I got injured and had to go to the hospital. While I was there I caught a nasty superbug, c.diff, and had to stay 12 days. They let me out, but the deal was I had to stay in isolation. Kathy, Harry and Keely fixed up the ADA bathroom downstairs really nice.
And they put a chair in there, a cross between a "normal" chair and as easy chair. Plenty of padding, but not huge. When you have c.diff, at first you want to sleep all the time, (between trips to the bathroom). But as you get better, you sleep less. The hospital gave me drugs, Adavan, but I didn't want to use them. so I started reading. Ended up reading the New Testament from the John Maxwell Leadership Bible. I really came to appreciate the chair.
I am well now and back upstairs. I have been thinking about a reading place. I tried outdoors, we have a teak chase lounge from Indonesia and I can hear and see the ocean. Pretty cool, but the tradewinds play havoc with the book pages. For now I have settled on the leather love seat we watch movies from. Right now, I am reading the Psalms. I just finished the Ascents, which are my favorite Psalms I think. It is a good location for reading and the lights are not bad. The love seat has seen better days and when the time comes, I will certainly prioritize a place for reading. I have found mine, have you?
Saturday, May 6, 2017
Thursday, May 4, 2017
Rep. Shuster, your country is counting on you
Regardless of where you fall on the Democrat/Republican/Conservative/Liberal scale, if you are going to fly in our airlines there is a name you should be aware of: Chairman Bill Shuster (R-PA)
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. Perhaps more than any other person in the USA, he has the power to modify the amount of pain air travel inflicts upon passengers.
Needless to say there have been high profile cases recently, Doctors being bloodied, passengers hit with strollers, families with toddlers illegally being removed from planes to accommodate oversold seats and these are just the ones we know about. How many others have suffered in silence?
"Shuster, [Chairman of the oversight committee], told The Hill that he went into the hearings with an open mind, hoping to gain insight into what Congress should do, if anything, to try to make flying a little more pleasant. The committee is working on a major aviation bill, and Shuster made clear he's willing to consider customer service components of it, if necessary."
Shuster's own words give me some hope, "I used to own a business. And one of the fundamental rules of any successful business is that the customer comes first.
So something is clearly broken when we see passengers being treated the way some of them have been treated on recent flights. Regardless of the contractual relationship between the airline and the ticket holder – it’s just common decency and common sense that you don’t treat a person that way, let alone a paying customer."
Of course, as the Washington Post reports, he is the same Shuster that said, "“I don’t believe in overburdening our businesses,” Transportation Committee Chairman Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) told the [airline] executives, saying only that Congress would act “the next time” if they don’t police themselves this time."
According to the Economist, "WHEN politicians feel they must summon industry bosses and implore them to treat customers better, it is a sure sign that the market is not working as it should."
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. Perhaps more than any other person in the USA, he has the power to modify the amount of pain air travel inflicts upon passengers.
Needless to say there have been high profile cases recently, Doctors being bloodied, passengers hit with strollers, families with toddlers illegally being removed from planes to accommodate oversold seats and these are just the ones we know about. How many others have suffered in silence?
"Shuster, [Chairman of the oversight committee], told The Hill that he went into the hearings with an open mind, hoping to gain insight into what Congress should do, if anything, to try to make flying a little more pleasant. The committee is working on a major aviation bill, and Shuster made clear he's willing to consider customer service components of it, if necessary."
Shuster's own words give me some hope, "I used to own a business. And one of the fundamental rules of any successful business is that the customer comes first.
So something is clearly broken when we see passengers being treated the way some of them have been treated on recent flights. Regardless of the contractual relationship between the airline and the ticket holder – it’s just common decency and common sense that you don’t treat a person that way, let alone a paying customer."
Of course, as the Washington Post reports, he is the same Shuster that said, "“I don’t believe in overburdening our businesses,” Transportation Committee Chairman Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) told the [airline] executives, saying only that Congress would act “the next time” if they don’t police themselves this time."
According to the Economist, "WHEN politicians feel they must summon industry bosses and implore them to treat customers better, it is a sure sign that the market is not working as it should."
Schear family: What if there was no such thing as YouTube?
If a tree falls in a forrest and there is no one to hear it, does it make a sound? - Zen Koan
I watched the Schear family video with a sense of horror when a family with two toddlers was illegally kicked off the plane. The airlines are out of control. I always thought Delta was pretty cool, but they need to train their people in Delta's and the FAA's policy WRT younger children and carseats. Yikes.
If it wasn't filmed would any one care?
I watched the Schear family video with a sense of horror when a family with two toddlers was illegally kicked off the plane. The airlines are out of control. I always thought Delta was pretty cool, but they need to train their people in Delta's and the FAA's policy WRT younger children and carseats. Yikes.
If it wasn't filmed would any one care?
Coomey makes me nauseous
If you know me, you know I am not political. I didn't really like Clinton or Trump as presidential candidates, but you vote the best you can.
“It makes me mildly nauseous to think that we might have had some impact on the election,” he told the senators. “But honestly, it wouldn’t change the decision.”
This op-ed piece says it all. Coomey altered the election. He made the FBI a political entity at a time when their trust is at a low.
And he is a loose cannon, what he did with that announcement violated DOJ policy and they later filed a complaint with the Office of Professional Responsibility. Apparently that is his nature.
Like every American, I am a bit squeamish about Russian interference in our presidential election. But in this Internet world, we either can or can't do anything about that. However, we can, and should, fire Coomey.
It appears that Mr. Coomey has played a bit fast and loose with some of the facts in the case. UPDATE: 5/9/17 President Trump dismisses Coomey.
“It makes me mildly nauseous to think that we might have had some impact on the election,” he told the senators. “But honestly, it wouldn’t change the decision.”
This op-ed piece says it all. Coomey altered the election. He made the FBI a political entity at a time when their trust is at a low.
And he is a loose cannon, what he did with that announcement violated DOJ policy and they later filed a complaint with the Office of Professional Responsibility. Apparently that is his nature.
Like every American, I am a bit squeamish about Russian interference in our presidential election. But in this Internet world, we either can or can't do anything about that. However, we can, and should, fire Coomey.
It appears that Mr. Coomey has played a bit fast and loose with some of the facts in the case. UPDATE: 5/9/17 President Trump dismisses Coomey.
Saturday, April 15, 2017
Book Review: Maxwell Leadership Bible
The Maxwell Leadership Bible by John C. Maxwell
So why this book? The graduate school I work for The SANS Technology Institute has an assignment on transformational leadership. I have always been a bit worried we would run out of topics. After reading this book I worry no longer. It turns out Mr. Maxwell has a full understanding of leadership and uses the stories and characters in the Bible to point them out. He also has a framework or two including qualities of leaders and irrefutable laws of leadership.
It is a bit distracting moving from Bible text to Mr. Maxwell's call out boxes, but after a while you adapt.
I did not read the entire Bible for this review. In the old testament I read Esther, Ezra and Nehemiah and the entire new testament. I was mostly satisfied with his treatment of transformational leadership with the exception of Paul's letter to the church in Rome. Mr. Maxwell tried to be a bit of a study Bible, so both that and the leadership component suffered.
Conclusion: This was an eyeopener to me. There is a lot left to say about transformational leadership. When I get some time I would like to choose some very famous fiction novel and see if I can apply Mr. Maxwell's approach
So why this book? The graduate school I work for The SANS Technology Institute has an assignment on transformational leadership. I have always been a bit worried we would run out of topics. After reading this book I worry no longer. It turns out Mr. Maxwell has a full understanding of leadership and uses the stories and characters in the Bible to point them out. He also has a framework or two including qualities of leaders and irrefutable laws of leadership.
It is a bit distracting moving from Bible text to Mr. Maxwell's call out boxes, but after a while you adapt.
I did not read the entire Bible for this review. In the old testament I read Esther, Ezra and Nehemiah and the entire new testament. I was mostly satisfied with his treatment of transformational leadership with the exception of Paul's letter to the church in Rome. Mr. Maxwell tried to be a bit of a study Bible, so both that and the leadership component suffered.
Conclusion: This was an eyeopener to me. There is a lot left to say about transformational leadership. When I get some time I would like to choose some very famous fiction novel and see if I can apply Mr. Maxwell's approach
Friday, November 11, 2016
Turkey cheese whole grain cake
I was at a grocery store recently and they had a turkey for $7.99 if you bought $25.00 worth of stuff, (easy to do on Kauai). But the problem is you end up with a whole turkey and there it is only Kathy and I.
But a year ago I visited a food truck that was some variant of Mongolian food and bought a patty made of a mix of grain, potato, yogurt, and meat and I really liked it. Maybe, I can do something like that with some of the turkey.
1 cup Costco Organic Ancient Grains (Quinoa, Amaranth, Millet), blended into flour
5 large slices dried shitake mushrooms blended into the flour, (I wanted the turkey breast to taste more like red meat)
1/3 cup milled flax
= Now we have our grain component, time to bring in the liquids
1/4 cup Costco Mediterranean blend oil
2 eggs
6 cooked smallish red potatoes
1 cup cooked turkey breast
1/2 cup Fage Greek Yogurt
= Spices
Salt to taste
Black pepper to taste
Pinch of red pepper flakes
1 tsp cumin
2 tsp mustard, (I used Gulden's spicy brown)
= Now the hard part. I needed enough water for my Blendtech to mix everything, but that equals too much water to build the cake. My hope was that if I let it sit a while, the grain component would soak up the water and my backup plan was to add mashed potato if needed, (I did need a handful).
I transferred the mixture into a large mixing bowl and stirred in a cup of grated Cost-U-Less 4 cheese mixture to help the cake hold together.
Cooked for 30 minutes at 350, half way through I put a slice of Provolone cheese in the center of the cake, (it is easy to burn Provolone). Let it cool before messing with it.
= Lessons learned
- This is a great use for leftover turkey breast, I try not to brine because I manage my salt, but then if you cook the turkey to 165 degrees, it usually results in dry meat. By grinding it up with all the other ingredients you don't notice it.
- I think egg white will work just as good as whole egg for an even leaner protein source. If I increase the amount of egg white I can reduce the cheese, but then need another spice.
- The bottom burned a bit. This is partly because the lady that cleans our house keeps moving my rack to the bottom. Next time I will check to position of the rack and will cook at 325. By using a pasteurized egg product, since everything is cooked, there would be no food safety issues.
- The Gulden's made the cake slightly bitter, I need to order mustard seed from Spiceworld anyway, that might be a better plan.
- For some reason, (probably because Kathy had a dish of chickpeas in the fridge), I was wondering about incorporating them into a version. Dried as part of the grain component? Whole, for texture interest? Not sure.
- Not as healthy, but what about lamb or duck and ditch the mustard for mint?
But a year ago I visited a food truck that was some variant of Mongolian food and bought a patty made of a mix of grain, potato, yogurt, and meat and I really liked it. Maybe, I can do something like that with some of the turkey.
1 cup Costco Organic Ancient Grains (Quinoa, Amaranth, Millet), blended into flour
5 large slices dried shitake mushrooms blended into the flour, (I wanted the turkey breast to taste more like red meat)
1/3 cup milled flax
= Now we have our grain component, time to bring in the liquids
1/4 cup Costco Mediterranean blend oil
2 eggs
6 cooked smallish red potatoes
1 cup cooked turkey breast
1/2 cup Fage Greek Yogurt
= Spices
Salt to taste
Black pepper to taste
Pinch of red pepper flakes
1 tsp cumin
2 tsp mustard, (I used Gulden's spicy brown)
= Now the hard part. I needed enough water for my Blendtech to mix everything, but that equals too much water to build the cake. My hope was that if I let it sit a while, the grain component would soak up the water and my backup plan was to add mashed potato if needed, (I did need a handful).
I transferred the mixture into a large mixing bowl and stirred in a cup of grated Cost-U-Less 4 cheese mixture to help the cake hold together.
Cooked for 30 minutes at 350, half way through I put a slice of Provolone cheese in the center of the cake, (it is easy to burn Provolone). Let it cool before messing with it.
= Lessons learned
- This is a great use for leftover turkey breast, I try not to brine because I manage my salt, but then if you cook the turkey to 165 degrees, it usually results in dry meat. By grinding it up with all the other ingredients you don't notice it.
- I think egg white will work just as good as whole egg for an even leaner protein source. If I increase the amount of egg white I can reduce the cheese, but then need another spice.
- The bottom burned a bit. This is partly because the lady that cleans our house keeps moving my rack to the bottom. Next time I will check to position of the rack and will cook at 325. By using a pasteurized egg product, since everything is cooked, there would be no food safety issues.
- The Gulden's made the cake slightly bitter, I need to order mustard seed from Spiceworld anyway, that might be a better plan.
- For some reason, (probably because Kathy had a dish of chickpeas in the fridge), I was wondering about incorporating them into a version. Dried as part of the grain component? Whole, for texture interest? Not sure.
- Not as healthy, but what about lamb or duck and ditch the mustard for mint?
Thursday, October 13, 2016
Stephens Pressure Wash and Detail
I love the Pacific Northwest, (Lake Tapps WA), in the summer time. But the mildew on the concrete is a constant battle. It takes me two eight hour days to make a pass on both the front and back of the house. So I went to Craigslist hoping to find a provider. I called Stephens, left a voicemail, Sean Stephens called me back one minute later, came by the next day and provided an estimate and a day later came to do the job and did a much better job than I am capable of with my equipment. (253) 227-2326
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