Grilled cheese

Nope, not the kind of grilled cheese you are thinking of, my friends.

I had seen this a while back in a cook book I picked up cheap at a conference I was at in April.

The book is called "Sizzle: Sensational Barbecue Food." So far I have not tried too much from it, but there are some interesting dishes.

First up, something the author called Pots of Gold. Basically you take a hunk of yummy, creamy cheese and use the grill to make a sort-of fondue. (Pictures with the recipe... follow the link!)

It was quite the lovely mid-afternoon snack on a warm Sunday. Enjoy it with a white wine or a cold beer.

My tax dollars at work

I know it has been a while.

And it's not that I have no had anything to blog about in the past week.

I've just been a bit busy.

And sorry, but this sometimes lives at the bottom of my to-do list.

Anyhoo...

I had meant to blog about this Sunday right after it happened. But then I got home, started doing chores, getting stuff together for dinner... Then suddenly it was Monday.

I went stamping Sunday at my friend Kathy's house. It was the normal stamp-and-brunch deal.

I left there at about 1:30 and made my way home.

As I was heading back to the house I noticed a large plume of thick gray smoke coming from the east. The closer I got, the more I thought "Hmm... that looks like it is close to my neighborhood." Then "Hmm... that looks like it IS my neighborhood!"

Mind you, I do not live in a remote area so I don't have too many worries about wildfires. There is open space behind the houses across the street from me. I wonder...

I got a little closer to my 'hood and noticed that the smoke had quickly gone from dark gray to lighter gray to white. I knew that was a good sign. And since it was a plume going straight up and not a large cloud covering the area, I figured it was probably a small area, probably a house.

I turned a few times, getting closer, coming up the main road.

There, on a side street two streets down from me was a cop car keeping people from turning there. I drove by. Looking down the street I saw several fire department vehicles and an ambulance.

I went ahead to my house, grabbed my camera (nosy journalist!) and walked the short distance to where the street was blocked.

Seeing that I was not the only pedestrian angling for a better look, I went ahead down that side street. A few houses in there is another street.

This is where the fire was, the first street was just a staging area.

It looked like one house, a two-level, was the source of the smoke.

Cops milled about the staging area, but there was no big sense of urgency.

Firefighters had a ladder on the house going up to a second-floor deck. But it looked like most of the activity was done.

There was a group of firefighters on the sidewalk, pointing to the house and talking.

I think the fire was out.

I decided to see what my tax dollars were good for, you know, on the unthinkable chance that I have to take advantage of it someday.

Ambulance - 1

Cop cars - 6

Fire trucks - 12 of varying sizes including two large ladder trucks

It looked like most of this stuff was not being used on this fire.

Must have been a slow day in the city and they sent the whole brigade.

As I overheard someone say, "I guess they send out everything that is available since they don't know WHAT they will deal with when they get here."

Good point.

Later, after the yellow tape was gone and the trucks had retreated, I took a drive by the house that had been the center of such a hoopla.

If I had not seen all that activity, I may not have even noticed the damage.

It looked like maybe the damage was mostly confined to the top floor and/or attic area. There was some soot evident on the side of the house. Some insulation was pulled out and piled on the upstairs deck.

I am sure for the people who live there it is devastating.

But considering that there are houses on both sides and a tightly packed neighborhood all around the house, it could have been far worse.

I think my tax dollars were well-spent that day.

And it ain't often that someone gets to say that.

Six fathoms

I did my first dive as a certified diver, no instructor.

Manfriend was my dive buddy.

He was out getting some practice after several months of no diving.

We decided to make it somewhat easy on ourselves and go to Veteran's park in Redondo Beach.

This way the most treacherous part of getting to the water was the stairs.

Gear plus stairs equals good exercise.

We got to the parking lot around 8:30 a.m. and were suited up and swimming out a little before 9 a.m.


I went in with 2500 psi.

Yeah, that hood is so NOT attractive.

We swam out maybe 50 yards and did a quick buoyancy check. Things looked decent, so we decided to descend.

Bottom depth where we descended was about 20 feet. We swam due west, making our way deeper. At 30 feet we hit a thermocline and got a nice blast of cold water in the face.

Our max depth was about 36 feet and bottom time was about 30 minutes.


The visibility was better than on my checkout dives a few weeks ago, but there still was not much to see.


We did see some sand dollars, starfish and a couple flounders.

Getting up close and personal with some tiny crabs.

There also were several little crabs hiding in the sand with just a couple little legs sticking out.

Anybody have any idea what this is exactly? It was quite large.
It even left snail trails in the sand underwater!

The most interesting thing was what looked like a sea snail. But it was huge. Like the size of a head.

Manfriend said he had not seen a sea snail of that size before.


We swam around for a while so I could work on my buoyancy. I am still trying to find the sweet spot with tank, suit and weights.


Manfriend was an excellent buddy. He also served as photographer on this dive.

This is what I look like underwater.

After about half an hour, I was down under 1000 psi of air, so we decided to surface.

I am told that once I get more practice I will consume less air and need less weight.
That would be a very good thing.


We had a short swim back to shore. At this point I felt a little queasy, so I did not want to linger on the surface.


We both made it out to the beach with no problems. There were really no swells to speak of when we started and it was the same when we finished.

This is what Manfriend and I look like in a public shower.

After a quick rinse in the public showers, it was back up the stairs to shed the gear.


Since there were some other divers out at Long Point, we decided to head over there to see how they did and share some adult beverages and partake of the cookout.


Finally, back home around noon to get cleaned up and check my eBay bid.

Woo hoo! I got myself a slightly used BCD for about half the price it would be new.

Now it just needs to get here from Florida.


If it makes it by next weekend, I may get to try it out before I leave for St. Thomas.

It's not mean, it's survival

When George came to be in this house, he quickly established himself as the alpha cat even though Lucy had been with me for several years and even Aspen had a few years of seniority on him.
He was aggressive. He chased them. He kept them from the food bowl.

Consequently they became scared of pretty much everything.
Lucy spent most of her time on top of the fridge since that was about the only place fat Georgie could not get at her.

After about a year of that, things came to a head.
I talked to the vet and she asked if there was any way to separate them, to keep Lucy and Aspen separate from George.

I thought about it and decided the best course would be to keep George in the third bedroom as much as possible. It had been set up as sort of a storage room anyway. With linoleum floors and no furniture he could damage, I thought it would work.

And it would have. Except George really, really, REALLY hates to be alone. Especially if he knows someone is in the other room without him.

He meows. MEOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWS. And then meows some more. And loudly.

So that arrangement did not last long.
I switched it. Lucy and Aspen got the room. Surprisingly, they took to it quickly.
I think they liked the quiet, liked being away from him.
They had free access to the food and water without fear for their lives.

And so it has been for several years now.

George spends his day in the living room and kitchen, with access to the front bathroom where the box is. Lucy and Aspen are in their room, safe.

And when I am home, I try to give them all turns being out in the living area with me.
To do this, I lock George in the bathroom from time to time and Lucy and Aspen get their time.

Lucy likes to roam and play. Aspen likes to sleep on the loveseat.

And then, at the end of the day, they all get locked up again.

Before I go to bed most nights I lock George in the bathroom.
Why? Isn't that mean?

Well, the why is easy. Because he is bad.
Remember that whole thing about him not wanting to be alone?
Well that applies even when I am trying to sleep.

He cries and cries and cries. He tries to get into the bedroom.
The door has a handle instead of a knob and he figured out long ago that he can stand up and pull that handle down and the door will open.
If I don't lock him up, I still at least have to lock him out. If I don't, he lets himself in and climbs on the headboard until I get up.

Even if I do lock the door, he will hang out and mess with the handle, which itself is quite noisy.

So mean or not, he goes in the bathroom at night. Oh he still cries. But with the second bedroom as a buffer and my door closed, it is muffled enough so that I can sleep.

Last night I let him stay out in the living room. I knew he would start crying early. Sometimes it is at 5 a.m. Today it was at 7:30. Once he heard my alarm.

I decided to capture the symphony that is George. Not to mention the glorious sounds of him working that door handle. I eventually unlocked the door so he could open it.

This is just a snippet. Imagine hearing that for an hour. Or more.

Then you will understand why he goes in the bathroom at night.

Sunday diver

Nope, I did not make it into the water Sunday.

Manfriend had a horrible ear ache all week and even though it was feeling better by Sunday, it was still not a good idea for him to get in the water.

So I stayed dry, too.

Instead, we went to the old Marineland site, Long Point. There were some other people out there and after they came in, there was going to be a barbecue.

Some of the divers have interesting nicknames. There was Psycho Solo Diver (Psycho for short), Reverend Al, Max Bottomtime, Angelshark (a spearfishing chick. Awesome).

Maybe I need a nickname. I will have to think about this for a while and come up with something good.

Mary and Max Bottomtime making their way into the water.

The cove also is very rocky. It is not like making a beach entry from the sand. You have to pick your way out over all the rocks, get in the water, get your fins on and get out past the surfline quickly.


Then coming back in, you do it all in reverse.


I was actually thinking I might try to snorkel here first, to get practice picking my way over the rocks without all the gear before I try it with all that stuff on. This place does not look like it is for beginners.

While the divers were under, manfriend and I scrambled over a rocky outcrop into a smaller cove area. It was pretty obvious this was a hangout place for someone.



The evidence of a bonfire, an empty 12-pack of beer and the graffiti were a dead giveaway.


The cove itself was pretty. The tide was out, so there was a bit of sand visible.



There also was some debris. It looked like a metal door of some type and it looked like it had been there for ages.



At one side, the rocks stretch out into the water and make a nice perch for some pelicans.


This is what they call "birdshit rock."

Gee, I can't imagine why.


After a few minutes of trying to get some good pictures of that and the door in the surf, the tide looked like it was starting to come back in so we scrambled back over the rocks to the dry side.


We sat and watched a sea lion play and a small pod of dolphins dip in and out of the water as they made their way down the coast.



Soon we saw divers popping up at the surface. The first in was a lone guy who had been spearfishing.

These all are of Psycho coming back in over those rocks.

Then we saw more people coming back. One of them was Psycho, manfriend's buddy.

I have to give him props for making his exit. That does not look like fun. The walk back up the hill did not look like fun.
But that is the price you pay to be able to dive at Long Point. Manfriend said there are times when the visibility is great and the diving is excellent. Sadly, that was not the case on this day.

Psycho said the visibility was about 5 feet. His blog post on that is here.


I guess the week before it was much better. Psycho wrote about that here.
He posts a lot of pictures from above and below the surface.


After getting back to the top of the hill, there was what is called "debriefing." Debriefing includes some adult beverages and, on this day, a barbecue.

Psycho set up his little charcoal grill and got the coals fired up.



My contribution was a 12-pack of Corona in cans and a pork tenderloin that I marinated overnight. It came out great and it was not long before the plate was empty.

Psycho brought some cross-cut beef ribs that he marinated. They were Korean style, very thin and tasty and grilled perfectly.

More people had made their way up the hill. Psycho's friend, Ed, did not dive but was kind enough to stop by and bring sticky rice and kimchi to go with the Korean ribs that Psycho brought.

I want to learn how to make kimchi. or at least find someplace to buy it. This was an awesome lunch.


After a couple hours of chatting and eating, it was time to go.


All that before noon. It was a really fun morning.


Too bad I didn't actually dive.
But we are going to try to get out to Redondo this weekend so I can practice and he can get a refresher.
There is not much to see off of Veteran's Park, but it will be good exercise.


I have been trying to get gear together. So far I have the stuff you know about: mask, fins, gloves and boots, wetsuit, snorkel.

I also got my hands on a couple of tanks. Thanks Phil and Cerise for making me a good deal.

The tanks are in great shape, but the tests on them are out of date. Manfriend took one to get it tested. I am not sure why he did not take them both. But I think I will take the other sometime this week.


I only need one at a time anyway.


So I still need to find a good, used BCD (the vest) and a good second stage (the regulator/hose apparatus) and some weights.

Then I am about done. And, and maybe a dive computer if I can find a good used one.


For now I will rent what I do not own. I really want to get in the water.

Perspective

Nothing much to catch up on really.
My week was work, sleep, work, sleep.
I should be off today but I am working overtime.
The extra money will be nice.
But I really do love my days off even if I do nothing more than hang out at home and do some chores.

I was going to go diving with the manfriend yesterday but that did not happen.
I am also contemplating the gear I want. The rental fee is anywhere from $45-$60 a day for the stuff, which will add up fast.
Of course, all the stuff is expensive to buy. I may try to get used if I can get decent stuff.

What else, what else...

Oh yeah, there is that whole deal with my employer starting to outsource some jobs to India.
Yep, jobs very similar to my job.
So that is scary and sucky.

Oh, that reminds me, I have a lotto ticket to check.

All in all, not a fabulous week.
But I've had worse and I know other people are in more dire straits than I am at this point.
I try to keep it all in perspective.

I was playing with my nephew yesterday. He will be 2 in September.
It's hard to be down or dwell too much on bad stuff when a toddler is running at you as fast as he can, blond curls catching the sun. And when he reaches you, his arms are flung wide ready to be swept up in a big hug.

Yep. Perspective people, perspective.

My other new neighbor

Meet Sacha. This is my neighbor's other new puppy.

Sacha is an Alaskan Malamute.

He is a little smaller than his St. Bernard pal, Yukon.

But he does not take any crap from her.

If she gets in his face too much, he will let her know with a sharp bark that she needs to back off a little.

He is more vocal than she is, but also seems a little more shy when it comes to coming over to the wall to say hello.

But when I am out there he looks at me and cries, like he wants me to come over and play.

I have had the chance to meet them both when they were on their way out for a walk. They are so soft and fluffy and clumsy.

Yeah. Puppies are awesome. Especially someone else's puppies. I can see them and pet them and play with them. And I never have to worry about picking up poop.