There is a reason that money from the stimulus had to go to infrastructure. After a 300+ one way trip on two of California's massive North South roads its clear that we are behind in the maintenance and support for our roadway infrastructure.
I did not know that there was such a disparity between the two major roads that connect northern California with southern California.
Going down to LA Sue and I drove over to pick up the girls at the Bart station in Dublin. We whistled down interstate 5 avoiding a couple of crazy drivers but the folks driving the big trucks were predictable and scooting right along. There was a patch near Bakersfield that was under sever repair. With this exception the road was smooth and the drive was clean.
Coming back was a different story. The road over the grapevine was reduced to two lanes for cars. The trucks have effectively claimed the two right side lanes for themselves and those trucks that are loaded vs those that are empty. The empty ones are the ones to be careful about when you drive the 99. They seem to think that they can pass at will and cut in and out of the passenger side doing a clean 74 miles an hour. This does not work. They are restricted to 55 if they are pulling a box behind them. Most of them are.
Linzi is convinced that the best route is I5. It carries a 30 mile penalty for us. In the long run the extra time may well be worth it.
Pat
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Friday, July 22, 2011
Hot Footing
Three weeks ago I was canning quarts of apricot halves.
Its an interesting project as syrup is made something less than 2 cups of water to one cup of sugar,boiled down to a simple syrup with a couple of frozen myers lemon juice ice cubes thrown in.
The apricots are picked from the tree and sliced in half, pitted and packed into quart jars. The warm syrup is poured over the paced apricots and bubbles are released by sliding a chop stick down the side of the jar. More syrup is added so that the 1/2 inch of head room is maintained at the top. The jars are loaded into a pot with boiling water where they cook and seal for 30 minutes under roiling boiling water.
This year I was using left over lids from previous years. As one batch of apricots were completed, I noticed that there was a wrinkle in the seal and two jars were less full than when I started.
To do the next batch the water in which the leaky quarts leaked into had to be replaced and the pot washed.
I took the jars out of the hot water and threw the hot water from the pot on the ground, to slow down the growth of the weeds in the back yard. The water did not totally clear my feet and the top of my shoe bore the result of the accident.
I quickly ran inside, stripped off the shoe and the sock and soaked my foot in water for about 45 minutes. It was really painful. I had Sue drive me over to the Urgent care and our family doc. looked it over.
He was happy to see that the second degree burns were not all the way through the meat of my foot. My big toe got the brunt of the injury.
Every day for the last three weeks my right foot has had to be doused with poly and wrapped with gauze and a miracle material called coban.
It is a stretchy rolled bandage material exerts pressure on the wound but does not stick to the wound, It only sticks to itself. It is very common in vet practices too. Every third day I go back to the dr and he looks it over and checks to see how the burn is heeling.
After three weeks the other parts of my foot are okay and new skin has formed. The big toe is still slowly healing but seems to be progressing too.
Coban can be had for about 2 dollars a roll on Ebay if you buy a case. A generic version at our Walgreen store is nearly double that cost.
This issue has not slowed down the canning process. I am a whole lot more cautious arond the hot water now.
Yesterday I canned 7 pints of white peach pie filling.
Today 2 quarts of sliced white peaches were peeled and sliced and bagged for the freezer.
Love to All
Pat
Its an interesting project as syrup is made something less than 2 cups of water to one cup of sugar,boiled down to a simple syrup with a couple of frozen myers lemon juice ice cubes thrown in.
The apricots are picked from the tree and sliced in half, pitted and packed into quart jars. The warm syrup is poured over the paced apricots and bubbles are released by sliding a chop stick down the side of the jar. More syrup is added so that the 1/2 inch of head room is maintained at the top. The jars are loaded into a pot with boiling water where they cook and seal for 30 minutes under roiling boiling water.
This year I was using left over lids from previous years. As one batch of apricots were completed, I noticed that there was a wrinkle in the seal and two jars were less full than when I started.
To do the next batch the water in which the leaky quarts leaked into had to be replaced and the pot washed.
I took the jars out of the hot water and threw the hot water from the pot on the ground, to slow down the growth of the weeds in the back yard. The water did not totally clear my feet and the top of my shoe bore the result of the accident.
I quickly ran inside, stripped off the shoe and the sock and soaked my foot in water for about 45 minutes. It was really painful. I had Sue drive me over to the Urgent care and our family doc. looked it over.
He was happy to see that the second degree burns were not all the way through the meat of my foot. My big toe got the brunt of the injury.
Every day for the last three weeks my right foot has had to be doused with poly and wrapped with gauze and a miracle material called coban.
It is a stretchy rolled bandage material exerts pressure on the wound but does not stick to the wound, It only sticks to itself. It is very common in vet practices too. Every third day I go back to the dr and he looks it over and checks to see how the burn is heeling.
After three weeks the other parts of my foot are okay and new skin has formed. The big toe is still slowly healing but seems to be progressing too.
Coban can be had for about 2 dollars a roll on Ebay if you buy a case. A generic version at our Walgreen store is nearly double that cost.
This issue has not slowed down the canning process. I am a whole lot more cautious arond the hot water now.
Yesterday I canned 7 pints of white peach pie filling.
Today 2 quarts of sliced white peaches were peeled and sliced and bagged for the freezer.
Love to All
Pat
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Memories of Past 4th of Julys
When I was growing up we never bought fireworks and set them off from the family front yard. We had a little experience with sparklers and snake fireworks but no roman candles or whistling petes. Most of the time we were traveling across county and camping along the way.
I think that my parents felt that they were a huge waste of money and likely a danger to the block or the place we happened to be on the 4th.
On the rare occasion that we were home on the 4th we went to gigantic public 4th of july events. One of my earliest memories was the trip to the San Jose State Stadium for fireworks. At that time it was more than just overhead mortors.
The San Jose Cavilers drum and bugle corps were dressed in full regalia and played a couple of songs. The politicians all had a go at the mike. They all had a 10 minute speech in their back pockets. There were extensive stationary fireworks on the field level of the stadium. Niagara falls and spinning tops that lit up American flags in Roman Candles.
As young kids we had fun running through shrubs on the hill. We used to go together with another family. They always had kids our ages so it was a great chance to get out and enjoy the park part of the stadium and marvel at its huge arches on its perimeter.
We always were there early so there was plenty of time to socialize before it got dark and the bombs exploded over our heads. Blankets and coolers full of peanut butter and jam sandwiches were always on hand. The San Jose Mercury sponsored the event.
San Jose was the preferred venue. There was always one sponsored by the San Francisco Chronicle out of Chrissy Field. Often the fog came in and many of the exploding peonies were not visible.
Then there were basically only peony or chrysanthemum shapes in the sky. Now there are rockets the spew flames all the way up into the sky and circles of explosions among others. Shells can be crafted with delayed charges to make many different shapes.
The Disney folks in Disneyland are good at displaying the great variety of overhead fireworks. There nightly displays in the summer are usually more then any local entity can produce for a once in a year celebration. There themes are cool and the music that goes with them are top notch.
Our local celebrations have some memorable moments. The local displays are usually in two places. Atwater CA, about 7 miles north of here has a local display that used the football field bleachers to get people in. They have often had their "Miss Atwater" beauty contest at the same time. There is usually a local garage band that puts out a credible entertainment package while people wait for it to get dark. One year the whole country was celebrating the anniversary of the statue of liberty in New York city. Green foam crowns were for sale and Linzi talked me into getting her one. One year it was "Tall Ships from Around the World" that America celebrated. There is difficulty getting the support for these shows now. So many people find a spot where they can see most of the shots into the sky and cheap skate on some one else's contribution. Local governments do not have the money any more for many firework displays and the local businesses are facing the same budget tightening.
Our home cats are completely upset about the in street shows. They have no instinct to sudden noise like fireworks,
My sister Kelly, living in an unincorporated area of San Jose got pretty freaked out about the number of illegal fireworks being fired in her neighborhood that had serious boom to them. Who do you call? The Santa Clara sheriff?
Its a total night mere for one of my daughters who gets very upset at the sound that comes from a popped balloon, At Disneyland we always try to get her into a store before the fireworks are displayed in the night air.
My wish to you is that if you love to be near fireworks enjoy them but be safe. If you cannot handle them.. hide under the covers.. this wacky season will soon be over.
Merced's estimated temp for the 4th is supposed to be 107. That will cut down on a lot of outdoor picnics and barbeques.
Pat
I think that my parents felt that they were a huge waste of money and likely a danger to the block or the place we happened to be on the 4th.
On the rare occasion that we were home on the 4th we went to gigantic public 4th of july events. One of my earliest memories was the trip to the San Jose State Stadium for fireworks. At that time it was more than just overhead mortors.
The San Jose Cavilers drum and bugle corps were dressed in full regalia and played a couple of songs. The politicians all had a go at the mike. They all had a 10 minute speech in their back pockets. There were extensive stationary fireworks on the field level of the stadium. Niagara falls and spinning tops that lit up American flags in Roman Candles.
As young kids we had fun running through shrubs on the hill. We used to go together with another family. They always had kids our ages so it was a great chance to get out and enjoy the park part of the stadium and marvel at its huge arches on its perimeter.
We always were there early so there was plenty of time to socialize before it got dark and the bombs exploded over our heads. Blankets and coolers full of peanut butter and jam sandwiches were always on hand. The San Jose Mercury sponsored the event.
San Jose was the preferred venue. There was always one sponsored by the San Francisco Chronicle out of Chrissy Field. Often the fog came in and many of the exploding peonies were not visible.
Then there were basically only peony or chrysanthemum shapes in the sky. Now there are rockets the spew flames all the way up into the sky and circles of explosions among others. Shells can be crafted with delayed charges to make many different shapes.
The Disney folks in Disneyland are good at displaying the great variety of overhead fireworks. There nightly displays in the summer are usually more then any local entity can produce for a once in a year celebration. There themes are cool and the music that goes with them are top notch.
Our local celebrations have some memorable moments. The local displays are usually in two places. Atwater CA, about 7 miles north of here has a local display that used the football field bleachers to get people in. They have often had their "Miss Atwater" beauty contest at the same time. There is usually a local garage band that puts out a credible entertainment package while people wait for it to get dark. One year the whole country was celebrating the anniversary of the statue of liberty in New York city. Green foam crowns were for sale and Linzi talked me into getting her one. One year it was "Tall Ships from Around the World" that America celebrated. There is difficulty getting the support for these shows now. So many people find a spot where they can see most of the shots into the sky and cheap skate on some one else's contribution. Local governments do not have the money any more for many firework displays and the local businesses are facing the same budget tightening.
Our home cats are completely upset about the in street shows. They have no instinct to sudden noise like fireworks,
My sister Kelly, living in an unincorporated area of San Jose got pretty freaked out about the number of illegal fireworks being fired in her neighborhood that had serious boom to them. Who do you call? The Santa Clara sheriff?
Its a total night mere for one of my daughters who gets very upset at the sound that comes from a popped balloon, At Disneyland we always try to get her into a store before the fireworks are displayed in the night air.
My wish to you is that if you love to be near fireworks enjoy them but be safe. If you cannot handle them.. hide under the covers.. this wacky season will soon be over.
Merced's estimated temp for the 4th is supposed to be 107. That will cut down on a lot of outdoor picnics and barbeques.
Pat
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Eating Outdoors
Cammie wrote on her facebook updates that she enjoys eating outdoors as one of the best parts of Summer.
This brings up a memory long ago. We often set up the tables on the screened porch in Colorado when my Grandma Nellie and Grandpa BW feed us and the helping hands. They had a "cook house" when the worker population exceeded 10 or so. Some years they would even hire a cook to feed the worker crowd.
Outdoor eating meant that the patio in front with those nasty cottonwood trees had to be swept. They were very tall trees that grew wind blocks very quickly with little water. The cement patio disguised the huge water tank that held the water supply for the house before Orchard Mesa was connected to a water system.
Some evenings we would have the neighbors over and they would barbeque an elk roast and eat watermelon. As the evening progressed we all sat in big round metal pastel chairs and watched as the storm would come up from the West and thunder and lightening would strike the book cliff mountains 20 miles a way.
Grandpa could predict the weather from these strikes and determine which days we would be picking peaches from the 30 acre orchards.
One year the cook had a particularly good recipe that I was able to get her to write down. I was 12 at the time and was totally in love with coconut macaroons. Makes my mouth water just to think about it.
I usually had a birthday back in Colorado. We came every year to help out. I got to choose from the cake mixes which cake was going to be made for me. I usually went for the spice cake. My sister usually went for a little more exotic cake. Penuche. They called it burnt sugar frosting back then.
When the grandparents moved into the city. The outdoor dining continued. There really wasn't room for 7 people to eat at the table unless it was outside.
It was here that dad made the infamous remark. After the mechanical collapse of one of Grandma's horizontal freezers. Don't worry Nellie, some of the chickens we cleaned out the freezer were old enough to go to Kindergarten!
You can imagine that flack he took for that!
Enjoy some al fresco dining soon!
Love
Pat
This brings up a memory long ago. We often set up the tables on the screened porch in Colorado when my Grandma Nellie and Grandpa BW feed us and the helping hands. They had a "cook house" when the worker population exceeded 10 or so. Some years they would even hire a cook to feed the worker crowd.
Outdoor eating meant that the patio in front with those nasty cottonwood trees had to be swept. They were very tall trees that grew wind blocks very quickly with little water. The cement patio disguised the huge water tank that held the water supply for the house before Orchard Mesa was connected to a water system.
Some evenings we would have the neighbors over and they would barbeque an elk roast and eat watermelon. As the evening progressed we all sat in big round metal pastel chairs and watched as the storm would come up from the West and thunder and lightening would strike the book cliff mountains 20 miles a way.
Grandpa could predict the weather from these strikes and determine which days we would be picking peaches from the 30 acre orchards.
One year the cook had a particularly good recipe that I was able to get her to write down. I was 12 at the time and was totally in love with coconut macaroons. Makes my mouth water just to think about it.
I usually had a birthday back in Colorado. We came every year to help out. I got to choose from the cake mixes which cake was going to be made for me. I usually went for the spice cake. My sister usually went for a little more exotic cake. Penuche. They called it burnt sugar frosting back then.
When the grandparents moved into the city. The outdoor dining continued. There really wasn't room for 7 people to eat at the table unless it was outside.
It was here that dad made the infamous remark. After the mechanical collapse of one of Grandma's horizontal freezers. Don't worry Nellie, some of the chickens we cleaned out the freezer were old enough to go to Kindergarten!
You can imagine that flack he took for that!
Enjoy some al fresco dining soon!
Love
Pat
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Latest Painting
What does graduation day mean to you?
For some people in our family it is a red letter day. One that is full of such mixed emotions that it best avoided. Others, use it as a way to celebrate the person and there academic accomplishments.
My latest painting is working off of a lady stopped in front of me at a light. Here car was bight red. She is alone in the car. Beside her are two balloons. From her side mirror you can tell that she is wearing white tiered earrings. It will be an interesting story for the viewer to piece together. There are plenty of reds in painting so it may become a study in red washes. There are some orange reds and some pink reds, and some value changes in between. I have a 12x24 inch canvas that this should land on.
I also have a couple of squares that will be become a version of the ancient inscriptions on the stones of one of the pyramids in Mexico. These flat depictions are currently displayed at the De Young in San Francisco as part of their Meso Americano exhibit. It will be fun to see what kind of stone like contrast I can generate with the watercolor canvases.
: ) Pat
For some people in our family it is a red letter day. One that is full of such mixed emotions that it best avoided. Others, use it as a way to celebrate the person and there academic accomplishments.
My latest painting is working off of a lady stopped in front of me at a light. Here car was bight red. She is alone in the car. Beside her are two balloons. From her side mirror you can tell that she is wearing white tiered earrings. It will be an interesting story for the viewer to piece together. There are plenty of reds in painting so it may become a study in red washes. There are some orange reds and some pink reds, and some value changes in between. I have a 12x24 inch canvas that this should land on.
I also have a couple of squares that will be become a version of the ancient inscriptions on the stones of one of the pyramids in Mexico. These flat depictions are currently displayed at the De Young in San Francisco as part of their Meso Americano exhibit. It will be fun to see what kind of stone like contrast I can generate with the watercolor canvases.
: ) Pat
Friday, June 3, 2011
Irritating Phrases that Have Crept into our Usage
There are a couple of insidious phrases that have become part of our vernacular. We should blame two people, as far as I can discern for these phrases.
One is the interjection of the word "Look." To my knowledge this interjection did not occur prior to President Obama's run for president. When he is off script, this interjection was used by him to provide some thinking time so that the words that came out would be more elegantly phrased. It is now used by many people when they are stuck explaining something complicated. It is almost mandatory.
The other phrase is "How good is that?" This is wickedly obtuse grammatical construction that really has no business in your parlance. In my own observation this one was started by the food channel host and now talk show host, Rachel Ray. It has become pervasive in all categories of discourse. I heard it from announcers in baseball and have heard it from commentators of news broadcasts. I have heard it modified and used in conversation. Its tell tale grammatical construction is its give away.
These phrases will become emblematic of this era. They will join the likes of the common phrase heard at least one time a reality show, " I am not here to make friends.. I am here to win.
Something to think about
: ) Pat
One is the interjection of the word "Look." To my knowledge this interjection did not occur prior to President Obama's run for president. When he is off script, this interjection was used by him to provide some thinking time so that the words that came out would be more elegantly phrased. It is now used by many people when they are stuck explaining something complicated. It is almost mandatory.
The other phrase is "How good is that?" This is wickedly obtuse grammatical construction that really has no business in your parlance. In my own observation this one was started by the food channel host and now talk show host, Rachel Ray. It has become pervasive in all categories of discourse. I heard it from announcers in baseball and have heard it from commentators of news broadcasts. I have heard it modified and used in conversation. Its tell tale grammatical construction is its give away.
These phrases will become emblematic of this era. They will join the likes of the common phrase heard at least one time a reality show, " I am not here to make friends.. I am here to win.
Something to think about
: ) Pat
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Watercolor Working from a Concept, Incentive Retirement
I think that one of the reasons I am enjoying watercolor art so much is that it is very conceptual.
There is the beginning concept that involves that idea of a finished painting. It can be the motivating factor in your thinking as you start to put this painting together.
After this concept is finalized, I enjoy the sketching aspect. This brings down to reality what the painting subject matter could be.
The next conceptual piece is picking up shapes and seeing that there is something that unifies the concept. This is level of painting that I am currently engaged. Shadows tie with objects. Consistent color that moves through the painting. The challenge is to move this into values and contrasts. They can then be unified and the painting can move the viewer's eyes from one part of the painting to another. This is a very sophisticated concept and is a challenge for me in the painting arena.
As washes go on the painting, in watercolor they almost always go from light to mid to dark. There is plenty of negative space painting that occurs as the painting gets to completion.
By any measure, this can really become a passion.
Happy Thursday out there. Its graduation night for many of the high school students in the district.
The high school district (my previous employer) has seen fit to offer nearly the same retirement incentive to the teachers. It looks like many who had regrets that they had not signed on for last year's incentive, are taking the leap and signing on to retire this year. This is the ultimate game changer for school budgets. Their is definitely more harmony among the staff then what most districts are going through with their layoffs and rehires as August approaches.
Last year's incentive retirees saved the district over 2 million. I wonder what this year's will yeild.
: ) Pat
There is the beginning concept that involves that idea of a finished painting. It can be the motivating factor in your thinking as you start to put this painting together.
After this concept is finalized, I enjoy the sketching aspect. This brings down to reality what the painting subject matter could be.
The next conceptual piece is picking up shapes and seeing that there is something that unifies the concept. This is level of painting that I am currently engaged. Shadows tie with objects. Consistent color that moves through the painting. The challenge is to move this into values and contrasts. They can then be unified and the painting can move the viewer's eyes from one part of the painting to another. This is a very sophisticated concept and is a challenge for me in the painting arena.
As washes go on the painting, in watercolor they almost always go from light to mid to dark. There is plenty of negative space painting that occurs as the painting gets to completion.
By any measure, this can really become a passion.
Happy Thursday out there. Its graduation night for many of the high school students in the district.
The high school district (my previous employer) has seen fit to offer nearly the same retirement incentive to the teachers. It looks like many who had regrets that they had not signed on for last year's incentive, are taking the leap and signing on to retire this year. This is the ultimate game changer for school budgets. Their is definitely more harmony among the staff then what most districts are going through with their layoffs and rehires as August approaches.
Last year's incentive retirees saved the district over 2 million. I wonder what this year's will yeild.
: ) Pat
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