Goal for this year

One and only goal this year...
TO Actually Run the New York City Marathon....hoping for no Hurricanes this year

Looking for Runs

Anyone know of any good runs near West Point, NY? I'm going to be up there for a wedding this weekend and bet there are some killer runs up at the Academy. Anyone have any that they know of, or am I going hunting...which isn't bad either

Collection of Hate Week Awesomeness

To Hell With Georgia

 Guess Some things Never Change..

 Even Bulldogs want to move up in life...

Even in the black and white era people new  

'nuff Said

To Hell With Georgia!

Just because it's hate week and I'm a Georgia Tech grad, which should be understood because I can use a computer. The picture below shows why UGA Monopoly isn't as much fun to play as Techopoly.

Besides I gotta get my digs in somehow, usually before the game b/c we haven't shown up the last few, but I'll be loud and proud on Saturday

Anyone know..

If there is heated body glide, or warming body glide? I mean i use BodyGlide the exact brand shown below, but in the winter nothing helps the nipples..so I was thinking is there a warming body glide? I mean vicks vapor rub kinda has that warming effect, and there's some other items that would work...but are definitely not meant for the runner

Yes, thoughts while running are strange...

Crushing Handshake of AWESOME!

Remember back to when we were young, for some that may be harder, but remember being taught that a solid handshake makes the introduction? That a crushing grip makes you feel like the man(or Woman)? Well to sound like a sales pitch, it is one, but a non-commissioned one based upon something I've started using.

The Heavy Grip brand decided to upgrade those little desktop ones which everyone can squeeze until they get tired, to something that gives a solid workout, stress release and fits into any corner of your bag with ease. The grippers come in sizes from 100 lbs up, by 50 lb increments to 350 lbs and are lightweight to carry but hard to close. I've worked my way up to 150 lbs reliably and can close the 200 lb one with some struggle, and it definitely has been working to develop my crushing grip...solely so i can open a walnut with my fingers by squeezing. ...

But seriously, I recommend them b/c they're easy to fit anywhere in the bag, lightweight and give an easy stress release/workout when your only other option might be doing laps around an airport terminal or parking lot. 

Cold Weather Gear is coming out

So it's that great time of year again...not time to break out the shorts, but time to break out the sweats, long sleeve shirts and cold gear. Each time I pull all the gear out I take a long look...go for a run on a treadmill...and realize freezing my butt off is much much better.

I mean I've reviewed treadmills, even though I swear there are only 2-3 commercial variants out there, and have zero interest in a home unit. But each time I run on one, I feel weird. I can do sprints but if I'm stuck indoors I prefer to throw the bike up on my trainer, the good ole Green Machine as I call it. Technically its the Kinetic, but for a fluid trainer its solid. I know purists prefer the fan one b/c the response is more realistic on acceleration and deceleration, but I'm not a purist, nor a professional so this is perfect for me. The big advantage is that i can throw the arm rests on the bike...and play on my ps3 while biking to keep it from being too boring(highly recommend getting a pair).

Otherwise, time to head outside, break out the cold weather gear and try to avoid getting run over by a reindeer.

My other blog

So I have another blog, and I'm going to do a shameless plug in this one...so bear with me. One of my passions is energy, specifically green energy and distributed/localized power generation...and I don't currently work in that industry. In order to keep myself active and up to date on the topics I keep a blog up at GreeneModel.blogspot.com called Green Energy Thoughts. As time goes on I plan to talk about issues associated with wind energy, fuel cells, solar etc and will probably even put some information derived from the models I make on the side for fun(yes huge nerd).

But take a look and let me know if you have any interests, or topics you'd like to hear about as I have ~10 years experience in Fuel Cells, Geothermal, Solar, battery tech and then grid analysis and load based power modeling!

The latter, load based power modeling, is how i came up with a lot of my runs back in the day as I was able to travel to some great(and not so great) locations. happy trails

NYRR Post, again

Still beating this horse, probably because I still have quite a bit of anger over how this was handled and how the CEO of the NYRR's basically punted the decision to someone else...while being the friggin CEO. That's the only thing a CEO needs to really do other than glad-hand....so she's basically useless.

The NYPost has a good article on how she should be fired, the latest in a long line of articles on that idea.

Back to my puzzle though since it's a little dark out to go for a real run! Of course football is also on in the background because I can never focus on just one thing.

Running in Orlando

Where do people run there? I assume not near Universal Studios or Disney b/c the roads around there are a disaster, no real sidewalks or space on the side of the road for runners. Anyone out there have a clue? I'll be going there regularly for work and need a spot to run. Help!

My 2 cents on the NYC Marathon

This is a post I've been meaning to write for a few days now, but wanted to see how the entire debacle played out during the week leading up to the marathon. For reference, I was registered to run the race, after years of trying to get in, and was all set and ready to go Tuesday after the storm finished dropping rain on Southern Maryland. At that point, the NYC government and the NYRR race Director, Mary Wittenberg, should have had a good idea of the situation on the ground. I say should have because I had a good idea of how bad it was, and I live a few hundred miles away, but I don't know they knew. The race should have been cancelled, or pushed off then and there. No questions, no waffling, further analysis or any waiting to see if miracles would happen; they didn't.

Instead Mayor Bloomberg and the NYC race committee said the race is on, and with that people started to make arrangements. The 10,000 to 15,000 international runners, those that could get flights, started the 1 to 2 day trek to NYC. Runners on the US West Coast started their trek across the country and the professional runners started to arrive then and the next day, creating by Wednesday evening, a nice stew of disaster and stupid. Why did everyone travel? Because until the race was actually cancelled Friday night, they had to travel otherwise everyone lost all their money. The hundreds of dollars in hotels, flights(thousands for some), cars, food etc.

On Thursday morning as the devestation in Staten Island started coming out, and subsequently Friday morning as it continued....it was obvious to most everyone this race couldn't go on. The city wasn't ready, the course wasn't ready, and there was no way most runners would have the race they wanted due to the atmosphere. Instead of cancelling, the leaders still hung onto their olive leaves shouting the race would go on, the race must go on...instead of showing real leadership and cancelling this race.

By that time, I had to make a decision. Thursday evening I made the call to cancel my entry until next year and lose the entry fee..potentially the rest b/c this was not the time, I was not kicking someone out of my hotel room to run a race. So I cancelled, and thankfully get allowed into next years race, like many thousand others had at this point, sacrificing our entry fee on the altar of NYRR greed.

Thankfully the race was cancelled on Friday night, allowing all the runners who made the trek to get into the race again next year, assuming the NYRR doesn't find a way to screw the runners again. Thankfully the race was cancelled so the water and food for 45,000 runners was able to be given to people who needed it to survive and stay healthy. Thankfully the 1MW of power sitting in central park was able to be rented elsewhere to keep a family warm at night. Unfortunately though it came too late for my image of the NYC Marathon, my (unwarranted) idolization of the Marathon that takes years to get into, gone was the naivete that this race was solely about fundraising and the idea of running. Instead the Mayor of NYC and the CEO of the NYRR showed me this was solely about money for them, and personal pride.

The way they handled the race and the cancelling of the race did nothing but force runners to come to NY and pay for being there, thus brining the city money. The numerous people who cancelled(deferred) sacrificed their money for the registration by cancelling, only to have the race cancelled at the last minute. The people who traveled from other countries lost their money on the travel...and couldn't run the race. Instead they get to try again next year, and if they fundraised...there was no race so they may not be able to make their donations. What the runners got instead was an email from the NYRR's on Saturday morning at 2am, requesting we donate money to a charity they founded.

Here's a thought, take my registration and donate all $160 of it to that charity instead of lining your own groups pockets with it. Or rather how about every runner make a donation on their own, or if you live in NY

Instead, it's just clear that while i still want to run the NYC Marathon, my image will be forever tarnished by how badly this was handled and how the two 'leaders' in this farce cared solely about their image and making money vice the impact on runners. In the end the runners got screwed, the residents of Staten Island got screwed b/c they were not consulted...in general it was just a train wreck and honestly showed a complete lack of any real leadership. The easiest thing to say is always "The Show must go On".

sometimes the show must not go on is the right call.

...But back to training and let's get my time down to qualify for Boston...or go and run the MCM in DC again, which is an amazing race, put on by a great group!

New shoes

So it was new shoes time again, nothing spectacular just the same style of Kayano's I've had for a while. Also as usual they suck to break in. The first 2-4 runs are great, lots of cushion, still stiff so they fit well, and then it goes downhill for the next 10-12 as the shoes break in. Today was shin splints, yesterday was stiffness around the ankle...either way its continuous compensation for a week or so and throws me off my pace entirely.

Anyone have advice? I'm stumped as always but it drives me batty.

Straights of Hormuz

No, not the straits of Hormuz, that little strip of water between Iran and the MENA pennisula, but a gay barbershop quintet performing in Dubai. This is solely based upon reading from the Naked Capitalism blog(scroll to the story about inevitable war in Iran), so i have zero information backing it up and hence i wanted to shoot a post out to see if the internets can provide a link to a video, story or anything to support this. The main reason is that i love the group name and it's gotta be hilarious. That is all

Family Travel Rewards

This past weekend caused me to think again about Frequent Flyer, or loyalty rewards program. I fly a lot, enough to maintain a high level status on at least one airline a year, right now it's Delta, and have roughly 300,000 miles lifetime on three different airlines, so I get some perks. The problem is my wife doesn't fly as much, and tends to fly different airlines for work than I do, primarily due to locations we travel to. So we end up in a situation where one person gets upgraded and the other doesn't quite frequently, or if we're on a different itinerary, unable to sit next to each other due to how the pricing works. Now we could fly Southwest, but no matter how many advertisements Southwests has saying how great it is for business travelers, my own experience tells me otherwise, so that's not an option.
  This led me to think, why isn't there a family plan? You can even make it harder, double the requirement and add 10% per person to make it a real debate, and then make the points non-transferable to an individual account? Since the airlines are fairly standard, see below for a rough layout of my thoughts.

Level	Individual Miles	Joint Mileage
Silver	25,000	60,000
Gold	50,000	115,000
Platinum	75,000	170,000

   So as you can see, I didn't make the relationship strictly a multiplier of 2x on the existing structure to force it to be a real decision. While the current system is extensible to another person on the same ticket, you also end up having two accounts with an enormous amount of miles, but need to combine them for rewards, which is just a pain for you and the agent you talk to, unnecessarily so. It also requires a significant amount of travel to make a level, so in the majority of places one person will not be able to carry the entire family account.

The next thought was if you wanted to make a third person active, the amounts would increase again by the same method used here, ie 2*(base)*#ppl+10,000+5,000*(base level).

This was just a thought I had, so what are yours? Airlines get on it!

One of the longer Runs

This one starts out at the normal spot. It would start back 1/4 mile if google maps was able to accurately track based on the starting point, but the address is too new so the tracker tends to error out. The run goes to the school in Wildewood, then loops back to the dirt path leading towards the back of Primrose (think its Magnolia place) and take the left onto the dirt track leading to the second exit from Wildewood.

Interesting story there, one car, one truck were parked at the road(pave part) which dead ends there, and as i was running towards them...a lady sans pants and maybe underwear went running from the truck to the car and both sped off...shenanigans were occuring.

Otherwise though it was a relatively uneventful run, with 3 laps around the wildewood track and to add on 3/4's of a mile. All in all the run took 2:40 which is a solid time for the distance and now i hurt. One more long one to go until the NYC marathon

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=5668266

Burnout

Think I've been overdoing it recently, between the 20-30 minutes of high intensity weights at lunch and distance int he afternoon I'm cooked. Currently using the protein shake and chocolate milk recovery method...but my body has decided to call it quits. Going to increase the amount of sleep as well, but does anyone else have any 'tricks' to keep the intensity up while in a continual recovery mode?

I mean i love the chocolate milk and hard boiled eggs for eating, but I need variation here...

Little Inlet NY route

I was out in the woods in NY this weekend and did a pretty decent run, route is below. It's a nice one because of the elevation change and the variation in elevation. Best part is the coffee shop in little inlet, run by a local with great coffee and donuts...

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=5647985

Blogging from my phone

in da home gym, definitely a first, which is odd. I'm always on the phone and never have blogged from it, call me a slacker.

Hike 1 - Voreina to Santo Winery

If you know me at all, I like my beer, my scotch and my wine, conveniently there is a winery nice and close to Voreina Gallery Suites. This place has, IMHO the best view of the sunset on the Island. Going to Oia is nice, especially if you want to see the sun disappear onto the horizon but nothing beats the view from the deck at Santo Winery as you sample their wines(just skip everything and go to the Vinsanto). Afterwards it's a quick walk back, right past another great place, Pyrgos Taverna, but nothing beats Santo Winery. The walk is shown below, and while i titled it Hike 1, it's more of a nice walk or stroll.

 

Voreina Gallery Suites

This officially starts the set of blog posts about Santorini Greece, known on google maps as Thira, Greece! I wanted to start with a shout out to the place we stayed at for being both awesome and in a great location. Nothing helps anymore than a picture of the view. While the location is in Pyrgos and not on the coast, being in the center of the Island was perfect for hiking.

The place we stayed at was Voreina Gallery Suites which is a small hotel with a collection of suites, I believe 8 if varying size. On arrival we were upgraded to the Master Suite, which has the heated infinity pool(perfect for drinks watching the sun set), or for relaxing during the gorgeous weather. As i mentioned above the hotel is in Pyrgos which is in the center of the island, reference A on google maps. The location is near the monastery in the medieval capital of the island which means its less touristy, and off the beaten path.

Now before cringing that its off the beaten path, that's a good thing here. The area is safe, about a half mile walk to the bus(no car needed) and plenty of space if you want to rent an ATV for the week, which is big on the island. You are also very close to 3 cafes at the end of the road to the hotel, room service is delicious and cheap(10-15 euro for Selene) and within walking distance of Santo Winery(which I'll blog about next).

Take a look at this place, and I highly recommend staying there, also because the owner and the staff speak excellent english and have recommendations for every travelers taste.

Coming Soon

I travel...hence the title of this blog. Recently I took a great trip to Greece, specifically Athens and Santorini and while i didn't run much, I did have some epic hikes in Santorini so I'm going to post them, along with some reviews for the hotel and other locations on the Greek Island of Santorini! So look forward to some hikes(you can run them if you want but one's rough terrain) and great views.

Quote I came across

From General Eisenhower,

Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.

This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its labourers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. The cost of one modern heavy bomber is this: a modern brick school in more than 30 cities. It is two electric power plants, each serving a town of 60,000 population. We pay for a single fighter with a half-million bushels of wheat. We pay for a single destroyer with new homes that could have housed more than 8,000 people. This is not a way of life at all, in any true sense. Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron.

 I work in defense, but wholly agree with the General, and President, and one day hopefully I will work myself out of a job by reducing the costs to a point where the military industrial complex cannot make the profits necessary to sustain the business. We use multimillion dollar bombers and helicopters to destroy huts in third world nations, use taxpayer dollars to pay tribal leaders, sheiks and despots instead of building schools or creating an electric generator. Think about it, instead of buying a bomber we gave the cost of a single bomber in buildings to northern Afghanistan?  Where would the suicide bombers come from? If they have a job, are educated, and have a future...why would anyone strap a vest full of explosives on and ride a bike into a bunch of children? 

 Just food for thought..
  

4T's Garage Run

My car tends to be in the shop quite a bit nowadays, for a few reasons and the best place in town, by a long shot is 4T's Garage, so I bring it there. Most recently it was in for an oil change and a low pressure regulator/fuel filter b/c I've been having fuel pressure problems recently and that's all that's left to fix(it's an Audi A4 so the same bug as always). But specifically the rates aren't bad, they can get any part, and do excellent work, especially on foreign cars, much better than the local Audi dealer if you live in southern Maryland. The only complaint I have is that they have no website, so it's a pain if I lose the phone number...

Now that I'm done giving kudo's to 4 T's automotive, I might as well get to the point. Since the place is a few miles away, mostly flat and sidewalk running, it's not a bad run. Not a great one, but not to shabby, especially if you take the back way out of Wildewood instead of going straight to rt 235. The length is the key though, its a solid 4.3 mile run, with some additional distance if you run out to rte 4 and then back, but mostly flat with some small elevation changes to give a great speed run after dropping off your car, or when picking it up. Again this is probably only useful to people who live in Wildewood in California, MD but hell if you're bored and want to drive on down...always welcome

Route
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=5438646

Homewood Suites 4 miler

Route from my run this past week, I didn't have time to put it up, it's a nice run, but a lot of hills.

Location is Carlsbad, California

Wildewood 6'er

So here's the run from yesterday, minus the part where I show where I live down here. In total it's a little over 7 miles, but I'll use the Wildewood 6 as the title. It's a nice, relatively easy run with some rolling hills. Total elevation change is about 50 feet total giving some nice little rollers to spring up if you want to push it.

There is no sidewalk, but they have wide bike lanes on one side of the road with the only complaint being the random spots you need to cross the road, but they have pedestrian signs and everyone stops. Plenty of scenery, other runners and shade so you can ditch the hat if so inclined.

Importantly, there is a bathroom at the park in the middle, just run into the parking lot and it's in the second lot on your right. Not that anyone ever needs to hit the bathroom while running....of course not.

Happy Trails
Rich
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=5421703

Running Group in California, MD

So I'm trying to find some people to run with down here. I know there are plenty of runners because I see a ton on base((PAXR), and even more in the neighborhood of Wildwood where I live. So who is out there? Please comment, or message if interested. Let's see who's interested, signs may even be posted to get this going y'all.

Also, there's a great field, that's groomed and really needs a game of kickball, who's in?

The Plants, or at least what's still alive

So I'm kinda a farmer/gardener, not really sure which...but one of the two, meaning I have a plant collection. Most of which are not native to the area I live in. So i decided to throw a blog together with pictures of what's alive right now. I say alive right now b/c I've killed two redwoods and 2 olive trees and 7 stone pines failed to take so far, but I'm keeping some alive.

The first, my stone pine, germinated from seed, shown to the right. It's about 7 inches tall right now and growing at an inch a month, so I think/hope it's going to make it. Originally I had 8 seeds and 6 germinated, but only one survived. Shall see

The next is the Yoshino Cherry Tree, shown to the left. This one's only a few weeks old..and in an enormous pot. I got it as a gift from some friends who know my addiction. They decided to get me a plant/tree that actually grows natively in my area. Unlike the stone pine(but it can easily) and the olive tree(will  never grow outside). It started with 2 buds, and is up to a solid 3 with the lowest growing well. Hoping for it to take an blossom next year so I can get the full cherry tree effect.

Up next are the two Kiwi's, arctic Kiwi..one male and one female b/c you need to have two in order for them to flower and bear fruit. Both are more than kicking right now, actually going semi crazy. So thinking these will work out pretty well. They're also actually suited for the region, so less care is needed.

Lastly is the pride, or hopefully the pride of my collection. The Spanish(or Italian) Olive tree. Green olive's will be the outcome, eventually, and hopefully. I've adjusted the soil to be slightly alkaline, balanced the water inlet and it gets plenty of filtered sunlight. So hopefully it makes it, unlike the other two. Regardless this will be my last olive tree attempt for a few months if it doesn't...but really hope it pans.

New shoes time

Been a die hard Asics Kayano wearer for years, and it's about time to get a new pair of shoes. New shoe time also means my knees hurt when running in them b/c I  don't want a speed run in the Vibrams. Debating going for the 18's, does anyone have a review?

Either way i have 10 miles in my future this weekend so need to get a new pair. Sub 4 hr marathon here I come!

Rumor had it oprah had a house here...

In Venice, Florida. Rumor had it there was an 8 lot wide mansion, gorgeous one on the road I'm staying on here in Florida. Being the enterprising runner I am, I decided to run and find it....sounds harder than it was. I mean it's a single road along the breakwater...so wasn't like i was digging around. Best bet I had, or information was it was the house below..of course this is rumor and conjecture, but the house is gorgeous to run by, so I'll say mission accomplished, then again there's no record and this may be someone else's house here, but heck i wanted a good run and found one here on Casey key.

Either way I ran 2200 numbers on the road, for about 4.5 miles, got some sun and had a great run along the beachfront road. Only caution to anyone is the corners are blind and a little overgrown so watch yourself running!
Route:
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=5392374

Warning Finance(trading) Post

I like numbers and amongst my many hobbies, I dabble in stock trading and put money where my mouth is so when I recommend long or short, that means I am. Of note I don't have an official license to practice advisement so if you listen to me its at your own risk, cackling not included.

So there are two movements I've recently moved into, one being antimony, via UAMY, and the second trying to figure out Apple (AAPL). Now antimony works if you have a portfolio willing to take a risk, but I wanted to talk about apple. Specifically what is the board thinking by paying a dividend and pursuing a massive stock buyback campaign, and that's what I wanted to throw out there.

The Chart below is apple's stock for the the past 3 years. As you can see clearly, it's been up. There have been varying trends, but still it's been up. Recently though the slope has drastically increased. I mean between December and this past week, Apple is up $200, or 50% in just under four months.

That trend is entirely unsustainable. Mainly because of reality, in stock world with algorithmic trending, yes it could continue, but if you take into account the idea that a consumer goods company is worth more than an industrial manufacturer or a diversified R&D company...you run into some issues. The problem is Apple has continued to succeed, and has a pile of cash thanks to Steve Jobs and his drive to innovate vice the drive to return money to the stockholders.

This week that changed, yes Apple has gobs of money on hand, and by gobs, I mean gobs. This past week they decided to issue the first dividend since 1997, when Jobs pulled the dividend in order to fix the company by reinvesting internally, which saved the company and brought them to their current state. This worked, b/c apple reinvested internally and led the back with breakthrough products.

Now, they went back to financial games, dividends and share buybacks, and released the iPad 3 with an HD screen, and the same battery technology that's in a 15 year old iPod. To handle the HD screen, the battery size was increased, technology wasn't improved, but the size was increased. Anyone with an engineering degree or even most script kiddies in High School can tell you higher power usage means more heat, so this wasn't an unexpected problem. The news says Heatgate is overblown but its symptomatic, especially when you consider they just issued a stock buyback, and for probably the first time released a subsequent generation of a product that wasn't a big jump.

That's the crux of my short argument. I don't see what Apple is gaining by releasing a dividend. The amount of money they're spending on a stock buyback, could easily solve that little heat issue and what would that do? Make Apple stay ahead of the competition. Or how about reinvesting the cash into the SIRI database so that the next generation of Apple products is 100% voice responsive, but no they paid some shareholders a meager dividend 2.65(qtr)/610 when it could've been reinvested and made the stock price cross $1,000, instead Apple is getting into the financial games which killed the company before Steve came back and saved it. Just my 2 cents and i plan on shorting them in the near future, fairly heavily b/c I don't believe the current board is capable of running a cutting edge consumer products company...too many crappy MBA's there.

Sotterly Ride

Nice quick 18 miler with some side trips we wandered off on, but a good ride, nice scenery, pretty flat. So good warm up for the season
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=5365808

Irish Car Bomb Cake

Sorry y'all this one turned out way tooo well to share the recipe to the world.
But if you're brave
-take the guinness cake recipe from fuckyeahbeer use real chocolate, bake 45 min
-cream cheese frosting with bailey's
-soak the cake in jameson before serving

delicious

Boxty

So I tried to make boxty..and while not a complete failure, wasn't my best effort. The recipe I found made it wayyy to thick and wasn't very pancake like but, it was a start. So on to the recipe, with notes for how to make it better
Note: Make sure you have some mashed potatoes around, if not..well this recipe takes a while.
Ingredients:

• 1.5 cups shredded potatoes
• 1 cup mashed potatoes
•  1 cup flour( I used whole wheat for the first try, next time will be less and almond)
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon milk
• dash of olive oil
• 1 tablespoon chopped chives
• 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
• 1 teaspoon basil

Mix the dry goods in a big ole bowl(i cheated and used a kitchen Ade b/c I'm lazy) mix the wet goods, stir them up and then add to the dry goods. Continue to mix until everything is mixed well.


For stuffing, I sauteed some shrimp, crab, peppers and onions in a side skillet

Heat a griddle, spoon on enough to make a pancake and set to cook about 3-4 min on one side, flip and cook for 3-4 more minutes...and wha-la boxty is done, without filling. For a filling I'd use half as much of the boxty mix, and when i spooned it out, i would add a little filling on top, then put the second spoonful on top of the mix before i flip...and it seemed to work.


Errors

• It was way to thick, I'm going to cut the flour in half for starters. so 1/2 cup instead.
• Second is to use more milk, or olive oil. Some more liquidity in the mixture would work well too b/c the batter didn't flow well.

Next recipe's up

St Patty's day had two recipe's we tried here...which will be posted once I get some feedback
1) Irish Car Bomb cake
2) Steak and Crab Boxty

We shall see..but time for a run before some beer for my belly

Route's a million - Wildewood edition

Found one that looks to be the new old faithful. It's an easy 3.2 mile run, with some small elevation changes..but there's plenty of space and a nice dirt hill about the 1 mile mark off to the left that provides some fun and excitement....lots of it if you like hill sprints in dirt(which i do)
So anyone in the Wildewood neighborhood in Md can use it, or stop on in and we'll do a few miles
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=5351722

Crab Stuffed Ravioli - Attempt

Before starting this recipe, find a bottle of red wine.
Open it
Liberally use wine on the cook throughout the process.

So this is the recipe I tried the other day for crab ravioli. It's a two part recipe, one for the pasta then another for the filling.
Part 1 - Pasta 

• 1/2 cup semolina
• 1/2 cup almond flour
• 1/2 cup flour
• dash of salt
• dash of sugar
• 2 eggs

Put the dry goods into a bowl, and mix thoroughly. Create a small indentation in the center and crack the two eggs into the center. I used a small fork at first, then my hands to thoroughly knead the mixture together, thoroughly. When you think you're done kneading, knead for another minute. Roll into a 'log' then stick in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. I usually let it sit there for 1-2 hrs.
I would have used more almond flour, but my last attempt with 100% almond flour created epic difficulties when trying to feed the pasta roller, so I backed off to make sure it had enough regular flour to bond the mixture.


Part 2 - Filling

• 6 ounces of crabmeat - chopped
• 1/4 red onion - finely chopped
• 1/4 red pepper - finely chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, bug uns - finely chopped
• 1 tblspn of butter
• 2 teaspoons of capers, drained
• 1/4 teaspoon shredded lemon peel
• 1 teaspoon of basil
•  1 teaspoon of crushed pine nuts(can skip)
• 1/4 cup shredded parm/reggiano cheese

Add everything(but the parm/regg) to a skillet and sautee for 5-10 until everything looks like its been cooked down. If you don't know what cooked down means, think soft onions. Then add the cheese and let sit for a few minutes. 

If you like a creamier filling, use some ricotta cheese after everything has been cooked down and mix thoroughly.

 

Putting it together

I used a kitchenAid pasta roller, first rolling down on a 1 setting, and stepping down to a 4. With higher almond flour concentrations I have found its harder to get a smooth sheet, but keep at it, and use regular flour as needed to make sure everything sticks together. After rolling the flat sheets(you should get 4 good sized ones), lay two flat on a board, spoon(or use your hands) a quantity in the center, cover...and pinch tight..very tight. 

 

Whala-ravioli...  plus or minus a step or two

Issues:

I had issues with the almond flour and the dough not sticking together...also the filling cooked down a little differently than normal and was a little dry so I recommend using some olive oil.

Whambulance

Someone call the Whambulance....


RIAA Chief Editorial on SOPA

The real question is what does the RIAA create? They are nothing more than a glorified middle-man, cash taker, toll taker between musicians, artists and the stores. This is before getting to the MPAA which wants to protect the industry that though $200 million for the movie Battleship was a good idea.

The Customer Service 'Nuclear' Option

I dislike using the term, or euphemism 'nuclear' outside of specific cases but here I believe it's appropriate. I believe so because this is the very last method I use when dealing with crappy customer service on something ordered, a service requested or even just a response to a critical question. I accept going to this point that I want the object or service bad enough to threaten the company with never using them again, and that no matter how much I want the product I can walk away.

This option is Twitter.

I restrain serious complaining on most slights as a matter of principle, but know I have used this method in five cases. Continental Airlines, Sears, Audi, DirecTV and one other I actually cannot remember at this point. To qualify them for my ranting on twitter, there was significant cost in dollars, time and customer service basically telling me to 'go f--- myself' and suck it up. In all of the cases I was at the point of losing a decent amount of money, or getting stuck in a bad spot, so i went to twitter and ranted. And ranted I did well.

I mention those cases because I got a response, and figure since each responded to me, I figured I should rank the response, effort and try to give some feedback, which I shall over the next few days. Some responses kinda sucked, some were great, but the root problem I have with all of the companies, is it took too much time. I wasted at least 3 hours on the phone, internet, etc for each one...with even 1 hr being too much time. But being that customer service is dead in my mind..each one did perform to a greater or lesser extent.

More to come on my use of twitter as a ranting tool for results, with rankings.

First Run at the New Place

Nice, easy 2.7 mile run in the cold at speed. First run out of the new place so figured I needed to post. It's not a direct start from my house but close enough, great short run. I'll start timing myself next month after I get back on the running horse as a way to track my improvement

The Route - Wildewood 1

Senator Ben Cardin - part two

So after I found out about Senator Cardin, a friend sent me this link from ArsTechnica showing the senator withdrawing support for PiPa, one of 2 Democrats to do so. So kudos to him for showing he would move beyond the campaign contributions given by News Corp, Sony, Comcast and Walt Disney.

So thank you senator Cardin for supporting your constituents and not just campaign contributions, now time to see where the other senator for Maryland sits on this bill.

Senator Ben Cardin - SOPA supporter/sponsor?

Not two weeks ago I sent a kudos out on Senator Ben Cardin for opposing the NDAA this year, not one month ago did this happen on Twitter, he stood his ground and voted for the Freedoms that make America Great, ie no indefinite detention of American Citizens. So I felt good about the guy and the senator for my state. Now I'm having second thoughts because he is a sponsor of PiPA

In the long run, the indefinite detention of American Citizens is much worse than SOPA/PiPa, but not by much because it really has no purpose but to pander to the MPAA, RIAA and the drug companies. It won't stop piracy, nor really do anything but allow for court orders and the attorney general to pull down websites on the 'suspicion' of piracy. The suspicion then doesn't compensate for website losses, potential losses or for real supporting data, evidence or a trial. Basically the NDAA goes after people for imprisonment and SOPA goes after websites in the same manner. This is especially confusing for a Maryland Senator because there isn't a strong movie, music or drug industry in the state.

So what it comes down to is I believe Senator Cardin needs to explain why, and not in a press release, does he think this is good for Maryland Voters. Why would our Senator become involved in a technically inaccurate and poorly written bill that allows for egregious violations of the first amendment on the whim of a corporation, especially one who's numbers have been thoroughly debunked by the GAO with the writeup by Kevin Fogarty on the actual costs

The one bit that strikes me most from the press release is the following

"remaining a cosponsor of the bill provides me the opportunity to be an active participant in the process of addressing the most serious concerns raised by my constituents"


I fail to see how anything in this bill helps the state of Maryland, his constituents or anyone other than old school big business which doesn't evolve, change or evolve and wants to maintain their monopoly on entertainment instead of changing.

I'm looking for advice, or thoughts on what to do. I plan on writing and depending on how this plays out either supporting Senator Cardin in the next election due to his stance on NDAA and changes to PiPA, otherwise his actions will have me supporting his opponent, and contributing $100 since it appears politicians only respond to who gives them money, not their constituents.

Stop SOPA

A rehash on the last post, this bill will change the way the internet functions and Congress is so far in bed with Lobbyists and Boosters that it doesn't matter what is good for anyone other than their campaign contributions. Most of the sponsors do not understand how the internet works and the primary sponsor probably can't comprehend the engineering or how to wire his computer to a wall... but still feel they can stifle innovation

Wikipedia is going blank, support them and everyone else who goes blank in protest, remember that GoDaddy supported the Bill and needs to be run out of business as does hollywood and anyone else voicing their support and money. This is America, stand up and make your voice heard...and vote out anyone who has voiced support...we're looking at you Texas(Lamar Smith) for electing the Congressman who wrote this POS and Harry Reid of Nevada for PIPA. So support wikipedia, support lolcats, reddit, Google, Yahoo for leaving the Chamber of Commerce and the other 7,000 websites that are going to shut down, and shun those that stay open. For a protest to work everyone needs to participate, and those that don't should be punished by losing money and most importantly change our government.


Great writeup of what isn't getting done while this highly technical, probably unconstitutional and business crushing bill

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:SOPA_initiative/Take_action
Stop SOPA Strike: http://sopastrike.com/

Just remember the first line of SOPA is basically a lie, 'To promote prosperity, creativity, entrepreneurship, and innovation by combating the theft of U.S. property, and for other purposes.' and instead should read, 'To support the outdated, cartel based, monopolistic tendencies of the RIAA, MPAA and other industries that have continuously stifled innovation...That's who this bill is for, not the American People, not the average Joe, not the entrepreneur, but for special interests n Hollywood and the music industry.

Stop SOPA

No need to say anymore than the title suggests but for everyone on twitter go here BlackoutSopa. That's all thats needed. We all know our distinguished representatives are full of crap and won't listen but the effort matters...so vote against every incumbent and go to
www.blackoutsopa.org and change your twitter icon

Round dumbells

NEED TO BE BANNED!

Was doing box jumps today and one was on a bench next to me...decided to roll off and crunch my big toe. All 25 lbs onto a big left toe. Ouch

Waited about 1 minute then continued on the workout, def need to get rid of the 25 lbers that are round in the gym though

New York Marathon 2012

Guess who finally got into the NYC marathon? This guy...and I have 2 thumbs...

Ohh yeah, now i need to get a sub 4 hour marathon, NYC is appropriate for it! Booyah

Running

Ever have that run where you feel like nothing works? I did today, went for an easy 5 miles, ended up at 4.15 b/c I had nothing left...The legs felt weird, I relaced my shoes a bunch b/c i felt like i was getting shin splints, the shoes felt heavy, my ankles hurt...

I felt old..not fast old, but old old...and slow.

Need to fix that, but sprints and X-fit tomorrow, BRING IT

Gym Pact

has anyone used this yet? Interesting concept, and the business model seems to rely on complete honesty right now, but there definitely is potential once they get the user base up.. thoughts?

Gym-Pact is the website

Concept 2 Rower Review

Not sure who else out there uses a rower, but I say the best new item is a trash can to come with the rower b/c every time I'm on it, I feel like I'm gonna lose my cookies..so it's a great workout item.

The rower itself is at the work gym in my primary posting because we're so far onto base that it takes forever to get to the drill hall. I believe it's the Concept 2 D, but that's by picture only, so I may be wrong, but it's definitely a concept 2.

The system is pretty simple, adjustable foot straps and positioning for your heels, and a simple lever to adjust the difficulty level. The lever is there, but i always just put it to level 10...and row as hard as I can until i drop, or attempt up downs, so I can't attest to how well it adjusts the resistance, but I assume well.
The display is a intuitive and being that I've never seen an instruction manual I can figure out how to change the units, tracking settings and work til I drop. Most importantly for me though is it works. The only negative i have is that if you're wearing a longer shirt that is not tucked in, you can sometimes get it caught on your back stroke, but that's normal from what I've been told.

Sumary
Pro's: Easy to use, functional, kicks my butt
Con's: None that I've seen but i have no idea how much it costs...

Workout
I mix it with sprints and some X-fit items, but my favorite is as follows(if you like to hurt), but warm up the hamstrings first
250m Row
1/4 mile
250m Row
1/4 mile
500m Row
1/2 mile
250m Row
100m sprint
You should hurt, either that or I'm in horrible shape. Either way it feels god.

2012 Goals

Quick and easy here are my goals for 2012
1) sub 4 hour marathon, I want a 3:30, but will go for a sub 4 hr
2) maintain a 7 min/mile pace for a 10k
3) 20 consecutive pull-ups, somehow for all my upper body strength i cannot do pullups, 150 push-ups...easy, 5 pull-ups..not so much
4) Abs...the six pack became a keg this last year

 

*picture totally stolen from verydemotivational.com