Travel Pete's Journal: Basements, Kids & Mental Health

Strange birthday gifts

First Dad & Peggy send me $1 for my 33rd birthday (see previous blog note).

Now, my wife has given me something special...

Yep. A sack to hold my balls in!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Pho BilFish 33

Who says you can't buy anything with a buck any more?

Yep, that's what my Dad & Peggy gave me for my birthday.

Oh, sure, he's given other things in the past. Education, life experience, love, that sort of thing.

But experiences are so fleeting. Whereas, Stuff is forever! Remember that parents.

Anyway, I used the dollar to purchase two quality, home-made cappuccinos from Nespresso. Wonderful morning!

And what a morning it is... As you may have guessed from the reference, I've decided to look at numbers with an Asian perspective.

Pho 33 is a reference to the various Vietnamese restaurants serving Pho, which is noodle soup where they often add thin slices of meat that are raw, but cook in the hot broth. All the restaurant names are Pho Duk 29, Pho To 47, Too Damn Pho 99, etc...

Pho Tái is a classic version of the dish we often enjoy.

Invariably, whenever asked about these numbers in newspaper reviews and such, the restaurant owner says, "It doesn't mean anything, we just liked the number. It has a pleasing sound."

Well, BilFish 33. Sounds good to me!

Wine Notes: Malesan Bordeaux 2001

Malesan Bordeaux, 2001, 100% Oak barrel aged at least 6 months.
BilFish Rating: 70/100.

Not a bad wine, but not terrific. Quite a bit lighter than expected for a Bordeaux, it was a blend of Cab Sav, Merlot, and some Cab Franc grape varietals.

Primarily, what struck me was the wonderful aroma. Certainly, I felt it topped the actual finish, which seemed a bit harsh for as light as the wine was.

The oak was predominant, and a nice taste. But I have to say I'm not sure how well balanced the wine was, it seemed lacking in that area.

Not terrific by itself as a sipping wine, it was great with hors d'ouevres of Dubliner Irish hard cheese, French country spiced sausage and crackers.

Excellent for a cool evening on the patio watching the sun mosy behind the western Foothills.

Baby Makes Pee!

Yerp...

Big Maxwell did his first pee-pee on the potty!

He was pretty excited this morning, so the first few tinkles were on the floor. The second few tinkles were on mom's shirt.

He finally settled down enough to sit on his little Royal Throne and hang out long enough for the pee-pee to come.

Then it was all we could do to get him to stop! He would go a little bit, then I swear he was cutting it off so he could run around and do a victory lap, big hugs for everyone! By which time he was good for another go 'round and back to the potty he trundled.

Now we need to be more serious about the difference between pee pee and penis... touch one, don't touch the other!

Very exciting day for us. The older kids at day care are learning, and I wonder if that's having an undue influence. I hope so!

No, Daddy, Go Make Coffee!

Max took the banana I gave him this morning and ran into the family room. I was making a cappuccino, and wandered into the room to see what he was up to.

I couldn't find him.

"Unnnghh."

Then, from behind the couch, around the corner and hidden, came: "No, Daddy, go make coffee! Daddy, nooooo. Make coffee!" He could hear me walking over and wanted none of that!

Yep, Max is 2yrs and 3mos and starting to hide behind things when he poops...

"Unnnnghhh."

Well, it's nice to know he can walk and chew gum at the same time. Or, in this case, poop and peel a banana.

Stuttering & Babies

My old business partner turned Benedict Arnold was a stutterer.

World class.

So good, in fact, that he could use it to drive people nuts during business meetings. And did so. Frequently.

We'd be meeting with a sales rep or vendor or client, and Mike would turn his stuttering up a notch. The other team would look at me, hoping I'd finish the presentation or whatever the hell Mike was trying to get out. Anything, really, to speed up the proceedings.

I would sit there, looking serene, comfortable and intently listening to Mike draw things out.

Drove people crazy — and usually got us a better deal in business.

I find it's similar now that Max is working hard to get through his first long (and oh so important) sentences. My previous experience is serving me well.

When Max looks very serious and takes 4 tries to get the right sentence out, I don't laugh at him, or jump in to finish the sentence. Patience, grasshopper. I sit quietly, intent upon what he's saying, and he finally gets the sentence out. Along with a big smile.

And that's my reward. I luuuuuv it!

Yesterday, talking about some cheese we had as an appetizer out on the patio, he said, "Actually, maybe I'll just leave it here right now for a minute," and set the cracker and cheese down on the table for a minute.

Wow, what a sentence! What a kid!

Soccer 101

Rapids down DC United 2-1 Saturday night in front of 31,000+ fans at home.

Got some kind words about my writing from someone I don't know...

"Kudos for superbly written articles over on AmericanSoccerNews!!  You are definitely doing the Rapids and their fans a good service.  Keep it up!!
 -- J"

Wheee!

I have to say, I think today's was my favorite article written so far, although it really felt tough to write — especially after the Freddy Adu press conference went long and I had to run around trying to get interviews as the Rapids had all left the locker room.

It's online as of this morning some time... Soccer 101.

It's also always available at BilFish's Rapids minisite.

MLS Soccer: Rapids v DC United

For the Rapids, it's "Put up or shut out."

Read all about it!

14-year old phenom Freddy Adu meets the Rapids in Denver Saturday night.

Here's another version (on my site) if the "official" version ever goes off the web.

Freddy Adu is the youngest professional player in any major league sports in the United States. He graduates this morning from High School in Florida before flying to Denver to rejoin his team. Yep, 14 and ready for college when most kids are just starting high school!

Of course, with a $2 Million contract with MLS, a $1 Million contract with Nike and other endorsements, it's hard to believe he'll be hitting campus any time soon.

New Concolor Fir tree

We had a couple of beautiful evergreen trees planted last year. One died. It's been sitting around for two months awaiting a new tree from the nursery (it was guaranteed for a year).

Finally, it's here! The guys who transplanted the new tree say they think the other one was buried too deep and actually got too wet, if you can believe it in Colorado.

Dead white concolor fir evergreen that's been waving its unhealthy needles in the front yard.

Fish out of water — the new tree on the truck

Digging out the old tree...

Final placement of the new tree. No! No! Turn it a little to the left!

Ahhh, this is better. Compare to the top image. This is how they used to fix pictures before Photoshop.

BilFish provides a height comparison. I'm about 7' 2" so the tree is clearly good-sized! It's a lot narrower than the old tree, but a bit taller. Works out, I guess.

Wine Tasting notes

Woodbridge Merlot, 2000. BilFish Rating: With Food, 50 (out of, oh, I don't know, 100)

Somewhat hazy, the Robert Mondavi website puts it at a deep garnet color, but I found it more of a ruby-violet, lighter than expected, essentially translucent. Some brown.

Definite oak aging, this comes through clear, almost a smoky oak, behind a strong, I want to say, blackberry or dark berry aroma.

Medium body, with long finish, it's definitely soft on tannins and not too acidic, although an alcohol taste does come through (it's 13.6%).

I definitely taste oak, and a bitterness that I'm not sure what it's coming from, and a definite bitter berry flavor.

Overall, a touch bitter, perhaps not fully balanced correctly. Not a fantastic sipping wine, probably should be paired with food...

Sweet Agony of Success

It was soccer playoff weekend for my team, the Roxborough Rockers. Don't ask where we got the name, couldn't tell you. I had to look up the spelling myself...

Anyway, it was a win-and-play situation, 1-and-1 as they say in basketball.

We played at 9am, and if we won the game, we move on to a 1pm game.

Lucky us! We won the 9am-er 2-1, and moved on to play the 1pm game.

The agony isn't just that we were tired, we were also getting beat up a bit. I had a nice contusion to the right thigh, our goalie was out and we were generally unfit!

It was somewhat disheartening to find out that the team we played at 1pm was the #1 team in the league, so they had a "bye" that morning -- in other words, they didn't have to play 2 games. They were fresh.

Ouch. Yep, we lost the 2nd game, so we're pretty much out, except perhaps for a consolation-bracket game next weekend.

And thus ends the Spring '04 outdoor recreational co-ed Foothills Soccer league. It was fantastic playing, but weather canceled 3 games and we ended up with lots of rescheduling and other issues. Ahhh, well. Weather. In Colorado. Who woulda guessed?

Gates & Friday Lunch

We're getting close, so close!

Here's a visual wrap-up of Friday's gate-building efforts.

We started with an open fence and one hinge lonely swingin' in the wind. Then we took it off as we realized we should hinge the gate, then put the whole thing up.

After not quite accomplishing anything, it was time for Max's lunch of soy-based nuggets and orange slices. He enjoys his repast out on the patio this fine Golden Spring day.

BilFish models the new gate with hinges, correctly cut and squared, reinforced with some 2x4's and a bunch of rusty nails, and joined to the post. Swings great! Less Filling! Just needs a latch...but it started raining again, so I cut out early for a Friday afternoon beverage.

April Showers bring May ... Snow?

Here's May in Golden, Colorado (two days ago).

Here's May in Golden, Colorado on drugs.

Neighbor's Highway

There's a story of two good neighbors. They each had a kid (yeah!) but they had a fence between them (boo!).

The modern world, dogs in the yard, and a short guy had conspired to keep neighbors apart.

In this age of increasing separation, two neighbors (the good ones) decided to take a stand.

I, and my good neighbor Mr. Kirby, have chosen to build a backyard gate between our yards — a Little Ones Lane, if you will.

Without even having the first one built, other neighbors are already interested. It turns out there are a lot of people with kids, a lot of yards with cool toys (but no pools), and no safe and easy way for kids to get to it all!

Community Court now under construction.

An absolute crime, we thought. Happiness Highway here we come.

Oh, sure, there are details to be worked out, and posts to be buried down in, but we're finally on our way! One Home Depot trip later we've got the parts and the motivation.

Our Kiddie Cul-de-sac is on the way!

I'll check back in a while with how our experiment turns out... With dogs in every yard, it could be an adventure! Maxwell's Motorway is running through the yard. Parker's Pass will be completed soon. Doggie's Drive almost ready!

UPDATE
10:52am Weather turning dark and unruly, 50F degrees. Fence panel removed. Post hole dug, post planted with cement. Hopefully it doesn't rain (much). Dogs doing well together. Kirby sees his Newfoundland as the Elder Stateswoman of the yard. Bailey just sniffs. Lots of good discussion on how to do least amount of work.

UPDATE
3:10pm After a break for lunch and real work type stuff, we were back at it. Having split the fence panel in two (we put a new post in the middle as the panel was about 6 feet wide, and we only want a 3.5' gate) we sized and re-installed the first half so now we just have a shorter bit of fence missing.

We've got everything ready to go, the first gate hinge installed, and now it's about 45F degrees and raining hard. We stopped when my hands stopped being able to hold objects safely (like power saws) and hung out under the porch for a minute to reflect on a job almost, well, done.

We hope to finish tomorrow... Time for some hot chocolate. And to think, it was sunny and 85F yesterday!

3:30pm The Snow starts... It's mid-May people!!! T'ain't right, just ain't right.

Core Performance

I don't have a category for Physical Health... but I might start one if I get serious about following this new book Dad & Peggy sent me.

Called Core Performance the idea is that I can improve my performance by focusing on movement-based exercises rather than isolated muscle-building exercises.

Soccer's been wiping me out every week, so I'm definitely keen to add performance, power, and sustainability. Sounds good.

First, of course, I need to figure out how to keep the Ben 'n' Jerry's Chubby Hubby ice cream from dripping onto the pages.

An effort I'm just starting, I'll let you know how it goes. For now, I'm wading through all the pre-hype philosophy about why this is so great blah blah, used by big athletes such as Mia Hamm blah blah...

Chapter 4, here I come! How's that for commitment...

When Orange isn't OK

I don't get the whole bathroom air freshener spray thing.

I mean, I understand the idea of masking an odor with another odor — especially bathroom odors.

What I don't get is why orange? Why ruin a perfectly good aroma for me? It just gets too mixed up and suddenly my brain thinks orange and shit go together. For the record, they don't.

Now, every time I eat an orange, I smell a bit of shit. And every time I take one, I smell a bit of orange.

That's wrong. It's like Clockwork Orange gone wrong.

But I'm not just here to complain. I'm all about solutions.

I'd like to introduce Travel Pete's Lima Bean Air Freshener. It covers odors as well as orange, but you aren't likely to have the aroma brought back up every time you eat breakfast.

We'll quickly follow up with Burnt Broccoli Bathroom Blast.

Or how about Squid Spray?

Mmmm.... "Work Aroma Air Freshener?" Now that makes sense.

Mother's Day

Moms everywhere are celebrating.

For 0.3% of each year, we can all feel good about taking the time to recharge their batteries with flowers and a free lunch — to help them get through the other 99.7% of the year.

With both a mom and a pregnant wife, I get a double! That means just 0.15% of each year being forced to devote time to the ladies that raise the world's youth.

I wrote a personal note for Mom, but I wanted everyone to know a little more about my wife Kathy.

She's kind. Kind of cool.
She's strong and tough. She can find the positive every day.
She shares so much love. With her family, and friends, everyone!
She makes us all laugh — she's witty and funny, a true wicked smart metrosexual!
She brings home the bacon (usually turkey bacon, except when she's pregnant) and lets us all live the good life.
She is an expressive artist. With kids, job, pregnancy, and family obligations there is precious little time for such pursuits. Yet, I'm awed and amazed when she takes a few hours off from all of the above to concentrate on pure expression.
She is a colorist :-) She certainly colors my life to the fullest.

Kathy Haiku
She gives, She does,
She enjoys, She loves.
She's Kathy Fisher.

*Haiku meter can be flexible.

She's warm, and cuddly, and beautiful, and sexy.

And I love her.

I love you, Fuzzy.

The Terrible Two's

No, I don't mean Max, he's actually been a joy and a treasure (when he's not tired, which means it all goes out the window).

I'm talking gas prices in Colorado!

Yep, they finally reached the magic $2.00 barrier today, actually a bit more.

Of course, it could be worse. So far, it's only above $2 for premium gas. The lower stuff is still hovering around $1.83.

And, it could be worse, we could be in California, or Arizona, or one of those other miserable places where "regular" gas is above $2. Yowza!

Plus, it's hot in Arizona. So it feels even worse when you ARE out there dribbling expensive gas into your car and hard-earned cash out of your wallet. The fumes vaporize at 100F degrees and float up yer nose.

Even SUV buyers are re-thinking their lives as screwed-up nature killers.

C'est la vie!

MLS Soccer: Rapids v New England Revolution

Rapids Provide Physics Lesson: what goes up, must come down

Read all about it!

Colorado Rapids play Friday at home against the New England Revolution after a humiliating loss to KC last Saturday night.

Here's another version (on my site) if the "official" version ever goes off the web.

I'm also putting together various "interesting" stats and other soccer odds 'n' ends at My Soccer Site. You can follow how many goals are scored, various league averages, number of shutouts, etc...

Nespresso Tips 'n' Maintenance

More Nespresso News:
Nespresso Tips 2006!
Nespresso Price Hike 2005
More Tips 'n' Maintenance
Tips 'n' Maintenance
Nespresso Lifestyle & How to Order
--------

I couldn't tell you if these were tips I read from Nespresso or just sort of picked up on my own, so pick and choose at will!

Fair warning: I LOVE NESPRESSO! There, I've said it. So, let's get to it...

Problem: Cappuccino/Espresso not hot enough.
Answer: run water into the coffee cup first with no capsule inserted. The hot water heats the cup and cleans the machine. Then toss the water, add the capsule and Voilá, you have hot espresso. The other answer is that American coffee is boiled until it burns, which is not really a good flavor. Try it *not* scalding and you'll find true flava!

Problem: Foam not sticking around, collapses after frothing milk.
Answer: Try sliding the frothing sleeve up and then down to "prime" the frothing mechanism, right after you start to froth. Oftentimes, you'll hear a different sound afterwards, and get much better froth.

Also, don't lower the frothing jug to the point you are just blowing bubbles in it because the tip is barely in the milk. These bubbles aren't thick and won't stick around. They're just a bunch of hot air :-) It is the foam created from the super-heated steam of the nozzle being submerged that cause the right thick foam that "sets" or stabilizes and makes a thick, rich froth.

Other froth tips: Keep frothing jug in freezer, or put it in fridge with the unused milk as I do between uses. Colder jugs are good jugs. Hmmm...

I think this keeps the milk from heating up too fast before the froth can be generated. Also, keep the froth nozzle clean!

One final tip: Froth first, then let the milk foam "set" while you make the espresso. (see below for why you may not want to do this.)

Problem: Cleaning sucks.
Answer: Clean as you go! I always have a washrag handy, so I can turn the steamer on for a few seconds to clear it after use, and also to run the espresso maker a few seconds after discarding the last capsule.

Problem: Not as fancy as café-prepared cuppas...
Answer: Get a shaker and add chocolate powder. Sprinkle on top. You're a star! Add a small spoon (World Market has bunches of neat ones) and you're a big star. Add Nespresso's Mikado sugar straws, yer a gene-yus!

Just a few tips from your friendly neighborhood Nespresso Afficianado!

Updated February 27th, 2005: More Tips!

I usually suggest frothing first, because it allows the foam to "set" and become thick and wonderful. But, if you have a problem with grounds shooting out of the capsule and sort of getting all over, or it seems the coffee is spraying out too hard then read on...

Using the frother first, and then making espressos, causes the D150--and all the machines but Nespresso's very latest and most expensive model--to overheat in the sense that it can't make espresso correctly. If you do choose to froth first, try running some water through on the "cup" setting to cool the machine down after frothing. You'll see a lot of steam for 3-5 seconds which is the overheated water coming through and cooling off.

This tip came courtesy of the Nespresso 800 number hotline.

Bad Milk?
Don't froth/heat the milk past the point where it burns your hand if you put your finger on the bottom of the frothing jug. You'll simply start burning the milk and the flavor starts rapidly changing profiles from sweet and wonderful to sort of burnt and rancid and bitter.

Speaking of milk... it's the combination of fat and protein that creates the foam, so 1% is a good compromise for people looking to cut down on fat, whereas skim milk is going too far. Your foam won't be very good. Whole milk, of course, works fine, but can realllllly start adding the calories to that zero calorie coffee.

More on Cleaning
I ran into a problem where coffee was starting to spray out instead of coming out in a nice, foamy stream. Turns out I hadn't "descaled" the machine recently enough. So, about every 6-9 months, descale your machine with the little packets from Nespresso, and this instantly fixes the problem!

Lungo coffee capsules
It isn't obvious from Nespresso, but the Lungo coffee capsules are the same size as the regular capsules. They are simply designed to pour a bit faster as they have a different grind, and they have 20% more coffee in the capsule, which results in the ability to pour a 4-5 oz "Americain" coffee instead of the normal 1.5 oz espresso shot.

The Lungo blends are a great way to keep from having to make two shots for a big coffee to go in the morning, and they are only 4 cents more than the regular capsules (i.e. 49 cents instead of 45 cents per capsule).

Shipping: note that shipping costs have increased to $5.95/order as of January 1st, 2005. So, add this to the price of your order to determine cost-per-capsule, but if you assume about $.50 per cup of espresso/cappuccino, that's about right.

Ice Cream, I want some Ice Cream

Okay, this Ice Cream Truck guy is starting to scare me.

I went to pick Max up from daycare down the street, and just as I was opening the door to step outside with him, along came those eerie siren song sounds of the big white truck.

This guy always seems to have a bead on when I'll be outside with Max. Eerie. Clearly, a professional of his craft, I've had to build the Ice Cream Truck into my monthly budgets for summer...

Upon hearing the ding-a-ling song, Max immediately went nuts and insisted we chase the guy down - is there a safety issue here? Feels dangerous, small kids chasing trucks down streets, isn't there a horror movie about this or is it just my nightmares?

Of course, I had no money, just having walked down a few houses to get him, so now I'm amazingly indebted to the Ice Cream Man, who gave Max a free swirly popsicle thingee.

Damn, I hate it when people are nice like that. Good business, bahhhh.

KuRRRRRRR-A-BACK II!

About 4 weeks ago I said, hey, I may have cracked my ribs, but if not I expect to be back on the (soccer) pitch next week to play.

My Dad's advice was, "if it hurts at a consistently high level for 3 weeks, then gets better, you'll know it was cracked."

They were cracked. I finally played my first soccer game, and it took 4 weeks to recuperate, and they are still very bruised and sore, I've had to really avoid tackles and what not. I still had somebody set a pick on me, and that hurt, but the next morning (today) it doesn't seem too bad, just re-bruised.

Oh, and for all of you who told me to "tape it up and suck it up," I've got some news.

That's old news. I talked with John, head physical fitness trainer for the Colorado Rapids about the injury. He said:
1. 4-6 weeks you are out
2. There's nothing to "rehabilitate" as it were except general fitness
3. Don't start running again until you can breathe deeply
and
4. Don't bother wrapping the ribs. It does nothing. They used to do it, but have completely stopped doing that.