tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-78746027209446527102024-03-05T20:46:54.860-06:00Truckpoetry.net - official blog of Cameron MathewsCameronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00178591911846098491noreply@blogger.comBlogger170125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7874602720944652710.post-73662313262699863272014-11-19T10:23:00.004-06:002014-11-19T10:27:49.957-06:00Baylor Fan's Guide to Week 13Jockeying for final position is in full effect. With only three more weeks to go, the most important thing for Baylor fans to do is to cheer for the Bears and the Bears just need to win-win-win. That said, if you are looking for some other football to watch and wonder what could best help the Bears in their quest to the top, here's my extremely lay-opinion on the topic.<br />
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Note - these in no way are predictions, just comments on how things <i>could</i> be...also doesn't even reflect my allegiances, per se. Just geared solely towards how to best position Baylor, and that's it.<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><b>Wednesday Nov 19</b></span><br />
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Kent State at Buffalo - Bears obviously need the Bulls to win out to gain bowl-eligibility and strengthen that "cream-puff" schedule of theirs. Kent State has only won one game, so this one, at least, looks like a possible W for Buffalo. If they can get out from under the 6 feet of snow. Also Kent State was on Ohio State's non-con schedule, which is pretty weak.</div>
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<b>Thursday, Nov 20</b></div>
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K State at West Virginia - Baylor needs Kansas State to do what they could not - win at Morgantown. They need to have K State looking pristine coming into the last game of the season. Still, a close game makes WVU look like a good team. Keep it close, but Snydercat victory in the end.</div>
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<b>Saturday, Nov 22</b></div>
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Indiana at Ohio State - tOSU will win this game most likely, but if it is anything like the low-margin-of-victory that TCU had over Kansas, Baylor can still leapfrog.</div>
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Rutgers at Michigan State - Rutgers win weakens tOSU's SOS. That is all.</div>
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Kansas at Oklahoma - Sooners need to blow KU out of the water with a 30 point victory. After losing and being ticked off, they just might.</div>
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Minnesota at Nebraska - Not sure how much longer the playoff committee can justify tOSU and TCU being higher than Baylor if Minnesota is a difference-maker with more than 3 losses. Baylor would do well with a BIG Nebraska win.</div>
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Marshall at UAB - Marshall wins this one, going 11-0... and yet still not in the discussion. Probably fair, but BCS would likely have had them in the top 25.</div>
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SMU at UCF - Ponies need a win, badly, but probably won't come at UCF. Still, root for SMU.</div>
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Penn State at Illinois - PSU took Ohio State to double overtime. That looks horrible if Penn State (currently 6-4) loses big to Illinois (4-6). Just saying.</div>
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Virginia Tech at Wake Forest - Go Demon Deacons - Make that Va Tech victory over tOSU look even worse for the Buckeyes.</div>
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Washington State at Arizona State - Just rooting for the underdog here, WSU. No other real factor at play.</div>
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Boston College at Florida State - Stranger things have happened. Perhaps Jameis Winston can't come from behind to win again? I doubt BC has what it takes, but that's the underdog to root for.</div>
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Ole Miss at Arkansas - Arkansas shocked LSU. Let's have them upturn the apple cart on Ole Miss as well.</div>
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Arizona at Utah - no real gung ho need here, but a Utah win knocks another 2 loss team further out.</div>
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Wisconsin at Iowa - Same deal with an Iowa win.</div>
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Louisville at Notre Dame - Take your pick.</div>
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Maryland at Michigan- another pick'em. </div>
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Texas Tech at Iowa State - we need Tech to win at least one more game, preferably solidly. Not sure they will, though.</div>
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Western Carolina at Alabama - Well, Alabama has such a cream puff non-conference, I don't expect them to lose, perhaps the Playoff Committee punishes them for... oh wait, no they won't. To be fair, they did have (and beat) WVU in their non-conf. schedule, which somehow excuses the other three non-power-5 games. But of course, Baylor had how many non-power-5? Oh yeah, 3.</div>
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Colorado at Oregon - Oregon will win. Very little can be done about that. Maybe it is sloppy?</div>
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Samford at Auburn - OK, now if Samford (7-3) could somehow beat an Auburn (7-3) team that could then upset Alabama after getting really mad? Perfect dumpster fire.</div>
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Miami (FL) at Virginia - a poor showing by Miami should make FSU's near escape last week less impressive. Then again, what FSU win has been clean and impressive lately?</div>
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Vanderbilt at Miss St. - Vandy. Won't happen, but the SEC dumpster fire completes by rooting for the underdog in every SEC game. Best hope to knock Mississippi State out is Ole Miss next week.</div>
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OSU at Baylor - Everyone in Black. Baylor needs to win. Big. Statement win. But I'll take a W any way we can get it.</div>
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Missouri at Tennessee - A Tennessee win would continue to burn down the SEC, this time in the East.</div>
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USC at UCLA - however unlikely, I'd like to see a USC win to keep UCLA from having too high ambitions. Make them both 3 loss teams.</div>
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What games am I missing?</div>
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Play on...</div>
Cameronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00178591911846098491noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7874602720944652710.post-10524143619918597802014-09-02T15:30:00.000-05:002014-09-02T15:30:00.245-05:00McLane Stadium - The Inaugural Thoughts<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic4OYGwrallY-qB-hXA6IXTglGdz4XcsLQ2h11UzyIIhkr7Um5rTFoxZImpguap1QEjkXPF3Zf7HOkdsAqKdSrWWFef0sKZiOvXc6XLYQU_TlWodnZRXoh5KYQS9hVuVwy6IRU8q7CITI/s1600/2014-08-31+20.55.36.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic4OYGwrallY-qB-hXA6IXTglGdz4XcsLQ2h11UzyIIhkr7Um5rTFoxZImpguap1QEjkXPF3Zf7HOkdsAqKdSrWWFef0sKZiOvXc6XLYQU_TlWodnZRXoh5KYQS9hVuVwy6IRU8q7CITI/s1600/2014-08-31+20.55.36.jpg" height="209" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Behold McLane Stadium, the Jewel of the Brazos, resplendent in all it's evening glory.</td></tr>
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This past Sunday marked the start of the 2014 football season for the Baylor Bears, and the inaugural game of the inaugural season of anything else we can use inaugural for McLane Stadium, Baylor's new $266 million adventure on the banks of the Brazos River. I could go into my analysis of the game and how it went (45-0 shutout against SMU), but that has already been done <a href="http://scores.espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=400547648" target="_blank">here</a> and <a href="http://www.foxsports.com/southwest/story/no-10-baylor-opens-stadium-with-win-over-smu-083114" target="_blank">here </a>and <a href="http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/college-sports/smu-mustangs/20140831-smu-offers-little-resistance-to-baylor-humbled-in-every-phase.ece" target="_blank">here</a>. Nor am I going to give any sort of medical analysis on Bryce Petty's day-to-day back injury (or even how well we played considering Petty was injured and we were missing Goodley and Coleman for pretty much the entire game). Instead, I figured for my first blog post in about 6 months, I would give a report on the good, bad, and ugly of the stadium and game day experience. So here goes.<br />
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<h3>
The Good</h3>
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Let's start with the good. I mean, Baylor got <i>several</i> things right when they built this stadium. For starters, the stadium. It is quite easily the nicest athletics facility I have ever attended (better than AT&T, save the massive video screen). Even the positioning of the stadium so that over 2/3 of the stadium were shaded by kickoff of the 6:30 game was prime.<br />
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Then let's talk food. I'll be honest, I did not partake in much stadium munching, but man the bacon-wrapped onion rings and bacon-wrapped hot dogs seem like they are a tradition I will soon take part in at another game. Overall the number of vendors increased quite a bit, and that's a plus. Also have to admit the condiments stations appeared to be an upgrade over the clear plastic towers of packets at the Case, but they were out of ketchup at one and mustard at another during the first quarter, so they might could do a better job watching that.<br />
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Video board - amazing. So good I caught several people even in our lower section watching the game on the board rather than the field - much like you see at AT&T. I'd call that comparable behavior complementary of the video board performance.<br />
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The Baylor In-Game App. Gotta admit I didn't use this much, mostly because I was watching the kids while watching the game, but I did play with it a little. Two features I checked out enough to give definitive thumbs up - Parking assistance - gave clear directions and map on how to get to our parking area, and the on-field cameras where I got live-feeds of one of 5 or 6 field-level camera angles. That was nice. I do suspect the app was responsible for some of our collective battery drain (both of our phones and several other folks complained of no cell phone battery), but the app has potential. If I were there without children, I would likely have a constant, ongoing second screen.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIDii1jIWkm90fQo4bqMyMTOeWn8EPB2jcMH-iaztPEuK-O5QadPTrXmnTPSF0MYt5JZV39yWyft6xdj5oLx7jHZKeJd5FCWD6z97zsi4eZos1vlmUYBQL1hj0ita0-f8DOCxcvIqmlY4/s1600/2014-08-31+16.59.39.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIDii1jIWkm90fQo4bqMyMTOeWn8EPB2jcMH-iaztPEuK-O5QadPTrXmnTPSF0MYt5JZV39yWyft6xdj5oLx7jHZKeJd5FCWD6z97zsi4eZos1vlmUYBQL1hj0ita0-f8DOCxcvIqmlY4/s1600/2014-08-31+16.59.39.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A little bit of "sailgating"</td></tr>
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The boats. You can't argue with this one either. The "sailgating" experience looked tremendous, with what I hear were around 50 boats in the area. Downside? Not enough slips. I think it was around 10 first-come-first-served as well as the 16 pre-reserved slips. Might need more boat parking.<br />
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The bathrooms. Looking for a trough? Try again. And the number of bathrooms also a positive.<br />
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The tailgating areas. Large and spacious, and with generally good views, the new tailgating areas were superior to the riverside spots at The Case in many ways. Not to mention the fact that they were out of the general path of traffic.<br />
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Grant Teaff Plaza. Looks like a lift-and-lay from Floyd Casey. I was happy to see it made its way over there.<br />
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The tailgating experience. Overall, there seemed to be a broader expanse of tents and food and beer and love of football, etc.<br />
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Also loved the "mid-deck video banner" - just something that seems commonplace in new stadiums, but was definitely missing in Floyd Casey.<br />
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Seating. The seating had narrower sections (requiring fewer people to stomp over you to come in and out of the row) as well as more legroom (reducing need to stand up to let people in or out of the row, even for a giant like me).<br />
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The coin toss. I know we will have different folks, but having RG3 fist-bumping George W. Bush when tossing out the first coin at McLane Stadium (and surrounded by the McLane family) was a nice touch.<br />
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Finally, I was a big fan of the repositioning of the Baylor Line. At Floyd Casey, the Baylor Line resided in a couple of sections in the middle of the "visitor side" of the field. The thought process was that they would be able to effectively heckle the opponent throughout the game. McLane maximizes this by reducing the DEPTH of the Baylor Line section, and stretching it the length of the sideline so they can more effectively heckle away. I also like the picture of the golden "dragon" with the line waiting on the team with the fire-spewing arch for them to pass through.<br />
<h3>
The Bad</h3>
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OK, maybe it isn't all bad here, but could be filed under "could be improved" instead. These are things that generally made the day less pleasant than it could otherwise have been.</div>
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Number one complaint: parking (or lack thereof). Sure, you can make the argument that we are in no worse or different situation than other Big XII schools or otherwise. That said, we were spoiled. Floyd Casey had ample parking within 100-200 yards of the stadium that you could park around the stadium even when it was sold to capacity. McLane lacks that tremendously. Not only are there no "day of game" parking spots available, but the prepaid spots aren't even enough to satisfy the Bear Foundation members, and many/most of them require shuttles (or a 15 minute mile long walk) to get to the bridge, which are certainly impediments to dragging a full cooler and tailgating chairs if you are joining others in the tailgating area.</div>
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East-West bridges (or lack thereof). Currently, there is one bridge connecting the primary tailgating area with the stadium. This becomes particularly important during the Bear Walk (which is the next unfortunate planning), but in general, this bridge was so crowded during the hour prior to game time that I saw 4 people trying to SCALE THE OUTSIDE of the bridge to get across heading against the grain of traffic. Two went back, and two were given scoldings by the police after they made it across. Still, that's a problem. Additional bridges, rails or something dictating "flow of traffic" to create channels of people that can go West to East as well as East to West, or other options might help the congestion. It was also suggested that after people stop gawking at their bricks in the walkway or the RG3 statue in the concourse that the congestion improves. We will see. Of note, it did clear up closer to kickoff, so perhaps that's a sign of things to come.</div>
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Lack of additional East-West and North-South bridge options. Not only the above, but further East. There MAY very well be smooth ways to head east to the Ferrell Center parking, but they were not readily apparent and advertised. As such, there was heavy reliance on foot traffic along University Parks drive with no relief from heat or sun. A shaded, along-the-river walk would be preferable, and if there were additional North-South cross-Brazos bridges to the tailgate area or otherwise, the long walk to get to the footbridge could be broken up and foot traffic might also be reduced.</div>
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The Bear Walk. Further complicating the lack of bridges is the decision to block the ONLY connector from the tailgating area to the stadium for an HOUR to allow the players to walk single-file across the bridge. While it provided a cool visual and a great "tunnel" experience for them, it was a model of inefficiency in terms of allowing traffic on EITHER side to pass across. Again, having some way for traffic to be less congested would be beneficial.</div>
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Some better bathroom signage. The women's restroom was on the back wall of the stadium with signs that did not adequately point all the way around. Led to several women looking lost or taking up the family restroom (leaving several families standing around outside). I also heard the tap water was hot - that sounds like a problem.</div>
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More food. I saw the bacon wrapped onion rings, and visited a couple of places and saw they had some good offerings, but I appreciate a variety. Doesn't have to be State Fair of Texas sized variety, but would love more than what I saw. As it was, there were several "burger, chicken tenders, and fries" with one tricky additional option available. Maybe I was at the wrong places.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkeR2FeJCdZY4a-j3GulkIX8Z3zSu-jd737x14caYkcJbJX4BIwkNb_LKRnID7jVldE-8Jgd3WDqFaeibhpwGtYNq4QyunbfBt7MtdoRJjZrwugY5ZPnnsOYXf69wI3szXhPuWg7jzNV0/s1600/RG3+Statue.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkeR2FeJCdZY4a-j3GulkIX8Z3zSu-jd737x14caYkcJbJX4BIwkNb_LKRnID7jVldE-8Jgd3WDqFaeibhpwGtYNq4QyunbfBt7MtdoRJjZrwugY5ZPnnsOYXf69wI3szXhPuWg7jzNV0/s1600/RG3+Statue.jpg" height="320" width="153" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">RG3 in bronze</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The RG3 statue. Hey, it's a great statue. And Robert Griffin III definitely is a class-act without whom this stadium might not be in existence. That said, I am <i>extremely</i> reserved about immortalizing people in statues when they are still alive, let alone when they have active career in front of them. Same argument goes to not awarding Heisman trophies to Freshman (crab legs or autographs, anyone?). I think it was a great gesture, the panels look great all lit up, but just want to caution against getting too giddy over living legends in the future. Don't think it could be a problem? Ask Penn State about their Paterno statue.</div>
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<br /></div>
<h3>
The Net</h3>
<div>
In summary of this giant post, McLane Stadium is awesome. You should visit it for sure. Only if you have not already visited, you likely cannot since it is sold out for the year. So there. I, on the other hand, will visit it. Again. And again.</div>
Cameronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00178591911846098491noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7874602720944652710.post-20185862760708392702014-04-25T08:00:00.000-05:002014-04-30T09:44:44.475-05:00Car Maintenance: Not an ad but it should be.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQSnQglvv2h6IVMPnV4VnJzMrRo3vrp9eqYBkFNSwlHrCP7cxL1jJPrQ1XO5gtBoti7FjeOv6Abz_MP0qkHR5W69FLUpK_kcphTWqXHAdVYjSzIgEOT4gEUeq3An9MdvXnjOUiFjR1rc4/s1600/2014-04-21+11.12.24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQSnQglvv2h6IVMPnV4VnJzMrRo3vrp9eqYBkFNSwlHrCP7cxL1jJPrQ1XO5gtBoti7FjeOv6Abz_MP0qkHR5W69FLUpK_kcphTWqXHAdVYjSzIgEOT4gEUeq3An9MdvXnjOUiFjR1rc4/s1600/2014-04-21+11.12.24.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></div>
I'm hard on consoles. The armrest console in each of my last three cars has taken a beating, since I generally keep my right elbow planted on it at all times when driving (side effect of giant arms).<br />
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As you can see from the picture at left, my current one was in pitiful shape. Not only was the leather cracked and the padding totally smashed (this happened in both prior cars), but the tray in the middle was cracked (presumably under the weight of my giant elbow and accompanying arm. Over time that crack worked its way towards the back of the armrest and eventually shattered the plastic, causing springs to fly out, leaving my only option to reassemble the pieces with black duct tape.<br />
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In walks my Val-Pak (this is not an ad for Val-Pak). I usually flip through these things looking for restaurant coupons for places we might go eat at anyway, and I stumbled across <a href="http://www.rockauto.com/" target="_blank">RockAuto</a>.<br />
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Gotta say, this should be an ad for RockAuto but it isn't.<br />
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RockAuto basically has all kinds of parts for all kinds of cars.<br />
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So I ordered (but I ordered the wrong color). So I sent it back and ordered again.<br />
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And the piece came, along with installation and removal instructions that were plain and simple.<br />
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And so, in just a matter of minutes, I ended up with this console instead of the one above. Night and day difference. Thanks, RockAuto.<br />
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<br />Cameronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00178591911846098491noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7874602720944652710.post-60439733839285626982014-04-23T14:44:00.001-05:002014-04-23T14:44:46.493-05:00Adios Cadbury Eggs<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirASujAbQbCtxm4OcspEUiHYyOvjwx1-LaXBa1PYJFoR61m5EIDYwVb5VtRyAT9xZNvGlzxMjpdfjfUWTuE1tn8QC5i05Yg0Zg-atFaK_YQx-Gad6WwVD-SfJw4x0szcz5tW-Jf_V78Rk/s1600/2014-04-23+14.31.15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirASujAbQbCtxm4OcspEUiHYyOvjwx1-LaXBa1PYJFoR61m5EIDYwVb5VtRyAT9xZNvGlzxMjpdfjfUWTuE1tn8QC5i05Yg0Zg-atFaK_YQx-Gad6WwVD-SfJw4x0szcz5tW-Jf_V78Rk/s1600/2014-04-23+14.31.15.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a></div>
I like candy. Quite a bit, actually. Which means that my calendar could be construed to rotate around the four "prime candy" holidays. As Easter passes, so do the Cadbury Eggs, leaving me in candy drought until October.<br />
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Fourth of July lollipops anyone?<br />
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In case you're wondering, the "big four" are:<br />
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<b>Valentine's Day</b><br />
Perfect time of year for chocolate. You should try to grab a candy conversation heart or two. And there's always appropriately colored Reese's cups and Hershey's kisses.<br />
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<b>Easter</b><br />
Here I have options. Chocolate or not. We have to start with the Cadbury Egg (pictured) and its gooey center. But there's also jellybeans (of which Starburst or Jelly Belly are the best, and the Laffy Taffy and Sweet Tart are just awful). But expand the jellybean search to include Brach's Spiced Jelly Bird Eggs (only get one bag of those, please). And grab some Peeps. And a chocolate bunny. And a few more jellybeans. And Cadbury solid chocolate with candy coating - forget what they are called.<br />
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<b>Halloween</b><br />
Thank goodness when Halloween arrives. First off, it ends the candy drought. Second off, it is a holiday where non-chocolate candy can exist in droves. Candy corn, sweet tarts, smarties, mini-packages of everything from Runts to Sour Patch Kids, and more.<br />
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<b>Christmas</b><br />
Gotta get some chocolate covered cherries. Maybe a chocolate orange. Gum drops. And something to fill the candy dish (likely Rolo, Reese's, and Hershey Kisses in dedicated packaging).<br />
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Anyway, now that you are in the loop, I will chow on that egg. Oh wait, I already did.<br />
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And so begins the drought.Cameronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00178591911846098491noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7874602720944652710.post-22621613104113207302013-10-03T09:47:00.001-05:002013-10-03T09:47:24.276-05:00WildlifeWhen we lived out in Lewisville, we had plenty of large animals around. I saw (within a mile of my house) coyotes, roadrunners, rabbits, snakes, hawks, raccoons, skunks, armadillos, and more. I thought by moving into the city that would likely decrease, but on top of hearing there was a bobcat in our neighborhood recently, I also realized that in addition to our horde of bunnies running around the neighborhood, we have a few more <i>smaller</i> animals that were noticeably missing the past couple of years outside city limits. Fireflies, for starters.<br />
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And these guys, whom we originally had in Lewisville but disappeared after a particularly dry summer:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLjSut4zT14wyIgi5QCptlwkuVZ-jxdaBzI5XJnBtnnzfMaURVkMg5XNev7rPERtYeDn52MLbwz5dn7x_SoQ8VZ3DAUxZskcwRlarZtlV1Ky_AM95SbM66bKfrTSlRXdKBUyfT1O3YIMo/s1600/2013-09-22+20.31.03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLjSut4zT14wyIgi5QCptlwkuVZ-jxdaBzI5XJnBtnnzfMaURVkMg5XNev7rPERtYeDn52MLbwz5dn7x_SoQ8VZ3DAUxZskcwRlarZtlV1Ky_AM95SbM66bKfrTSlRXdKBUyfT1O3YIMo/s320/2013-09-22+20.31.03.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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And the other day, I also stumbled on this guy just hanging out by our fence:<br />
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Happy Thursday.<br />
<br />Cameronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00178591911846098491noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7874602720944652710.post-64343672251445614822013-09-06T10:53:00.001-05:002013-09-06T10:53:55.309-05:00Android KitKatSo if you don't follow along, Google has been naming their Android OS versions after desserts for some time (I think since "D"). The latest two were Ice Cream Sandwich and Jellybean (I'm running Jellybean on mine). The latest version? KitKat.<br />
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In response, Nestle launched new KitKat candybar ads that mock the way Apple positions its products with artsy-yet-techy language. Quite humorous. Enjoy.
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/OKOrkLxOBoY" width="420"></iframe>Cameronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00178591911846098491noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7874602720944652710.post-50921797148973646942013-08-22T10:24:00.000-05:002013-08-22T10:24:05.448-05:00Tip of the hat to dad's alma materHeard this great welcome to the freshmen speech this morning from a Georgia Tech student. Since my dad is a GT alum, thought I would share...<br />
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<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/98nNpzE6gIs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Cameronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00178591911846098491noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7874602720944652710.post-14345997259322639882013-08-02T09:18:00.002-05:002013-08-22T10:24:27.204-05:00Blurred Lines<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/YOZjaqHioro" width="560"></iframe><br />
I often don't find Jimmy Fallon that great, but this is awesome.Cameronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00178591911846098491noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7874602720944652710.post-90992960593499582072013-07-11T21:37:00.002-05:002013-08-22T10:24:39.004-05:00Aquarium Update<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrJIzPZT-TggKrkHqHvAh1xmoF7V2ObgDcjaatePnA42bLAhqP-7FQZ-VlJqDk-Z5ITtbhRS_igezv41qD1SD_wc0CNGgbmNY1B0u8a8ZQ6XH9kDx2cJufryhW-mP9YNPdKTk8ZgzBu_8/s1600/2013-07-09+19.08.48.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrJIzPZT-TggKrkHqHvAh1xmoF7V2ObgDcjaatePnA42bLAhqP-7FQZ-VlJqDk-Z5ITtbhRS_igezv41qD1SD_wc0CNGgbmNY1B0u8a8ZQ6XH9kDx2cJufryhW-mP9YNPdKTk8ZgzBu_8/s320/2013-07-09+19.08.48.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
In the move, I managed to convince the local fish store who moved my aquarium for me to take some of my fish that I no longer wanted. In exchange, they offered me some store credit, which I was able to use to get a couple of new guys.<br />
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Gotta say, the move was excellent - they even got my filters running better than they had been before.<br />
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Anyway, here's the new aquarium setup (I plan on redoing the decor periodically), and here are the inhabitants:<br />
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<ul>
<li>Jack Dempsey</li>
<li>Pink Convict</li>
<li>2x Firemouths</li>
<li>Red/Gold Severum</li>
<li>Green Terror</li>
<li>5x Silver Dollars</li>
<li>5x Red/Blue Colombian Tetras</li>
<li>5x Buenos Aires Tetras</li>
<li>Plecostamus</li>
</ul>
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Boom.</div>
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Oh, and here's some pics of the new guys:</div>
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And an obligatory pic of my Jack Dempsey:</div>
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Cameronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00178591911846098491noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7874602720944652710.post-34220754836959840552013-06-17T07:00:00.000-05:002013-06-17T07:00:12.659-05:00Piña Piña Piña Piña<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Side note: So, this is a first post over here on the blog concerning plants...and should be part of the death of the "gardening blog" which I had. I am going to consolidate many of the "separate blogs" into one, probably just leaving a blog, a beer recipe page, and the poems, but we will see.</span></i><br />
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Several years ago, I got a wild idea to grow a pineapple plant. I knew from somewhere deep in my past, wandering around in a memory from my childhood, that you could grow a pineapple plant from just the top of any old pineapple that you bought from the store. I did not, however, have any clue what I was doing in how to grow it.<br />
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Insert the Internet.<br />
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<a href="http://www.rickswoodshopcreations.com/pineapple/pineapple.htm" target="_blank">This page</a> helped me understand what I was doing, and I followed the instructions pretty much with a pineapple top.<br />
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After about a year, I had a pineapple plant with two leaves. That was it. Still, I kept up with the sunlight and occasional watering, hoping that one day, I'd have a plant.<br />
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Here we are, probably three years later, and you can see from the picture above, I've got one. I can't tell you when or why, but one day last year, the plant <i>just started growing.</i> It started sprouting new leaves out of the center, and the ones it sprouted kept growing and growing. I moved it to the office when we moved houses, and have kept it here a couple of months now where it can get ample sunlight (and some good flourescent light, too), and it seems to be happy here as well.<br />
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Suffice it to say, it is not the easiest plant I've ever grown, but it definitely has been rewarding the past few months to see it actually sprout more than the two measly leaves it had.<br />
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So go over to that "<a href="http://www.rickswoodshopcreations.com/pineapple/pineapple.htm" target="_blank">How to Grow a Pineapple</a>" site and check it out. You might actually want to grow one, too.Cameronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00178591911846098491noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7874602720944652710.post-80555064874389392482013-06-14T07:30:00.000-05:002013-06-14T07:30:00.577-05:00Funny - conversations with my 2 year oldThis is funny, and I have totally had similar conversations occur in our household.<br />
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The second episode is pretty great too.... Subscribed.Cameronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00178591911846098491noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7874602720944652710.post-42292006396518465512013-06-10T09:30:00.000-05:002013-06-10T09:30:01.485-05:00No thanks, I won't pull up<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/52/Coneing.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/52/Coneing.png" width="262" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">By Coneingcrew (Own work) [CC0], <br />via Wikimedia Commons</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Every now and again, I am going through a local fast food establishment, and I get to the window to pay and receive my food, and, after paying, the restaurant employee asks me, "if you don't mind, please pull up," accompanied with a gesture to some nebulous blacktop waiting area where I am supposed to sit in my car, out of line, and wait for someone to inefficiently bring my food out to the car after they have prepared it. Often, the request is much ruder: "Pull up over there and we will bring your food."<br />
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At times, I have complied with this request, pulling into side parking spots or just moving the car up a few feet, or even wrapping around the front of the building to wait. But this practice has become so frequent among fast food establishments that I begin to wonder if we should remove the "fast" from their moniker.<br />
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The worst part about it is that I have occasionally had issues with the "pull up" routine. The absolute worst of the worst experience is that on more than one occasion, the workers have just completely forgotten that I was waiting, leading me to exit my car, march inside, only to find that they have not even made my food, and I will be waiting longer. They already have my money hostage, so there's a sense of powerlessness about it that I find frustrating. Other disasters include waiting a long time and then receiving the wrong food, missing condiments, etc., all requiring a physical exit from the car to go back into the establishment to correct.<br />
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So, why do they even do this? I can only think of two reasons. The first is benevolent. Something in my order actually will take longer to make than the order behind me, so they are just rearranging the queue to allow the first food ready to be the first food served. I don't really have an issue with this, as it might benefit me one day. The second is a bit more self-serving. Lots of fast food restaurants are measured on "time to service" sort of metrics that measure (even electronically counting inside the restaurant) the amount of time that a car sits at the drive through window. In some restaurants (I know because I worked in one), the timer starts beeping annoyingly if the car exceeds some allotted service time. In this instance, there is no customer service mentality there, just a desire to artificially deflate the average service times or to avoid getting "dinged" for long wait times. The problem is that you can't ever tell if the motivation is the first reason, second reason, or just plain conditioned behavior.<br />
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So what can you do? I say you refuse to pull up. Period.<br />
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I got introduced to this idea from a friend who said that he "refused to pull up on principle" and would just stick with that. The response generates confused looks and repetition in the ask, but kept him at the window until receiving his food. I loved the idea so much, I've taken to some adjustments of my own.<br />
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The first thought I had was to answer the question "Can you please pull up?" with some enigmatic response, like "I am not allowed." I thought this would generate some sort of suspicion that I would play into, along the lines of my being a secret shopper or something like that, unable to falsify service times in my reports back to corporate. But that opened itself to the same issues as "refusing on principle."<br />
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And then, it hit me. A great response, that I (and others, now) have used with some level of success. It is predicated on a two-pronged approach: First, you let yourself believe that they are asking you to pull up as a courtesy to you, to generate great customer service. Second, you let yourself believe that you will do the more polite thing and not require them, at their minimum wage job, to have to run out and serve you food when you are perfectly capable of sitting and waiting on them. The response, "No, thanks, I'm fine."<br />
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So, here's how this conversation goes in practice.<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Cashier: Sir, can you please pull up?<br />Me: No thanks, I'm good.<br /><bewildered cashier="" face="" look="" on="" s=""><br />Cashier: Sir, if you can pull over there, we can bring your food to you.<br />Me: Oh, you really don't have to do that. I'm OK, I will wait for it.<br /><bewildered again="" look=""><br /><cashier and="" closes="" confused="" conversation="" employee="" has="" manager="" or="" other="" window="" with=""><br /><conversation ends=""></conversation></cashier></bewildered></bewildered></blockquote>
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I've tried some other variants, like totally ignoring the request, or pulling up only two or three feet, which negates the purpose of my pulling up but doesn't allow them to protest anymore, but I've found the "polite refusal" is most effective, and generally only results in being asked once or twice. And after you've done it a couple of times, it's just as easy as the obligatory "No thanks" when offered new credit card offers to save 10% off of your $14 Target purchase or the like.<br />
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My goal: to eventually end the "please pull up" automatic request, and get it really back to "total exception" scenarios. But I need your help.<br />
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Will you join in the refusal?Cameronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00178591911846098491noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7874602720944652710.post-32888191401151626902013-06-07T14:53:00.000-05:002013-06-07T14:53:00.511-05:00Hysterical - Sad Dog DiarySome Friday funny for you.<br />
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Cameronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00178591911846098491noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7874602720944652710.post-31629524526177867272013-06-03T08:57:00.000-05:002013-06-03T08:57:00.482-05:00Off the face of the planet<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/76/Mars_Hubble.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/76/Mars_Hubble.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">By NASA and The Hubble Heritage Team<br /> (STScI/AURA) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
So, no. I did not actually fall off of the face of the planet. Nor did I <a href="http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2013/04/23/mars-one-opens-applications-for-red-planet-settlers">apply for a one-way pass to colonize the planet Mars</a> and get accepted and shipped off. No, nothing that exciting.<br />
<br />
Instead, I just disappeared from my own website for a while. It happens.<br />
<br />
In the meantime, we had another baby, I moved, and all sorts of other delightful life changes took place.<br />
<br />
If you have stuck around this long, chances are you have seen me pull the disappearing act a couple of times. And now I'm back. For a little while at least.<br />
<br />
I'm not sure I'll continue all the site in its present form, or if I will just start merging some pieces of it together - I have a feeling I may combine the writing blog with the brewing log with the blog, and just have one place with some different tags separating it. I know I just split it out a few years ago, but honestly, the updates on each one individually are spaced out enough that I don't think there's a continuous stream of content.<br />
<br />
So, maybe that will happen. If I get motivated.<br />
<br />
In the meantime, I am looking at doing some flash fiction and poetry stuff, which I will talk about on the writing blog. Maybe. For now, hi, and know I'm still somewhere out here - not somewhere out there.Cameronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00178591911846098491noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7874602720944652710.post-55929614124894043752013-02-18T04:30:00.000-06:002013-02-18T04:30:00.232-06:00This is not a food blog<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AIguana-001.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a7/Iguana-001.jpg" width="267" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">By Leo za1 (Own work) <br />[CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], <br />via Wikimedia Commons</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
OK, I noticed that the last couple of posts on here have been about what I've been eating. In no way do I intend to turn this blog solely into a food blog, but that is one of the better topics of things I like to make mental (and then literal) notes about. So my apologies if my blog did nothing but to make you hungry of late. I am sure there are other interesting things to come - in fact, I have a couple of ideas. Now if only I would sit and write them.<br />
<br />
In the meantime, instead of food I'm eating, check out this iguana eating a delicious flower.Cameronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00178591911846098491noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7874602720944652710.post-87805418118232324132013-02-11T02:00:00.000-06:002013-02-10T23:15:33.805-06:00Lobster Mac & Chard!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOPwm5vHh1EKOl9GkaOarDlH8NDNytK6PW9kwHvv5s_KaaRdY714z2C4QWf9oddvXwQhZr4uznYKMP86Vehv5vDx9a4ClFcrhj3s2SiQYZGttEzela_0Q2UfTU9qu7iQ4JEckUc3Zm4JI/s1600/2013-02-09+18.19.47.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOPwm5vHh1EKOl9GkaOarDlH8NDNytK6PW9kwHvv5s_KaaRdY714z2C4QWf9oddvXwQhZr4uznYKMP86Vehv5vDx9a4ClFcrhj3s2SiQYZGttEzela_0Q2UfTU9qu7iQ4JEckUc3Zm4JI/s320/2013-02-09+18.19.47.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
Every now and again, we make some yummy food, and I decide to share.<br />
<br />
We get several food magazines, from Food Network to Rachel Ray and Southern Living (and maybe even one more). This month in Food Network was a litany of cheese recipes, but we both started to drool at the thought of Lobster Mac and it didn't hurt that we had three rock lobster tails in the freezer.<br />
<br />
So, we spun up the recipe for lobster mac and cheese (involves whisking flour and butter and milk and adding 3.5 cups of cheddar cheese before adding pasta and chopped cooked lobster meat and broiling briefly). Note: Don't leave your lobster tails boiling unsupervised, lest they boil over on your stove. Just saying.<br />
<br />
Along with this we had a combination of rainbow and swiss red chard. If you have never had chard, I recommend you try it. It's a green but without the usual bitterness, and much more sweet. Not to mention it has such colorful stalks, and I'm sure there are great vitamins in there.<br />
<br />
Anyway, here's how we made the chard (since this is our own recipe, I don't mind just showing you what we made up):<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3n1sfw6zTkz-dSEumbxNN9QqmqhvNaIA3mVKFbTCazPmNYE7B9E4U2_KQlX30FLkVPcbNWMS-mfPSiMSXnYKU8gnAte6gvRx1kPamy5HXWChLAZRhOcP1m9vbWEopYAy-nU-femo0Uow/s1600/2013-02-09+18.13.23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3n1sfw6zTkz-dSEumbxNN9QqmqhvNaIA3mVKFbTCazPmNYE7B9E4U2_KQlX30FLkVPcbNWMS-mfPSiMSXnYKU8gnAte6gvRx1kPamy5HXWChLAZRhOcP1m9vbWEopYAy-nU-femo0Uow/s320/2013-02-09+18.13.23.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
We took a bunch of Swiss red chard and a bunch of rainbow chard from the grocery store and washed it well. Then slice the stalks of the chard and roll the leaves up. Slice the leaves along the rolls, creating 1/4 inch ribbons of greens.<br />
<br />
Heat 2-3 Tbsp of oil in a skillet over medium heat (let it heat 3 minutes or so by itself). Add one clove garlic, crushed, and simmer for 1-2 minutes. Add the shredded greens, and mix up with tongs.<br />
<br />
Salt and pepper as desired.<br />
<br />
Cook for 5-10 minutes, moving around frequently with tongs until the greens are limp and well cooked. Any pieces of stalk should be quite soft.<br />
<br />
What you'll be left with is a colorful and delicious pile of greens. Good luck!<br />
<br />Cameronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00178591911846098491noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7874602720944652710.post-34551201686008412142013-01-22T10:23:00.003-06:002013-01-22T10:23:58.902-06:00Meat Cupcake Delishus<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuhS5taAFv5hXArQT4-Amih0M0wJen3PW3OczLAHLfCTndYmuNL5qhqJMvSHtfq1HOQAViIomzyj45sYzDf7nPWBz-ROwGm48NZ1AlorUvG1vdzNCfU8h7s5kmevl1PhJ8EJx45SU52Rg/s1600/2013-01-20+18.33.46.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuhS5taAFv5hXArQT4-Amih0M0wJen3PW3OczLAHLfCTndYmuNL5qhqJMvSHtfq1HOQAViIomzyj45sYzDf7nPWBz-ROwGm48NZ1AlorUvG1vdzNCfU8h7s5kmevl1PhJ8EJx45SU52Rg/s320/2013-01-20+18.33.46.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
OK, as you know, I have a tendency to share foods that I have consumed here (wait - isn't that what they said Twitter is for?).<br />
<br />
So, this weekend, I managed to squeeze into the menu this concoction at right -> the bacon-wrapped meatloaf cupcake (topped with mashed potato "icing").<br />
<br />
We saw this in some magazine (Food Network Magazine, perhaps?) and ended up making a version from the internet, and it turned out great. Even my meatloaf-disliking-spouse said she'd eat these again, and I felt it necessary to share just because of the deliciousness (and sheer absurdity) of a meatloaf cupcake.<br />
<br />
I thought they were great myself - the only downside being how to extract this bacon-wrapped-potato-topped-meatball from the muffin tins without utterly destroying them, and the excessive muffin tin cleaning required afterwards.<br />
<br />
Kudos to whichever magazine got us to make these, and to the recipe, which we got here:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.yummly.com/blog/2013/01/bacon-wrapped-meatloaf-cupcakes-with-mashed-potato-topping/">Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf Cupcakes</a><br />
<br />
Enjoy!Cameronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00178591911846098491noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7874602720944652710.post-90318807163222498882013-01-21T14:43:00.002-06:002013-01-21T14:43:45.479-06:00Brushes with Fame<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3f/Doyle_Brunson.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3f/Doyle_Brunson.jpg" width="248" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">By Photos by flipchip / LasVegasVegas.com<br />
[CC-BY-SA-2.0 <br />
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], <br />
via Wikimedia Commons</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
So every now and again, when you are traveling, you run into "famous" people. It makes sense, actually, since famous people need to travel, too. In fact, you might could make an argument that many "famous" people have professions that require them to travel, which means it is actually more likely that a person of some stature is traveling than your average Joe or Jane.<br />
<br />
Still, it's fun to run into them and have your brush with fame.<br />
<br />
The last time I ran into someone of note was in Dulles airport a little over a year ago, when one of my coworkers pointed out <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_rollins">Henry Rollins</a> waiting on his plane. By the time I decided to go talk to him and perhaps get a picture, he had moved on (ostensibly to get ON his plane).<br />
<br />
So, when I got on the plane home from Vegas last week, I was treated to a double dose of traveling with fame.<br />
<br />
Seated in first class was former WWE wrestler <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shawn_michaels">Shawn Michaels</a> - I didn't speak to him, as I'm not particularly a big fan of wrestling, but it was still nice having celebrities on the plane.<br />
<br />
It wasn't until I got off the plane and went to the baggage claim, that I saw <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doyle_brunson">Doyle Brunson</a> (pictured above). I most definitely am a fan of professional poker playing and the World Series of Poker, so I did not pass up on this one. He was waiting on his luggage, and I did get a little fan-like giddy and told him I was really glad to see him in person and that I had watched him play for years and was a fan. He smiled (much like he's doing in that picture), nodded, and said "Thank you." Kind of a nice interchange except I did leave rather quickly since I was ready to get home. I wonder if he would have chatted some more. Anyway, I may retroactively document some of my other brushes with fame (as that provides for nice blog fodder), but I thought I would at least hit this one relatively shortly after its occurrence.Cameronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00178591911846098491noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7874602720944652710.post-48736594942799980272013-01-08T16:50:00.000-06:002013-01-08T16:50:29.684-06:00New Year New Tricks?<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/74/Bulldog_with_party-hat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/74/Bulldog_with_party-hat.jpg" width="246" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">By Bird33ou (Own work) <br />
[Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Well, another year has come, and that probably means it is time to make resolutions and whatnot. So, here we are, a week in, and I am thinking, probably not going to make too too many this year.<br />
<br />
Here's why.<br />
<br />
When you are looking at having not one but two pretty major life events in a single year (both GOOD ones, by the way), there's not much room to fit in other little goals. But I still like to throw a little fuel on the fire, so here goes. Most of these are writing resolutions, so I guess I could move this over to the writing blog, but whatever.<br />
<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>Not so much a resolution, but I am going to see how many days in a row I can write "something" of fiction. I'm at 7.</li>
<li>I'm going to post a few more times than last year, but not sure how many more. But more. But still scattered around the various blogs.</li>
<li>I'm going to play golf more than once - the number of times I managed to play in the last 2 years.</li>
<li>I'm going to try to adjust to all of the changes from the last 6 and next 6 months as quickly as possible (and before year end)</li>
<li>I'll keep a regular poetry schedule. Maybe.</li>
<li>I'll start revision on a work of fiction. Preferably a novel-length work of fiction.</li>
</ol>
<div>
That's it. No more promises.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Things that I also expect. There will be times I am extremely tired, grumpy, cranky, or generally feeling like that dog's face looks up above. I will slow down brewing any beer early in the year (probably only 1 more brew day in the near future), and HOPEFULLY will get back to brew a few batches before the end of the year. And I will, at times, disappear from the internet for a few days. And then return.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I don't know - that seems like a lame list, but it's a list. So there. If you don't like it, tell me what your resolutions are in the comments, and you can one up me. Happy New Year.</div>
Cameronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00178591911846098491noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7874602720944652710.post-12722711798258117742013-01-04T22:29:00.001-06:002013-01-04T22:29:41.643-06:00Bowl Madness<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/23/Wilson_American_football.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/23/Wilson_American_football.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">By Torsten Bolten (Own work) <br />
[CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], <br />
via Wikimedia Commons</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Writing a football post because I don't feel like writing the resolution post yet and I need to get back to working on fiction stuff instead of blogging.<br />
<br />
So here's some thoughts.<br />
<br />
Apparently <i>every</i> team I am pulling for in the bowl games is losing (or almost losing - talking about you Louisville), with the exception of Baylor, who spanked UCLA - the score made it appear closer than it was, and the score wasn't close. Sic 'Em. Still, I've been disappointed with just about everyone else that I have wanted to win. I guess this is not my year.<br />
<br />
In other news, my first attempt at fantasy left me out of the money and in fourth place, but we will see how the playoffs go... maybe I can do better.<br />
<br />
Also, that 1 point safety in the Oregon - K State game... let's all remember - if you block a kick and recover outside of the end zone, do NOT run back into your end zone. 1 point safety negates the whole point of blocking the kick.<br />
<br />
That is all for the weekend, kids, have a nice one.<br />
<br />Cameronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00178591911846098491noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7874602720944652710.post-58509669484383329842012-12-10T10:30:00.000-06:002012-12-10T10:30:01.304-06:00Home Improvement Isn't Just An Old Sitcom with Tim Allen<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwxT8dhJ3LDLTfrSh4W2KvXJLHnAeu44vPIv-kAS8ILldgRIcZHzdO7I8Q8Qzps_y6ly4S2mgu2axrNsFIH8gRU7qzQrDWnPMxK9KY4H8ERv6lmQIEZcKQIeMcYNluX6fPLpmaLcrv4Rs/s1600/2012-09-22+18.54.31.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwxT8dhJ3LDLTfrSh4W2KvXJLHnAeu44vPIv-kAS8ILldgRIcZHzdO7I8Q8Qzps_y6ly4S2mgu2axrNsFIH8gRU7qzQrDWnPMxK9KY4H8ERv6lmQIEZcKQIeMcYNluX6fPLpmaLcrv4Rs/s320/2012-09-22+18.54.31.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
This is a smoke detector.<br />
<br />
This is a smoke detector on a 12 foot ceiling or so.<br />
<br />
This is a smoke detector that was not fun to install.<br />
<br />
So, just a few months ago, we had the pleasant experience of having a smoke detector go off at 2 in the morning. Not chirping, mind you, but full-on alarm. There was no smoke, no fire. Just alarm noises. A few days later, we had a second smoke detector do the same thing, at around the same time in the morning.<br />
Two things I learned from this experience: 1) Children sleep through smoke detectors. 2) When one goes bad, replace them ALL. So, after learning this life lesson, we bought a ton of smoke detectors at the "Depot" and I proceeded to install them all. This one was not nearly as bad as the one I have to lean out off of the stairwell to get to. Oh, and another thing -all of these are front-battery-loading models, so you don't have to take the smoke detector off of the ceiling and unplug it to change the battery. I'd call that a major home upgrade.<br />
<br />
Since this smoke detector delicious, I have also done several other fun home improvement projects like: Replace multiple light fixtures (no more "this house was built in the 90's" brass lighting) and every ceiling fan, including the 15 foot one on a sloped ceiling. That was fun. There are pictures. Then there was the storm door, a WONDERFUL upgrade to the back entrance to the house, and then we have had a plumber here to replace the kitchen sink and various faucets (I don't do plumbing or climbing on the roof - I have my limits).<br />
<br />
So now, we just need to have someone come paint outside (and chimney and maybe the fence) while I clean up some paint inside on my remaining days off and our house will be pretty darn close to exactly how we would like it to be for us to live in. And then we can put it on the market. I think that's how this seems to always work according to those I've discussed it with.<br />
<br />
Next project!Cameronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00178591911846098491noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7874602720944652710.post-80565726772887423792012-12-03T10:51:00.001-06:002012-12-03T12:47:35.800-06:00Big 12 Bowl Selection Special<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-h_jBaPoN7IA6u1tgNQ2kOe11GVXvc7mpFBckmZ3GU18NKU5BbP2ENAHfLxwbuJ2LHitoEULzMrE-1XzYkVv5k196QdLsyiXOGZbHn-HI6ZNkpy1SJ2CTTfqrz_b4dvRijzjWN3D45GY/s1600/2012-12-01+14.52.45.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-h_jBaPoN7IA6u1tgNQ2kOe11GVXvc7mpFBckmZ3GU18NKU5BbP2ENAHfLxwbuJ2LHitoEULzMrE-1XzYkVv5k196QdLsyiXOGZbHn-HI6ZNkpy1SJ2CTTfqrz_b4dvRijzjWN3D45GY/s320/2012-12-01+14.52.45.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
So, this is how my regular season of football wrapped up, watching Baylor beat Oklahoma State at home on Senior Day, and then hanging out for the (well done) montage of Seniors on the big screen.<br />
<br />
Then I fully intended to hurry up on Sunday and write a nice post in which I predicted the outcome of the bowl selection activities (much like I predicted Eddie Lackey's first quarter pick-6, though that prediction diminished in value with my subsequent failed predictions throughout the game). But, alas, I made no such post. Instead, I did other things all day, and therefore, you will have to take my "I didn't think this would go this way" type of comments as fact. Or not. Doesn't really matter to me. Anyway, here's some bowl game selection reaction from me, and we'll go in pecking order...<br />
<br />
<b>Fiesta Bowl</b> - No surprises, Kansas State here as the champion of the league. Should be a really good match-up with Oregon, and I'll be happy to see this game.<br />
<br />
<b>Sugar Bowl</b> - Why is this here? The Sugar Bowl didn't pick a Big 12 team. EXACTLY. For the second year in a row, the Sugar Bowl turned its nose up at the Big 12 to take a random other conference in as SEC fodder. Last year's turning of a blind eye to Kansas State bumped the rest of the league down, and this year, Oklahoma gets left out in the cold. Oh well, I guess they didn't want to front-load the Big 12/SEC matchups, since that's the tie-in that they have going forward.<br />
<br />
<b>Cotton Bowl - </b>Well, when the Sugar Bowl drops the ball like that, leave it to the Cotton Bowl to pick up the slack. Great pick of Oklahoma, and they will produce a better game against A&M than Texas would have (though I could see some Cotton Bowl committee members salivating over Texas vs. A&M...)<br />
<br />
<b>Alamo Bowl - </b>Not surprising, picking Texas. Should be a good draw to San Antonio.<br />
<br />
<b>Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl - </b>I'm not surprised to see TCU picked here, though originally I had thought Oklahoma State would be hanging out here before any of the 7-5 teams. I guess their lackluster finish destroyed their bowl pickability? When two 7-5 private schools are picked up above 8-4 Ok. State, something gives.. I will enjoy the TCU vs. Michigan State matchup though.<br />
<br />
<b>Holiday Bowl - </b>Here comes Baylor. Wha-what? Yup, I am very happy to see Baylor picked above Tech & West Virginia of the 7-5 crew, especially given that 3 of the 5 Baylor losses were one-score, and we're riding high. Also, given the Holiday, Pinstripe, and Meineke Car Care, I figured WVU to Pinstripe made sense. I also figured the Dallas and Meineke would take 2 of the 3 Texas schools in the 7-5 range. But I also thought Oklahoma State would go to Tempe...so...<br />
<br />
<b>Meineke Car Care Bowl - </b>Well, like I jsut explained, Houston was going to pick up a Texas school in my opinion, and with TCU & Baylor gone, they'll take Tech's high/low yo-yo team with a potential for an explosive offense to match up against what little offense Minnesota will bring to the table.<br />
<br />
<b>New Era Pinstripe Bowl - </b>Certainly Oklahoma State will...what? Oh yeah, West Virginia was a shoe-in in my mind for this since the second they got bowl eligible. The thought of WVU-Pitt had some drooling, but we'll take WVU-Syracuse anyway.<br />
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<b>Heart of Dallas Bowl - </b>Ok, I seriously thought there'd be a Texas team from the 7-5 crew here, or maybe Iowa State would jump in, but no... Oklahoma State picked vs. Purdue. Again, I did not see in my wildest dreams <i>every 7-5 team in the Big 12 picked before Oklahoma State given they had a better conference record</i>. I could insert my comments about Gundy's hair or other tasteless jokes here, but I think I just did.<br />
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<b>Liberty Bowl - </b>There was no doubt that all our bowl-eligible teams would find a bowl, and Memphis is a fun city - here's hoping my Iowa State friends find some fun on Beale Street. I'm not going to say I'll be glued to the set for the Tulsa matchup, but it could be a good game.<br />
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So, when all is said and done, a few things stand out. First, 90% of the Big 12 are attending bowls, which no other conference has ever accomplished. Only Kansas doesn't travel for post-season play. Second, the bowls do not have great confidence in the state of Oklahoma. Oklahoma gets overlooked by the Sugar, and Oklahoma State gets overlooked by everyone...<br />
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And finally, Baylor finishes strong, and ends up with a nice trip to San Diego in the process. Good deal.<br />
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Sic Em!Cameronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00178591911846098491noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7874602720944652710.post-37755390009865249062012-10-03T08:30:00.000-05:002012-10-03T08:30:00.489-05:00Crazy cars<a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AMcLaren_MP4-12C_%E2%80%93_Frontansicht_(5)%2C_30._August_2012%2C_D%C3%BCsseldorf.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title="M 93 [CC-BY-SA-3.0-de (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/de/deed.en)], via Wikimedia Commons"><img alt="McLaren MP4-12C – Frontansicht (5), 30. August 2012, Düsseldorf" height="127" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/61/McLaren_MP4-12C_%E2%80%93_Frontansicht_%285%29%2C_30._August_2012%2C_D%C3%BCsseldorf.jpg/512px-McLaren_MP4-12C_%E2%80%93_Frontansicht_%285%29%2C_30._August_2012%2C_D%C3%BCsseldorf.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a> So, this weekend, as we were driving down the Bush turnpike, we passed one of these - a McLaren MP4-12C. Retail price: $229,000+ from edmunds.com.
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Who can afford to own a car that costs that much?
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As if that wasn't enough, yesterday I spied one of these:
<a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AAston_Martin_Vantage_V8.jpg" title="By Matrixplay at de.wikipedia (Original text : Matrixplay) [CC-BY-SA-2.0-de (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/de/deed.en)], from Wikimedia Commons"><img alt="Aston Martin Vantage V8" height="240" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3a/Aston_Martin_Vantage_V8.jpg/512px-Aston_Martin_Vantage_V8.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a><br />
Aston Martin Vantage - sporting its own retail price of $180,535+.
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Gotta love living or working in Plano if you are a car-watcher.
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Look, I'm not a "car guy" in terms of getting under the hood, or racing cars, or anything like that. I know a few guys who are, and want their souped up Audis or whatever. I also see the Fast and the Furious crowd pulling their modified Hondas into the Sonic parking lot - that's not me either. I'm just a guy who likes pretty cars, mostly sports cars, and enjoys observing them as they pass me on the highway (or vice versa).
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I'll stick with my Chevy Tahoe.
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Other cars I've seen on the commute include Lamborghinis, Ferraris, Bentleys, Maseratis, and more. In Plano, Texas. Who knew?
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Cheers!Cameronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00178591911846098491noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7874602720944652710.post-38612605276336124262012-10-02T09:00:00.000-05:002012-10-02T09:00:00.285-05:00Texas State Fair<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTn9e-et3XcCQpukRngn2ryvoDOCm7T05Wq5ugDmzxVLlwOKZYiudI1k8GcodXcjkO8sj9Y9RAFYfyjq2E5R4N8r1YZPantRDqys4DVivjsxvDNaL1O3JQAeNHIQ1ILnHcaTEAaqI7LUM/s1600/2012-09-29+18.49.08-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTn9e-et3XcCQpukRngn2ryvoDOCm7T05Wq5ugDmzxVLlwOKZYiudI1k8GcodXcjkO8sj9Y9RAFYfyjq2E5R4N8r1YZPantRDqys4DVivjsxvDNaL1O3JQAeNHIQ1ILnHcaTEAaqI7LUM/s320/2012-09-29+18.49.08-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
This is a picture of chicken fried bacon and a beer from the <a href="http://www.bigtex.com/sft/">Texas State Fair</a>. I've had chicken fried bacon before, so this was not a novelty to me, and therefore not something I'm going to describe in my rundown of deep fried goodness that is the fair. Just like corn dogs are not getting a mention either. Or beer.<br />
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We went to the fair last Saturday (not the ideal weather day for the fair with all of the rain) and tried out some of the delicious fried foods that the fair has to offer. Here's my rundown.</div>
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<li><b>Fried Jambalaya</b> - there's a reason this won the best taste in the annual competition. This is a legitimately delicious food. Basically it's doughy balls of jambalaya rice and sausage deep fried and served with a cream sauce. Delicious. Get one. Or four.</li>
<li><b>Fried Mexican Firecrackers</b> - basically like a mini-tamale of chicken and jalapeno deep fried and served with a southwest ranch-type sauce. Good, but not the best. Not like the jambalaya.</li>
<li><b>Fried Chocolate Tres Leches Cake</b> - OK, I don't really like cake. But I do generally like tres leches, particularly due to the super-moist sweet goodness. I felt this one was a little more dried out and not quite capturing what I expected from the title. It's OK, but not as good as:</li>
<li><b>Deep Fried Pumpkin Pie</b> - I don't think this is a new one this year, but it was my first time to try it. Basically a ball of pumpkin pie filling deep fried and served with a squirt of whipped cream. This would be my go-to-dessert from the fair.</li>
<li><b>Fried Pork Wing - </b>Not sure what part of a pig the "wing" comes from, but it looks like a drumstick, and it's coated in some sort of spicy sweet Cuban barbecue sauce. I only had a bite of one, but it was pretty good.</li>
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In other exciting fair news, we won a purple monkey in the Midway, lost some needed paperwork somewhere along the way, and got really really wet from the rain.</div>
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Notable "did not try" foods: </div>
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<li><b>Fried Bacon Cinnamon Roll</b> - you had me at bacon, you lost me at cinnamon roll</li>
<li><b>Chicken Fried Cactus Bites -</b> Seemed too much like a vegetable</li>
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If you go to the State Fair of Texas, let me know what foods you tried. Oh, and I always recommend Fried Butter if you can find it - delicious.</div>
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Cameronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00178591911846098491noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7874602720944652710.post-78834258978794386442012-10-01T16:48:00.003-05:002012-10-01T16:48:50.307-05:00Monday Movie Review: The Five Year Engagement<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.thefiveyearengagementmovie.com/images/img1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="148" src="http://www.thefiveyearengagementmovie.com/images/img1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image displayed from <a href="http://www.thefiveyearengagementmovie.com/">http://www.thefiveyearengagementmovie.com/</a></td></tr>
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OK, we watched The Five Year Engagement this weekend - gotta say, not quite what I expected from a Jud Apatow film. From the folks that gave us Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Knocked Up and Bridesmaids, I kind of expected wall-to-wall funny. Honestly, I have to say I liked the film, but it was not nearly as funny as some of the previous movies. Not a bad watch for date night, but not a must-see film.Cameronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00178591911846098491noreply@blogger.com0