Monday Musings: February 7. 2011

So much to comment on, and I thought I would have a leisurely Monday morning to do it. Here it is nearly 3 in the afternoon, and I’m just sitting down to the keyboard. It’s funny how a 93-year-old mother can take your day and blow it out of the water. I wouldn’t actually mind, except that Mom rarely notices that it’s been a disruption, and is even more rarely appreciative even when the level of disruption is apparent. It’s more fun for her to complain about everything she has no control over, or has no intention of doing anything about.

Sigh.

Those gingersnaps I made last Friday got even more awesomely tasty - and cold milk worthy - the longer they lived in the cookie jar. The flavors really married, and became richer and more nuanced. Meanwhile, on Saturday and Sunday, I did more test runs with the multi grain blend pizza dough I’d crafted. As to, did my loyal product testers up the street - Peg and Don. Peg went for simplicity, while Don went manly - loaded every conceivable topping as in a casino buffet of topping choices - on the toothsome crust.

“Crust still fabulous, even laden with tons of soggy vegetables & sauce.  This was a better pizza.  It was not disgusting.  Don could have left off the sausage as I don’t think it added much and there was a flavor that tended of overpower some of the subtler essences.  This would have been spectacular with just the cheese, the olives, the peppers (and added red pepper for heat), the onions, garlic, and pepperoni.  The sauce was perfect with the crust and even could have been a bit thicker, I think.

All in all, an excellent adventure in pizza.  The dough was great, and held up well with the accoutrements on the second pizza. “

The next batch will include a dough conditioner/relaxer, which will make for a thinner, crispier crust in theory. I’ll let you know when some test samples are ready.

NOTICE: Reno Skeptics are hosting a movie night on Saturday, February 12th, at Round Table Pizza, 1201 Baring Blvd., Sparks, Nevada. The time: 6:00 p.m. They’ll be showing BBC movie ‘Creation’ (how Darwin saw the world and forever changed human understanding of our natural world ) in celebration of Darwin’s birthday, which will be accompanied with a presentation by our resident archeologist, Chris Webster. The pizza and beer are on you, but the Skeptics will buy the birthday cake.

On the drive home this afternoon, as I was passing the Grand Sierra Resort Casino, I noted the big reader board. Wow! A $15,000 Presidential Slot Tournament. Nothing says America, patriotism, love of county and our founders like losing the rent money at a slot tourney.

Okay, so I’m a little cynical.

Cynical also, in how I view the change of position of RSCVA President/CEO Ellen Oppenheim. She has ‘asked’ to resign and be re-assigned a different position due to an ‘illness’ in the family. The fix is in on this. I used to know a long time RSCVA director, and if he were still here, he’d be laughing his butt off at this nonsense.

When I saw the local news media chasing after Oppenheim, in a vain attempt to get a comment on the $400,000 that had gone to lure the American International Choral Festivel to town  - and said Oppenheim repeatedly giving them the slip and the silent treatment - I said “Aha! She’ll be giving notice soon.” The festival. slated for May, 2011, was supposed to bring droves of people and about $7,000,000 to the local area, but sign-ups are falling way short of any such mark. In gaming, that’s referred to as “betting on the come” or counting ones chickens before they’re hatched. But what the heck, it’s only the taxpayers money.

And for this, she was being paid $225,000 a year with nice benefits. You can view her employment contract here. From comments buzzing around the internet, it doesn’t seem like too many folks will be sorry she’s gone. The question remains, why should she be kept on - “re-assigned” - for six months, at taxpayer expense when she is clearly not performing the duties in the contract? Any six month notice clause is usually for the benefit of the employer, not the terminated employee … at least in my humble experience.

Hmmmm. What’s she got on Dwight Dortch?

Do you ever get the feeling that positions like the RSCVA are poorly supervised/audited rat holes for the taxpayers money?

Another reason for my cynicism today might have to do with Obama’s new love fest with Bill O’Reilly (interview) and the U. S. Chamber of Commerce (speech). Could this be about raising money for a second term? Courting the business interests that he earlier bashed to get the support of us, the Democratic rank and file? What’s next? Kiss and make up with the right over health care reform - hand them rocks to throw under it until it breaks?

I’m so over him.

The Las Vegas Sun had an interesting article in yesterday’s paper about the brain drain from Nevada. Who would have ever guessed that native born Nevada’s would earn their degrees here and head out of state to make a living and a life? Sort of like my beautiful step-daughter who got her degree from UNR. She tried to make a go of it here, but eventually had to realize that the pickings were between slim and none - thus headed west to make it with the big boys.

As it stands now, Nevada is still unsurpassed in it’s attempt to score the bottom slots in any ranking that other states would be ashamed of. We’re 41st in the nation for the number of persons born in the state, ages 25 to 44 that hold baccalaureate degrees, and don’t bail at the first opportunity.

Yes, they wags are correct. Nevada, the Mississippi of the West. Yet the weather is so damn beautiful. Sheesh, it got to like 65 degrees today. A sweater was too warm when I dashed out for lunch and there still isn’t any ‘weather’ in sight. Bad for the skiing. I may have to get the bike out.

Oh, I have finally caved in and tweeted. I hate it, but I’m doing it. Surprisingly, there are people I know that responded - they are out there doing same! Hard to believe.

Have a good week at your chosen vocation. Hang in there. Read this blog occasionally.

Cheers!

-maven

Friday Fish Wrap: January 14. 2010

It might just be me, but after this week, I really needed a little warm and fuzzy time with a cross-eyed opossum. Heidi the Opossum - or as she is known in Deutschland: Die Schielende Opossum (‘Squinting Opossum’). The cute Heidi couldn’t have burst onto the international scene and our pop culture consciousness at a better time.

This Opossum is so homely, as my grandmother would have said, that she’s cute. And, she’s a wonderful substitute for drinking, smoking and thumb-sucking. All those crossed my mind lately as an escape from the grim reality of it all. Sigh.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

As the nation, families and grieving parents bury a sweet nine-year-old girl and five others, and a young Congresswoman clings to life - victim to a tragically deranged person with a gun he shouldn’t have been able to buy - Sarah Palin and Sharon Angle are now making the circuit, busily painting themselves as the real victims here. Personally, I love the dark waters swirling around Palin’s ankles as she mis-uses words that she failed to Google. “Blood Libel”? WTF?

Yes, even my Jewish friends are confused about how and why she managed to dig that up, not to mention wedge it so inappropriately into a bitter-sounding “it’s all about me” commentary about how some in the media have managed to connect the dots. Keep talking, girlfriend. And, the Tea Party band played on …

We watched the memorial address by Obama … Pastor-in-Chief in this instance. He is a really fine orator, and this is a bully pulpit that he can - and should - do something big and positive with. If he can start some serious national dialogues about hate-filled, intolerant rhetoric, guns, societal violence and the tragic consequences of slashed mental health budgets (seen the ‘homeless problem’ lately?) then we might be able to say they didn’t die completely in vain.

I’ll be watching, a month from now, six months and a year from now. I hope this won’t be another case of important turning points for the nation falling through the partisan cracks into the void. I’m enough of a grown-up to know there is no Santa Claus, and I won’t get everything my little heart desires. But, if somehow, we could turn a corner here and be a bit more like what that sweet little girl believed we were, or could be, then I’d be some kinda happy me.

Talking about delusional “it’s all about me” thinking … just how divorced from reality is Sen. John Ensign, R-NV these days? He wants to run again, against Dean Heller?

Why, when he could just slide quietly away and go into a lucrative career as a male model?

A while back, blogger friend ‘Blue Lyon’ and I went to lunch to discuss the possibility of starting up a skeptics group modeled after the Skeptics in the Pub movement in merry old England. Drinking and philosophy just seem to be made for each other. Maybe this is why England has produced so many philosophers of note.

Little did Carissa and I realize that there was a nascent Skeptical drinking group already here in Reno. “Yippee”, we said. “Count us in.”

 “The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is happier than a sober one. The happiness of credulity is a cheap and dangerous quality. “
- George Bernard Shaw

The next meetup of the Reno Skeptics will be on January 22, Saturday, at 7:00 p.m. Location TBA.

I love how sometimes a crazy idea just turns out to be really great. This is what happened with my Carrot Confiture creation - Carrot Jam for the French challenged. We had it on english muffins for breakfast, and then later I slathered some on a whole grain cracker to let a friend sample. Yikes. It’s even better now that it’s sat over night.

I bought more carrots at the grocery store today.

Oh, and my skiing damaged knee is continuing to improve. Keeping ice on it for the first two days, then heat really helped, as did physical therapy and E-Stim. Exercising it with my ‘bands’ and doing Pilates based strengthening every morning this week have paid off big time. I’m not back to skiing yet, but will be giving serious thought to it later next week. And, yes … I’m going to be more careful, probably adjusting the bindings, too.

I’ve been watching, with growing anxiety the last couple of weeks, as my weight went up, up and away for no apparent reason. Eating the same. Exercising the same - bum knee cut it down a bit, briefly. So, what gives?

As I thought it through, I remembered how much hot soup I’ve been guzzling down in restaurants during the recent cold, dark days. We go out to lunch here, always have. Damn near daily. And I have soup or a half sandwich. Lately, I’ve been sucking down soup at one particular spot more than usual. Hmmmm. Stopped having soup, and weight went down.

I thought it was kinda salty tasting, but jeeze, this is ridiculous. Can you people back in the restaurant kitchens get a handle on the salt, please? Do us all a favor.

Alert Reader, Shelley, submitted this nugget. Earth Bound Pets is a group of pet-loving atheists that will be here- terra firma bound - to look after you pets after you ascend heaven-ward at the rapture or mass delusion or whatever. This is screamingly funny. It’s also smart. They charge $135.oo per pet. You’ve gotta love the enterprising nature of Americans.

Well, I’m signing off. My knee is really tired after putting on a dinner for friends. Ow. Time to get out the hot packs and take my weight off it.

Stay tuned for some awesome recipes. The celery root puree was killer tonight.

Have a fun weekend.

-maven