What Day Is It?

Now for the evening news from this mid-52ish three-time dad (but not grandpa yet :-) Hey, I thought riding my bicycle up Mount Evans was a challenge. Then I tried 12-hour rotating shifts. Interesting observation, however. Working that last 2 hours of a 12-hour shift, whether day shift or night shift, has a lot in common with the mental effort it takes to ride up Mount Evans, Hall Ranch Hwy. 7 side or ride an unexpected 15 miles extra without enough water. So, besides riding for my heart, I'm now riding to sharpen my mental focus. Now, where did I misplace those last three weeks? Bottom line -- much to be said for a regular paycheck and working in an environment where I'm not fighting the weather on a day-to-day basis.

May your pedal strokes be round and your hydration pack full.

WF6

I chose to step out of retirement and enter the world of ultrapure specialty gasses. I must say I'm very grateful to the management for hiring me and to my neighbor for recommending me. After a long (and surprisingly productive) day of safety training, I will now jump into the fray of helping manufacture Tungsten Hexaflouride. WF6 or "Wolf" as some call it is used in the manufacture of computer chips.

I'm beginning to think that this latest chapter in my career saga will be very interesting and may last long enough to give me some pre-retirement stability. Not that I'm thinking retirement -- but the stability part seems nice.

On a different note, a new restaurant experience. We went to Casa Grande Mexican restaurant a few evenings ago. It's fairly new to Longmont. But it's a strange restaurant in a strange building. Casa Grande shares the ground floor of a 3-story condominum building in a more or less industrial part of Longmont. The whole thing seems out of place. The upper floor(s) are these really high-dollar (outrageously so) condominiums. Get this -- in Longmont -- $450,000 for a 1600 sq. ft. condo that overlooks the mountains but also has a great view of some nearly defunct manufacturing facilities and their mostly empty parking lots. There's an underground parking garage and an elevator. Besides paying the outrageous price, then you pay annual dues. But you can eat at the Casa Grande or at an Asian Restaurant, or buy insurance or securities on the ground floor. We will go for the Asian food next time.

Casa Grande's food was O.K. but that's all. It was a nice place to sit and talk -- because no one was there -- underneath the overpriced and un-sold condos. It seemed like forced California-ism. Interesting, but strange.

A Has Was Once an Are

Every once in awhile I find some little tidbit of wisdom that deserves better press than it probably gets in the normal scheme of things. Here's one I found today:

i'd rather be a could be,
if i can not be an are;
'cause a could-be is a maybe
reaching for a star.

and i'd rather be a has-been
than a might-have-been by far
cause a might have been,
has never been, but a has
was once an are.

Steff Mahan - Nashville

So there you have it. A good thought for a good day.

A Pleasant Evening

There's a really nice independent coffee shop and cafe in Boulder, CO called the Rock 'n' Soul Cafe. Contact Sheryl Radetsky, www.rocknsoulcafe.com. They host quite an array of functions and special music. My wonderful woman and I managed to pick one of those evenings that are magical. Last Friday night we went to hang out at the cafe and listen to the Nashville singer/songwriter Steff Mahan www.steffmahan.com. Three hours of solid music and entertainment, with a good deal of wit, personal stories, appropriate angst, and a magical atmosphere. Steff's mastery of the guitar is superb. If you ever have a chance to hear her sing, we highly recommend her. The Guatemala coffee and iced chia were first rate too. And it was just a special evening to hang out with the one I love.

Good Coffee

Coffee Report: Had a chance to hang out with the kids at Radina's Coffeehouse and Roastery in Aggieville, Manhattan, KS. Good coffee is based on three things 1) geographic origin and how it is treated from picking to dehulling, 2) the skills of the roastmaster, and 3) proper brewing. Radina's apparently purchases good coffee, roasts it properly, and brews it correctly. I got a cup and a refill of their Guatamela. Very bold, with a full palate. Satisfying aftertaste. I drank slowly and it was even good as the temperature declined. It's nice to be able to go to a nice place like Radina's where they care about their customers and get a good cup of real coffee.

In addition, one of our Christmas presents from Christmas 06 was a pound of whole bean Powercat Blend coffee, also roasted by Radina's. Our Christmas family get together didn't happen due to the blizzard of 06 and the next weekend too. (See "Marshmallow Cars" at bottom of this blog). So we didn't get our Christmas coffee until early March. I brewed a cup yesterday evening. Same story as above. Good coffee. The Powercat Blend is lighter, somewhat fruitier, with more of a middle of the tongue effect. Good aftertaste. An excellent coffee for drinking black -- goes down easy, satisfying, less bitter than some coffees. In conclusion, a thumbs-up to both Radina's Powercat Blend and Guatemala. Check out Radina's in Aggieville when you have a chance.

Mazda 6 bye bye

Had some interesting adventures in the Kansas City, MO metro area on my way to a rollerhockey tournament. Drawing it was more fun than trying to tell it in words.

Suspended Belief

I like to look at the questions posted on Yahoo! Answers and try to answer a few of them. One of the questions currently posed is purportedly by Senator John McCain. He's asking how to cut government spending in Washington, DC.

I started looking at answers he had received and found what looks like a very blatant political spin (like this is anything new). You have to expect this type of stuff, but I had a hard time believing what I was seeing. If my eyeballs are correct, any answer that isn't in line with Mr. McCain's political views has received low ratings and has been hidden. Call me a novice Yahoo! Answer person, but in recent weeks of working on answers on this site, I have not seen hidden answers anywhere else. Even the flippant, rude, answers are not hidden. If I'm being naive, someone please give me an explanation. If what I am seeing is correct this is one of the most low-down, blatant, dishonest pieces of political garbage I've ever seen. I would like to think there's another explanation for what I think I'm seeing, but if what I am seeing is real, shame on you Mr. McCain. Take all your CAP/Arizona profits and retire.