It was Cold this Weekend, and Other Randomness

Both Friday and Saturday nights here it was down to below freezing and only warmed up into the mid 50's(F) for a high.


This is a planter on our deck. That's not plastic wrap on it, that's frozen rain water!









I did manage to leather-up and ride a bit on Sunday afternoon.


We were watching Diners, Drive-In's, and Dives (Food Network)a couple of weeks ago and decided to try our hand at one of the extravagant burgers that were featured on the show. It was a Blue Cheese/Bacon burger, and it is fantastic!

You need a biscuit or cookie cutter thing, parchment or waxed paper, crumbled blue cheese, chopped bacon (we used peppered bacon), and good ground beef (You could use lean, but why bother with the bacon and blue cheese on there already) We used ground Bison for a richer beef flavor.

So here's how you make the burger:

First you lay out the parchment and use the biscuit cutter as a form, and place some of the bacon as the first layer.
Then add a layer of blue cheese
Then add the Beef or Bison, and pack it down to form as tight of a patty as you can. Be careful when you remove the form and when placing the burger on a hot griddle or skillet. Grill the heck out of it on the first side to form a crust with the bacon, and then be careful when you flip it.
















We served it with avacado, lettuce, mustard and ketchup; with spicy fires on the side. Delicious and not good for you at all, but hey live a little just don't eat one every day! Maybe once a year on a special occasion! ;-)

Crazy Drivers (I missed one!)

I missed one in my last post:

Oh $#*! There's My Exit
This one is driving along in the left lane and instantly darts across 2 to 3 lanes of traffic to barely hit the exit ramp, and causing everyone else on the road to lock up the brakes!

That actually happened not once, but twice on the way into work this morning! One doing this from the left lane, followed by another doing it from the right lane a few miles down the road!

And of course it was far to bothersome for either one to use the turn signal to at least give some sort of warning.
Of course if they had, the driver in the lane next to them would have sped up to keep them from changing lanes! ;-)

Driving in Cincinnati

OK I'm not sure how bad of drivers there are where you live, but honestly Cincinnati has the worst drivers I have ever seen, and I've been around a few places. Sorry if you are a native Cincinnatian and you take offense to this, but some of these folks need to be taken off the roads!

Here's a few of my pet peeves about Cincinnati Drivers:

Slow Racer in the Left Lane - This is the person that drives about 5-10mph under the speed limit, in the left lane. Oh the Racer part, that comes in when you move over to pass them they of course will speed up to keep you from going around them! I've found that the average increased speed that these tormentors will do is about 12mph over their original speed and then they will slow back down, but occasionally one of them will zoom up to about 20-25mph and then start changing lanes erratically (I have no idea what that is all about!).

The Totally Oblivious - This is the driver that has absolutely no idea that anyone else is out on the roads! They will slide from lane to lane, no turn signal, or usually hang just over the line between two lanes so you don't know if they are planning to change lanes or not. This is sometimes the cause of talking on the phone or texting while driving, but the scary thing is that most times they are just driving! Yikes!

The Deal Maker - This is the guy that thinks he is the ultimate "Mover and Shaker", his car is a rolling office! he is conducting important business deals or day trading on wall street, and can't afford the time to pull over to make these calls. I've even seen this guy with the phone in one hand, an pen in the other and his day-planner stretched out on the steering wheel!

The Texter - This is the guy or gal that has to stay connected at all costs! They will drive erratically speeding up and slowing down shifting from side to side, crossing lane lines, etc. They will sometimes sit through an entire cycle of a traffic light, with no clue it just happened. When honked at, so I don't miss another light, they of course will act as though they are totally innocent of any wrong doing throwing they're hands in the air forgetting that the phone is clearly in one of them! Definite cranial rectal insertion syndrome

Then my favorite of all:

Speed Racer - This is the guy or gal that is in a hurry, of course nobody else is. They will ride your bumper no matter how fast you are driving, or how many vehicles are in front of you. they will constantly change lanes speeding up to get on the bumper of every car that is in front of them, usually needing to slam on the brakes as soon as they change lanes because they didn't see the semi-truck in the next lane! They usually end up defeating their own purpose by getting themselves hopelessly trapped in the thickest part of the traffic, and yes that is sort of amusing!

Not sure if you have these same characters in your part of the world, but please chime in and let me know!
If you are from Cincinnati and either agree or disagree, please share your opinions too!

Reflections or is it Retrospection?

I took some time to go back through some of my old blogs and really liked what I saw, back then. I used to actually tell stories, give such good details about the events happening that it would draw the reader into the pictures that were provided. Lately it seems that I'm merely sharing photos and putting a few captions with those and have set my story telling aside.

My theory on this is that it is the effect of several causes over the past couple of years(not necessarily in order): 1) Preoccupation of building a new home via long distance, 2) Re-acclimation to American life, 3) Being stuck in Cincinnati with no real prospect of travelling outside the US, and 4) Planning the next chapter in our lives

So here's my rationalisation:
1) The house is completed so I can check that one off! 2) The readjustment period is finally coming to a close, although #3 isn't helping that much after traveling all over the world for the past 15 years it would have been better to ween off a bit rather than going "cold turkey" in the "Natty"! (Too bad, it is what it is, so count your blessings and get over it!) 4) The decision is becoming more apparent and should not be a burden for much longer.

So in other words its time to get back on the horse and start writing again! My travel was always a sort of muse for me so now I will simply need to look for a new muse in what is happening around me in day to day life. So don't be too surprised to see some upcoming blogs about the quirkiness that comes with everyday "normal" life.

IIII'm Baack!

We'll see how this goes!

Angel's of Mercy Ride 2011

This past Saturday was the 2nd annual Angel's of Mercy ride. The weather held out by being sunny and dry, but it was a bit chilly and there was a constant 25mph wind with gusts up to 35mph. I didn't get a final count of how many bikes showed up, but it was a good crowd and a great ride! Here's a few photos,and videos, courtesy of Lightnin's "Bike Cam":





















For the best viewing click to bring the videos to full screen and turn up the volume!




It was a really well planned and organized ride for a great cause! The beautiful clear sky and cool crisp air helped provide for great photos and the wind kept things interesting.
I would encourage anyone interested to join next year!

Oktoberfest 2011

The 2011 Cincinnati German festival season has come to an end with the Donauschwaben Oktoberfest this past weekend. The weather held out so that there was a good crowd. We went on Friday evening and it was a bit damp and cold, but the music, food, drink, and Gemutlichkeit were all good!

Ein Prosit der gemutlichkeit!



The ladies played "Pass the baby", but I have to say that this little guy was a real trooper. He just took it all in and never once fussed about the noise, music, or all the people!










As usual a good time was had by all!