#LetGaryDebate

I've been a frustrated voter for many, many years.

But now I'm a voter with hope. For the first time ever I have now contributed to a political campaign. Johnson/Weld 2016.

I urge everyone to take a look at what they have to offer. www.johnsonweld.com.  They offer a glimmer of sanity and common sense in the middle of the political circus that Clinton and Trump offer. More importantly - I feel they represent my views, my needs and my desires for how I want to see this great nation be run.

1989 Waggy

1989 Jeep Grand Wagoneer

I bought this one from the Carolina's several years ago.

Overall in good shape. Only major rust is rear passenger quarter panel - and that isn't even through the panel. Headliner was cut out after it sagged but the panels are still in place so new fabric could be easily installed. Goes in and out of 4WD with no issues. Shifts from 1st to 2nd at a higher engine revs than I like but I never got around to adjusting the bands to take care of this.

Two Waggys

For Sale - Two Jeep Grand Wagoneers - 1989 and 1991 (214K and 168K miles). 

Both run. The 89 is currently on the road. The 91 needs minor work to be road worthy.

$2500. Located in Massena, NY

1989 Waggy on the Left, 1991 on the right.

1991 Waggy

1989 Waggy

91 Jeep Grand Wagoneer

Mom's Manhatten Clam Chowder

There has always been a debate over whose was better, Aunt Helene's or Mom's. Both - good, both - different.

I love this recipe. No measurements - who needs them anyhow. Of course this is my kind of cooking - a little of this, a lot of that. It always comes together anyhow.

Clams - chopped.
Onions, carrots, celery and potatoes - diced.
Oregano, paprika - to taste.
Accent, salt, pepper, garlic, parsley.
Little bit of dill.
2 cans tomato soup (diluted with 2 cans of water).

In a medium soup pan, brown onions in one stick of butter. Add remaining ingredients plus water to partially fill and simmer for a half hour.

From recipe card from Mom - 2009.

Progress

We've morphed from Spring, through Summer and now hints of Autumn are in the air. I've not completed everything that was planned for the summer but still have a couple of good months left in which to whittle away at the list.

The colors are starting to show on the trees. The maple by St. Josephs is in full color already which is not a surprise as it is always the first to go in this area. The beauty of nature is awe inspiring.

10%

I have a goal.... Actually, I have several.

Possibly late for a mid life crisis here as I'm about a decade past mid life.

It's time to do something about that extra bit of me that I've been carrying around for the last 30 years. I'll admit that I've finally come to the point where I've decided that if I don't do it now, it may never get done.

It all started with Lent. I spent 40 days, 40 long days, depriving myself of dessert. Lo and behold I managed to drop a little weight.

Hmmm...

This machine called the human body makes use of only so many calories per day. As my weight was fairly stable I was at an equilibrium where the calories consumed equalled those burned on a day to day basis. By cutting back (by approximately 500 calories a day) the weight started to drop.

Hmmm...

Could it be this easy?

For now, it is.

The first step in this process.

Yes, I know that I'll need to deal with adding some exercise into my routine in the near future (way overdue). Yes, I know that I should most likely modify the overall diet a bit too.

But for now,... I'm happy to see the weight slowly drop away with nothing more than a little will power in avoiding temptation.

10%?

I have several goals in place, but no real end goal in mind. We'll just see where I next reach equilibrium.

The first goal is to drop 10% body weight. The best part is that I am over halfway there. A great feeling.

After that, I have several other milestones in mind. Each a few pounds away from the last. No big leaps here. Just a number of small, hopefully easily reached goals.

We'll see how it goes.

Massena Curling Club,.... Part Two

A couple of years ago a curling program was offered by the Massena Joint Recreation Commitee. I was lucky enough to go to one of their sessions, get on the ice, and see what the game was all about.

Unfortunately, due to a sore back, I was unable to participate.

Fast forward a couple of years and we see that the Rec program was not continued.

I'm thinking that it is time to get curling started again in Massena! I am going to be contacting regional Curling organizations to see what this will take.

In the mean time, anyone who is interested give me a shout. There is power in numbers and the more we can get interested in the sport, the more likely we are to meet with success!

Good Curling!

Desperation and the IRS

Hmmmm....

No taxation without representation....

More and more we read in the news of individuals who are targetted and hounded by the IRS or state taxation agencies. It is not hard to understand why or how Joseph Andrew Stack was driven to such a desperate act.

Especially when you read the note he left behind (link). Oh,.... but interestingly enough, the FBI has already shut the site down. Not that it matters. The note has already been copied to multiple other sites (like here). I wonder how many more WEB site admins will be contacted by Big Brother and requested to remove this little diatribe. Almost a little Stalinist, isn't it?

The Old and the (Relatively) New!

Okay,... Riddle Me This,... What's better than owning a single Full Sized Jeep?

Owning Two!


Below is our 1989 Grand Wagoneer. We picked it up last year from the Carolinas.


To improve on things though,... my wife gave me the '91 Final Edition Grand Wagoneer below this year for Christmas (that's her sitting behind the wheel), a couple of months ago before the snow hit us)!



The best thing about the '91 though is that in addition to being the fifth one we have owned, it was also the third one, and I've been kicking myself for the last couple of years for selling it!

Merry Christmas!

Evelyn Gibson's Bread & Butter Pickles

Growing up one of the true signs of the coming autumn was Mom putting up pickles. And not just any pickle - Bread and Butter Pickles! I remember helping, running cukes through the slicer and watching all of the prep work. All for the tastiest pickle that God ever put on this planet.

Evelyn Gibson's Bread & Butter Pickles

1 Gal. Thin Sliced Cukes
8-10 White Onions, Sliced Thin
1 Green Pepper, Sliced in Thin Strips
1 Red Pepper, Sliced in Thin Strips
1/2 Cup Salt
5 Cups Sugar
5 Cups Cider Vinegar
2 Tablespoons Mustard Seed
2 teaspoons Celery Seed
1-1/2 teaspoons Tumeric

Mix Cukes, Onion, Peppers and Salt in large container. Cover over with Ice and let stand for three hours.

Drain ice/water.
Mix remainining ingredients and pour over cuke mixture. Heat to a boil
Place in hot, sterilized canning jars. Seal at once.

Makes 8 pints.

Enjoy!

Inspiration

Being read is not important. Committing the words to paper, the ideas - that is what is important.

Saturday Morning

Raindrops on the fir trees
Unseen birds calling from the brush
A lone violin repeats phrases
Shafts of sun light fall from the clouds

Lest We Forget

One of my favorite movies of all time is John Wayne's She Wore a Yellow Ribbon. In this movie there is a scene where Captain Biddle (Wayne) is retiring from the Cavalry. His troopers are assembled for review. After review, they present him with a present - a gold pocket watch with the inscription Lest We Forget.

I remember in elementary school, the early grades in East Burke, making the annual pilgrimage to the Woodmont cemetery in East Burke. We'd walk in single file from the school to the cemetery, cross country at first, from the school, through the field behind a couple of houses and then up the side of Vermont Route 114 a mile to the cemetery. There we would find a number of monuments marked by the seventh and eighth graders with small pieces of yarn taped to the top.

We would each in turn solemnly be escorted to one of these graves, the final resting place of veterans from the War Between the States, and the wars that followed, to place a small American Flag in remembrance and honor.

I vividly remember this. I remember how we were taught, by our teachers, by our families, to honor the sacrifices that were made. I remember the solemnity of our actions.

I wonder if students are still taught these things. I wonder if they still make these treks to render honors. I wonder if this is still as important as once it was.

I recently happened to stop by Woodmont. While quietly walking amongst the stones, in search of some that I had honored many years ago, I noted that only a few had tattered remnants of banners from the past.

Concerned, all I could do was to honor these heroes myself. Quietly I continued my walk, murmering a heartfelt thanks at each veterans grave I passed. And as I walked I wondered if perhaps my generation has not done its duty to pass on this reverence. I know that I have done my part. But I wonder of others, those who were not children of the Greatest Generation. What would they pass on to thiers? Failing to pass on this committment would be unexcusable. For to do so would be to let these sacrifices be forgotten. And then the dead would slowly fade away.

Lest we forget.

Closet Foodie

A little while ago, on Facebook, my friend Mary Beth posted a comment to one of my posts. Simply put "Did you ever notice that your posts have a lot to do with food?".

Now that I think about it she has a very valid point. My first post of that day on Facebook involved coffee, pancakes and bacon with regards to their restorative powers. The post she was commenting on had to do with my recent making of some cole slaw to go with that nights fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy.


I'll admit to late night excursions on the net to peruse food porn browsing through a number of foodie blog regulars as well as whatever else I happen to stumble across.


And more and more I find myself in the kitchen cooking not as much for the purpose of feeding the brood as for the relaxing effect it has on me.


I like food. I like preparing food. I like watching others prepare and talk about food. I find entertainment in food. I don't mind eating food either.

This could be a trend.

Since Mary Beth's comment, I've made a number of other food related posts. In response I've had other friends comment on my (could it be?) obsession.

I do follow a couple of foodie blogs from Florida and the West Coast on a very regular basis. I don't ever see myself getting to the point where I start blogging exclusively about food though. Maybe just the ocassional comment or observation. Or maybe I'll just stick with teasing my friends with what has been on my plate or in my cup.

But where will it lead to?

Pencils

Computers and technology put bread on the table in this household. Thanks to Al Gore they permeate society and have become a part of the basic fabric of our existance.

While I use technology on a day to day basis I find that wherever possible I try to avoid being dependant upon it. Where I can get away with a low tech or no tech solution to a problem that is the path that I prefer to take.

Each and every day I spend hours in front of a computer for work. I send and recieve emails, research using the WEB, publish reports, all in all producing thousands of words of 'work'.

However, to be creative I need to have a pencil in hand. There is something about having a simple wooden pencil in hand and some good toothy paper that just gets my creative juices flowing. I can be abstract with a pencil. I can easily jot down ideas. I can express myself and solve problems.

Pens just don't work the same way for me. I've tried them all; felt tips, ball points, roller points, gels, to no avail. I just cannot express myself in the same way using a pen as I can a pencil.

What is it about pencils that works for me? A pencil is comfortable to the touch. I currently prefer natural finish pencils (Pepermate American Naturals). Pencils invoke a calm, I suppose from the sweet smell of the wood. They invite a leisurly pace to the creative process by forcing you to periodically pause to sharpen and refine the point. Even the sound of a pencil is soothing - the gentle rasp of the graphite against the paper.

And so I find myself coming in a full technological circle. I find that as a programmer I often start the process of planning and designing an application with a pencil in hand. My favorite prototyping tool involves a large wall, post it notes and a pencil. In the development process I will always have several legal pads at hand to record the trivia needed for the development process. Here are my to do lists, my lists of changes to be made, my action items.

And so I find myself heavily reliant on the low tech to complete the high tech. I guess that if the high tech cannot be avoided it should at least be made enjoyable and satisfying which a lowly pencil enables for me.

Christmas in Massena

Santa stopped by Massena and dropped off some nifty packages.

Merry Christmas All!

As I have mentioned in previous posts I am excited about alternative energy (wind, solar, fuel cells). In browsing the WEB news today I came across an article that literally had me bouncing in my seat.

It seems that Daniel Nocera, an MIT professor of energy, has been tinkering with coming up with a better means to split Hydrogen from water. By better, I mean more efficient than current and traditional means not to mention safer and less hazardously.

Splitting Hydrogen off in and of itself is not a miracle. I have done many times before using nothing more than a 9 volt battery and some wire.

Where Daniel's advancements make me excited though are from the implications of using this as a storage mechanism to allow you to capture the sunlight during the day (say through a photovoltaic array) saving it as a potential energy (in the form of Hydrogen) and then being able to safely and cleanly be able to use it on demand (via a fuel cell).

When it comes down to it, aside from Nuclear power, all other power sources mimic this process.

Coal, oil, natural gas, wood, grass pellets all do the same thing. They are representations of solar power collected through the biosphere and stored away.

Even wind power takes off on this concept when you consider that wind is simply capturing and converting the mommentum of air caused by the warming and cooling actions of having (or not having) sunlight.

So, read the article and see what you think.

A Midsummer Nights Entry

I am even more lax now than in March in making entries.

Snow is no longer the complaint of Massena. After a seemingly endless Winter, Spring finally made an appearance and gradually made way for Summer. And now we complain of rain.

We have only had a few weekends with nice weather. One or two days of rain has been the norm. Just enough that my attempts to keep up with the lawn are continually thwarted. Looking into the dark out my back windows I can't see it, but I know that the lawn is too long to be respectable. And, I swear I can hear it laughing at me as it grows!

And now to start looking ahead to Autumn and the start of another school year.

Even though my sons have moved on to Boy Scouts, I still find myself leading Cub Scout Pack 31. I am eagerly looking to hand over leadership to a new group of parents and have high hopes for several that are promising (and whose boys seem to really like being scouts).

The wind farm located to the East of us in Ellenburg is up and running. I have had a chance to drive by several times now. It really amazes me how the turbines/towers fade into the background from a distance. The shade of paint they use is perfect camouflage. Unless you know where to look you just can't see them. Up close they are awe inspiring. They are quite graceful and I can imagine them being designed by Frank Lloyd Wright as they so perfectly fit the purpose they are designed for while at the same time fitting in, blending in, and actually complementing the environment they are a part of.

I can't understand why people are so opposed to wind farms. The NIMBY groups out there would rather have a 'natural' view in their back yard while out of sight (and out of mind) a coal or diesel plant spews pollution while providing the power for them to make their lattes.

Its Been a Long Time

Time flies like an arrow
Black flies like a fisherman.

Can it have been over four months since I last posted?

A lot has happened over these months. The Christmas season has come and gone. A new year is upon us.

My Patriots reached the pinnacle of the football world only to be knocked off by the upstart Giants.

Winter has come and, well, is still here.

After three record months of snow fall it looks like we may be in line for month number four. At the end of the first month of March we have a winter storm going across northern New York.

After several years of below average snow falls this one has everyone in the area ready for Spring.

I am ready for Spring. The seed catalogs have been coming for some time now. The thought of fresh little shoots of a salad garden breaking through the ground make this last month of Winter weather the longest of all.

So, Think Snow (Melting Snow that is).

Single Skillet Meals
Our local PBS station was having a membership drive/fundraiser today. They had a chef on (I did not catch his name) who had guests on cooking up Single Skillet Meals. One really caught my attention.

1. Boil up some Pierogies. Drain them out.
2. In a large skillet, saute some chopped onions and a chipped head of cabbage till tender. Brown very lightly.
3. Slice up some Kielbasa and toss it in. Mix it up to let the Kielbasa cook up.
4. Toss with the Pierogies. Salt and pepper to taste.
5. Enjoy (perhaps with a Pilsner Urquell?).

Life is indeed good.