchenAid placed third from last. Surprising because they are made my Whirlpool and their other products are usually fairly reliable. We have a KitchenAid washer and dryer and have not had a lick of trouble with either of them in over 11 years.
The latest Consumer Reports ratings have a Kenmore in the number 4 slot. Units from Bosch and Siemens are in the first through third positions, but I don’t like their repair histories. So I guess it is going to be a Kenmore.
The main feature I am interested in is a unit that heats the water. To sterilize dishes, the dishwasher requires the hottest water in the house. Keeping 50 gallons of water hot just for dishes is a waste of energy. If the dishwasher can heat the water to the required temperature on its own, you can set the hot water heater back to an appropriate level for the washing machine and showering and hand washing.
A plastic tub (rather than stainless steel) is fine with me, and I think a built in garbage grinder and self cleaning filter is just something to break in a few years. The only thing left to choose then is the interior rack configuration and the exterior appearance. I know I don’t want a stainless steel exterior. That just always looks dirty from finger prints. I guess white is the most neutral and easy to match.
Saturday, December 11, 2004
I love my Senseo coffee maker but am a little tired with my decaf coffee choices. The "official" coffee pods to be used with the Senseo machines are from the huge Dutch coffee roaster Douwe Egberts.
Black & Decker make a compatible system called Home Café. The have aligned with Folgers and Millstone to make their coffee pods.
It's very good coffee, but wish I had more choice, especially for decaf. I think Starbucks (or Lavazza, or Dunkin Donuts, etc.) would clean up if they sold some of their coffee in pod format.
And what about small roasters? This would be ideal It would love it if they could "podize" their own coffee. I miss Stauf's coffee in Columbus and would love to have some of their SWP (Swiss Water Process) decaf burping from my Senseo machine.
I think it would also be neat if they made a kit that would let you make pods at home with your own fresh ground coffee.
If my Senseo broke I would replace it, but not necessarily with another Senseo. I would seriously consider one of the European machines (right) that grind fresh beans one cup at a time. I think they start in the $300 to $500 range and go up to $2,000, but I have really loved being able to have a single good cup of coffee on a moments notice. (If I didn't replace it with an expensive European machine I would get another Senseo though.)
Black & Decker make a compatible system called Home Café. The have aligned with Folgers and Millstone to make their coffee pods.
It's very good coffee, but wish I had more choice, especially for decaf. I think Starbucks (or Lavazza, or Dunkin Donuts, etc.) would clean up if they sold some of their coffee in pod format.
And what about small roasters? This would be ideal It would love it if they could "podize" their own coffee. I miss Stauf's coffee in Columbus and would love to have some of their SWP (Swiss Water Process) decaf burping from my Senseo machine.
I think it would also be neat if they made a kit that would let you make pods at home with your own fresh ground coffee.
If my Senseo broke I would replace it, but not necessarily with another Senseo. I would seriously consider one of the European machines (right) that grind fresh beans one cup at a time. I think they start in the $300 to $500 range and go up to $2,000, but I have really loved being able to have a single good cup of coffee on a moments notice. (If I didn't replace it with an expensive European machine I would get another Senseo though.)
Wednesday, December 08, 2004
I am really close to getting some really neat new software called Maplex installed on my PC to aid in cartography. It is an add-on to ArcEditor and will make labeling easier and more automated. Labeling is one of the most time consuming things involved in creating a good map.
This page has three Flash animations you can click on to see the interface of the software and get a little insight into how maps are constructed. Each demo is only a couple minutes long. There is a narrator talking you through it, so make sure you have your sound on.
This page has three Flash animations you can click on to see the interface of the software and get a little insight into how maps are constructed. Each demo is only a couple minutes long. There is a narrator talking you through it, so make sure you have your sound on.
Tuesday, December 07, 2004
RIP Fred Beier
Mr. Beier was one of the teachers at St. John's High School that made St. John's, St. John's. He taught me to drive. [more]
Mr. Beier was one of the teachers at St. John's High School that made St. John's, St. John's. He taught me to drive. [more]
There is a New York phenomena of hot dog and papaya juice restaurants. The two biggest and best ones are Gray's Papaya and Papaya King. What a weird combination to become a genre.
I tried a dog and cup of juice from Gray's. It was great! No fries. No burgers. No Cokes. Nothing else besides hot dogs and papaya juice.
I put this on my recommended places to go to when visiting New York.
I tried a dog and cup of juice from Gray's. It was great! No fries. No burgers. No Cokes. Nothing else besides hot dogs and papaya juice.
I put this on my recommended places to go to when visiting New York.
Monday, December 06, 2004
Friday, December 03, 2004
Wednesday, December 01, 2004
In one month, on January 1, the standard toll on the Illinois Tollway, will double from $0.40 to $0.80 every 15 miles if you pay with cash.
The toll will not increase if you use the automated iPass system.
If you want to avoid the increase when you visit us, as well as to reduce the time it takes to drive on the Tollway, you can order an iPass unit even if you live out of state. There is no cost for the unit, just a $10 depost. The drive time is quicker because they have special iPass lanes where you do not have to stop to pay a toll.
The toll will not increase if you use the automated iPass system.
If you want to avoid the increase when you visit us, as well as to reduce the time it takes to drive on the Tollway, you can order an iPass unit even if you live out of state. There is no cost for the unit, just a $10 depost. The drive time is quicker because they have special iPass lanes where you do not have to stop to pay a toll.