Burgers and Rhone…..something special

Tonight we had bleu cheese burgers cooked on the grill and a bottle of Perrin Rhone 2004 Reserve. The burgers were’ excellent, mix the cbleu cheese in when you are forming the pattys and get them on the grill. Finish on a whole wheat bun with tomatoes and onions.

When cooking make sure they are done but don’t over-cook them and dry them out.

The wine was really good and best of all… $12. It’s still available on retailers shelves in most places. I think we got ours at Sam’s Club! Big enough for burgers and smooth enough to sip. Nice.

Finally, I can put a stake through the heart of Vista (soon anyway)

I have to admit, I’ve hated Windows Vista since the first day, 2 years ago, that I pushed the on button firing up my Dell Inspiron 1525. Two years I’ve suffered the “every 4 seconds you need to approve something!” syndrome along with the other indignities of Vista’s superiority complex (I know this is what Vista is saying to me, I KNOW IT ……”hey, Mr. User, I’m Vista, I don’t care what you want to do I’m regulating and modulating you so go get a cup of coffee and always say please when you want to switch screens”

Don’t even get me started on IE 8, what a pain.  So Firefox I stick with.

But, becase of my work environment in my small business I will soon be giving Microsoft some more of my money. I will buy a new laptop with Windows 7 on it soon after it’s available on new machines. Most  reviews indicate it’s better than Vista  but it doesn’t sound like a game changer.

For me it’s the shear joy of getting rid of Vista, I’ve even learned to hate the name…..Vista,,ugh.

I sure hope 7 is better, if not I’m going to Mac and I’ll work around my system issues.

Cash for Clunkers and Confusion

I need some clarification. The cash for clunkers is to reduce energy consumed by the inefficient car, right? Doesn’t it take a boat load of energy to MAKE the new car that is replacing the clunker? Really, if you improve by 12 mpg (12mph vs 24mph) and drive 12,000 miles per year, you’re only saving about 500 gallons of gas a year. To make the new car to replace your clunker, how much energy is consumed making the steel, transporting it to the car plant, run the machines to bend, cut, drill it, run the computers, paint the metal, etc., etc., it’s gotta take a lot of years of burning less gas  to make up for the energy greenhouse gas discharge it took to build the car. Probably you never get back to even, since after 15 years this new car will be, 15 years from now, a clunker and someone will have to pollute to build a car to replace your now new, but soon to be old clunker.

And the beat goes on……………………

I’m not exactly sure how it happened but we have apparently given up TV!

This was not a conscious decision, at least not on my part. We have not had a TV on anywhere, at anytime, since before June 18th. That’s about 7 weeks ago. I remember June 18th because it was the day we left for a trip. Again, I’m not sure how or why but we just stopped turning it on. It wasn’t some grand pursuit of the simple life, nor the altruistic goal of solving global warming.

I have to tell you that my life is better because the TV is off. I for sure don’t miss the local news….. I don’t miss the shootings at the convenience store, the guy who hit his best buddy over the head with the beer bottle because he told him his pit pull was a sissy or the people who shop-lift at Wal-Mart because, well because.

The TV shows we watched other than local news… I don’t miss them either. As far as I can tell the TV was just making noise and I only thought I was watching something. I can’t really remember what we did watch.

Now, the true test is on the way… NFL and college football! I kinda like watching football but I’m really not sure I’m going to turn on the tube for it. I just am not excited.

Now how do I get my news you ask? Mostly from Bloomberg News. It’s basically a financial website but it does a good job with national and international stories. I also scan the left column of the Wall Street Journal each morning to see if there’s important news I need to get up to speed on. Usually there isn’t.

Do I feel dumb when people are talking about Dancing with the Stars or who survived on that island show? Nope, I didn’t watch that stuff before I stopped watching TV, I’m not really sure what I watched before….but now I don’t.

Life is good.

Fly Fishing on the Peocs River, NM

While in Santa Fe last week we (my wife Barb and I) decided to try fly fishing in New Mexico.  But first a little about our fishing experience. We are experienced fishermen and we fish the Galveston bay system probably 60 days a year.  We fish primarily in Galveston West Bay and in  shallow water 1′ -3′ deep. Our usual targets are speckled trout and redfish. We will often find some undesirables on the end of our line.. fish like shark, gafftop, ladyfish, sting rays, etc. My wife had never tried fly fishing before and my only prior fly fishing experience was about an hour trying to learn to fly rod cast in Laguna Madre about 10 years ago (unfortunately it was late at night and there was beer involved so I didn’t learn much).

We decided we needed professional assistance (and we are sure glad we did!). We spend many weeks a year in Santa Fe and we were familiar with High Desert Anglers on Cerrillos Road. I put in a call to them and they were very helpful and willing to take on two fly fishing novices. We booked a trip for August 3, 2009 for the Pecos River.

We had the good fortune to be assigned to an experienced guide, Jim Jones. Mr. Jones is as nice a guy as you’d want to meet.  We met at 8am at the shop and got fitted for our waders and other gear which all seemed to be in very good condition. We hopped in Jim’s truck and took the ride to the Pecos River private water we had booked. In about an hour we were putting our gear on and walking the river bank heading to a spot to wade in. Prior to our hike Jim showed us the basics of fly casting and he did a great job of simplifying things with very easy to follow tips. I have fished with many guides over the years and here I was having been with a guide for almost 2 hours already and he hasn’t yet called anyone an idiot!

After a short hike we wade into the Pecos River. Remember please, we’re from Houston and the 58 degree water felt mighty cold and mighty nice (the day we left Houston it was 97 degrees and the Galveston water temperature was 87 degrees!).

We were a little surprised that the water was flowing as well as it was for it being August. If you waded into a 2 ft deep spot the water could exert a lot of pressure on you. So please keep in mind that my wife needs the waders on to get up to 100lbs and for her the water current was a battle all day.

We wade into the middle of the stream with a plan to wade into the current, cast into the current and let the fly drift back. About the second or third cast the water boils up and Barb misses her first fly fishing trout! The technique for actually hooking a fly fish is opposite the technique for the artificial lure fishing we do in Galveston, that was a surprise to us. Fortunately a few minutes later I got a bite and managed to land a small brown trout, my first fly fishing catch.

That’s the good news, the bad news is Barb has not caught a fish yet and our guide makes it his personal mission in life to make sure she does. She’d had a number of strikes so far but was unable to land anything. Being the gentleman that I am (and also because Jim told me to) I let Barb and Jim go ahead so they could have the “fresh” water to work. Barb had some more opportunities but still no hook-ups.

I guess I got impatient in the back and when Jim wanted Barb to re-rig and fish a deeper hole I decided to go ahead of them and explore the new water. It all went well for a minute or two. I got to a deep spot and decided to climb a few rocks in order to get to a perfect, trout looking spot ahead.  I climbed up the rock and as I stepped down on the other side my knee went out (old basketball injury). I went down like I was shot. Bounced off the rock and now horizontal, half in the water and half out… but I was facing up stream and my waders were filling up fast! I gotta tell you it was not a fun event. I felt like I was being dragged under water. I was clinging to the rock like I was on the edge of Everest. I managed to pull myself onto a flat spot, waders filled with 58 degree water, and look back down stream. What do I see? Barb and Jim pretty much laughing at me. They claim they were shouting, trying to see if I needed help, but they sure weren’t heading my direction! They claim this all happened in about 18 inches of water but by my memory it was about 10 feet deep!

I emptied my waders and onward we moved upstream. Barb had a few more opportunities but was unable to land her first fly fish. I had another hook up that didn’t get landed.

All the while our guide, Mr. Jones, was helpful and good spirited. We didn’t catch many fish but we had a great time. The weather was as spectacular as the the scenery and spending a half day walking up a beautiful river is hard to beat. Even with my near death experience it was a perfect day on the river.

And, oh yea, did I mention that the camera Barb told me not to bring was in my waders when I fell in? That didn’t go over well. Uhhh, no pictures for this post.

Are the 2006 Bordeaux’s the disappointment of a decade?

One of our favorite wine writers (actually it’s a wine writing couple) has some unpleasant words for the ‘06 Bordeaux. Check out the article here.

Santa Fe Opera

We had the pleasure of spending the morning at the Santa Fe Opera house (www.santafeopera.org).  They have a 9am morning tour many days while it’s opera season. The facility is spectacular but it’s really all about the location and setting. High on a hill in the high desert mountains a few minutes north of Santa Fe. It’s a great way to spend an hour. The Santa Fe Opera was founded 50 years ago when Santa Fe was little more than a village on the map. The founder, Mr. Crosby, had the vision and determination to make his dream come true, we should all live so boldly. Now long after his death his legacy is enriching the lives of many.

It’s summer, it’s hot and the white wines are getting better

Many Argentine wines are perfect for summer. They aren’t too tricky, you can chill them well, you can often find them for $12 bucks or soand enjoy them without over thinking them.

Our pick is the Torrontes grape. Just fruity enough and plenty crisp.

Our pick .. 2008 Crios de Susan Balboa Terrontes widely available for about $13.

Enjoy!

Passport weekend in Dry Creek Valley wine region

We just returned from the annual Dry Creek Valley Wine region Passport weekend. This event has about 50 wineries who participate and most have food events as well.

The results were mixed. The best of the 2 day fest was at Mauritson Wines, very interesting wines with great food. The oyster sandwiches were really special.

The most amazing food spread was at Rafanelli, it looked like a mid-night buffet on the Lido deck. The Zins were pretty decent, the 2006 handled itself well.

The best time was definitely at Bella Wines where they not only had decent food but good wines, ice cream and a circus act! All at the top of a lovely hillside.

Unti had a bare bones wine event, which was one of our favorites. The 2006 Reserve Syrah is a big, solid wine that is looking for a good steak! If you can find it, get it and store it well for a few years. You’ll be glad you did.

We stayed at a little B&B in Guernville that is trying to do things right but has a way to go. Dana and Brian run the Orchid Sonoma Inn and are there to help. The facility has really, really comfortable beds (at least the bed in the Sequoia room was great). The setting is too close to the road but pleasant enough and priced right.

A nice few days, not great but nice.

Trying for Simplicity

I recently read an article by Peggy Noonan that struck a nerve, you can find it by googling her name and Goodbye Bland Affluence. My interpretation may be far from her intent but for me it was positive. Simplify my life, appreciate the basics, live close to yourself, be more dependent on relationships, less dependent on things.

I’m working hard to be conscious enough to recognize the items that need simplifying but it’s more difficult than I anticipated. Habits are tough opponents… but on I go.