Gravy for the Biscuits

The all important pork sausage gravy for the biscuits

1 tube of Jimmy Deans low fat sausage
1 Cup of milk
2 Tablespoons of corn starch
Couple of squirts of Chulupa hot sauce to taste
pinch of salt to taste

Brown sausage until dry in a large frying pan. Save a quarter of a cup of milk out. Deglaze the pan with the milk poured in on top of the sausage. Mix saved milk out with the cornstarch. Add to the deglazed pan with the sausage and milk mixture. As the miture bubbles up, add Chulupa or other hot sauce to taste.

Biscuit Recipe

A "Double Batch"

Preheat oven to 450 degrees (very hot)

4 Cups of all purpose flour
2 Tbs Baking Powder
2 Tbs Sugar
1/2 Tsp salt
1 C Butter
1 1/2 C of Milk

In a big bowl (like a mixer bowl) stir together flour, baking powder sugar. Using a pastry blender cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Run fingers through mixture to smear any remaining butter clumps into the flour mixture. Make a well in the dry mixture and pour milk all at once into the well. Mix with a spoon to incorporate liquid into the dough. Roll out if desired on a a flat surface. Cut individual biscuits with a water glass.

Bake 10 to 12 minutes at 450 degree oven.

Years of Hard Academic Work A Day to Celebrate

My youngest daughter, Linzi, received her Masters degree from the Sacramento State University this weekend. Her division had their ceremony at Arco Arena. These degrees are very different from undergraduate degrees not just because they represent a dignified body of academic pursuit and a thesis or a project but they usually represent in many of the students a re start of the academic process after obtaining and working in the field for a period of time.

For Lindsay this was most certainly the case. This graduate degree represented not only the pursuit of more academic endeavor after the Bachelors was granted by Sonoma State, put the continuation of a more specialized degree that enhanced her job while she was working in the field. It was not easy to work and get the this next degree and motivations for its pursuit had to come from within. Life coaches were hired and life continued past its easy phases, if there is ever one of those. Lindsay married Sean who has been very supportive of her throughout her pursuits. In the end it got down to her really wanting to finish this degree and the writing that it required.

In the quest for this degree Lindsay worked for the planning department of a major entity until budget cuts took her job. She practiced what she learned in the academic world. What the academic world could not predict was the catastrophic changes that came with reordering our economic where with all. What juiced our economy, real estate can no longer be dependent to finance our dreams or our desires.

The harsh realities have hammered this generation. It has temporarily set back this generation out of its middle class roots and required it to do some time in our parents generation. Single income households are the rule as only one can get work. This has happened with teachers as well as government employees.

It has hammered past generations too. We lost generations of teachers back in the 70s as education was not allowed to expand to meet the need of the growing populaiton. Jobs coming out of college were hard to find. A whole group of teachers were trained and never found jobs in teaching or business for that matter. It took us as a nation a long time to get to where we were planning again for a future. We are once again faced with similar issues. And once again a particular party has as its solution to the problem.. trickle down economics.. give me a break!

The question in this era is how long with our recovery take? Will the recovery get us back to using these people in what they were trained? Have we laid off our expertise to plan us out of future fixes for a gut check based on current economic conditions? I hope not. Lindsay should be there with her academic and practical experience in planning to help us get to a sustainable future. Sadly I fear that we are a few years before we come to the place where this will be possible. What will be the fallout?

My hope is that we will figure this out soon and get planning our way to what we need and project a genuine future for the middle class the true strength of our nation.

Good luck Lindsay with our future in mind. I am so proud that you have another academic feather in your cap. It may take that for what you need to do for us in the future.

: ) DAD

Articles in the NY Times

On my daily walk I stop at Starbucks and sometimes read the left over copies of the NY Times. Today's read had some very interesting articles on Alzheimer and ADHD. The result of the research put together by US researchers and data collected in Italy seems to point to a breakthrough in discovery of the condition. Manipulating the condition is the tough part although you need to know the color and spots of the animal in order to hunt it down.

The NY times has a great article for reference for understanding the disease from a consumer's perspective. This article will give the reader a general understanding of the condition.

Sue and I had attended and interesting conference of our state speech therapist convention down in Long Beach about 10 years ago. Our field has been flooded with clients that think that they had Alzheimer and wanted specific therapies developed for it. A differential diagnosis had to be developed to differentiate between dementia and Alzheimer's disease. They were in the middle of doing studies with adult clients who came to the adult day care for their therapy, rehab, and social interaction. At that time and up to fairly recently the only definitive studies were done on patients that were deceased and allowed for their brains to be studied before death with very expensive MRI technology and cell studies after death.

The current studies are finding that some cells, the ones that allow us to multitask and to move to the daydream thoughts without focus do not get flushed out as quickly into the spinal fluid with clients with Alzheimer conditions as those with non Alzheimer pathology. So if medical research can find a way to enhance this action, it may be the key to maintaining directed thought in these clients.

This is an interesting movement in this field.

: ) Pat

Last day of Art Mondays

Today was the last day of Monday afternoon art for the semester.

My friend Kate Jackson has been teaching and coaching us all semester. Today was the last session.

Recently she has been experimenting with brilliantly colored alcohol based paints on non absorbent papers like dupo. The results have been pretty startling. Many of the works of art look like painting done on stain glass. Its a little hard to control but some level may be obtained with wax and other blocks. Wax always leaves a trace so it have to be correct the first time.

I have been working in a different media. I made a small print from one of my Glacier Bay National Park photos. I switched it over in photoshop to bas relief. The result was an emphasis on texture rather than color. There was certainly an abundance of texture in the print. I took this texture an started to paint the texture into a watercolor canvas. I used some acrylic marble texturing material for some of the relief. I still wanted the painting to look and react like a watercolor so its a combination of the two. Most of the painting was executed with two new colors for Chaap Joes. This company is putting out a nice mix of already mixed colors that produce a mood or a concept. The two colors I used in this painting are called coastal fog and coastal fog blue. The canvas allows for some very nice lifting. It has a tendency to muddy up when the watercolor meets the texture of the marble and the leftover graphite of the pencil. I think that I will be much more careful with the pencil the next time I use in on the canvas.

Today I was working on adding some more mountains with hanging glaciers on them and getting a reflection on the water of the surrounding mountains and the glacier that spills down to the tidewater basin. I used crumpled up plastic wrap to give me a non continuous look in the mountains. The mountains were the source of the glaciers as they headed down toward the sea.

When I brought it home Sue said that it was looking better each time I worked on it. That is good sign because I have a tendency to overwork the painting. I feel that it is very close to being done.

I ordered up and received by delivery three more very large watercolor canvases. It will be fun to think about what will go on them!

Here is to you and your future canvases what every they may be!

: ) Pat

Holly Cole Jazz Singer for the Season

Its dangerous to use Shazam at Starbucks. You end up buying a lot of cool stuff.

The other day I was listening along and came across a singer that I enjoyed while doing my coffee walk. Holly Cole was singing "I Can See Clearly Now," and I thought that it was something that I had to have. It comes off her "The Best of Holly Cole" album.

With some further investigation I discovered that she put out a Christmas album as well. I believe that it is probably the way she is most known. Most of her touring is during the holidays in Canada.

The wiki reference is pretty cool. Holly Cole has a great torch singer that also sings show tunes and even some pop country. I picked up three albums with my emusic subscription. The bassist that she has as a backup is really wonderful. Its great to see a jazz singer that doesn't get lost in the jazz and forgets to sing the lyric. Noteworthy in her best are the 60's songs, Charade, and Alley Cat, Don't Let the Teardrops Rust a Shining Heart,Train Song,I Can See Clearly Now, and the 50's song, Trust in Me, from the "Best of Holly Cole" Album. The Christmas Album,"Baby ITs Cold Outside" has some winners with Santa Baby,Zat you Santa Claus, and the unusual fully orchestrated Wildwood Carol.

Have fun exploring the diversity of Holly Cole!

: ) Pat

Texas Take on Citrus

The following comes from an online paper from academics in Texas. I explored this route because we had a serious frost pretty early this year. The results were that my Meyers Lemon had white and black spots on the fruit and I was concerned about it. Usually I harvest the lemons off this dwarf tree around the second week in January. This is also about the time that we get our first frost. This year we had a week of sub 30 degree mornings. The tips of many home groves show the impact of this cold weather.


Harvesting & Yields

Citrus trees are among the most popular home fruit trees in Texas. A couple of the most common questions regarding harvesting the fruit are, "When is citrus ready to pick?" and, "Should I pick all my citrus to keep them from being damaged by frost?" The following table entitled: "Sugar Development of Satsuma Cultivars In South Central Texas During 2004-2005" gives the accumulated sugars of the new satsuma mandarin varieties in the fall of 2004. This data shows that most of the varieties had a soluble solids (sugar) reading of 10 by the middle of November but by the middle of December more of the varieties registered a 10 or more soluble solids. This data shows that the longer you can leave them on the tree, the sweeter they will get until they begin to drop in January. However, so you won't have to eat a lot of fruit in a short period of time, you can go ahead and eat some of your Satsumas even if they are still somewhat green and tart in October and November. How soon the fruit reaches its maximum sweetness depends on fall weather conditions.
Knowing when to harvest any citrus fruit involves the question of its degree of maturity. Technically speaking, there is no ripening process in citrus fruits and no such thing as "tree ripe" fruit. Citrus fruits pass from immature to mature and finally to an over mature condition while remaining on the tree, but the changes are slow and spread over several months. The only way for homeowners to determine maturity is to taste the fruit. Fruit color is a poor indication of ripeness, because many fruits have fully colored rinds a long time before they can be eaten and some fruit are green when the sugars are high enough to make a delicious tasting citrus. Don't expect citrus fruits to increase in sweetness or ripen more fully once you've picked them, as do peaches and some other fruits. When picked at any stage of maturity, the citrus fruit does not change after picking, except that it may decay or slowly dry out.
Unless damaged by freeze, citrus fruit keeps longer on the tree than if picked and stored so you're not faced with an enormous harvest all at once. Also realize that a mere frost of 30 to 32 degrees F will not injure the trees or fruit. Rather, it takes an extended number of hours below freezing to cause damage to both the tree and fruit. For example, it takes about four hours at 27 degrees F to form ice in a grapefruit; probably a bit less in smaller fruit. Of course lush tender growth can be injured, but for the most part the trees should not really be in an active state of growth at this time of the year.
Some citrus types will ripen a late summer crop from the spring bloom, others will take up to a year or more to mature, and some continue to bloom and fruit year-round. Once you begin to harvest, pick fruit from the lower branches first, leaving the high fruit until later in the season. There are two reasons for this; one is that frost is often more severe near the ground, so low hanging fruit is more likely to be damaged when the weather is cold; secondly, a fruit-rotting fungus disease called brown rot may splash from the soil, where it lives, onto fruit hanging low in the tree. Brown rot can penetrate unblemished citrus fruit rind, unlike other decay organisms which require a break in the rind to cause injury.
When you're picking citrus fruit that you plan to store for awhile, be careful not to bruise or break the skin. Satsuma harvest should involve clipping ripe fruit off with pruning shears instead of pulling it to avoid skin damage. Fruits that are cut or scratched during harvesting will rot fairly quickly in storage. Citrus fruits with perfectly sound skin are fairly decay proof, and will last in cool, moist storage for several weeks (38 to 48 degrees F., 85 to 95 percent relative humidity). Under dry conditions at room temperature, fruits develop off-flavors and shrivel within a week to 10 days.
Oranges and citrus turn colors, just about like the leaves on the trees do, they need a little cool weather and some bright, sunny days to make them really get an orange color, even though the sweetness is there. As the data shows, you can leave them on the tree and they will get sweeter but, so you won't have to eat a lot of fruit in a short period of time, you can go ahead and eat some of your Satsumas even if they are still somewhat green in October. One guy told me they make the best whiskey sours you ever put in your mouth beginning in September. So the oranges are ready even though they're green. Citrus does store very well on the tree so multiple harvests beginning in October and lasting through February will ensure that you enjoy a long harvest period of this delicious and nutritious fruit. The highest quality Satsuma fruit develops soluble solids or sugar levels in the juice above 9.0. This occurred in early November with all cultivars tested.

Starbucks Peppermint Brownies

I just had a wonderful brownie with my usual dopio machiatio expresso at Starbucks.  Its a peppermint brownie.  For a chocolate lover's delight.  The peppermint buttercream frosting is out of this world.  Using the internet I found the copycat recipe for the same thing:  Enjoy and take to work! : ) Pat

About This Recipe

"A mint chocolate brownie with a mint buttercream icing topped with chocolate! And it all starts with a box of brownie mix!"

Ingredients

Brownies

• 1 (19 1/2 ounce) boxes fudge brownie mix
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract

Peppermint Buttercream Frosting

• 1/3 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Chocolate Frosting

• 1/3 cup whole milk
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 (12 ounce) bags semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup powdered sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325. Then prepare a 9x9 inch baking dish by spraying lightly with non-stick cooking spray. Cut a piece of parchment paper to the width of the bottom of your pan but long enough to extend over the edge of the right and left sides of the pan.

Page 2 of 2Copycat Starbucks Peppermint Brownie (cont.)

Directions (cont.)

2. Sift brownie mix to eliminate any clumps. Then add melted butter, water eggs and 1/4 teaspoon of peppermint extract. Mix by hand just until dry ingredients are incorporated.
3. Pour into prepared pan. Bake according to package directions. Let cool.
4. Beat together cup powdered sugar and 1/2 cup softened butter. Mix in another 1/2 cup powdered sugar, then add 1 tablespoon milk and peppermint and vanilla extracts. Spread frosting evenly over the top. Place brownies in fridge to firm up frosting.
5. Bring 1/3 cup milk and 1/4 cup butter almost to a boil over medium heat. Pour chocolate chips into a heat-safe bowl. Pour milk mixture over the top and let sit for 5 minutes. Add 1 teaspoon vanilla and whisk until smooth. Use an electric mixer to beat in 1 cup powdered sugar until frosting is smooth. This will make more than you need, so remove 1/4-1/3 cup frosting and reserve for another use.
6. Spread chocolate frosting over the white frosting on the brownies.
7. Place back in fridge for about an hour to firm up frosting. Remove brownies from pan and slice into 9 pieces.

The Free Design, Judy Collins, and Rita Coolidge

In interesting group I came across in my e-music subscription is "The Free Design."  Its easy flow music reminiscent of Sergio Mendez and the Brazil 66.  There are some baroque harmonies in it as well. The group is recorded many "covers" of other famous musicians which is nice since you know the melody already. Two albums landed on my desktop, The Best of The Free Design and You could be Born Again. I think that they are best known in the day for the soft so very soft song "Kites are Fun." Enjoy the adventure of some new songs.


Judy Collins has an album out called 24 classic songs that is right up there too.  Its full of covers and classic folk themes.  I like the South Pacific song, Younger than Spring time. Mom and Dad bought me some singing lessons from the Junior High vocal teacher when I was in 8th grade.  This was one of the songs she taught me vocal techniques.  This album also has  a song from Pal Joey, "Bewitched." "Both Sides Now," is on this album. There are also some classic Dylan songs here too. 

I am also impressed by the shear vocal power of Judy Collins in the Album "An American Girl." The first track, "The Wedding Song  for Louis" has some fabulous orchestration and sound effects.  The tag line is "Love can do anything, Love can change the World." There it goes. Pat Brown the romantic once more!

I am also liking the "Out of the Blues" Album by Rita Coolidge. This has the folk legend into a really cool blues salty chanteuse. One of my favorites is "Black Coffee."The whole album is pretty solid torch singer blues.  There is some style that is often missing in contemporary music.

Have a great Thanksgiving!

Love Pat

Nigel, the Main Coon Cat

For the last three days Nigel the 14 pound Main Coon Cat has been not acting right.
He sat in one position for at least 12 hours. This is very spooky for  a cat that is pretty active.
He came to use via Sean and Linzi.  They picked him up for the downtown Cold Stone ice cream spot.  A car drove and and a small child got out of the car and literally tossed this poor bewildered kitten at the threshold of Cold Stone creamery.  The kids scooped him up and took him to Sacramento  He is a lovely black long haired animal with a super fluffy tail and little tuffs between his feet.  He has the sweetest personality. He is always from our perspective a non violent soul.  Even today with the little neighborhood cats all around, he is respectful and tries really had to get along.


He did have an issue with the timy old lady cat the Sean and Heather had in Sacramento.  She is 15 years old and really set in her ways. Sean had completed the people personalization of this animal and he is tops in our book,  He did have an issue with getting him to the vet.  He put on such a fuss that the cat vet in Sacramento had to use gloves to protect the workers handling him. 

In recent months he has met with a scrape along the side of his head from the cat wars that has required some animal vet work.  The noticed he had some issues with some loose teeth and they were taken care of two.  It was with a little bit of trepidation that I came to the realization that he needed more vet work yesterday.  An in and out cat that does want in or out but is comfortable just staying in one place is not a good sign.  I loaded him up.. not a problem in the cat carrier and took him off to the vet.  At the vet he easily got out of the carrier to get weighed.  As we waited for the vet, he moved himself back into the carrier.  When the vet arrived.  She asked about him.  I  provided her with the run down and my suspensions.  I was afraid that he was having urinary issues as many male cats have in this age bracket.  She looked in and said we need need to get him out.  I used the day's experience to think that I could drag him out to get examined... no He gave me a little nip and then sunk his teeth full force into my hand.  Puncture wounds on both sides of my left hand.


The vet concluded that he needed to be seen under sedation.  After a half hour in the waiting room she came out and said that no he had no urinary tract infection put she thought that it would be important to check through the blood work.  He had a high fever and was dehydrated.  She administered a shot with a long term antibiotic dose (should last almost 2 weeks). This is pretty good since he is not a good medicine taker.

This morning he was perky and wanted out. The vet said that ideally he should be quarantined for 10 days.. although she said that she knew that was not reasonable for a cat like this. 

So things are looking better for Mr. Nigel. I wish I could say the same for my hand.  Its starting to get red and siff.  I will keep an eye on it and get some antibiotics if needed.

The other vet came out and offered my some Iodine for the hand wash and suggested I wash the dishes with dawn hot water and soap.

Rain is in the forecast for this afternoon. Nigel will be less likely to want to get out and waterdog it.

Mantis Operation

The mantis mini tiller got put together today.  I only had to rebuild it twice due to using the wrong screws in the right places.

I got some 2 cycle oil to mix with the new gas in the gas can and we were off and running.  Well, not quite.  I had to re-read the manual to make sure that the switch was turned on. It also highlighted the use of the choke.. it pulls out to start. 

I fired it up.. by pulling the cord the requisit times and away it went.

Some observations. 
Dad said that he wished he had bought a smaller rototiller for his garden because it would fit up closer to where he wanted to go. Mantis makes the smallest rototiller around although not the cheapest.  Its pretty much the same price everywhere.. 350.  That seems a lot for a 20 pound tool.  Professional gardeners swear by them.  After working it.. and it working me for the afternoon I could tell why.

On my clay soil without a pre dig, the Mantis bumped up and down as its tines tried to dig in.  If I pre- dug with a shovel just a little and turned the soi over once, the Mantis would pulverize the soil to the point that is often described in pie crust making as "small peas." So you can imagine having your planting beds made from nasty tough clay bound soil converted to 10 inch deep soil with the texture of pie crust waiting for the water.  You can plant anything in that.  So its worthwhile.

The price it extracts from the operator for this wonderful soil is two fold.  All my soil must be pre-dug and turned over before using this tool.  That is a job.  Secondly, when using the Mantis, there is a little kickback as it digs the dirt deeper.  If the first step doesn't wear you out the second one will.  But gardening is good exercise and who doesn't need that?   

:) Pat

Iris Prep and Mantis acquistion

Its a beautiful clear and somewhat warm November day.

My poor iris collection has had it pretty rough in the front yard the last couple of years. They started out in bright summer sunlight of the Central Valley summers. Iris love sun. Now they sip ice tea under the branches of these miniature peach and nectarine trees all summer and they aren't looking very rigorous.

Their glory days occur in March and into April. During this season, the leaves have not formed such a deep blanket above them to prevent their blossoms from display.  Its fairly obvious that at the end of the summer, these direct sun lovers are having a hard time coming up for the extreme sunlight they need. They really need to be divided and restarted somewhere else.

A nice barrier of empty planing area exists on the crescent shaped hill in the front that have the big trees.  Dad always has a chuckle at my trees.  They get a "toupee cut." Sheared off in fall and the winter to a height no greater than ten feet, they are the perfect "pickers trees." No ladder is required to thin the fruit, or pick the peaches and pluots when they are ripe.  On the ground in front of the crescent is a perfect spot for the iris.  They are headed there this fall.

Each iris plant had gone through a rejuvenation of its own and abandoned its old root tubers.  Last week they were cut off and discarded.  The new plants form as shoots off the side of the last blossoming tuber.  These were cut leaving some root and their cuts from the old tuber allowed to air dry.  The air dry is now complete and they are ready to read to their new location.

First the ground needs to be prepared.  I weeded the area.  I started turning over the soil.  We have tough clay based soil.  I lasted a half an hour with the digging.  Sue has agreed to let me buy a mantis mini rototiller.  I am hoping that the new tool with really help.

Today we were off to get one. But first we needed to do the fabric store for some zippers for the turquoise pillows she is making Linzi and Sean's new Berkley apartment.  The material arrived via ebay yesterday and it is pretty cool.  Linzi wanted some turquoise velvet for the pillows.  We also needed to shop at Ross for some curtain rods.. We found out through text messaging and phone calls that they were not needed.  On to the dollar store Sue headed. She did not find a little notebook that she was looking for but still some other 99 cent treasures found their way to the basket.

Luckily Orchard Supply Hardware is a short couple of blocks away.

At OSH I knew they had the mantis brand mini rototiller that I was looking for.  The manager was summoned and he found one in the box in the back. He brought it to us with already in a cart.  I added a sack of soil amendment and we were off.

When I got home, I needed a gas tank.. its a 2 cycle engine and needs the oil mixed into the gas.  My other yard equipment is 4 cycle and they take gas straight.  Also it required two 7/16 box wrenches to tighten up the bolts.  I got these at Lowes.  Now its too dark to put it together. But it will be waiting for me tomorrow!   

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World Series Giants!

Reading USA today gave me an insight of where the two teams in the World Series were made. Baseball has almost always enjoyed a unique position in sports. Early on it was deemed by the courts not to be subject to the antitrust laws that effect businesses and other sports. This means that teams can get together and exchange players and contracts without fear of being charged with conspiring to effect trade. Other sports are not allowed to do this.

Baseball has no cap on collective cost of teams. The New York Yankees can and do spend more than any other team in baseball. It does not always result in capturing a World Series or for that matter even being in one. Sometimes the best players do not yield the best results. Ask the Giants about the history of pitcher Zito. He is one of the highest paid pitchers in the major league baseball and he did not even make the playoff roster.

Each baseball season is a long one. The endless travel and athletes have to work hard to maintain physical abilities to keep them in the premier baseball league throughout the season. Its come down to this. They World Series. Can one team from the National League (the San Francisco Giants) beat one team from the American League (Texas Rangers.)

The Texas Rangers have never been to the World Series. Why? Because Texas as a whole is more focused on football. If you catch the Disney Dennis Quaid movie "The Rookie" the poor kids in small town Texas could not even buy basball socks mid 60s. They certainly have had a beautiful new park since the 90's. Still they were not fielding a competent team for World Series play until now. It takes an owner with clever vision to bring that about. They are here this year after clubbing the Yankees over the head.

So how did the San Francisco Giants and the Texas Rangers get into the World Series. In both cases they traded and acquired a number of players at the trading deadlines and a parlayed them into a winning team. The San Francisco Giants are dependent upon their pitchers and have a park that is very pitcher friendly. the Rangers have invested in offense and scoring many runs with big batters. Their park is a pitchers nightmare but a hitter's delight.

In both cases, both teams traded to increase their strengths and build against their weaknesses.

Here is the rundown on how these teams were made.

Texas San Francisco

Drafted 7 9
Acquired in Trade 13 4
Signed as Free Agents 3 10
Selected in Rule 5 draft 1 0
Signed as amateur free agent 0 1
Claimed on waivers 1 1

Source USA today research


Despite this, the San Francisco Giants and the Texas Rangers take great pride in the number of significant players they have developed through their farm organizations. As USA today notes,"both teams would not be their without wheeling and dealing that continued as long as the rules allowed."

The Rangers acquired high profile pitcher Cliff Lee in early July. The Giants fine tuned their bullpen at the July 31 trade deadline to waiver claims and deals all the way through August. Onlookers to the scene claimed that both clubs were headed to overkill in particular areas.

The major players in this shift and gamble were the Giants Brian Sabean and the Ranger's Jon Daniels.

The Giants manager Bruce Bochy said "I compare them to the Dirty Dozen. That's the way they they play, they've coalesced into a team that goes out there to win. Its nice to have a group of unselfish players who have one agenda and that is to get to postseason. There is no complaining. They have accepted their roles, which they probably were real happy (about).

The San Fransico Giants have won two games in their home park. The question remains can they do it in Texas? Or as my mother-in-law would say can they "mess with Texas."

: ) Pat

Making Photo Books

How do you share your photos?

In the 60's we pulled out the Kodak carousel projector when we had people over for dinner and we needed some after dinner entertainment. Slides were loaded in and photos were shared. Pet peeves were blank spots in the carousel when the screen went blank. Some people got tired and feel asleep and snored loudly after the dinner meal. The slide show became a poor way to share your treasured memories.

Affordable hand held photography followed. The audience could look in a more intimate setting the photos to be shared. The media was still 35 mm or newly invented "disks" and hand held photo albums. The photographer could share photos in any light with a friend or two without getting out the projector and waiting until dark to share the memories.

Slide shows made a come back when web pages were designed.When I was making them, I even figured out a code to put multiple photos timed through the webto make a slide show. The audience needed to be sitting at a computer however to see the photos that were displayed along with the text. The computer got personal photography back to the setting of commentary with the photos as slide show and photo albums had done before. The computer screen took the place of the projector. The computer screen usually made this photography more intimate and user interactive. Now people use facebook or twitter to share their stories and photos instantaneously. The sagas are short and the photos are quick and often poorly formed.

Dad has been real good about framing my favorite travel photos. My Epson stylus photo 1800 does a great job of cranking out photos that are 13 by 19 inches. We have been rotating framed photos of our trip and it is really great to have these beauties on the wall. Not everyone has a lot of wall space or a good framer. Wall space and big framed photos is another mode to share your memories.

Along the continuum back around the horn, personal photo books are starting to bring back the element that the photo album had. Their advantage is that the photo books are usually edited and contain a printed story in parts that many photo albums were missing. Again we are morphing into the stand alone from the personal annotated works of the 80's and 90's. They can be fingered with photos not being ruined by their display. They are more expensive but multiple copies may be made and shared.

I have just completed two personal photo books. Both of the books were printed by Apple directly from Apple's professional photography program Aperature 3. The product is shipped off electronically to Central Point Oregon and the books arrive in beautiful printed form in about a week.

There are other players in the photo book world besides Apple. Snapfish is a favorite vendor for my friend Tom who makes photo books of his light house quests. I see that Costco is also getting into the personal photobook business too.

Some books are hard bound and very large. My first one is of that nature. It is 23 pages of Glacier National Park in July. Some photos stretch across both pages. In this book because it is a photo/picture book without a significant amount of writing has no more than one photo per page. The second book that I made is a book that celebrates the various stops and attractions along the way. It is a much smaller book and it has some pages were two or more photos and considerably more text is used. I am going to make sure that all of those participants on the cruise will get a copy. It is softbound, smaller overall, and reflects more of the journey than the single subject Glacier Bay book affords.

I can hardly wait until the second book arrives. The Glacier Bay book I feel is a real success. After all our homes have only so much room for framed photos. Glacier Bay is truly a special place. Its magnificence can barely be shown in a book. I am hoping that the trip overall will be nicely annotated by the photo book.

Consider making a photo book with your latest trip photos.

: ) Pat

The Flop.. Good for Sports?

I was listening to cry babies, a pod cast from This American Life. It highlighted the advent of the pro athlete version that has taken all of the sports by a storm. The flop.

In its most pure form and perhaps the originator of the flop comes from World Soccer. These injures or "fake injuries" help to slow down the play. The subject claims dramatic injury from a minor or no infraction. The sport of soccer has a way of dealing with this. Additional time is added to the end of the game when time is taken and cards are displayed. Cards are displayed for inappropriate play. It is still a theft of the audience time when half the team spends time withering in pain on the field of play.

This segment from This American Life cited that even baseball and Derek Jetter were not immune to such antics. Derek faked being hit by the pitcher to get on base for the New York Yankees. Vladi Devak, the 7 foot 1 inch former center for the Sacramento Kings and later the LA Lakers had perfected the flop and introduced it to the whole National Basketball League. Its inception was exasperated by a rule change that did not allow any hand checks in the game. Fear of the flop resulted in more passing in the game and more interesting play by outside shooters.

The flop in football is fairly prolific. The quarterback fakes the smash after the ball is thrown. The receivers and the corners play with the referees on pass interference. The ultimate flop is recorded for a punter that gets hit after kicking the ball. There is even an anti flop provision that would recall the play if the kicker intentionally flops.

So where is flop when you consider sportsmanship? Does it effect games? Is it fair to effect play with acting?

I really think overall the flop is cheapening the sports experience. I have no problem with good acting. It should however not be in sports. It should not slow the play or give unfair advantage to an athlete or a team who is beaten in the play and this is the only recourse to make it even. I think that in televised pro sports the flop is inappropriate.

Flight of Passage a book to read

I know you inveterate book readers will scoff at the idea that I have finished my fourth book since retirement. I must fully commit to a book to read it because so few get completed. They better be good and pretty easy to read.

Sue picked this gem out of the costco paperback group and it is one right down my alley. The book is Flight of Passage a memoir by Rinker Buck.

With a name like that you just have to read it. It happened in the same era that I went to high school, 1964-1968. Its flight occurred 1966. While there is a lot of flying in the story, there is really very limited technical jargon needed to understand the book,

The story is of the interaction of two high school aged boys with their father. Their father was a hyperbolic magazine editor and leader of many civil rights demonstrations. Their family was a large catholic family that lived in New Jersey and flew planes. The father lost a leg in an aviation accident. This shaped some of the experiences of the boys.

Rinker's older brother, was really the idealized pilot of the two. He is the good student, but lacked the social skills his younger bother possesses.

One summer after working the entire winter restoring an 85 horsepower piper cub, the two flew cross country in 6 days, from New Jersey to California. This book covers many of their experiences in this flight. At the time others claimed that they were the youngest pair to fly coast to coast. They had no radio in their plane and limited knowledge of how temperature and altitude could interact with their flight.

Its a very nice easy read.

: ) Pat

Shrimp the New Tuna

It used to be that all cooks had a can of tuna around for emergency meals or to get fish in the diet once a week.

My experience was that tuna over toast was a regular growing up. I kind of drew the line on this when my creative mom decided to make it green for St. Pat's day.

Tuna dishes given way to the shrimp meal.

Tonight we had a shrimp meal. Starting with frozen 31-35 sized shrimp from costco, I let them thaw appropriately with a couple of changes of cool water. I dropped in a little olive oil and some butter, a couple shredded cloves of garlic, and some very dry sherry. As it heated up I chopped up some of dad's famous tomatoes and used a paper towel to soak up the juice. A half a fresh lemon went in just before the shrimp. Using a little bigger shrimp (the last of the previous package) we each had 8. I upped the shrimp to 10 (still a few too few) for each of us and sauteed them in the liquid. When they were done, I dropped in the chopped tomato and it was done!

The rice cooker was making the rice. The microwave was having a go at the small artichokes. It was a pretty good dinner out of just a little bit of nothing. That was what creamed tuna on toast was in my day.

For my part I will take the shrimp any day!

What can you pass down?

Last week when we were celebrating my birthday, Sean, Lindsay's husband asked me a question that made me pause and reflect a little.

His question was,"After 34 years of work, is there anything that you learned that you could pass down to others that could help them in their occupational journey?" You can see that I am paraphrasing a little here, but that is essentially the question.

It took me a moment to figure it out an answer. My answer was this:

Throughout your professional career you are looked upon for your professional advice. Throughout the beginning of the career you think that you are somewhat unsure of what you are doing. At the end of the your career you do not have these doubts. Professionally you are more self assured in your decisions. If you can lengthen the time that you felt professionally self assured you would fell more comfortable with your job.

That was my advice to Sean. Also, remember that not every pause in a conversation needs to be filled.

Best wishes to you and all of yours
Pat

Iphone and Netflix a great pair

Good news for Iphone users and Netfix users! I tried it out today and it really works!

Here is a short review that an apple company in Vermont, Small Dog.com put out in its mail review:

After months of silence following its announcement at the iPhone 4 keynote, Netflix for iPhone has finally landed. Coincidentally, its arrival came less than 24 hours after I posted an article on Barkings regarding its whereabouts.

The entire experience had an uncanny quality to it, and I couldn’t help but feel a little weirded out upon seeing it in the App Store the next morning. Now if only iOS 4.1 would come out and make my iPhone 3G usable again…

But I digress. Though the app was not released in the timeliest of fashions, Netflix clearly took the extra time to fix bugs. While performance is somewhat slow on the iPhone 3G (what isn’t lately?) 3Gs and iPhone 4 users have been reporting smooth and snappy experiences. The app is entirely oriented around Netflix’s Watch Instantly feature as opposed to DVD searching and queue management.

The app’s home screen offers suggestions based on your existing viewing or rating history, and a shortcut button to resume your last viewed video where you left off. You can also browse titles by genre or perform a manual search. The app also provides subscribers with access to their Instant Queue and allows titles found within the app to be added to it. Similar to other platforms featuring Netflix streaming capabilities, the app saves your location within a video, and allows you to resume playback where you left off, even on a different device.

Though this app is essentially the same as what iPad owners have been enjoying for months, it is a very big deal for iPhone and iPod touch users. The ability to stream over 3G is a huge perk placing a vast library of titles at your fingertips nearly anywhere you go. All in all, Netflix for iPhone is a very solid app and an absolute must have for Netflix subscribing iOS device users.

Bonanza Peach

My front yard is peach factory.

The first dwarf tree I set in place was up by the walk on the way to the front door. My sister and brother-in-law bought this slip of a tree as a housewarming gift. For the last thirty years it has cranked out the peaches. It stands just 7 feet tall. I work it similar to a bonsai tree. Its branches are carefully pruned in the Summer and the Fall to maintain its shape and still allow the house numbers to be identified through it. I thinned it very carefully this year. It produced big big peaches. The ripe peach size that will fill up your hand and still leave more room. Usually I need to find a piece of wood to support its limbs with the fruit as it matures. This year it wasn't necessary. One year I was a little lax about this chore and the entire center broke from the weight of the peaches of the tree. This was not a problem for the long time survival of this tree. I pruned off the broken trunk and allowed the rest of the tree to grow around it. This tree produced 13 quarts of peaches this year. I also have a bag or two in the freezer of its chopped up fruit love to trot this fruit out as a special tree with whipped cream in the winter or fall when no stone fruit is available.
This tree is a patented variety of dwarf peaches called Bonanza. It was one of the first dwarf varieties out there. It is the first peach tree that is ripe in the Summer. It is ready for tree ripe harvest in the third week of June most of the years. This year it was a little late, as are most of the stone fruit in my yard. When it first came out there were warnings against propogation of these trees. They are still available in nurseries and I think that the patent is nearly expired.

Future of Teaching

At coffee this morning I picked up and read this article in the NY Times. Its main thrust is that the IVY league graduates are not always picked to teach in the new corporate concept company called Teach America. There are concerns about the length of time and devotion to the job that these new entrants to the job of education bring. To me it brings up some startling issues that we face as a nation periodically. Is the job of teaching our young.. the future of America.. to be foisted upon.. it will look good on my resume folks? Or will the work that we have developed over the years to promote teaching as a career be maintained? Can someone be taught the teaching techniques needed in a few short weeks in a dorm setting at Tulane?

There are several districts in the valley that have great salary schedules for teachers that have taught for 15 to 20 years that the districts never have to pay. The challenge of teaching and development as a professional in growth are not available at many of these schools. So teachers may start at these sites and eventually move on to other more professionally supported school districts. This may also be an artifact not mentioned in this article. Teach America was designed to plug into schools that were not making the grade. In some districts this group has made the grade in improving scores. In many other areas the verdict is out. Anyway.. here is the copy and paste of the article.
HOUSTON — Alneada Biggers, Harvard class of 2010, was amazed this past year when she discovered that getting into the nation’s top law schools and grad programs could be easier than being accepted for a starting teaching job with Teach for America.

Ms. Biggers says that of 15 to 20 Harvard friends who applied to Teach for America, only three or four got in. “This wasn’t last minute — a lot applied in August 2009, they’d been student leaders and volunteered,” Ms. Biggers said. She says one of her closest friends wanted to do Teach for America, but was rejected and had to “settle” for University of Virginia Law School.

Will Cullen, Villanova ’10, had a friend who was rejected and instead will be a Fulbright scholar. Julianne Carlson, a new graduate of Yale — where a record 18 percent of seniors applied to Teach for America — says she knows a half dozen “amazing” classmates who were rejected, although the number is probably higher. “People are reluctant to tell you because of the stigma of not getting in,” Ms. Carlson said.

When Robert Rosen graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, in 2009, he did not apply, fearing he would be turned down. Instead, he volunteered in a friend’s classroom weekly for the next year, to see if he liked teaching, but also to build a credential that would impress Teach for America. Asked how hard getting in is, James Goldberg, Duke ’10 said, “I’d compare it with being accepted to an Ivy League grad school.”

Mr. Goldberg, Mr. Rosen, Ms. Carlson, Mr. Cullen and Ms. Biggers count themselves lucky to be among the 4,500 selected by the nonprofit to work at high-poverty public schools from a record 46,359 applicants (up 32 percent over 2009). There’s little doubt the numbers are fueled by a bad economy, which has limited job options even for graduates from top campuses. In 2007, during the economic boom, 18,172 people applied.

This year, on its 20th anniversary, Teach for America hired more seniors than any other employer at numerous colleges, including Yale, Dartmouth, Duke, Georgetown and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. At Harvard, 293 seniors, or 18 percent of the class, applied, compared with 100 seniors in 2007. “So many job options in finance, P.R. and consulting have been cut back,” said Ms. Carlson, the Yale grad.

In interviews, two dozen soon-to-be-teachers here in Houston, one of eight national Teach for America centers that provide a five-week crash summer course in classroom practices, mentioned the chance to help poor children and close the achievement gap as major reasons for applying. Victor Alquicira (Yale), who is Mexican-born, and Kousha Navidar (Duke), who is Iranian-born, said it was a chance to give back to a country that had given them much.

But there are other more material attractions. Teach for America has become an elite brand that will help build a résumé, whether or not the person stays in teaching. And in a bad economy, it’s a two-year job guarantee with a good paycheck; members earn a beginning teacher’s salary in the districts where they’re placed. For Mr. Cullen, who will teach at a Dallas middle school, that’s $45,000 — the same he’d make if he’d taken a job offer from a financial public relations firm. Ms. Carlson, who will also make $45,000 teaching first grade in San Antonio, said: “I feel very fortunate. I knew a lot of people at Yale who didn’t have a job or plan when they graduated.”

In contrast, the Peace Corps (to which Teach for America compares itself) pays a cost-of-living allowance adjusted for each country where volunteers work, and a $7,500 stipend when the 27-month stint is finished.

While Teach for America is highly regarded by undergrads — Mr. Goldberg said Duke recruiting sessions typically attracted 50 students — it gets mixed reviews from education experts.

Research indicates that generally, the more experienced teachers are, the better their students perform, and several studies have criticized Teach for America’s turnover rate.

“I’m always shocked by the hullaboo, given Teach for America’s size” — about 0.2 percent of all teachers — “and its mixed impact,” said Julian Vasquez Heilig, a University of Texas professor. Dr. Heilig and Su Jin Jez of California State University, Sacramento, recently published a critical assessment after reviewing two dozen studies. One study cited indicated that “by the fourth year, 85 percent of T.F.A. teachers had left” New York City schools.

“These people could be superstars, but most leave before they master the teaching craft,” Dr. Heilig said.

Carrie James, a Teach for America spokeswoman, challenged the report. Teach for America press releases cite a 2008 Harvard doctoral thesis indicating that 61 percent of their recruits stay beyond the two-year commitment. However, that same thesis also says “few people are estimated to remain in their initial placement school or the profession beyond five or six years” — a finding not highlighted in the releases.

Ms. James says the program has an impact beyond the classroom, with an alumni contact list of 13,000 still in education, including more than 500 in “government or policy.” Michelle Rhee, chancellor of the Washington, D.C., schools, and Michael Johnston, a Colorado state senator, are among the alums.

Several of the new Teach for America members say it’s too early to know whether they’ll stick with teaching. Ms. Biggers, who was admitted to Harvard and Vanderbilt Law Schools, has deferred attending to teach elementary school in Houston for two years. She then plans to go to law school and, after finishing, says she hopes to do something in education.

To be accepted by Teach for America, applicants survived a lengthy process, with thousands cut at each step. That included an online application; a phone interview; presentation of a lesson plan; a personal interview; a written test; and a monitored group discussion with several other applicants. Rachel Faust, a University of Maryland graduate who will teach in Miami, says she was struck by how aggressive some applicants were at the group session. “They say you’re not against each other, it’s just a group discussion,” Ms. Faust said. “But some people don’t treat it like that, they’re very competitive.”

A $185 million operating budget, (two-thirds from private donations, the rest from governmental sources) helps finance recruiters at 350 campuses to enlarge the applicant pool. “I was recruited like crazy,” said Mr. Alquicira, who was a Yale Daily News editor and tutor in New Haven. “I’m not even sure how they got my name.”

The 774 new recruits who are training here are housed in Rice University dorms. Many are up past midnight doing lesson plans and by 6:30 a.m. are on a bus to teach summer school to students making up failed classes. It’s a tough lesson for those who’ve come to do battle with the achievement gap.

Lilianna Nguyen, a recent Stanford graduate, dressed formally in high heels, was trying to teach a sixth-grade math class about negative numbers. She’d prepared definitions to be copied down, but the projector was broken.

She’d also created a fun math game, giving every student an index card with a number. They were supposed to silently line themselves up from lowest negative to highest positive, but one boy kept disrupting the class, blurting out, twirling his pen, complaining he wanted to play a fun game, not a math game.

“Why is there talking?” Ms. Nguyen said. “There should be no talking.”

“Do I have to play?” asked the boy.

“Do you want to pass summer school?” Ms. Nguyen answered.

The boy asked if it was O.K. to push people to get them in the right order.

“This is your third warning,” Ms. Nguyen said. “Do not speak out in my class.”

On Education, a new column by Michael Winerip, will appear Mondays. Mr. Winerip can be reached at oneducation@nytimes.com.

County Fairs

Growing up in South San Francisco, we always looked forward to the San Mateo County Fair. It was more properly known as the San Mateo County Fiesta.

It was usually held in August just before we headed back to school the day after labor day.

The county fair extravaganza was funded by the horse track revenues that it generated. Every county had a horse track in the forties and fifties where once a year horse races were held and betting para mutual betting was allowed. The sport of kings has gradually fallen on to hard times and the county fair horse race metaphor has slipped away. Many county fairs have declined in the importance too.

Our local county fair once had a horse track and the barns that go with it. They have been replaced with a quarter mile auto track. There are some vestiges of the track life. One of the bars in the shady part of town is the turf club. It was not founded or maintained by landscapers. Now the bar is primarily a biker bar.

Our Merced County fair is divided into two. We have a May fair on the West Side for the residents in the Los Banos, Gustine, Dos Palos area and a summer fair for the Merced Atwater Livingston side. Our FFA chapters have the opportunity to compete in both along with the nearby Sanislaus County Fair in Turlock and the Madera county fair in Chowchilla,

This year was a big change. The state fair organizers decided to change the date of their fair. Many of the competitions of the fairs go on to compete in the state fair. With an earlier State Fair, the other counties that wanted to change got their wish. The Merced County fair is usually held at the end of July suddenly was scheduled for the middle of June. The Alameda County fair in Dublin maintained their traditional fair running around July 4th. July 16th is the new scheduled time for the Stanislaus County Fair in Turlock.

The Merced county fair in June had a significant boost in attendance this year. The cooler weather in June rather than July allowed more people out to enjoy the fair. Overall this Spring and summer has been cooler overall. Its really hard to predict when we will have out hot spells. The overall consensus is that the fair will be better off in the future at an earlier time.

The Alameda county fair is on right now. Its a good one. Get out and see a fair this summer!

: ) Pat

Frisbee Football

You probably missed it.
On some obscure CBS alternate university channel there was the championship game between Carlton and Florida State. The game.. a football sort of spectacular non contact (most of the time) Frisbee. Both teams lined up and there were "faceups" but no tackles per say unless going for a particular Frisbee in the air. There were some "inadvertent tackles were two or three players were trying to leap for the flying disc and some players got their feet knocked out from under them but overall a very pass oriented dance similar to soccer without the contact with unbelievable passes from one end of the football field to the other. The players had to depend on the flight of the floating Frisbee to gauge their running and catching.

Here is a link that explains the game"


With some sponsorship this could be a pretty interesting sport. At least as interesting as arena football...

: ) Pat

Mapping at 180 dpi

My new camera is a canon elph 780is. It boosts 12.1 mg pixels. Almost all of the new point and shoot cameras have this level of image attainment. Sadly most do not map at 180 dpi. Most map at 72 dpi.

This translates into a very different photo when it comes to do some digital photos. Realize that when photos are not used on the web or made into email snaps the dpi that a photo is collected makes a huge difference. Most of the point and shoots uses this collection number to make huge 72 dpi prints. Most of the time, most people are not going to get a 5 foot by 3 foot size photo yet this is the size that is collected.

The canon collects its 12+ mg pixels into a 180 setting. The collection size is 16 by 22. When making a 13X19 photo this fits into the framework with a little bit of editing. Trying to find this in the specs fora camera is impossible.

I reduced the photos for better loads on the web before I loaded them up for Fickr. This is easily done in photoshop.. but at least I have that option and the density to take any photo that I have shot and make it a print that will print on my printer without too much reduction... yeah!

Unsanitized Breakfast

The slamized breakfast made famous by Denny's and adapted by chains everywhere is not the diner breakfast experience.

The hash browns are about the size of a silver dollar. The pancakes come for a plastic sack or worse a mix that bites your tongue while the preservatives so common in pancakes become part of the "flavor"component. Thus is the state of affairs of the Denny's. the IHOPs and around here the Perkos. Sure they are clean. The sizes are regulated. They might as well have run them through the banana smelling cleaning fluid they us to clean the bathrooms.

Then lets talk about price. A breakfast should cost not more than 6 bucks. I was watching the food channel... another form of domestic porn.. and they were highlighting a couple of pancakes with a little rocotta cheese in them and a handful of blueberries.. cost 13 dollars.

Try to get out of one of these chain places for under 10 dollars. I just won't happen. I know I could chock it up to inflation. And it does cost more to get the materials to the stores with the cost of fuel.. but 10 bucks for a mini portioned breakfast. Its no wonder that Subway is getting into the market.

Don't think you are getting away cheap if you get a pastry where you get your coffee. You will pay mightily for that privilege. My starbucks charges $1.65 for a single donut. Don't get stuck buying coffee and donuts for your office and not make the extra step to the donut shop. Donuts are 65 cents apiece there. That is pretty outrageous. Back in the day they were 15 cents each.

A couple of places I have discovered in the environs still produce a breakfast of thunderous proportions and charge around 5 to 6.50 per person. That means you can get of the place with change to tip the waitress for under a ten spot.

The Winton cafe in downtown Winton on Walnut is a discovery Linzi and I made. I couple of my friends were raving about it and we took the plunge since we were up their by our favorite strawberry stand. She had Denver omelette with the the pancake and I had the chicken fried steak with the biscuits.. would you like some gravy on that too? You betcha... no charge.
I had the home fries (option green peppers and onions) and she had the hash browns (size of two palms). Coffee kept a coming and was helped out by the owner/chef's 8 year old kids. The interior is nothing to write home about.. a couple of Rock and Roll 45s with photos around them. and you sit on sturdy folding chairs or the benches in the front. We snagged enough leftovers in the a white clam shell for mom to have a meal when we got home.

I little less opulent is the spot at the end of main with the pig in the front. Its been repainted a coke theme and the folks that left because of food handling are back. The old sinks are waiting to be hauled away in the parking lot. It continues to have the best biscuits and gravy short of my place in town. Prices are off of the chains and service is quick and attentive. Its the Barbecue Pit.
Of the two the trip to Winton (about 8 miles) is probably worth it. Both pull off an unsanitized portion control and breakfast the way it used to be and should continue to be.

: ) Pat

The Evolution of two Retirement parties

Its over, that is true.

With the finality of school and my retirement came the prospect of the end of the year/ retirement celebrations.

Both of my High Schools used last Thursday to do the honors. Both had very different approaches.

At the new school, (15 years old) the party is a mandatory last faculty meeting where the classified are also invited.

In the past its been a huge potluck kind of thing with the FFA supplying the tri tip food, beans, salasa, salad and rolls. They are adept at this and do many meals in the community with just this sort of formula. It also becomes an instant fund raiser for the club. Over the years some faculty members objected to the 5-6 dollar charge for this and still showed up and ate. The faculty club also charges 20 a year to cover sunshine expenses and provide sodas and paper goods to other events throughout the year. There are also two scholarships awarded to students who claim they will be teachers when they finish. Each of these scholarships are $250. It might buy a book or two in today's collegiate environ.

Only 43% of our teachers actually pay their dues

The classified who most do not have this kind of money going into the summer without pay often did not attend because they couldn't. Over the years our faculty club paid this and invited them as guests. This worked out until sub groups of ethnic origin decided that they could do it for less. We had Mexican fiesta, and barbeque pork from the Philippines, Hmong egg rolls. Last year they decided to have it catered again. The restaurant near the school and wonderful all you can eat Mexican place brought in food for a hundred. The coaches and the eaters should have been counted as two or three as the line finished with people that paid money had nothing put crumbs to show for their 5 dollars. This year's started out with "There will be nothing but cake and sodas at this event." Knowing that it is a minimum day and the kids are out at 1pm and the meeting starts at 1:30 faculty members will be starved.

A solution came down that if you wanted a sandwich from the independent sandwich store in Atwater they would take orders and supply a sandwich, a soda and a bag of chips for 5 dollars. It had to be ordered by the Friday before. I ordered one for me and one for Sue. When the day arrived, Sue went with me to my morning classes to help be a scribe for the final. After two classes she was pooped and had to go home. The event started and there was a sandwich for all that ordered one. No one ordered one for the kid that made the video honoring the retireees. I told the principal who was overseeing the distribution that he could have Sue's. He was very relieved. The meeting- party progressed and the retirees were part of a "To Tell the Truth sequence" The audience held up photos supplied at the tables of the retirees that they felt matched to unknown facts. It was really fun and engaging with the audience. Their was a video produced by a student in the school with a faculty member introducing and saying a lot of nice things about the retiree. The principal made the presentation of the flowers and the gifts. Each retiree got a dozen roses/carnation mix in a vase. I also received a very nice watch in the process. Each retiree had a chance to say a few words. I loved the chance to say some nice things about my career with this school. I talked about taking the tour and trying to figure out with the cement forms in place where everything was going.

The older school traditionally has made their retirement fete a picnic. They often would have it at a real estate wealthy teacher's backyard that would accommodate 50-100 people. Those wealthy teachers do not exist in our teaching corp now. They mostly came from the officers that flew the jets in the Viet Nam war and education was their second or third professions. They had houses with an acre around them. The remnants of the that generation left the teaching ranks in the last golden hand shake round about 5 years ago.

This year the retirement party was held in the group section of a local park. This school's tradition goes back many years. The retired teachers are all invited to this park every year. Most of them by their own admission look forward to seeing who is left and to socialize with their friends as well. They hired the FFa to do their catering (see above). It was a much smaller event. About 50 in total arrived. They had a little roast and of the retirees based on a movie theme. In the heyday their were skits and all kinds of wild stuff. A teacher and a student put together some black and white posters with our heads photo-shopped in. A saying was added. I was "shopped" into a Steve Jobs photo holding the first mac laptop. It was a photo of me in 1986 with the big black glasses...the quote was.. "It may be a fairly lengthy adjustment period."

It was a great party. The wood shop with laser carving tools made us each a wonderful wooden paque highlighting our years of service. Each retiree got card and a crisp 100 dollar bill. All 8 of us had a chance to say something. Teachers are seldom at a loss for words.

Friday was the last day of working with students at this district. The students took their finals and I brought them a little snack and something to drink as they worked. The last 30 mins. we opened up the wii and all kids took a swing around the race track with Mario Kart.

33 years doing Speech. 25 years with the High School district doing Speech. It was good run.

: ) Pat

UC and Patents

The University of California was awarded the most U.S. patents of any university last year, according to an annual report by the Intellectual Property Owners Association.

In 2009, the 10-campus UC system received 251 patents for discoveries made by its researchers. The patents stem from UC ideas and inventions for products ranging from health care to clean energy. UC now holds 3,617 active U.S. patents.

This was the 17th consecutive year that UC topped all U.S. universities in the IPO's annual report, which is based on data from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

"UC's high number of patents is another measure of UC's research impact," said Steven Beckwith, UC vice president for research and graduate studies. "Winning patents is not our primary goal, and we don't receive a whole lot of income from them. But they are one way to transfer our discoveries into products or services that benefit society."

In the 2009 fiscal year alone, UC research also produced 1,482 new inventions and spawned 47 startup companies. UC inventions have led to the formation of 461 startup companies since 1976, and these companies serve as an important engine for economic growth in California.

In IPO's 2009 report of patents granted, UC ranked 83rd overall, behind only the top U.S. companies. IBM ranked first with 4,887 patents last year.

Among universities, UC was followed by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (ranked 153rd, with 134 patents), the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, which manages patents for the University of Wisconsin at Madison (173rd, with 115 patents), Stanford University (178th, with 110 patents), the University of Texas (191st, with 98 patents), the California Institute of Technology (198th, with 93 patents), and the University of Illinois (266th, with 65 patents).

Intellectual Property Owners Association, established in 1972, is a trade association for owners of patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets. IPO is the only association in the United States that serves all intellectual property owners in all industries and all fields of technology.

Hardware Infract

There are two things that you can be sure of in electronics and computers.

One: The piece of hardware will become obsolete. It gets down to the fact that we all must realize, will something new with greater features be worth the trade off to learn the new interface.

Two: The piece of hardware will burn out and will need to be replaced.

This weekend in the middle of the most contentious IEP that I will preside over, the DSL modem burned out.

It sort of fired up and then died a couple of times. I am sure that an autopsy would reveal a faulty power board. There is no shame in its demise. As a bleeding edge adapter to DSL this one is my third. Each time it gets easier to swap out the hardware and replace it with the identical equipment. I looked all over for a CD to plug in the initialize the new piece of hardware.. as it said in the literature.. but no it was an on line like to a download piece of software that hooked me up. I was able to give this new beauty a new password that I could remember and son of gun it worked without a call to New Delhi via ATnT. I saw that my airport extreme was not communicating with the hardware. The software in the mac identified that the ethernet connection was empty. A hookup with with the yellow wire and I was back in business.

The first DSL connection had to have a phone installer.

The second DSL b0x required and hour and 40 minutes with a Mac person at ATnT.

This last one was all handled in the software. I didn't even have to do submask or any of that other gobbly gook.

Life is good.

: ) Pat

Why Tiger will Survive the Comeback

The Masters, the first "major" tournament of the year is over and Tiger while not publicly playing golf for the last five months, did very well. He finished 4th and had a chance to win it all even to the last 8holes.

The tabloids had cranked up the hype and made sure that everyone was very aware that a disarming inappropriate non golf related media frenzy could ensue.

Not so. Golf reporters do not have much room to ask probing questions even on the best days. Their only questions seem to be "how does it feel?" In sports reporting that is an open question that any answer for any question is appropriate. Do you think that a cagey Stanford grad(such as Tiger) is going to get trapped into revealing something that would more likely show up on Access to Night rather than Sports Center. Nope.

Even good sports reporters from other sports fall into this same trap when confronted with a golf interview. The interview after the event is carefully choreographed so that the 0ldest writers get their questions out in order. Then a few unknowns are allowed. But the tone is decidedly bland and non controversial. The one thing that always amazes me in a golf interview is the memory of the players. They remember and can orally recount a shot they made five years ago on the same course and how many strokes it took. At the 2000 US Open at Pebble Beach Tiger had blown away all the other competitors by a huge number of strokes at the end. Every golfer that was not Tiger was asked how it was to play with such a phenom. When Tiger got the questions he got was did he know that he had blown away the other golfers by so much and how do you think that they felt? Every golfer to a one answered the same way, Golf is an individual sport you do the best you can do. One reporter asked how he would compare the course to how it played three years before. He patiently ripped through his memory and gave a hole by hole account of the differences.
Then one foreign reporter was allowed to ask a question. He was from Malaysia. He identified himself and asked why Tiger didn't play golf in Malaysia as he flew through to do other international tournaments. Tiger diplomatically brushed him off and allowed him to hope.

So back to worries of the general press about the golf press for Tiger and his comeback. No worries. These golf press conferences are carefully staged so that not ill will will occur to the player (he might complain and not come back) or the site (only the Masters in Augusta has permanence for a major tournament every year.)

At the 2000 masters a couple Raider costumed fans for the lower deck decided to come to the Open in Tiger costumes. The management frowned upon this and they were quickly escorted from the driving range and sent packing. Sports camera men from local stations were told they were not welcome at the tournament in blue jeans. They quickly found the nearest Costco and golf style polo shirts and khakis were obtained.

Golf has a problem with crowd enthusiasm. When roars go up in different parts of the course it is a major distraction to other parts. this is a new artifact that cannot be changed. The gate in 2000 was 80 dollars who knows what it will be for the US open this year at Pebble. If you are paying that kind of money you should be able to cheer.

I still think the best sports to see in HD is golf. You never are left behind to wait for the players to walk up to do their thing. Quick they go to another hole and watch the critical moments for the players in the lead. Golf course design is pretty fascinating. Its just not one stadium to look at it runs through the landscape. In 2000 most of the golf sports reporters stayed in the big reporter tent, composing away, watching it on the big screen, seldom venturing on the dream scape the Pebble Beach course provides.

Here I am rambling again.. I guess its your fault if you are still here.

: ) Pat

Amazing Movie Yet Hard to Watch

I checked out the movie 9-11 from Netflicks.

Its a collection of 13 movies each 9 minutes long. Its a reflection of the tragedy from various film producers from all over the world. Each producer/writer wrote made these short movies with a nod to the individual cultures and styles of the region each is very different in message and form.

It is really important to make the effort to turn of the subtitles as few of us speak Afganistan, French, Japanese or Spanish.

Most noteworthy in the collection were the film of my followed director, Alejandro González Iñárritu and American director, Sean Penn.

Alejandro's work is pretty stark. Most of it has a darken screen with stange voices in it. Ocassionally there will be a frame or two of people jumping off the tower, and snippets of news broadcasts from the radio.

Sean Penn's work uses actor Ernest Borgnine as the elderly man who still mourns his wife. Its pretty symbolic as dried flowers suddenly from the glow of the tragedy come to life as a viable bouquet again. Some pretty amazing simple vignettes presented in the same manner.

I made the mistake two times in a row to set this movie up when I was falling asleep. Some of the vignettes are truly without sound and as predicted.. they were lost on me as I went under. I ended up with some pretty weird dreams. Check this movie out when you have enough energy to watch it through.

: ) Pat

Perfecting the Beverage

I am now ordering a different beverage at Starbucks,

No its not a non espresso based drink. Although I like them too if they are not too sweet.

After some recent disastrous dry cappuccinos that were none too dry. I talked with one of my favorite baristas, Jen, and we came up with a new order.

I like the bitterness of the coffee that settles on your tongue to become sweet. A properly brewed espresso will accomplish this task. If it is watered down with too much mild it looses its bitterness and also much of its flavor.

I thought that if I ordered two shots of espresso in a cloud of foam that would work. There is a real name for this drink.

In Starbucks parlance... I can hear Francisco my dear Italian friend look with a pained expression upon his face... O.. my.... God.

A Doppo Espresso Macchiato with extra foam.

I thought that it was kind of a strange way.. but I was assured that there were at least 5 others at that Starbucks that call this drink their own.

Cheers!

Pulling Weeds, Swim Lessons, and Alaska

Its Spring Break and there are weeds that need to be pulled.

Growing up in South City, Spring Week meant extra swimming lessons. We had to take swimming lessons on Saturdays in the Spring so that we would not fall behind our classes. Those that were staying in South City during the summer got to take their swimming lessons every day in the Summer. We did pretty well and I got to achieve all the swimming skills that I wanted to acquire.

In the Central Valley weeds grow like thunder all Winter long. No snow to shovel but still the lawn needs to be cut and trimmed throughout the year. Today I was out pulling and putting in the green container.

This spring has been particularly wet. Its been hard to find time to get out and spray the trees (they didn't get sprayed) let a lone pull the dandelions and grass like weeds that take over our yard every year. I know, round up does a great job. but... you still have to get rid of the weed residue. The backyard is a jungle since our home renovation. Something needs to be done about that. Our new addition has reduced the backyard space. It also is a little problematic when you look at space for a shade structure and room for a patio and a barbeque.. age old dilemmas.

Retirement is close at hand and there will be lots of time to manipulate the backyard. Or so I think.

We are looking forward to an Alaskan cruise this summer. Mom and dad were the first to get their tickets, It looks like the girls are coming too. There is also a chance for one of them to bring along their male companion. Mores the better. its Princess.. which Sue is quick to add.. from their old slogan... Where I belong. 10 days of shipboard fun hauling out of San Francisco July 21st. Yeah! Goin to see them Glaciers!

: ) Pat

Sue's new Food find "Super Tosada"

One of my favorite places to eat out is a crummy looking hole in the wall in Merced the produces great Mexican fast food. Mario's is just three blocks off the 99 freeway as it heads primarily East to West through Merced. This place has gone through several reincarnations. When we first moved to Merced it was a drive in. It was one of the many burger joints that people stopped at as they came through Merced before the freeway. It then took on the the flavor of a Chinese restaurant called 5 lucky coins. That didn't work. An Italian restaurant tried its best to no avail. Finally, this place hit the accord of the Mexican Michiocan fast food formula that is fairly common in Merced. It has the requisite photos of Cotia and even has a photo of a flood passing through this Mexican town deep in the heart of Mexico. Its greatest gift, In my opinion is that it has the best of this genre of food in Merced.

It has a complete stainless steel kitchen that serves up food 7 am to 11 pm every day. My usual favorite is a Chorizo and Egg burrito. On the side in the condiment side car are pickled carrots, a common condiment in Merced. There are also great red and green sauces that more than tickle your tongue. Its one of the places where you can eat with confidence. The food is good and safe.

Sue has found a dish that she likes at this place. Its called a super tosdada. For 5 dollars there is a friend plate sized flaky tortilla on to which they add a coating of beans, a pile of shredded chicken. Salsa and mexican style guacamole (Which Sue has omitted) sour cream and a couple of handfuls of mexican cheese. Most of the time this order makes two meals for her.

The dining room is poverty stricken so don't expect atmosphere. The crowd is always there. From soup eaters to rolled taco aficionados they line up and wait about 6 minutes for their order to be completed. The crowd is a great range of locals and drop in contractors and mechanics that stop in to order along the 99 route.

Follow the Director

I have found a way to use my Netflix subscription to follow the director of a series of movies.

Its a little similar to following a vintner or a wine brand as it follows through the years. With the same direction, different year or different actors produce slightly different outcomes.

I have choosen to follow the director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu through the decade. The following his his biography as presented through netflix:

By the time director Alejandro González Iñárritu made his audacious feature film debut with 2000's Amores Perros (a Cannes Film Festival winner), he had been honing his craft for years -- first as a DJ (for which he credits his knowledge of pacing and storytelling), then as a writer and director of commercials, and finally, under the tutelage of Polish director Ludwik Margules.
Born Aug. 15, 1963, in Mexico City, Iñárritu followed the success of Amores Perros by contributing to September 11 and then pairing up with Amores Perros screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga again for the gritty 21 Grams (which earned Oscar nods for stars Naomi Watts and Benicio Del Toro).

In 2006, Babel -- the final part of the trilogy that began with Amores Perros and 21 Grams -- debuted, earning Oscar nods for a large number of cast and crew (including Iñárritu, Arriaga and actors Adriana Barraza and Rinko Kikuchi).

I understand that Heather's friend Michael also is a fan of this director.

My favorite film of his collection so far is his first... Amores Perros although Babel and 21 grams is right up there not far behind.

His films are not for the feight of heart. They are great stories and they are told without holding a punch. The first one, Amores Perros has some brutal images of dogs so bewarned. It is required for the story.

: ) Pat

Green Grow the Lilacs and so do the Blue

This lyric was one of Dad's songs he sung was I was growing up.

Every time I see lilacs I think of him singing the song.

Green grow the lilacs, all sparkling with dew

I'm lonely, my darling, since parting with you;

But by our next meeting I'll hope to prove true

And change the green lilacs to the Red, White and Blue.

I once had a sweetheart, but now I have none

She's gone and she's left me, I care not for one

Since she's gone and left me, contented I'll be,

For she loves another one better than me.^[3][4]

His version had the lilacs change to the Oregon Blue.

Lilacs are in bloom today in the Central Valley.

: ) Pat

Get Netflix through Your Wii

I thought Sue was going to have a cow!


I was talking to Linzi on the phone about how I hooked up my TV in the living room from the Wii to my Netflix account on my computer. "So now you can get netflix on your wii wii?

Seriously.. I don't have a TV hooked up to my office room that has the internet connection. I do have a wifi broadcast going throughout the house for the iphones and my kids Iphones as they visit. I had tried to set up the samsung blue ray to capture the netflix being channeled by my wifi and had been unsuccessful. The wii wifi was very easy to configure.

• Step one: request a wii disk from netflix. No charge here. It comes with your next order.
• Step two: put the disc into the wii. the wii disc label always faces away from the body of the machine.
• Step three: The wii will need to update its firmware from the disc. This may take a couple of times. Your specific netword (wifi) will show up. select it. and type in the password for the wifi network.
• Step four: Go to the netflix site and get the magic code for Wii. Go back to your wii and use its little screen to type in the code.
• Step five: The wii will turn its self off and then on again and if it all was entered properly... the red netflixs logo will show up on your wii menu. (Provided you still have the wii CD in it)
• Step Six: The wii will go to your netflix account and give you the option to choose what you want to watch from your instant que.

This looks much more complicated that it is.. so good luck you wii fanatics.. another reason to hit the A button!
: ) Pat

21 minus 17 equals 5

Yep this is math as it is today.

21 of us in our district took the retirement incentive package and our resignations are to be made public tonight. I am not there.. but I have found out from inside sources that our resignations saved some jobs in the district. Its the modern reality of new Human Resources Math.

21 teachers resigned and took the package. The district wanted to reduce its teaching corps by 17. This package allowed for the district to rethink its numbers. It will only need to make good on 5 layoffs from our permanent teacher group next year.

We knew that it was not going to be a one for one swap. Some teachers in some categories are going to be more expensive to replace. This way is really the way to make cuts without adding to the rancor and the heartache that layoffs often bring.

Here is a copy and paste with from the board approval background:

Background/Discussion The District has worked with Public Agency Retirement Services (PARS) to develop a supplementary retirement plan that would achieve budget savings and assist in reducing the impact of potential layoffs. The feasibility of the plan, defined in Board Resolution 7-09, is dependent upon sufficient plan participation to meet the District’s fiscal and operational objectives. The enrollment window for the PARS Supplementary Retirement Plan was February 18, 2010 through March 17, 2010. During that time, employees submitted their intent to retire documentation and application for participation in the PARS program. PARS received applications from 20 certificated teachers, 1 certificated administrator, 24 classified non-management employees and 3 classified management employees. While the application of one certificated administrator did not meet the threshold consistent with the District’s fiscal and operational objectives, the applications of the 47 other employees result in an estimated 3-year savings of $1.5 million dollars. The retirements rendered by certificated teachers reduces the need for certificated layoff from 15.7 FTE to 5.5 FTE. The savings take into account the replacement of retiring teachers by lower seniority teachers who were included in the district’s reduction in force. Alternatives/Identified Opposition: None.

Funding:

Recommendation:

The PARS Supplementary Retirement Plan is a cost to the district. Negotiations with the PARS administrator were successful in reducing the cost of the plan from 5.5% to 5% per employee supplemental plan. The cost of the program is approximately $20,000 per year, over a five year period.

The Superintendent recommends the Board of Trustees approve the enactment of the PARS Supplementary Retirement Plan consistent with Resolution No. 7-09 (passed on February 10, 2010).

So there it is.

: ) Pat