The Leave 4

Although it is perhaps NOT a good idea to admit this, but one of the television programs my wife and I have grown fond of watching is called "Hell's Kitchen".  We have probably watched most seasons of this program and it features the chef Gordon Ramsey, as he navigates a group of contestant chefs through various tasks, cook-offs, and dinner services in his restaurant by the same name as the program..... to eventually select one finalist who will win a job as Head Chef at one of his various "Hell's Kitchen" restaurants that Ramsey owns and operates.   For those of you know may have no knowledge of the show, it is a rather bombastic affair, with a lot of yelling and urgency through the entirety of the show..... and sometimes that "intensity" gets a bit tiresome.  But, we still watch.  

Well.... as we have been regular watchers of this show for several years, there is routinely featured, many challenges where the food these contestant chefs are tasked with producing and serving are of several "signature" Gordon Ramsey dishes.  He demands (especially for dramatic effect) perfection in the preparation and serving of these dishes, and when they do not meet his standards, he becomes irate, and will often literally smash and thrown the errant preparations on the floor, or wall, or ceiling.  

So, over the many years of watching, my wife and I had often commented on some of these signature dishes and how it would be interesting to try them. The MAJOR dish neither of us had had that we really felt would be interesting to try was Beef Wellington.  For a number of years we would scour menus of places we would go in search of a restaurant that had Beef Wellington on their menu... to no avail.  Sure, there were a small handful of instances where we saw an on-line menu of a place we were traveling to with Beef Wellington.... but none ever panned out..... either it was not on the menu the day we could go, or it was no longer on the menu, or in once case, the restaurant had closed for remodeling.  

So, it has been a bit of a culinary "holy grail" for us to find Beef Wellington somewhere, just to finally TRY it.  Every time we would see it on the show, it would remind us of our quest.  

But, over the years, there were several of Ramsey's "signature" dishes that were novel (to both of us anyway) that we thought it would be interesting to try them.  The "big four" were:

a.  Beef Wellington [main course]

b.  Lobster Risotto (or any of his various Risottos) [an appetizer]

c.  Pan Seared Scallops [an appetizer]

d.  Sticky Toffee Pudding [a dessert]

So.... when this conference came into fruition, we both decided that we would purposefully plan to actually have a dinner at the actual "Hell's Kitchen" there.  So, my wife made us reservations (fortunately, a few months in advance, as the dates apparently run out quite rapidly).  

So, on the evening of Day 3 of the journey, after I was done "conferencing" for the day, my wife and I set out (hoofing in the 114 degree heat) to walk to "Hell's Kitchen" to have dinner.  We were both still basking in the relief that our pup was doing well, so it started to feel much more vibrant and relaxing as well! We had already ascertained it would be PRICEY.... and so as to keep my penny-pinching anxieties at bay, we had a few guiding principles:

1.  My WIFE would the one to use our card to PAY for the meal... so I would not have to look at and see its exorbitant price.... and I would not be as aware of how guilty I should feel about this extravagance.

2.  We both would only drink water..... which actually was preferred by both of us.... my wife does not really drink alcoholic beverages much (perhaps 1 or 2 each year), and my more "robust" drinking of perhaps 1 or 2 drinks a month on average) is not a whole helluva lot different.  And, it so happened that with the heat, we BOTH were much preferring water anyhow.

3.  We both agreed that we would only order the items we had specifically agreed upon.  One appetizer each, one main course each, and one dessert we would share (and we were planning on sharing the different appetizers and main courses as well).

4.  So we ordered a) the scallops dish, b) the lobster risotto, c) the beef wellington, d) the Sticky Toffee Pudding, and because we needed one more main course dish, the one that most appealed to my wife was their "Crispy Skin Salmon".  I was indifferent to which additional main course we would order, so we ordered the "Crispy Skin Salmon".  

The food WAS absolutely delicious.  We both ended up with the same rankings of our preferences..... again EVERYTHING was delicious, but our rank order of preferences was:

1.  Lobster risotto - amazingly creamy, and the unique spices (I could not identify them) were beautifully present and exceedingly unctuous and delightful.  And, even though I am actually rather indifferent about lobster, it was very well done, and my wife (who really likes lobster) reports that it was excellent.  

2.  Sticky Toffee Pudding - in all regards, this was as close to a "perfect" dessert as either of us have ever had.  It was "cakey", and it was beautifully caramelized and warm. The spices were delightfully vivid and broad and tasted extra "fresh" if that makes any sense.  The concept and execution were amazing.... I still remember the distinct flavors and textures very well.  

3.  Pan Seared Scallops - I had never had scallops before.  My wife has, but was never excited or impressed.  We both found these to be very delightful.  They were smooth, had pleasantly browned edges, and they had another sauce upon them that was subtle, but had a hint of rosemary in it, and on top were what is called "micro-greens".  

4.  Beef Wellington - perhaps it was because we had waited so very long for this.... but the Beef Wellington, while EXCELLENT, paled in comparison to the above three items.  I was anticipating a plethora of rich flavors and textures as was my wife.  Again, it was very good..... it was enveloped in a pastry crust (which was good, but ordinary), the mushroom "pate" surrounding the beef was tasty, but NOT particularly unique in flavor, and the beef (which was only allowed to be served "medium rare") was tender and pleasing..... but.... again it was not "unique" in a way both of us were anticipating.  Medium rare was also a rather "unique" experience for both of us, as both my wife and I tend towards "medium well" when we have beef (I do not often eat beef, but when I do it is usually medium well OR well.... my wife has it far more often than me, but typically goes medium well).  The very BEST part of our beef wellington was the rich and tasty "wine demi-glaze reduction sauce"  that was served on the side.  We both wished there would have been more of that sauce, as it truly added tremendously to the flavor profile of the dish.   

5.  "Crispy Skinned Salmon" - a very good salmon dish.  It had a pleasant dill flavoring with it.  But, both my wife and I have had similar salmon before at other places.  So, it was EXCELLENT, but not particularly unique.  The one aspect of Ramsey's variation of this dish that was part of the reason we ordered it was the "Crispy Skin" aspect.  Neither of us had had that previously.  Now, truth-be-told, I am not really "into" eating any kind of skin from anything..... no chicken, no salmon, no duck (I have never had ANY duck actually), no pork rinds either.  But, I was game to give it a go for the sake of this experience.  My wife was surprisingly for her, a bit "weirded out" when we finally got the dish, about actually eating a piece of fish skin.... she told me she thought it was only to imbue a unique flavor to the salmon itself. I remembered from the many cooking shows we have watched over the years, that the judges always DID eat the crispy skin on salmon.  So, my wife ate a very small bit of the skin and still felt "weirded out".  When I tried it with a bit of the actual salmon... it WAS crispy and crunchy.... and it had the vast majority of the spices in it so it complemented the salmon nicely.  But, texturally, it did "weird me out" a bit too.  I do not think I would ever PURPOSEFULLY order a "skin" dish of any sort again.... and if I did, I would probably leave the skin part alone.  

So, overall we had a very exciting time at our "big adventure" to Hell's Kitchen!  We were both really glad we were able to arrange it and we both had a wonderful time trying all these dishes we had heard about for so long.  And, the restaurant itself, even though glossy and "television show focused" in the LOBBY with all sorts of show related memorabilia available for purchase.... was quite beautiful in the dining room.... and it felt very romantic for both of us during our meal.  

* * *

Today is the Retiree's Cigar Group.  I am planning on trying to be there.  I am hoping I can get enough work done to make it so!  I would really like to talk with the guys.

PipeTobacco

 

   

The Leave 3

I have a very kind, Internet friend, who I met, heck.... probably close to 15 -20 years ago (I think so, anyway).  We met on a discussion board about comics.  By comics, I mean the types of comic panels that used to be published in every newspaper, every day across the land.  Comics like... Peanuts, Gasoline Alley, For Better or Worse, The Far Side, Calvin and Hobbes, Luann..... and many, many others.  

I first joined this discussion board due to the suggestion from my secretary at the time, who also shared an interest in these newspaper comics, and also shared my disappointment at the rapid decline in newspapers..... and their publishing of these types of comics.  

The site was actually quite active and fun, and I quickly grew a list of perhaps 25 or so comics that I visited regularly and often commented upon as well (in addition to publishing these comics, each comic had its own discussion board).  I also had another 40 or so comics I would occasionally look at.  

Well, one of the fellows who was also on this comic board, was a regular and I began to notice and recognize his comments because he typically had very insightful and well thought out things to share.  

We ended up often commenting on the same comics and also often replied to comments each other had made as well.  I eventually also learned that he and I had some commonalities.... most notably...... a) a strong interest in music (he is by FAR the stronger musician, however), b) he and I are both Catholic, and both are deeply immersed in our Faith, and.... c) he also is fond of pipes and pipe tobaccos!  

Through a series of events, this fellow, this Internet friend of mine.... did a very, very kind gesture.... he surprised me by mailing to me a small box... in which was a rather hefty pouch of pipe tobacco.  And, it was not just any old pipe tobacco, but it was from the McClellands Tobacco Company, which is a (now defunct) small batch, "artisan" pipe tobacco company.  I had never had any pipe tobacco from that company, and this gift was extremely kind of him, and very pleasant.  

The pipe tobacco itself was designated as "M 58" which I believe meant "Mixture 58".  It was an aromatic pipe tobacco.  Back when I had first tried it, I was pleasantly surprised as it was unlike other pipe tobaccos I had experienced.  I could see that it had Cavendish tobacco and what I presume is some mild form of burley.  But the flavoring was what was rather unique to me.  It had a "fruit" flavoring, and I am not 100% sure of my accuracy, but to me it reminded me of peach schnapps.  That was the "room note" anyhow.  And, the nice thing that I remember about it was that the "peach" flavoring was not heavy handed, nor artificially "peachy" but did remind me of actual peaches.  

Well.... over time, after some proper air drying (as is commonly needed with many aromatics), I ended up consuming roughly 1/2 of the pipe tobacco he had sent.  But, as I have done several times over the years, when I find a rather unique pipe tobacco that I might not easily find again, I store some in a lidded, glass pint jar and I have these jars in a few drawers in my desk in my den/office.  I had taped the "M 58" label to the jar as well.  

So, about two weeks before my trip to Nevada, I happened to be looking around in my desk, trying to find something or other and I stumbled across the pint jar with the "M 58" in it, and it brought back a lot of memories.  I unscrewed the lid so I could once again smell its very fragrant aroma.  And, it got me to thinking..... as you all know, I keep trying to think of potential ways to be able to "safely" indulge in a pipe every once in a while, without garnering the very real risk of my falling "off the wagon" which I think is a BIG risk for me.  But, I suddenly had the thought.... perhaps I could have a pipe while I was out in Nevada, if I could find some time, and a pleasant enough location to enjoy it?  So, well before my dog showed any of her illness symptoms... I had packed away in my backpack with a book, reading glasses, a single change of clothes, toothbrush etc. (to carry on the plane).... also a pipe and the equivalent of about a bowlful of the M 58 in a baggie.  I was hoping to see if I could find a nice spot while in Nevada to relive the experience of that McClelland blend.  

* * * * *

Just in case it was not clear from yesterday's post... very fortunately my beloved dog DID improve after about 3 or so days on the medication, and our kids reported that she had normal poops for the remainder of our time away.  And, when we did finally return home..... she was her frisky (for a 14 year old pup) self and greeted us very happily!

PipeTobacco

 

The Leave 2

 

Our beloved dog is 14 years old.  Even though she is in good health, I worry considerably about her if we have to go on a trip (like this Conference, I went to).  When she was young, if a need for such a trip arose, we could, when necessary, have her stay at a very nice kennel.  When she was young, she actually was excited and enthusiastic to be at the kennel.  But, even when young, she would be SO very active and enthralled at the new environment.... with lots of other dogs..... she typically would bark incessantly while there, and often would not eat much during her stay.  She would typically come home thoroughly exhausted and would sleep for a few days before returning to her usual self.   So, even though she would be wriggling with excitement and anticipation when we brought her to the kennel...... it was a lot of stress for her.  

For the last several years, I think I started this when she was around 10 years old.... I was worried that the kennel experience was not good for her, especially as she was getting older.  This made trips a lot more difficult, and anytime a trip opportunity came up, my first expressed thought was "What about our dog?".... which sometimes had my wife become a bit disgruntled... but it was an essential component (at least to me) that had to be figured out before any actual trip could be agreed to.  

So, generally, what has happened in these last four years would be that one or more of our adult children would need to be asked to babysit our dog IF we were going to be going on a trip.  And, generally this has been an "ok" arrangement.  

So..... now to the near present..... 2.5 days before our scheduled trip (for me to go to this conference), with all the non-refundable tickets purchased, and the hotel booked, etc.... I take our dog out in the early morning for her "constitutional" (so she can go to the bathroom).  And, unfortunately.... our dog, as she sniffs around for a suitable spot, and she finally sits to relieve herself..... but she begins straining...... straining to release feces (I will use "poop" for the rest of this blog post).  Regrettably, I have seen this before.  She continues to squat and strain...... and then suddenly releases a copious quantity of very liquidy diarrhea.  

My throat tightens.  I clench my teeth.  I can feel a surge of stress hormones course through my body. 

I take her inside, and encourage her to drink some water.  She is quieter than typical. 

I wait about 20 minutes, and take her back outside again.  A replay of the straining ensues, and the ending is an actual gusher of diarrhea.  Again, she was acting rather listless and not her usual robust self.  

Now I am in panic mode.

My dog has had these exact same challenges twice before.  One occurrence was about a year and a half earlier, and the first occurrence was roughly a year and a half before the second.  In both of those situations, I ended up taking our dog to the veterinarian, and she was prescribed a medication (in pill form) that was given to her twice a day for several days.  The medication worked well in both occurrences and she would stop straining and have normal firmness poops within several days.   

I call the veterinarian immediately when the office opens.  The veterinary is usually VERY heavily booked and try to get an appointment for as quickly as I can, but there are no spots available for two days.  I am in an even bigger panic now, and try to carefully explain the situation to the office manager, about how our dog is behaving, how we had had this occur twice previously, and the medication that was prescribed both times.... and then I explain about the conference trip and beg and plead with this office manager to speak to the veterinarian to ask..... plead.... with him to provide us with this medication again..... and to please let me pick it up as soon as possible TODAY (that day, 2.5 days prior to our scheduled flight).  

The office manager says she will relay my information to the veterinarian when she gets to see him later, and that she will eventually call me back.  

I sit an wait in panic mode.  Then the panic further deepens..... even if I get the medication.... I am the ONLY one who can successfully get our dog to consume the medication.  Our dog is exceedingly pill aversive.  No matter if we put the pill in a piece of hot dog, or wrap it in bacon, or coat it with a glob of peanut butter (all three things she willingly eats).... she will eat around the pill and spit it out.  The ONLY way we (meaning ME) has successfully given our dog any oral medication is by liquifying it and then using a syringe (with no needle), squirt it into the very back of her throat and then coax her to swallow.  I have a small mortar and pestle specifically for this purpose for our dog and a box of non-needled, 3cc syringes to administer the medical solutions or suspensions she has been given.  

NO ONE has ever been successful in giving her any medication in our family even though my wife and many of our kids have TRIED.  Our dog puts up a tremendous struggle, and will not open her mouth when she sees the syringe or smells the medicine.  I am the only one who can hold her still enough, and can force open her jaws so I can squirt the solution in to the very back of her throat and then clamp her mouth shut, and massage her neck to get her to swallow the medication.  And, even though I can (and always have) do this, it is a very, very difficult undertaking.  

Do not get me wrong, our dog is a medium sized terrier (~37 pounds (~17 kg)).  She is not mean, she does not growl or bite anyone who tries to give her medicine.... she just will NOT hold still and will NOT let anyone unclamp her jaws.... except ME.... and it is not that she wants to do so with me either.... but I can force it if it is for her own good.  

* * * * *

Finally, a couple of hours later, the office manager calls me back and tells me that the veterinarian agreed to prescribe the medication for our dog, and that I had to pick it up sometime in the late afternoon before the office closed.  

I immediately give her a dose of the medicine.  To do so, I have to take one of the tablets, cut it in half, and crush it in the mortar and pestle.  I then draw into the syringe, roughly 3cc of lukewarm tap water, squirt it into the powder, grind it a bit more to create a slurry, and then draw it back into the syringe.  

Then the fun begins.  I have to call over my dog, and she sees the syringe and is not pleased.  After some coaxing, with me sitting on the floor, legs crossed, I get her to sit in between my legs and I have to gently but firmly hold her with my legs as I gently but firmly grasp her snout with one hand and work her very unwilling jaws open.... and I have to keep her jaws open as I then, with my other hand insert the syringe into the back of her throat and squirt out the medicine.  Her natural inclination is to spit out the fluid, but I clamp her mouth shut, and begin to massage her neck until she swallows it.   

It is a bit of an ordeal.  An ordeal that no one else in our family has every been able to do successfully.  That is why I am still quite worried.  The medication is typically given over the course of eight days.... twice a day.  And, we are set to leave for the conference in roughly 2.5 days.  

So, I am nervous as hell, and I try to push her medicine times a little bit so that I ultimately give her, her fifth dose on the morning before my wife and I head to the airport.  I have been very, very diligently watching our dog poop every single time I take her out, and she is still straining and having diarrhea the whole time.  This is not exactly unexpected, as in previous times, it took a few days before any noticeable improvement occurred.  But, I was hoping to see some signs of a turn around before we left.  

Two of our kids were going to be tag teaming taking care of our beloved pup.  But, neither of them were ever successful in giving the dog medicine, so I was worried.  

So, my wife and I left.  Unfortunately, my son, who was taking the first shift taking care of our pup, was not going to get to our home until late in the early evening due to his work commitments.  This also worried me because I was concerned that with the diarrhea, our dog would need to go out earlier than that. 

With flights and layovers, we did not arrive at our hotel until very late in the evening in Nevada, but upon landing I talked with my son.  He said that our dog did not eat her dinner and that she only urinated, and that she was moping around, rather listless.  

The above news was NOT unexpected, as our dog tends to go off her normal cycle of eating a bit when we (or perhaps more accurately, when I) are/am away.  She also tends to mope around too.  But, I had been HOPING my son would have reported she had a firm, solid poop.  

It was around 10pm Nevada time, and  far too late in the evening Eastern Time to try to talk my son through the elaborate process of trying to give the dog her medicine, so I asked him to call me immediately in the morning when he got up to take her out, and report back.... with plans that I would try to walk him through the process of trying to give her medicine (again, he "kind of" knows the process, but has never had any real success ever with it.... his getting her to open her jaws is the biggest stumbling block, but he also has difficulty (even when I would hold her jaws open for him in previous times) getting the syringe positioned correctly to release the medicine so that she would swallow.  The times we had tried before had failed with the dog coughing and gagging and spitting out the medicine.

So, I was still very worried, and was very concerned she needed medicine, but there would probably be limited-to-no success in my son getting her to take it.  

He called us at 3:10am Nevada time..... and he (miraculously) told us that he took our dog out and she had a soft, but definitely solid poop!!!!!!!!   That was very wonderful news!!!!!  But, I was still concerned that perhaps it would not last without receiving more medicine.  But, instead of trying to guide and navigate a (probably unsuccessful) medication administration for our dog by talking my son through the process, I told him that we would see how things go and that we he finished work, to please immediately come to our house and take her out immediately and to call me.  

Well, to make a long story a BIT briefer.... when he called later in the day, he reported that our dog had a normal poop and did eat MOST of her dinner (she had skipped breakfast).  I was overjoyed.  I was still a bit worried for another day or so until there was some consistency in these results.... but there WAS that consistency.  

We were very, very fortunate that our dog recovered through this ordeal successfully, given all the challenges that had ensued.  By day 3 of the trip, I actually felt I could begin to relax some concerning our dog.  It was such an enormous relief.  

* * * * * 

The image I chose today for the "Leave 2" is of a farm field where they are growing a crop of tobacco.  The large, beautiful, green leaves are visible in the image.  I have not traveled enough in the South to have ever been much out in the farm regions so I have never seen a tobacco field in person.  The relatively infrequent times I have been to meetings in the South, it has been in bigger cities (like Atlanta, for instance).  But when I see such an image, I always imagine it being a time in roughly the 1880s or 1890s and I imagine the large curing barns, and the processing to create pipe tobacco and cigars.  

PipeTobacco

The Leave 1

 

The past two weeks, as I stated before, were a whirlwind of activity, with both good and bad points.  Broadly, I was away due to a conference I was presenting at, the Society for Developmental Biology which was the national meeting of all of embryology minded folks.  The conference was in Nevada this year.  And, it was SCORCHING.  In total, only 6 days were at the conference itself.  It was between 114 - 118 degrees Fahrenheit as a high temperature (~46 - 48 degrees Celsius) every day we were there.  Even at the "coldest" of each night, there lowest "LOW" temperature we experienced was 92 degrees Fahrenheit (33 degrees Celsius).  

Folks were walking around rather slowly to and from different areas the whole time.  One afternoon, I was able to take a break from the conference, and my wife and I were able to walk to and attend a showing at "The Sphere" which was extremely enjoyable.  We watched "The Sphere"'s version of "The Wizard of Oz" and, while it was both edited and electronically enhanced, it was a wonderful experience.  The wrap-around view, and even the electronic enhancements of the film's footage helped make it feel you were within the actual places themselves.  Both the black-and-white portions of real life and the technicolor "Land of Oz" were beautiful to experience and behold in panorama of "The Sphere".  Aspects of the film always bring tears to my eyes, and this was no exception.  The visit to "The Sphere" was definitely one of the more positive highlights.   

As you know, I enjoy wordplay quite a bit.  I am titling these posts over the next few days "The Leave" to "symbolize" a multitude of things:

a.  "Leave" as in to go away, which I did for that two week spell.

b. "Leave" as in a "leaf" blowing in the wind to symbolize the travel, and its ambiguities.

c.  "Leave" as in a "leaf" of food, in this case, an eventual discussion of arugula.  

d.  "Leave" as in a pleasantly pleasing leaf of tobacco, to which of course, I have a strong fondness for. 

The above rather ornamental image is of dried/cured tobacco leaves prior to their being converted into (hopefully) some form of pipe tobacco.

More tomorrow.

PipeTobacco

Starting to Unpack

The last two weeks have been a whirlwind of activity. Some things were very good, some things were rather bad.  I am going to try to "unpack" my thoughts and ideas about what has been going on, in my posts next week.  

So, I thought that today, I would try to catch up on some comments about comments I have received.   In this way, I can muddle though in my mind this weekend, the order of and different facets of things I want to be sure to tell you about during my two week absence.  

* * * * *

So, here are comments on comments:

Anvilcloud said….

”I came across the advice to drive with the AC on in recirculating mode. But do get fresh air every now and then to deal with Carbon monoxide.

Yes, AC did help a lot during the crisis period.  It was shockingly unpleasant for about three days.  I am hopeful the wind currents will stop bringing the wildfire smoke into our region.  But, wind/weather currents are quite often traveling in that path, so I suspect we will get several additional rough days (at least) this Summer into Fall.

“I never did well with working at school stuff when I wasn't actually on the clock. It was quite a failing.

I can go in fits and spurts.  Sometimes I feel very motivated, other times not-so-much.  I was lucky I was able to get what I did get accomplished….. but there is still so much more to do.  And, I have a lot of home tasks I want to also get accomplished before the end of Summer if at all possible.  

“I have very little, but I get by. I think you've done enough that you'll be placed very well. Unless the world collapses.

I do hope so…. but I have to admit that finances scare the hell out of me.  I can live VERY frugally, so I should be easily able to cope….but the fear of the unknown, the medical care costs, and the ambiguities of the whole damn process just keep me on edge.  I am trying to figure out a way to adopt a more “laissez faire” attitude on this (and many things in life)….. but it DOES NOT come naturally to me, and it is something I grapple with….. with varying degrees of success.  

DMP stated…. 

“IMO, "Stovetop" is a "dressing", not really suited to stuffing. :-/

Hah!  I agree with you…. I just used the image because that was stated as “stuffing” on the box.  

“agree ..that's how I use mine. ;-)

This above was in reference to your comment to Pat M. about adjusting one monitor so it sits in front of me like I am used to, and then having the other much more cantilevered off to the side.  I agree that the center approach for one monitor would be excellent.  Unfortunately, the desk I have/use has an elevated immovable “shelf” to hold the monitors and regrettably there is not enough width on this shelf to have one monitor be centered and the other to the side.  However, I can report I am growing more used to their placement now, and it seems like it will become more and more comfortable as I work with the new computer system more.  

Margaret said….

“Those things would make me VERY ornery as well! We like to be able to do our normal activities and need those stress relievers. The air quality is out of our control and that's also annoying. 

Yes, that period of time with the Air Quality Index being so horrible (we had a period of time where we were above 500…. but most of the time we stayed in the 400s….. still horrendous.

“That air quality is frightening and as you say, dangerous for many people who don't have access to A/C.

I had never experienced such poor air quality before.  It has become the sad “norm” to expect several days each Summer month of “Orange” AQI readings (“Unhealthy for sensitive groups”) (readings of ~100 – 150) and a few “Red” AQI readings days as well (Unhealthy”) (readings of ~150-200).  But, it is was horrible experiencing the “Dark Purple” AQI readings (Hazardous) (readings above 300)….. and even worse to have it for multiple days!  The sky was thick with what appeared like an orange-brown “fog”.  Visibility was horrible (much less than ¼ mile much of the time).  It smelled like you were in the midst of a campfire….. but with other unidentifiable odors (probably even more hazardous) as well. 

“My late husband stored stuff in coffee cans--that I don't even think exist anymore. That's great that you're on the Parish council.

I MISS coffee cans of the “old-style” variety. I still have three that I use for some of my classes where I use them for “randomization” needs (being able to randomly pull out a student’s name for instance). 

While I am unsure of my own actual  “preferences” of being on.. or not on…  Parish Council….. I feel I SHOULD accept and be on the Council because I was asked to be.  I feel it is important to be of Service to others…. and I feel that since I was ASKED to join, it must mean I have some valuable service to give.  

“I'm assuming that this child situation wasn't resolved in a satisfactory manner, hence the stress? I have the opposite issue when I'm under a lot of pressure; it's interesting how differently our gastrointestinal systems react. 

It was not resolved “poorly”.  The day-long talk was “ok” (stressful as hell, but “ok”).  It was, however, INCOMPLETE at best.  And, it was beyond taxing, as I had to be especially careful about my choices of words/phrases as the kid is hypersensitive and extremely prone to finding any sort of opinion and/or advice that deviates from this kid’s current thoughts…. to be very off-putting and also usually misconstrued as well.  I felt I had to “walk on egg shells” to keep the discussion progressing as far as it did.  But…. to better answer your question….. the talk itself was stressful, no doubt…. but the biggest stress was due to the preparation for, the anxiety about, the huge amount of preplanning I had to do to try to remember the “more successful” ways to phrase things to avoid blowouts, and mental gymnastics I had to do with myself to keep my emotions in check….. for this discussion. 

Pam J said….. 

“You know what made me ornery? That the correct Wordle answer two days ago was Pshaw. Ridiculous. At least I guessed it. (Margaret also mentioned Pshaw too!)

“Pshaw” was diabolical!  From my understanding, Wordle is based on “common” words that the majority of folks would know.  I DID get “Pshaw” but in no way would I consider it a “common” word….. I think there is a relatively sizable percentage of the population who may never have heard that arcane, “sotherney” word.  Another one…. one that annoyed the hell out of my wife, was a few weeks earlier…… it was the word “ovate”.  She lost her “streak” with that word.  When I did that puzzle, it took me six tries to get ovate…. not because I did not think of it (I did, perhaps around guess 3), but because I thought it was too damn “sciencey” for them to pick in Wordle.  Not to many folks, other than embryologists would likely use “ovate” in day-to-day speech.  

“I was surprised at first, but shouldn't have been, that you have had such a pessimistic view of retirement during your working career. For a person of such profound religious faith, you have very little faith in your fellow human beings. 

Hmmm…. a very interesting perspective.  I can understand your ideas.  However, I tend to think that I generally have faith in individual human beings……. BUT, have little to no faith in any company, business, or corporation.  I think individuals will typically TRY to the best of their individual ability to “do the right thing”…. at least most folks will…. and most folks will do so MOST of the time.  But, I also tend to believe that companies, businesses, and corporations…. MOST of the time will only pay homage to the dollar or the gold coin…… I think a majority of companies, businesses and corporations look and attempt to squeeze every last ounce of money out of regular folks and have use us regular folks as fodder for the most part.   

Pat M. stated…..

“If they were never your favorites, does their presence suggest their connection to your father or FIL? If so, that could make them all the more special. And, if so, maybe you could transfer the odds-and-ends from those two cans into Prince Albert tubs, freeing up the Velvet and Half-and-Half cans for even more special miscellany?

The Velvet tub WAS from my FIL…. and he too hated the stuff…. I remember him telling me he ended up getting rid of it, and just keeping the can.  The Half-and-Half can was one I happened to pick up at a rummage sale.  My FIL enjoyed Half-and-Half (I did not)…. but he did not purchase H&H in the large tub, only in smaller pouches.  I do also have a smaller canister of his that had originally Kite tobacco…. another style he liked.  

In my own large supply of Sir Walter Raleigh and Prince Albert tubs….. I do have TWO Sir Walter Raleigh tubs that were my Dad’s and one Prince Albert tub that was my Dad’s as well.  They are all easily spotable as they are each of a much older style of these tubs than the majority of the ones I have (that were purchased by me).  

“Professor, have you considered putting one monitor dead center in front of you, with the second monitor to its left or right at a very slight angle toward you? That way, you can be looking straight on at whatever is your most important item, yet keep items of secondary or tertiary importance accessible with just a slight turn of your head?

(I also talked about this in my reply to DMP above)….  It is a great idea, but the monitor shelf system for my desk does not have enough width to be able to do as you suggest.  It would be my preference.  However, I think I am slowly getting used to the side-by-side with the line in the middle.  

“Professor, I'm glad that you and your child had a mostly productive period of discussion. And I hope the two of you may be moving toward not just accepting one another, but also being willing to maintain appropriate boundaries.

I think it was helpful (but horribly stressful, and I was emotionally and physically wiped out for the remainder of the day, as was my wife).  I also think that it was incomplete, at best.  And, regrettably, I will have to wait and see how much of the discussion “sticks” as our actual words and intent or….. what percentage of the discussion becomes “reconfigured” into other notions.  

* * * * *

Regarding my comment about “reconfigured thinking” above….. it reminded me of a very prominent and valuable movie for K-12 teachers that I used to show quite a while ago when I used to regularly teach a graduate class to K-12 science teachers as part of an MAT Program at the U.  This film was called “A Private Universe”.  I always found it very, very revealing and helpful.... it gave a perspective that ALL OF US could use.... to help to understand each other..... but it was (IMO) especially helpful for all teachers and professors to watch since we work with larger groups of students.   I could not find the complete film on YouTube, but here is an excerpt of that film (A Private Universe) that will give you the flavor of it.   ***** I just found the full video (it is still brief)...... If you have not seen it, please give it a glimpse.... it is thought provoking.... it is located here:  (A Private Universe).  It was made in 1987, so you also get to see some of that era as well.   

PipeTobacco

Ornery

Ornery is an adjective that describes someone who is bad-tempered, irritable, stubborn, or difficult to deal with. It is an informal, colloquial term mostly used in American English to depict a grumpy or contrary disposition.

I feel ornery this morning. Yes, I do.

• The AQI in my area is still, again, in the 400s (hazardous)... like yesterday.
• This AQI level makes it unsafe to run outdoors.  Theoretically it would be safer to run indoors but that is not possible with the continuing HVAC issues.
• I feel ornery from not having exercised.  
• I feel ornery because the pool has also been closed because of the AQI/HVAC situation.
• The pool has become a sort of "therapy" for me to at least end the day and transition into a calming, restful evening.  I have even (during this Summer) also indulged in a quick swim in the morning on days when I have ran on the track indoors.  
• Even though I likely made the right decision, I feel ornery that I did not go to the Retiree's Cigar Group yesterday.  It may be stupid, but that weekly excursion is damn important to me.  

I tend to be rather odor sensitive.  I either appreciate an odor (delicious foods, pipe tobaccos, flowers, etc.) or I greatly dislike an odor (grease, frying, etc.).  But, this wildfire smoke is so odd.... at a brief surface level it has a bit of the odor of a campfire.... which is relatively fine, but there are other odor components in this wildfire smoke too... which gnaw at my mind and I dislike.  And, obviously.... with the AQI in the 400s.... where it is at.... it is not good to be within..... but there damn well little we can do to be outside of it.  

• I feel ornery because the U buildings are not running their air conditioning as much as they should.  It is much warmer than their typical air conditioning, and that is further abundantly apparent in the considerable "smoky" texture to the air in the buildings compared to other buildings (such as stores) I have been in the last couple of days.
• I feel ornery because I do not feel like doing a damn thing.  Part of this may be from lack of exercise, part of it may be my mood, and part of it may be the possible impact of the bad air generally, I guess too.  

So, what to do?  Well, I came here specifically to gripe about my damnable "woe-is-me" feelings.... to try to put them down somewhere, so I could then try to leave them here.... and move on to trying to figure out how to do something more productive and valuable.  I hope it works, and my day improves.

PipeTobacco

Hazardous

 

Since yesterday afternoon.... probably through at least the end of the day on Friday..... the Air Quality Index in my region has moved into the HAZARDOUS zone.  This is due to the Canadian and Northern Minnesota Wildfires that are raging.   This has been an occurrence every Summer for the last three years, and it thought to be an associated effect due to global warming.  By the way, the image above was just an Internet image.  Our region is currently experiencing an AQI of 427.

It is truly dystopian outside.  The sky is sickly orange-brown color.  The odor has a bit of an aspect of a campfire.... but you can smell and taste other components as well.  The air feels thick.  The particulates themselves give the appearance of a deep fog.  While driving, visibility is down to much less than 1/4 mile OR less (~0.5km OR less).  

We are also in the midst of a heat wave.  It has been near, at, or above 100 degrees F (~38 C) for several days.  

Many folks (especially the elderly and those with chronic illnesses) are in dire shape in my region.  If they do not have air conditioning, they are taxed by the sweltering heat (with extremely high humidity so no evaporative cooling effect of sweating).   They further are likely to have their windows open (advisories urge folks to keep their windows closed due to the air quality).  

For folks who have air conditioning, it is still also a bit of a mixed bag.  Many older systems will chill the air, but do limited... if any... FILTERING of the air.  And, even in newer systems with filtration.... the real ability of the filters to filter out these extremely small particulates is suspect at best.  I can say that at home (with our ~10 year old a/c system) and at the few stores I have been too with a/c that the ODOR is considerably lower in our house and in these stores.... compared with outside.  Whether that is associated with any appreciable decrease in these microparticles is anyone's guess at the moment. 

My original game plan this morning, was to go to the gym and run on the treadmill, lift some, and then swim in the pool a bit to cool down afterwards.  I would not/could not have ran outside today.

But, the gym was having HVAC issues and closed the pool and running facilities until at least mid-afternoon because they were drawing into the buildings..... the smoky, outside air.  So, no running for me today.

I am at the U at the moment, but my building (old) is having challenges as well.  It feels as if the a/c is failing and the wildfire atmosphere permeates every room I have been in thus far.  I think I am going to quickly do the photocopying and sorting I had planned, and then head home to work from inside our house.  

Even though I really want to attend the Retiree's Cigar Group.... I do not think it is advised today, so unless something convinces me otherwise, I am not going to attend.  I am wondering how many folks WILL actually show up there today.... it could be very small.  

PipeTobacco