September 25, 2007  Numerology, et al
 
There are a lot of questionable pseudo-sciences, such as Astrology, Tarot, Palmistry and Numerology that invoke either total belief and dedication or total scorn. Being an engineer and scientist, I approach such things with caution.
 
For instance, those folks who are responsible for writing astrologies in the newspapers and magazines use the basic identifiers for each of the signs of the Zodiac and then spin very generic fortunes based on things that could match virtually anyone. They count on people reading into these visions specifics adaptable to their own situations. Chinese fortune cookies do the same thing without the complications of the Zodiac, I expected that Numerology would be very similar.
 
I no longer recall the site I visited awhile back, but I did copy the response made based on my input. I was a #6. #6 is the Romantic, at least according to that site. Additionally, #6's are idealistic and need to feel useful to be happy. A strong family connection is important to them. Their emotions influence their decisions. They have a strong urge to take care of others and to help. They are very loyal and make great teachers. They like art or music. They make loyal friends who take the friendship seriously. #6's should learn to differentiate between what they can change and what they cannot.
 
That was beginning to hit close to home
 
#6 is shared with Jane Seymour-Feb 15, 1951, John Denver-Dec 31, 1943, Christopher Columbus-Oct 30, 1451, Goldie Hawn-Nov 21, 1945, Thomas Edison-Feb 11, 1847, Reba Nell McEntire-Mar 28, 1955, and DonKeyHoeTee-Mar. 28, 19??.
 
Since I didn't recall that original site, I visited a few others. The same basic credentials that earned me a #6 now earned me a #1 and a #4. Obviously not an exact science.
 
I played around with a few other birthdates and I never could find a reference to Adolf Hilter, Suddam Hussein, Ghengis Kahn, Ayatollah Khomeini and other such evil doers. Evidently they were/are exempt from numerological influences.
 
However, I was able to search on "Italian Beef Sandwich" and got some wonderful recipes! I've been to several local sources for authentic Chicago Italian beef sandwiches. A local grocery store carrys a product that promises to be authentic Chicago Italian beef. It has tomato sauce for a base! Unheard of, and totally unacceptable! Real Italian beef has got the Italian spices and an au jus cooked with pepperocini. Anything else is a ruse, a phony. A properly done sandwich is 70% meat, 10% juice and peppers, and 20% bread roll. Always wrapped in an aluminun foil wrapper. I found one local stand that sold what they advertised as authentic Chicago Italian beefs and Chicago hot dogs. The Italian Beef sandwich was pretty close, but the lack of pepperocini is an unforgivable sin
 
Until later.....DKHT

September 22, 2007  Celestial Skies and Autumnal Colors
 
OK, I admit it. I was restless last night. It happens to those of us celebrating advanced age. I woke up at about 4:00 am with the "urge to go". Years ago I installed a night light in the master bath so I would have the advantage of night vision, avoiding the infliction of serious injury when navigating my way to the necessities of the master bath in the middle of the night. As I contemplated the joys involved with relieving oneself, I glanced out the master bath window. We'd had several days of overcast weather, so I was surprised at seeing the amazing star field on the north side of the cabin. After finishing my "business", I pulled up the blinds and gazed at the magnificent, clear view above.
 
Even in the spring and summer, when a high pressure system moves in, the nighttime skies can still remain fuzzy. But in the fall, as temperatures dip, the skies can become crystal clear.
 
In the southern sky the moon is unbelievably brilliant. It dominates the skies from early evening un till 2 or 3 am. After that we are treated to the glories of the universe, as well as universes so very far away.
 
I've got some World Points on one of my credit cards, and I'm closing in on a good sky telescope. It's taken me quite awhile, but I'd love to have such an instrument to view these skies. The moon is so cool and clear in the south, but the real drama is in the north.
 
I once acquired an ungainly cardboard 6 foot tube and lens kit el cheapo telescope back in 7th grade. It was powerful, as small telescopes go, but, by the time you got it aimed, the Earth's rotation would throw you off your target. It didn't have a spotting scope, so the best you could expect was to wait for the universe to slowly slide by. Only it slid by very rapidly...it was a fascinating celestial tool although made of crude materials.
 
For those of you who may have grown up in the greater Chicagoland area, you may recall WTTW, TV Channel 11, the PBS station there. For many years there was a special TV program about astronomy, physics and more, hosted by Dr. Daniel Q Posin.
 
One of our middle school teachers knew Dr. Posen and asked him to address a presentation to the school and town. I was chosen to introduce Dr. Posen ...I was both terrified and totally honored. Dr. Posin was the predecessor of Carl Sagan and all the other wonderful scientists who have searched the cosmos since.
 
Meanwhile, the tree colors are totally beautiful, and getting better each day.
 
Until later.....DKHT

September 21, 2007  Camping with the Scouts
 
I recently received an email from a friend and coworker, Linda, back in the '70s when we worked at Quaker Oats John Stuart Research facilities in Barrington. IL.
 
We got on the topic about being a scout leader. Linda was a leader for the Girl Scouts and volunteer for the Boy Scouts and I served as Assistant Scoutmaster, along with my best friends, Doc and Hal. Again, this was in the '70s. Doc's dad was on the board for the local Fire Department that sponsored the local BSA troop. The scoutmaster, Joe was asking for help...he had a bunch of kids that crossed the entire personality spectrum, but were skewed heavily on the "difficult" side.
 
Doc, Hal and I spent years together, camping, canoeing and exploring wilderness places in every season of the year. We didn't want to be baby-sitters for a bunch of wacko and out-of-control kiddies. But, we'd joined up (actually we were coerced by Doc's dad). Hal and I were both electrical engineers but we lived for getting out on wilderness trips. Doc was part of our wilderness kinship and had a degree in biology and enjoyed tracking and finding foods in the wilds. Doc and I worked at Quaker R&D and had access to many people and facilities that were ideal for prepping and preserving food for long trips. Hal and I were pretty good cooks. The three of us could paddle many miles without stopping, each in an 18 ft Grumman canoe solo, using the Canadian J stroke.
 
We actually put it to a vote on our first meeting with our scouts. What did they want to do in the troop? "Camping" was the unanimous answer. Of course, we realized that camping to these kids meant pitching a tent in their backyard, having some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for a late snack, plenty of marshmallows to roast and free access to Mom's fridge for cold sodas. The new troop leaders had a big surprise for those scouts!
 
We began teaching our scouts a lot of the standard Boy Scout stuff, like orienteering, fire starting and first aid. Our first take on this group indicated that these kids might require a lot of first aid. Fortunately, Joe was properly credentialed in the first aid department and began a training prrogram that earned scouts appropriate badges and left the rest of us volunteer leaders breathing a small collective sigh of relief.
 
Our rag-tag group was also shown how to assemble packs, bedrolls and cooking kits. A lot of the boys came from less than rich families and couldn't afford a lot of new gear. We did ask that the boys had official BSA shirts, but that was the only part of the official uniform we went along with...the nearest authorized clothing store had stock that was years old. The official pants wouldn't hold up in the places we intended on going. It was more important that the kids had durable, comfortable clothing, suitable for the weather. Our lax uniform standard didn't bring us into favor with the local Council, but that didn't bother us.
 
That was the beginning of over 5 years of fun. Weekly meetings were geared toward preparing for the monthly campout...each month, every month for every year. Except for the special two weeks every summer that we'd go on a group trip. Usually a canoeing trip in the Superior Quetico or surrounding Canadian waterways, or in the Sylvania National Forest in Northern Michigan. One trip was a backpacking trip around Michigan's' Isle Royal.
 
We also taught basics about cooking. We knew that the boys would prefer to stick with the kind of food kids like; burgers, hot dogs and such. That was alright with us, but we did insist on hot meals. Candy was a problem...some of the kids lived on candy. We allowed each boy only two pieces a day, and taught them how to make trail mix for a snack. We wanted to get the scouts to expand their wilderness cooking horizons, but we decided to do it by example. We'd often have group breakfasts on campouts. A few scouts would be appointed as cook's helpers, with others doing cleanup afterward. I showed them how to premix pancake ingredients (flour, powdered milk, baking powder, salt, sugar and a pinch of cinnamon...in the winter I'd add powdered eggs). The ingredients could be put into a zip-loc bag, but Doc and I had access to a commercial vacuum sealer at work, and I used that for all dry mixes...pancakes, biscuits, pie crusts, dumplings and instant mashed potatoes....it was easy to use a magic-marker to write on the plastic the mix purpose, number of servings and quantity of other ingredients required. If we were on a trip into Canada, I'd also write the cost per package and kept a log of grocery lists and recipes for declaring at border crossings.
 
By boiling down sugar and water and adding Mapleine we'd get a passible syrup. Smoked bacon held up well in all but the hottest weather, although two hams and a rasher of bacon that were specially smoked lasted our entire troop for a week. On northern canoe trips we utilized nature's refrigeration. We'd take a bucket or bag, fill it with rocks, tie it to a rope with a water-tight container just above. Then we'd tow an empty canoe out into the lake and use the rocks and rope to anchor it. The food container would be kept in the cold depths.
 
On our weekend trips we leaders had a round-robin kind of competition to see who could out do the previous guy. This was as close to gourmet dining as you could get out in the boonies. Yet everything had to be previously unprepared, capable of not spoiling during the weekend, and able to be packed in several miles on a pack trip, longer on a canoe trip, shared among the leaders. We had garlic-stuffed beef roasts with veggies, Shrimp Creole, spit roasted stuffed chickens, beef stews with gravy and biscuits, roasted smoked hams with split pea soup, and much more. The kids were stuck with whatever they brought, but we monitored them closely. Pan-fried frozen pizzas were not allowed. Nor were dinners consisting of eight Milky Way candy bars and a chunk of half-spoiled sausage. Similarly, we had to watch for fellows that tried to spit roast a Cornish Game Hen without removing the plastic organ bags from the bird cavity (actually, Doc did this one!). The competition amongst leaders for outdoing the previous guy's dinner menu got so intense that we needed insurance, and we each carried a little backup meal in case the main meal didn't work out.
 
That only happened once. The father of two of the boys had been tagging along on our campouts and decided to get into the competition. Trying to outdo us he had come up with a recipe called Crazy Henry's Jackass Mountain Surprise. It consisted of layering sliced potatoes, sliced onions and pork chops until a Dutch oven was full. Sour cream was added. The trick was that this meal was based on in-ground cooking. You'd dig a pit, start a fire and dump the coals in the pit until you had six or more inches, then put the Dutch oven in and almost filled the pit with more coals, leaving about 2 inches on top that you'd fill with dirt from the hole. The theory was you'd do all this while you were making breakfast, The meal slowly cooked all day, so by dinnertime it was done. We watched Geof make all the preparations. He'd been practicing, and added spices and such with confidence. Then he explained the pit business to us. That sent us all to our packs to make sure our backup meals were intact.
 
We were camped in an old river bed. The stream meandered just yards away If you dug a hole, you'd hit water about ten inches down. Geof didn't notice that the hole he was digging was muddy. The rest of us leaders let him tend to his hopeless task while we planned the day's activities. Doc, Joe and Geof were to head out with the kids on a long hike. We prearranged to meet at a special spot hours later. That left Hal and I to construct our special "surprise".
 
I carried a climbing rope and carabiners in my pack. Hal and I scouted the area and finally found an sturdy tree on the valley floor opposite a high cliff with also sturdy trees. We worked our way across the stream and up the cliff. There, we fastened one end of the rope to a tree as high as Hal could reach. We took some web strapping I'd brought along to make a harness. We fastened another light retriever rope to the harness and clipped our creation to the main line. I went down to the valley nd caught the main rope while Hal came down to join me. We argued about just what knot to tie, so the main line was just wrapped around the tree. About half way through our argument we heard "GERONIMO" from the cliff. It seems that Doc had jogged ahead of the hikers to be the first to try our "Rope Slide for Life". He jumped off the cliff hanging on the harness, thinking that the rope was tight. Hal and I managed to grab the loose end, but not quick enough. Doc plummeted toward the stream before the slack was taken up. Climbing ropes have some stretch and in this case Doc went in the stream for a complete soaking. Then the rope's bungie effect launched him back into the air followed by another dunking. That happened several more times before he finally let go and headed for shore.
 
When Hal and I finally stopped laughing we tied up the rope properly. The kids arrived at the cliff edge and were scared to death, and that's pretty much the effect we'd planned. We had picked out the kid with the biggest mouth and poorest attitude as our first victim. We manhandled him into the harness and shoved him off the cliff without ceremony. When that kid got to the valley floor, his attitude did a 180. He had actually been the first to do something dangerous and now had bragging rights. But he stopped mouthing off! Maybe it was the cheering that he heard from the other scouts. I dunno. We weren't psychiatrists. But we could really motivate those kids. The remaining troop members dutifully took their turns, overcoming perceived certain death in deference to the reality of being called "chicken" for the rest of their lives.
 
Back at camp Geof dug up his in-ground oven only to discover the water had put out the coals maybe 15 minutes after being buried. Slow simmering of the recovered Dutch oven over coals at the campfire finally had dinner ready...at about 10 pm. But the kids, being fed earlier, were up 'til all hours laughing and telling stories about the slide for life. Of course, Geof didn't realize that the rest of us leaders had found excuses to visit our tents around 6:30 pm where we satisfied our hunger on our backup meals.
 
Those certainly were good days.

September 10, 2007  So Long Tourists, So Long Hummers, Hello Morons!
 
Labor Day has passed. It marks the beginning of the new school year and the southerly migration of tourists and hummingbirds. I'll miss the hummingbirds. Business owners will miss the tourists, but I'm happy to see the traffcongestionion and craziness when the towns and stores are overrun by foreigners from Illinois, Indiana and points south and west, finally leave our area.
 
The snowbirds who have returned for the summers for decades are quite alright. They have the greatest difficulty adapting to summer traffic up here. But it's the folks who are on vacation, spending big bucks on rooming, activities, fuel and food (the high food and fuel prices hurt the fixed income locals the most) have a different attitude when they arrive.
 
Those are the people who think the area owes them something extra. They believe they can come up to our home and act crazy, often drinking too much before heading out in their high speed boats or driving on our roads. They have no respect for the local people, wildlife and serenity. To them there is no such thing as private property; they're spending their dollars and they can go wherever they want and do whatever they want, including partying loudly all night long without regard that their neighbors may have to go to work the next morning. They are also the people who buy vacation property up here and become moron neighbors.
 
What always amazes me is that these people will come up and marvel at the beautiful trees and wilderness views, the solitude and serenity of the area. They buy a quaint and peaceful cottage on a serene lakefront lot, then they cut down all the trees, put in golf-course lawns, groomed beaches, cutsey rock lined paths and non-native landscaping. They'll unload a fleet of boats and jet skis and anchor their personal 12 foot swimming raft in the middle of the channel but it'll be in front of the neighbor's place because they don't want to spoil their view. They put in a complete zoo of plywood animsilhouettestes so that the real critters have something to hide behind. They turn their back yard into a mini Disneyland wigarishlyhly colored plastic slides and forts and trampolines and a pitching machine with backstop. Only their obnoxious kids prefer to drive their fleet of electric jeeps and tractors, unsupervised through the neighbors' yards or up and down the township roads. These are the people that move the surveyed property stakes so they appear to have more frontage, although the neighbors pay the taxes. They ignore zoning setback laws and build huge lakeside decks so that they can entertain all the friends they invite up to impress, complete with dozens of screaming children who run, drive, yell and play everywhere except there own yard.
 
On other fronts ... I've had a string of rotten luck lately. I had planned on doing a series of local veterans' memorials virtual caches, but when I went to list the first one on the Groundspeak site, I discovered the Jeremy, the guy that runs the site has eliminated virtual caches altogether, much to the dismay of many fellow cachers (that's why I'm not providing a link to that site). Then I had this post ready to go, and I had it coded to link to a great bit of animated video featuring the Simpsons going on an RV trip. When I was doing my final checkout I discovered that YouTube had removed the clip for "terms of use" improprieties, whatever they may be. I spent some time looking for terms of use definitions but I never did find them. I did locate another version of the clip, but the quality was horrible and the sound tinny. But most of all that clip cut off the ending, which was the highlight of the clip. To top everything else off, my html editor has been ColdFusion Studio. Although I no longer program in CF, I got used to this nifty editor years ago, and it kept my html code in line. Suddenly, ColdFusion Studio started throwing memory access errors. I tried reloading the software to no avail. Sodownloadedade Matrix Y2K. It's not bad but a far cry from the capabilities and customization available in CFS. However, Matrix Y2K does include HTNL Tidy, which is a tag checker.
 
So I'll just keep plugging ahead. It's not worthwhile to complain...nobody's listening. Isn't that right Jeremy?
 
Newsflash! If you've visited my "Favorites" section and checked out the "Meat, Seafood, Entrees & Desserts" section, you'll know about Turduckens. When I wrote that piece I hadn't tried the two Cajun food sources. However, since I intend to spend Thanksgiving and Christmas in Texas, I decided to order a Turducken and have it shipped to my mom, where she can store it in her freezer until whichever holiday we decide to try it (I'm hoping for Thanksgiving). It arrived the other day, properly packaged and solidly frozen. I didn't order a full Turducken, but rather the smaller Turducken roll, since it'll feed up to 6 people. We're both looking forward to trying this Cajun treat.
 
Warning! I've used several onlservicesices to send flowers to loved ones on special occasions throughout the years. The first time that I used Proflowers.com, the flowers were shipped to Texas from somewhere on the west coast. The flowers were priced reasonably, shipping and handling was a little steep. Yet the quality of the flowers was extremely good. The most recent was for my mom's 82nd birthday, when I used Proflowers.com for the 2nd time. This time I used a special offer for cut mini roses...about 3 dozen at a good price. However, I had procrastinated and figured I needed faster delivery to have the flowers arrive before or on mom's birthday. The shipping cost almost as much as the flowers....but what irked me was the fact that these flowers were shipped from Ft.Worth, 2 hours away from my mom's place!
 
But that isn't the end of the story. Proflowers.com has a number of sister companies and affiliates. My email address was shared amongst all these companies and I binundatedndated with offers for tons of crap that couldn't interest me in the slightest. But the real capper came with the bill I received for the credit card I had used to pay my Proflower orders. Mysteriously I had been signed up for an EZ Saver program at a one time set-up fee of $1.95 and a monthly fee of $14.95! the charges appeared on my credit card bill as quasi-definable expenditures. At first, I had absolutely no idea what these fees were for, and I had to wait until today to find somebody manning the 800 telephone line. At least the young lady that answered my call was polite and helpful. She explained that a Proflowers.com affiliate offered this EZSaver program and that I must have agreed to the charges or else they wouldn't have my personal information, credit card number and email address. I replied that Proflowers.com already had all that information. I could visualize the light bulb going on over this gal's head. She was nice enough to refund my $14.95 and cancel my pseudo membership (I may not see it for a couple of months), but the $1.95 was non-refundable. I tend to learn my lessons the hard way, and I got into one of these Saver scams a few years back. That time they wanted a CC# only to verify my identity, no fees would be charged...except for the $15.95 monthly fee that magically appeared on that account! I would never, NEVER fall for that scam again! I'm considering filing a complaint with Consumer Fraud....but nobody's listening.
 
And Finally, courtesy of my geocaching pal graska who probably best understands what DonKeyHoeTee seeks (beyond geocaches, a good steak, fresh ocean scallops and a smooth Kentucky bourbon):

 
To dream the impossible dream
To fight the unbeatable foe
To bear with unbearable sorrow
To run where the brave dare not go

 
To right the unrightable wrong
To love pure and chaste from afar
To try when your arms are too weary
To reach the unreachable star

 
This is my quest
To follow that star
No matter how hopeless
No matter how far

 
To fight for the right
Without question or pause
To be willing to march into Hell
For a heavenly cause

 
And I know if I'll only be true
To this glorious quest
That my heart will lie peaceful and calm
When I'm laid to my rest

 
And the world will be better for this
That one man, scorned and covered with scars
Still strove with his last ounce of courage
To reach the unreachable star

 
Until later.....DKHT