How funny is that? Every night before i went home i made sure the remotes were back in the same place with the correct note on top so that i'd have a fighting chance at not screwing anything up the next day.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
speaking of housesitting
So my free electronics gig ends today and i have to say my favorite part of the whole thing (besides nightly Alton Brown) was how well my friends know me. When we went over all the stuff that i needed to watch out for before they left, Jason was reminding me which remote did what because i am perpetually confused over which one to use. Finally Kate said, i'll leave it in the notes and this is what i found on the coffee table
How funny is that? Every night before i went home i made sure the remotes were back in the same place with the correct note on top so that i'd have a fighting chance at not screwing anything up the next day.
How funny is that? Every night before i went home i made sure the remotes were back in the same place with the correct note on top so that i'd have a fighting chance at not screwing anything up the next day.
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Friday, August 7, 2009
"...other duties as assigned"
I am housesitting for the vacationing Jason and Kate, which mostly entails watering plants, feeding the cat and hanging out for a few hours in the evening with the cat, the television, the internet and the Wii.
It's a tough gig, really.
Last night i was watching tv while Ophelia was eating and i decided i was hungry as well. Fetching a pizza from the freezer downstairs, i turned the corner on the steps when the banister jumped out and bit my arm. It hurt, but i wasn't terribly concerned so i did some quick first aid and went about my pizza cooking, YouTube watching way.
At home a few hours later i seriously cleaned out the wound and got a good look - there was a nice sized splinter in my arm. I have enough biological understanding and first aid training that if i can fix a health problem myself, i will; my team has dubbed it "frontier medicine." I was able to get out a little piece of the splinter, but unfortunately it was wedged down at an angle on the back of my right arm. Even I was nervous about using an exacto with my left hand backwards in the mirror so i just wrapped it and went to bed. I knew that someone would have to probably cut under and around the splinter to get to it for extraction.
Luckily, the phrase and other duties as assigned is in my team's job description and i keep a handy-dandy multi-blade craft set at my desk.
The task fell to team member AJ as he was the only one in the office when i got there. I explained the situation and the procedure that would need to be done and asked him if he could help me. He agreed and set up his desk as the operating table
It's just not every office that you can walk by and see this type of thing happening. My boss looked at us, paused for a moment and said Well at least the hat makes me feel better
(total coincidence; he gave blood last week)
and then related stories of finding his doctor wife putting stitches and staples in his hockey-playing son at the kitchen table. I think you'd have to work long and hard to freak out anyone in this office.
After quite a bit of poking, prodding, cutting and swabbing (he did a great job, but was so concerned about hurting me that it took three times longer than it would have taken me if i could have done it myself and i know he sterilized the wound at least 20 times during the procedure) AJ finally said i think i've got it; brace yourself. Which was quickly followed by Oh my goodness! as he pulled it out.
Apparently he thought i was exaggerating when i said it felt like there was a tree in my arm.
No, indeedy, there had been a chunk of painted banister in my arm
It might be the largest splinter i've ever had. This is the sort of thing that happens when we are in-house instead of performing on the road.
It's a tough gig, really.
Last night i was watching tv while Ophelia was eating and i decided i was hungry as well. Fetching a pizza from the freezer downstairs, i turned the corner on the steps when the banister jumped out and bit my arm. It hurt, but i wasn't terribly concerned so i did some quick first aid and went about my pizza cooking, YouTube watching way.
At home a few hours later i seriously cleaned out the wound and got a good look - there was a nice sized splinter in my arm. I have enough biological understanding and first aid training that if i can fix a health problem myself, i will; my team has dubbed it "frontier medicine." I was able to get out a little piece of the splinter, but unfortunately it was wedged down at an angle on the back of my right arm. Even I was nervous about using an exacto with my left hand backwards in the mirror so i just wrapped it and went to bed. I knew that someone would have to probably cut under and around the splinter to get to it for extraction.
Luckily, the phrase and other duties as assigned is in my team's job description and i keep a handy-dandy multi-blade craft set at my desk.
The task fell to team member AJ as he was the only one in the office when i got there. I explained the situation and the procedure that would need to be done and asked him if he could help me. He agreed and set up his desk as the operating table
It's just not every office that you can walk by and see this type of thing happening. My boss looked at us, paused for a moment and said Well at least the hat makes me feel better
(total coincidence; he gave blood last week) and then related stories of finding his doctor wife putting stitches and staples in his hockey-playing son at the kitchen table. I think you'd have to work long and hard to freak out anyone in this office.
After quite a bit of poking, prodding, cutting and swabbing (he did a great job, but was so concerned about hurting me that it took three times longer than it would have taken me if i could have done it myself and i know he sterilized the wound at least 20 times during the procedure) AJ finally said i think i've got it; brace yourself. Which was quickly followed by Oh my goodness! as he pulled it out.
Apparently he thought i was exaggerating when i said it felt like there was a tree in my arm. No, indeedy, there had been a chunk of painted banister in my arm
It might be the largest splinter i've ever had. This is the sort of thing that happens when we are in-house instead of performing on the road.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
someone else is having a rough day
HOW exactly do chunks of someone's hair, wig,
weave or extensions
end up in the parking lot of a library?
weave or extensions
end up in the parking lot of a library?
someone's having a rough time
I recently spent a brief amount of time in a slots casino. I'd won $45 in 30 minutes and decided it was time to quit while i was ahead. On the way out i make a stop in the ladies' room. Hanging on the wall next to the sinks was this
That is a needle disposal unit, people. Have you ever seen one anyplace besides a medical facility? Why was there one in the ladies' room? I'm at a loss here.
That is a needle disposal unit, people. Have you ever seen one anyplace besides a medical facility? Why was there one in the ladies' room? I'm at a loss here.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
fireplace fiasco
My wee adventure in the Blue Ridge only had one serious snafu -
the fireplace in my half-cabin.
Right outside of the door there was a woodpile,so i brought in several logs and piled them on the irons in the fireplace.
Unfortunately there didn't seem to be any kindling or tinder.
But I blow things up for a living, right?
I use fire every day of my life.
Plus i am resourceful.
So i took my spare Shenandoah newsletter (i had 2 for some reason), tore it up and bunched part of it in between the logs so that as it burned down it would be touching 2 different surfaces, doubling the chance of catching
I located the matches on the mantle.
Lovely matchbook
but hardly what you use in a fireplace.
But i was determined to read by the fire in my half-cabin, dagnabit.
Do you see the multiple burnt matches all over the paper? They would burn for a moment and then go out.
Are you kidding me?
Smokey the Bear has me convinced that a single match can burn down Wyoming.
Okay, think.
Obviously the heavy, printed paper was not working. I went outside to find some kindling. Of course it was summer, not autumn and the grounds around the cabins are immaculate and it was pitch dark at nearly 11:30pm.
Whoa - watch out for the deer standing right there next to my cabin.
Don't look at me like that, doe;
i'm just looking for some leaves and sticks here.
Pathetic, i know.
But i was determined.
In fact, i even got some of the mulch
from around the walk. The fireplace took up one whole wall of the half-cabin and by jiminy i was gonna have a fire. The kindling was piled atop a single log. There was only 1 match left so I lit a strip of paper as a torch and used it to touch off the kindling.
It caught!
I gently added some dried grass, a few leaves and a few tiny sticks.
We definitely had some fire.
The smoke alarm went off.
No joke.
I fanned it and it stopped.
Only to start screeching 20 seconds later. My kindling was almost burned up, the log hadn't caught yet, the smoke alarm was blaring and i didn't know if there was anyone in the other half of the cabin. I did the only thing that made sense - i dragged a chair over, hopped up and -in violation of local, state and probably federal law- disabled the smoke alarm.
The kindling sputtered out.
This wasn't going well, but i was not to be deterred.
I am resourceful.
I am smarter than a cavemen.
I could certainly go find more kindling even if i had to drive out of the cabin area and hike for it. But i was out of matches. So i walked down to the office. The night attendant, Lisa, was eating her dinner in the back, but i tracked her down. As i related the hi-jinks (deleting the part about the smoke alarm) she said Didn't you have a fire starter in your room?
Excuse me?
A what?
Apparently there was supposed to be this little
stick-like thing that is saturated with some fuel. Hmmmmmmm... that might help. Lisa gave me a fire starter and 2 more matchbooks. Look at it blaze away 
catching the sticks instantly on fire. I gently angled a log over the wee fire with a lead edge directly in the flames, leaving enough room for air to circulate.
I watched.
I waited.
Neither the upper or lower log caught.
Now i was mad.
I BLOW THINGS UP, people.
Last year i made a lovely roaring fire while camping. Why should a fireplace be so different? I was gonna have a fire, people. If it took all night i was going to have a nice, relaxing fire; even if it killed me.
I carried my slightly charred, non-burning log back to the office. Lisa just shook her head at me. We discussed fire placement, log placement and log selection. The logs felt dry. Neither of us could figure out what was wrong. She gave me 2 more fire starters and i was a the door when she called out Wait; take some newspaper.
Now we're talking.
Nothing burns like brittle, high-lignin-content newspaper. Tucking a bunch of newspaper into my arms with the sad log and fire starters I left the lodge to hike back up the hill to my cabin.
It started to rain.
Really.
I ran up the hill trying to keep the newspaper dry.
I was beyond determined.
I was on the brink of obsessed.
I had a fireplace and for the love of Pete i was going to use it.
I abandoned the whole neat-logs-on-the-irons thing. I decided to build the fire just like it was in a fire ring. I built a tripod of logs resting on end against the irons. I put newspaper under the logs, behind the logs, next to the logs and between the logs. I broke the fire starters into multiple pieces and placed them in several key locations.
Thank God there wasn't a kerosene lamp in the cabin; i would have considered using it. I used more matches then was really necessary.
And i made fire. So lovely. So warm.
So firey.
sigh...
now for my pajamas and a book.
Wait.
What is that popping sound? What is sizzling?
The outside of the logs had caught beautifully, but as the heat reached the inside i could hear steam being released. The logs were wet on the inside. It had rained the day before so they felt dry to the touch, but couldn't burn at their centers.
deep, deep sigh
There's my mighty fire.
I put on the screen and read in bed instead.
I'd done my best, but i couldn't dry the logs internally and the rest of the logs in the pile outside were the same except now they were wet on the outside, too. At least it smelled like a campfire all night.
sigh
the fireplace in my half-cabin.
Right outside of the door there was a woodpile,so i brought in several logs and piled them on the irons in the fireplace.
Unfortunately there didn't seem to be any kindling or tinder.
But I blow things up for a living, right?
I use fire every day of my life.
Plus i am resourceful.
So i took my spare Shenandoah newsletter (i had 2 for some reason), tore it up and bunched part of it in between the logs so that as it burned down it would be touching 2 different surfaces, doubling the chance of catching
I located the matches on the mantle.
Lovely matchbook
but hardly what you use in a fireplace. But i was determined to read by the fire in my half-cabin, dagnabit.
Do you see the multiple burnt matches all over the paper? They would burn for a moment and then go out. Are you kidding me?
Smokey the Bear has me convinced that a single match can burn down Wyoming.
Okay, think.
Obviously the heavy, printed paper was not working. I went outside to find some kindling. Of course it was summer, not autumn and the grounds around the cabins are immaculate and it was pitch dark at nearly 11:30pm.
Whoa - watch out for the deer standing right there next to my cabin.
Don't look at me like that, doe;
i'm just looking for some leaves and sticks here.
Pathetic, i know. But i was determined.
In fact, i even got some of the mulch
from around the walk. The fireplace took up one whole wall of the half-cabin and by jiminy i was gonna have a fire. The kindling was piled atop a single log. There was only 1 match left so I lit a strip of paper as a torch and used it to touch off the kindling.It caught!
I gently added some dried grass, a few leaves and a few tiny sticks.
We definitely had some fire.
The smoke alarm went off.
No joke.
I fanned it and it stopped.
Only to start screeching 20 seconds later. My kindling was almost burned up, the log hadn't caught yet, the smoke alarm was blaring and i didn't know if there was anyone in the other half of the cabin. I did the only thing that made sense - i dragged a chair over, hopped up and -in violation of local, state and probably federal law- disabled the smoke alarm.
The kindling sputtered out.
This wasn't going well, but i was not to be deterred.
I am resourceful.
I am smarter than a cavemen.
I could certainly go find more kindling even if i had to drive out of the cabin area and hike for it. But i was out of matches. So i walked down to the office. The night attendant, Lisa, was eating her dinner in the back, but i tracked her down. As i related the hi-jinks (deleting the part about the smoke alarm) she said Didn't you have a fire starter in your room?
Excuse me?
A what?
Apparently there was supposed to be this little
stick-like thing that is saturated with some fuel. Hmmmmmmm... that might help. Lisa gave me a fire starter and 2 more matchbooks. Look at it blaze away 
catching the sticks instantly on fire. I gently angled a log over the wee fire with a lead edge directly in the flames, leaving enough room for air to circulate.I watched.
I waited.
Neither the upper or lower log caught.
Now i was mad.I BLOW THINGS UP, people.
Last year i made a lovely roaring fire while camping. Why should a fireplace be so different? I was gonna have a fire, people. If it took all night i was going to have a nice, relaxing fire; even if it killed me.
I carried my slightly charred, non-burning log back to the office. Lisa just shook her head at me. We discussed fire placement, log placement and log selection. The logs felt dry. Neither of us could figure out what was wrong. She gave me 2 more fire starters and i was a the door when she called out Wait; take some newspaper.
Now we're talking.
Nothing burns like brittle, high-lignin-content newspaper. Tucking a bunch of newspaper into my arms with the sad log and fire starters I left the lodge to hike back up the hill to my cabin.
It started to rain.
Really.
I ran up the hill trying to keep the newspaper dry.
I was beyond determined.
I was on the brink of obsessed.
I had a fireplace and for the love of Pete i was going to use it.
I abandoned the whole neat-logs-on-the-irons thing. I decided to build the fire just like it was in a fire ring. I built a tripod of logs resting on end against the irons. I put newspaper under the logs, behind the logs, next to the logs and between the logs. I broke the fire starters into multiple pieces and placed them in several key locations.
Thank God there wasn't a kerosene lamp in the cabin; i would have considered using it. I used more matches then was really necessary.
And i made fire. So lovely. So warm. So firey.
sigh...
now for my pajamas and a book.
Wait.
What is that popping sound? What is sizzling?
The outside of the logs had caught beautifully, but as the heat reached the inside i could hear steam being released. The logs were wet on the inside. It had rained the day before so they felt dry to the touch, but couldn't burn at their centers.
deep, deep sigh
There's my mighty fire. I put on the screen and read in bed instead.
I'd done my best, but i couldn't dry the logs internally and the rest of the logs in the pile outside were the same except now they were wet on the outside, too. At least it smelled like a campfire all night.
sigh eating regional cuisine
One of the things i really like about traveling is finding local restaurants to try the food and drink specific to that place. On Skyline Drive there are several campgrounds, lodges and dining rooms. I had dinner at the historic dining room at Big Meadows Lodge. When these people use the word lodge, they aren't kidding. 
I love the vaulted timber ceiling with iron chandeliers. One glance at the menu and you know you are in Virginia - there are lots of dishes involving ham. But the ingredient specific to Shenandoah appears to be blackberries.
Blackberries?
Really?
I can't remember the last time i saw blackberries featured on any menu. I had no idea blackberries grew in Virginia. They must because they were omnipresent at Big Meadows. For desert i had the hot blackberry cobbler with vanilla ice cream.
Then at breakfast I had pancakes with blackberry syrup;
it was so good i forgot to take a picture
until it was almost gone.
Even in the tap room where there was a folk singer
singing and strumming away the drinks starred blackberry 
Though i wasn't quite ready to take on the Blackberry Flapper Frappe, i did order the equally fun named Prohibition Punch
Isn't it lovely? Of course it is served in a canning jar.
Did you click on the second picture to see the ingredients? I added that picture because of this word
Yep. It was made with moonshine, no lie.
Moonshine and rum.
It was delicious.
For lunch the next day i went to Skyland which is situated at the highest point on the Drive; it looks like something out of the 60s on the outside
but it is much older,
built at the turn of century.
The rustic dining room has floor to ceiling windows
offering the best view you can imagine. It was here that i met the new love of my life : Blackberry Ice Cream Pie with Meringue and Blackberry Sauce 
I didn't even know i liked blackberries.
Now i kinda wanna marry them.
I love the vaulted timber ceiling with iron chandeliers. One glance at the menu and you know you are in Virginia - there are lots of dishes involving ham. But the ingredient specific to Shenandoah appears to be blackberries. Blackberries?
Really?
I can't remember the last time i saw blackberries featured on any menu. I had no idea blackberries grew in Virginia. They must because they were omnipresent at Big Meadows. For desert i had the hot blackberry cobbler with vanilla ice cream.
Then at breakfast I had pancakes with blackberry syrup;
it was so good i forgot to take a picture
until it was almost gone. Even in the tap room where there was a folk singer
singing and strumming away the drinks starred blackberry 
Though i wasn't quite ready to take on the Blackberry Flapper Frappe, i did order the equally fun named Prohibition Punch
Isn't it lovely? Of course it is served in a canning jar.
Did you click on the second picture to see the ingredients? I added that picture because of this word
Yep. It was made with moonshine, no lie.
Moonshine and rum.
It was delicious.
For lunch the next day i went to Skyland which is situated at the highest point on the Drive; it looks like something out of the 60s on the outside
but it is much older, built at the turn of century.
The rustic dining room has floor to ceiling windows
offering the best view you can imagine. It was here that i met the new love of my life : Blackberry Ice Cream Pie with Meringue and Blackberry Sauce 
I didn't even know i liked blackberries.
Now i kinda wanna marry them.
favorite number!
YIPPEE!
I've been posting, cleaning up and labeling here in the Nikiverse this afternoon as you may have noticed and it came to my attention that the next post was going to be my favorite number.
Most people know that my favorite practical number is 27, but my real favorite number is a bit higher. I don't know why i love this number so much, but i have ever since i realized in high school that every time i hyperbolically described a number of something i used this particular figure.
Recently, i found out that it is a prime number when team member Carrie calculated it for me. Who even knows how to do that? Who would bother?
Anyhoo, here is to post number 563 - huzzah!
Back to posts of more substance (wait, are there ever posts of substance here?) after this.
lovin' it
While i was driving through the mountains last week, my friend Matt was driving through Florida.
Now don't get me wrong, i like Florida, but living there for 4 years was quite long enough, thank you.
It is a fun and wonderful place to visit, but live there?
blech
Matt and i were exchanging messages about what we were sightseeing and at one point after he'd been on the road for a good long while he said, Why won't Florida spit me out already?
Buddy, i know that feeling.
In fact, as we were conversing it occurred to me that i was surrounded by so many reasons to stay where i am, despite there being a lot of people i love in Florida who would like me to move there. Here is a sample :
Now don't get me wrong, i like Florida, but living there for 4 years was quite long enough, thank you.
It is a fun and wonderful place to visit, but live there?
blech
Matt and i were exchanging messages about what we were sightseeing and at one point after he'd been on the road for a good long while he said, Why won't Florida spit me out already?
Buddy, i know that feeling.
In fact, as we were conversing it occurred to me that i was surrounded by so many reasons to stay where i am, despite there being a lot of people i love in Florida who would like me to move there. Here is a sample :
deer crossing
This sign is no joke in Shenandoah. There are deer everywhere.
I swear that i think there are more deer hiking the trails along Skyline Drive than there are people.
You are driving along, minding your own business and deer meander out in front of you. One of the reasons the speed limit is so low (35 mph) is to keep both deer and car hoods safe from each other.
This trip i feel i like i saw even more than last year, especially more male deer with their fuzzy summer antlers
Plus, more deers in groups.
Normally you might see 2 or 3 deers together, but this year since i was staying at Big Meadows i walked up a trail through the meadow right at dusk and spotted a herd feeding
It was amazing that as the sky darkened they would let you get pretty close as they munched away at the grass
I even saw a mother leading her fawn through some brush, but wasn't able to get the camera focused fast enough.
Now, i just need to have this sign
follow through on its promise.
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