Andrew

2021 Week 37 – 9/11 and the World Today

It’s tough to believe it’s been 20 years since Terrorists changed America forever. On September 11, 2001, I was driving to work listening to the news on 1070 WIBC when the first plane hit the North Tower, and I remember thinking it was such an awful accident. However, when the second plane hit the South Tower, something else was clearly going on. That day was full of bad news after bad news, with the Pentagon attack and Flight 93 crashing in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, and I’ll never forget it.

We’ve had other historical events in the past, such as Pearl Harbour, where 2403 military and civilians were killed in 1941. That attack triggered the United States’ entry into World War II the next day. American involvement in the war lasted four years, from 1941, when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, to 1945, when Japan and Germany were defeated.

The 9/11 attacks, which killed 2,996 Americans, were in peacetime and a first for the United States. This led to the 20-year conflict in the middle east, which we just “ended.” I say “ended” because even though we cut the head off the snake by killing Osama bin Laden, we didn’t end the war. The evil that is the Taliban survived and took over an ENTIRE COUNTRY in a matter of weeks. I can’t help but think we’ll be back; it’s only a matter of time…

After 9/11, the United States came together in unity. There was a feeling of patriotism, as we had a common enemy*. So many freedoms we had before the attacks were restricted in the name of security (remember flying prior to 9/11?), and even though we didn’t like it, we accepted it and moved on with our lives. Unfortunately, as the years passed, we slowly drifted back to the complacency we had pre-disaster. Then COVID-19 attacked us…

Fast forward to today, where we had another opportunity to rally as a nation with the COVID-19 epidemic, but we failed miserably to come together as a nation again. Instead of joining forces to fight another common enemy, killing with impunity, we raised our defenses and ignored common sense that would have eradicated the virus.

As of today, we’ve had 677,737 American deaths attributed to COVID-19, with more dying every day. New variants are not helping the situation, but the real issue is people refusing to get vaccinated only to get sick, spread the virus, and in some cases, die from it.

While I’m not a fan of government overreach, I feel like we did this to ourselves by playing doctor and pretending to know more than science. Now we’re seeing the US Government force our hand and start rolling out vaccine mandates. Unfortunately, I think the anti-vaxers will dig their heels in, and we’re going to see more civil unrest, not unlike what we saw last year in the United States.

I hope I’m wrong…

_{*I’m going to keep my personal thoughts about 9/11 out of this post because now is not the time. This weekend we remember the 2,996 Americans who lost their lives and those who died from health complications from the events on that day.}

2021 Week 35/36 – 4-Day Weekend!

I hope everyone enjoyed their Labor Day weekend. I took an extra day off work to make it more like a vacation. The weather was amazing, and it was nice to get out and be active without melting in the 90+ degree heat. I just realized this post should be for Week-36, so I must have missed a post somewhere along the way… I also updated the theme to something a little fresher than what we’ve been using for several years.

I visited a new-to-me Disc Golf course north of Tipton, Indiana, over the weekend. The Heartland Disc Golf Course is located on the grounds of the Heartland Church in Sharpsville, Indiana, and was built in May 2020. Although they only have 9 baskets, they have long and short tee pads that allow you to play a round of 18-holes. There was just one other group there when I visited, and after they left, I had the place to myself for the better part of an hour.

I’m hoping to expand the recipe section of the website and have been looking at WordPress plugins to make things more professional looking, like other sites with recipes.. I’ve started using the “WP Recipe Maker” plugin and edited our recipe for Buffalo Chicken Dip to reflect the new format. It’s going to take a little time to get all of our existing recipes into the new format but going forward, it should be easier to add new ones that we find along the way.

I was hoping to get to the Farmer and the Flea outdoor market this weekend, but the rain on Saturday kept us inside. However, I’m planning on visiting next weekend and will share any unique finds I discover.

And finally, if you’re a fan of Rick and Morty, you might be interested in the First teaser trailer for Rick and Morty live-action starring Christopher Lloyd, Jaeden Martel.

https://youtu.be/b57Weqj13e0

2021 Week 34 – Keto Update

I start my 3rd-week with the “Low Carb” diet this week, and I can honestly say it’s going very well. I’m getting a little tired of the limited food choices, but I found a few cookbooks over the weekend that should help mix things up a little.

My original goal was to do this for 2 weeks, but I’ve been so pleased with the results I’m going to keep up with it for a while. I’ll admit I’ve had a few cheat meals, but just being conscious of what I’m eating vs. just eating to bet full has been truly eye-opening. Also, the energy I’ve gained by drastically reducing carbs (and sugars) makes this all worth it.

Dining out has been a little tricky, but it’s doable. I’ve found most restaurants have a low-carb option on their menu, although it’s not always called that. Asking for things without bread or adding a green vegetable over fries or other starches helps keep the carbs down. Now on to our regular programming…

I decided to refresh the look of the site over the weekend & turned on a new theme called “Kvarken”. It’s an older theme and might not be supported in upcoming releases of WordPress but it was time for a refresh. I still haven’t found the “perfect” theme for the site, but as time goes on, I keep getting closer. Unfortunately, there are so many themes to choose from, and many of them are not backward compatible with what I’ve been using, so I’m a little limited in my options.

I downloaded the Grammarly app over the weekend, and I’m in the process of testing it out both personally and at work. Grammarly is a real-time spelling and grammar checker with a huge list of features available (when you pay for a subscription to access them). However, the free version is also very useful and might be what I fall back to after my 90-day subscription ends.

https://youtu.be/SphqFgCl6Po

Finally this week… The NY Times had an interesting article about the “issues” created when switching from plastic bags to cotton “totes”.

2021 Week 33 – Keto Curious

Last weekend I suddenly became curious about the Low-Carb (Keto) lifestyle. After watching an online video about Carbs, I started doing the math and realized I was consuming more carbs than I realized (a LOT more).

The COVID-19 shutdown has allowed me to cook more and, after finally finding an upright freezer available for sale, purchase more food for bulk storage. This was mainly for convenience, variety, and to reduce the waste of leftovers. However, when I checked the freezer and pantry, I realized how many Carbs were in my diet. So I decided to try an experiment… Reduce Carbs from my diet for 2 weeks.

As of today, I’m one week in, and I have to admit, I’m feeling GREAT! I’ve dropped a few pounds, and I have more energy. Of course, I’ve had a few Carbs now and then, but I’m making a conscious effort to try this for 2 weeks and decide how to go from there.

If you’re interested in learning more about the Kato diet, the video below does an excellent job explaining how things work.

You can find endless resources on YouTube as well as your local library. But, these days, you don’t even need to visit the actual library; you can check books out digitally using the Libby app and read on the free Kindle software from Amazon.

That’s it for this week. If you’ve done Keto or are currently living the lifestyle, I welcome your feedback! I’ve never “dieted” in my life, so this is new to me, but I’m really excited to see the results!

2021 Week 32 – Back to School (and WORK)

Hard to believe it’s August already & even harder to believe school has started in the area. A lot of businesses are continuing their “back to work” initiatives and the increased traffic during the daily commute is noticeable. Downtown Indianapolis is slowly starting to come back to life but it has a long way to go to get anywhere close to where it was pre-covid, if it ever does.

Another thing that can’t be missed is the number of “Help Wanted” and “We’re Hiring” signs in just about every business. Every place I go out to eat you can tell they’re under staffed and over worked. If you can afford it, please tip generously and be patient if things are a little slower than usual.

I have a few new food places I want to check out in the coming weeks. The Amp Food Hall at 16-Tech and the new Brozinni’s location in Speedway. My Son & I visited Barbecue and Bourbon a few weeks back and we were so busy eating the amazing food I forgot to take any pictures. This means I need another visit…

And finally… Earlier this year North Face rejected a custom jacket order from an oil company & got caught “Virtue Signaling” in a very humorous way.

2021 Week 31 – Bug Off

The last 4 posts were a recap of my week-long trip to OH, PA & NY to visit the Allegheny National Forest. With the daily rain, and summer temps, the mosquitos were out and looking for blood but I brought a solution to that…

After seeing ads and reviews over the past year I decided to pickup a Termacell Backpacker Mosquito Repeller prior to the trip. This device comes in many different models and is powered by battery or Butane/Propane canister. I chose the latter as I use that fuel for cooking while camping.

The Thermacell uses heat from a tiny gas powered flame to heat a small pad containing a repellant solution. They claim a 15′ “zone of protection” and I think that’s pretty accurate. I noticed an immediate improvement as soon as I fired up the repeller and set it on the table next to where I was hanging out. It was especially useful under the tarp where I was spending a lot of time during the rain showers. It’s not going to work as well of there’s a lot of wind, but the bugs are usually not a problem when it’s windy.

The pads last for approximately 4-hours and cost around $2 each (cheaper in bulk). There is a very slight sweet smell but it’s not off-putting and a lot better than some of the other scented candles that don’t work very well. This being the backpacking model it’s quite small and portable. If you have a larger space to cover they make bigger units for that.

If you’re looking for something to help keep the bugs at bay while enjoying the outdoors check out the Thermacell line of products and see if they’ll work for you.

And finally… Our friend Rick (The Tenderloin Connoisseur) has a new Podcast that drops each Monday to help start your week off right. Check it out here!

2021 Week 30 – First Summer Road Trip (Part 4 – Final)!

In the post last week we were camping in the Allegheny National Forest (ANF) and dealing with daily rain. By this point I was used to getting wet and was concentrating on keeping my sleeping gear dry.

My first stop of the day was the Kinzua Bridge State Park in Kane, PA. At one point this massive railroad bridge spanned a big valley and was used quite extensively. In 2003 a tornado came through and brought down half the structure. It was determined it was not worth replacing so they turned it in to an overlook and viewing platform. The visitor center and gift shop are very nice and the bridge itself was a lot of fun to walk out on. It even has a “glass floor” you can stand on and see the valley floor below.

As it was nearing lunch time and I hadn’t eaten anything yet so I drove into Kane, PA and checked out Texas Hot Lunch 4-Sons, a local diner that specializes in “Texas Hot” chili served on burgers and hot dogs. I ordered a chili dog and a hot ham and cheese. They were both very tasty, and if I wasn’t going to be in the car all day, I could have gone for another chili dog (or two).

After lunch it was time to track down a waterfall I found on the map and spend some time driving on muddy forest service roads. The All-Wheel Drive and new WildPeak tires on the Subaru came in handy. Although the roads were in fair shape the rain had made things slippery, especially the hills. With little to no cell service it was not advisable to end up in a ditch.

Once parked at the trailhead I walked down an unused forest road to Hector Falls. It was a nice little 2-mile hike with no one around. Considering the amount of rain we had I was honestly expecting more water, but it was a beautiful hike with a lot of scenic views along the way.

After the hike back I spent more time driving deeper and deeper in the forest using a Gaia GPS map in Offline mode to guide me along. Gaia is a great resource with a TON of map overlays you can use for just about every outdoor activity. I ran into a few “road closed” gates and managed to work my way back to civilization and the Kinzua Dam.

The Kinzua Dam area was very well kept with plenty of places to picnic and fish. There was even a fishery on the other side of the river, and it had a lot of activity going on from what I could see. As you can see in the picture below there were some HUGE fish swimming around the top side of the dam. These were easily 3-foot in length and would probably put up a hell of a fight if you hooked them.

That evening, after setting up camp (and attempting to dry some things out), I built a nice fire, listened to a ball game, and enjoyed a few cold beers before turning in for the night. Of course, it rained overnight…

Day 5 had arrived, and I woke up to a campsite with a lot of standing water. With another band of rain on the way I packed things up quickly headed west to my first stop of the day. As I approached the I-90 toll booth the gate was up, and I totally missed the sign that said “pull a ticket”. I was thinking this toll booth was one of the ones that reads your plates & sends you a bill (I’ve long since lost my EZ-Pass) like the Louisville Bridge or I-90 in PA. Without a ticket I proceeded to my exit where a super friendly toll booth attendant helped me out and rang it up as a damaged ticket and charged me the standard toll for my trip.

The Vermilion Farm Market was a destination I’ve had on my list ever since we stopped by there on a whim several years ago. They have an amazing bakery and one of the BEST cookies I have ever had. The Coconut Pecan cookies are so good I bought all 5 boxes they had in the case. I also picked up a few other snacks before heading to Port Clinton for another must have when in the area…

The Jolly Roger Seafood House is famous in this part of the country and they have moved into a MUCH larger building since I was there last. The old place was small and had its own charm but the new location is a huge improvement. I’m happy to report the food is just as good. I opted for the Fried Clams and Chips (onion rings in my case) and a 1/2 pound of peel and eat shrimp. After savoring every last bite, I took a walk along the Lake Erie shoreline to work off some of that food.

Wrapping this adventure up I called an audible and decided to head home a day early when I saw the campsite in the East Harbor State Park. It was tiny, wet and had no less than 4 tents right up against where I would be sleeping. After being alone all week, I wasn’t in the mood to be surrounded by a bunch of people partying into the night (which is typical when you have that many people camping together). National Forrest sites are SO MUCH better than state parks and will be my preference going forward.

After 1466 miles my week-long adventure had come to a close and, even though the weather didn’t cooperate, I’m glad I did it. I’m already planning on a return to the ANF to check out the south end this fall.

Thanks for reading! I’ll be back next week with a wrap up of Week 31, 2021.

2021 Week 29 – First Summer Road Trip (Part 3)!

Last week we ended up in Buffalo, NY after visiting Cleveland and Niagara Falls. This time around we’re going to dip into the Allegheny National Forest and get away from the city. We left Buffalo around 9am and started our journey south.

Ever since I was a kid I remember seeing barns and billboards along the highway with “See Rock City” on them.

When I happened to find a “Rock City Park” in Olean, NY I was excited to check it out. After doing a little research on my return I realized the “real” Rock City is actually on Lookout Mountain in Tennessee but the one in Olean was impressive nonetheless!

After climbing around the rocks for about an hour it was time to move on and check out the town of Bradford, PA. Bradford is the home of the Zippo lighter and Case knife factory (and museum). It’s a busy little town with a lot of little shops in it’s downtown. Unfortunately the Visitors Bureau was not open when I arrived, I think they were at lunch. They DID have a nice setup outside with maps and visitor information, which is what I was stopping by for anyway.

Before lunch I decided to checkout the Zippo/Case museum and see what it was all about.

The Zippo/Case museum was quite impressive, if you’re into these products it’s worth your while to stop by if you’re in the area. The inside lighting made it difficult to get any good photographs without a lot of glare so I concentrated on other items outside.

Lunch was at Togi’s Family Restaurant where the “special” was their version of a Big Mac. It was quite tasty & a LOT bigger than I ws expecting. The hand cut fries were cooked perfectly too.

After the big lunch, and fighting off the feeling to take a big nap, I continued on my way to the next stop, the WWII Museum in Eldred, PA.

What a great museum housed in a very small town in rural PA. This place was HUGE and had more items than a lot of other similarly sized museums I’ve visited over the years. Evidently a lot of the items had been donated by area families over the years and a local hero named Mitchell Paige had a lot to do with its success. He had an entire section of the museum dedicated to him.

After a successful day of traveling it was time to head up to Tracy Ridge and setup camp for the night. Tracy Ridge is a primitive campsite at the top of a bluff. The sites are spaced far apart and this evening there were only 3-4 of us in the entire area. This is my ideal situation for car camping, Plenty of room and lots of piece and quiet. Unfortunately this is hard to find these days with so may people out doing the same thins I’m doing. Traveling and camping during the week is the trick to get access to some great spots.

There were some storms off in the distance that I would need to keep an eye on as it had rained every day of the trip this far, so I expected today to be no different.

Mother nature pulled no punches and let me have it after dark. the lightning got pretty severe at one point but it blew through quickly and I was able to get a decent nights sleep. She came back in the morning just to say good morning with a nice little downpour as I was breaking camp down. At this point once you’re wet you just deal with it and make the best of it. I had another big day ahead of me and it was time to head out!

Stay tuned for the fourth and final installment of the Allegheny National Forest road trip next week. Thanks for reading!

2021 Week 28 – First Summer Road Trip (Part 2)!

So… Last week we started discussing my first big road trip of 2021 to the Allegheny National Forest (ANF). We got as far as Cleveland and this time we set off to visit Niagara Falls and Buffalo before heading south into the Forest.

On my way to Buffalo I wanted to swing through Erie, PA to check out the Disc Golf Course (DCG) at Penn State University. While not the fanciest DCG it was well thought out and worked its way through the north end of the campus.

After my round it was getting time for some lunch. I had heard good things about the Beef on Weck at the Bar-Bill Tavern in East Aurora, NY so I loaded up and continued my drive to the East.

East Aurora is a neat little town that was very busy for a Monday afternoon. The Bar-Bill Tavern was packed at 1:30 pm but I was able to find a seat at the bar between a couple of older local guys who were super friendly. We had a great conversation while we watched the cook behind the bar crank out one sandwich after another. He was like a machine and only broke his stride to help the servers with the occasional table-side delivery.

With a full belly it was time to finish out the day by visiting Niagara Falls and settling down in Downtown Buffalo. I visited Niagara Falls when I was a kid and I don’t remember much more than the falls. The surrounding seems to have built up and has become very commercial with a casino, a lot of restaurants, and hotels. Monday was a great time to visit as the crowds were light and it was a really pleasant experience waking around and seeing the sights.

Having eaten a bunch and walked it all off I was ready to get settled in my hotel in Buffalo and start winding down. It was a nice, and uneventful, drive to downtown Buffalo where I was surprised to see how empty the town was. The hotel I stayed at had very limited on-site parking and with the amount of gear I had in my car I wanted to keep things close and not take a chance on a public, or on street, parking lot. I was able to snag a spot right next to the front so I felt better about leaving my car there overnight, but, this kind of changed my plans about visiting the Anchor Bar to get some original Buffalo Wings, witch was several miles up the road. I settled for a Brew-Pub a few blocks away.

Pork Schnitzel with really good hand cut fries.

Dinner done, it was time to retire to my room for the night. I was upgraded to a 2-room suite on the top floor so I had no complaints about the accommodations as I prepped for the next day where I would be heading south to the Allegheny National Forest for a couple day of camping and exploring.

Stay tuned for more pictures and tales from the Forest in my next post. Thanks for reading!