Paradise ponders... We had another spectacular dinner at the Red Iguana in Salt Lake City yesterday. We also had the pleasure of introducing my brother Scott to its delights. Much food was eaten with gusto, and a good time was had by all. Debbie and I had a special of which the main part was marinated skirt steak; quite possibly the best I've ever had. Especially notable: the meat was nice and rare, just like we prefer it, without our even asking. Scott had a special that involved shrimp swimming in a red sauce of some kind. He also had the mole sampler as an appetizer (all to himself!). I tried the Maria's soup (a standard part of their menu) and it was delicious – I shall have it again! We all had desserts, too: flan for Scott and I, arroz con leche for Debbie. There wasn't a bit left of any of the meal when we got done. No white boxes for our poor neglected mutts :)
We sat next to a couple who was visiting from Las Vegas. We overheard them raving to the waitress about what an unexpected pleasure their meal was – better than anything they could get in Las Vegas. We concur, but we'll note that in our own experience, that's not a particularly high bar :)
Friday, March 18, 2016
This oughtta do it...
Get more people to take buses...
Get more people to take buses ... by making them more dangerous. I love this kind of thinking :)
Thursday, March 17, 2016
Strange mail of the day...
Strange mail of the day... This is something we just received via the U.S. Post Office. It's most definitely not something we solicited. There's no indication on it (at least, none that I can find) of who sent it. There's nothing scary about the advice on it; it's basic “get ready for disaster” sort of things, except that they left out arming yourself (something that is usually part of the “prepper” dogma). I'm left uncertain about the motives of the sender.
All that was surprising enough. What I find even more surprising is that I can't find this text online! It's not often I do a Google search and get zero results!
Anybody recognize this (click to embiggen), and can tell me who sent it and why?
All that was surprising enough. What I find even more surprising is that I can't find this text online! It's not often I do a Google search and get zero results!
Anybody recognize this (click to embiggen), and can tell me who sent it and why?
Where to eat lunch in Logan...
Where to eat lunch in Logan... This is another in a series of posts for the good folks who will be attending the Field Spaniel Society of America Nationals being held at the fairgrounds in Logan in May.
If you've been following this series, then you already know about the map we've made that shows all the places we've been talking about. You might also notice that today's list of lunch places only has one new place on it – we've already talked a bit about all the rest!
Logan's Heroes is the place we haven't mentioned before. It's a local institution, one of those places every local knows, and it's an easy walk from the fairgrounds. At lunch time the small dining area is generally packed with locals – farmers, tradesmen, college students, and people who work nearby. The menu isn't all that large, but we've yet to try a sandwich that wasn't great. The bread is fresh and good, and the owner and his helpers are experts at making great sandwiches. They're happy to accommodate any special things you want (or don't want!). If you're allergic to waiting, it's better to go outside of the lunch rush – and even then you might want to do takeout, as there aren't many tables there. The owner is a funny and interesting fellow, an Iranian immigrant who came here for college and stayed. He has an amazing talent that we envy: he remembers people and their stories, even if it's been many months since he last saw you – greets you by name and picks up the conversation you were having last week or last year!
Angie's has an extensive traditional lunch menu, with all sorts of sandwiches, burgers, salads, and some fare like fried chicken and fish 'n chips. Lots of locals go there for lunch, some (literally!) every day. Nothing fancy, no high prices, but it's all good, solid food, and the people are friendly as can be.
Jack's Wood Fired Oven has great lunch specials, small pizzas with a bowl of soup. Both of them can't be beat anywhere in the area. Great desserts, too. If you'd like a classy lunch that's a little different, Jack's is a great choice.
Herm's Inn is a little further afield, but if you're looking for a hearty sandwich or burger lunch, it's hard to beat. You'll want to be really hungry before going there, though :)
Cafe Sabor has decent American-style Mexican food, with lots of choices for lunch. It's within easy walking distance of the fairgrounds, too. And yes, they have margaritas – though we're not sure it's a good idea to be drinking them at lunchtime if you have to show in the afternoon :)
Elements is the most upscale of the lunch eateries we're listing here, and it's in walking range of the fairgrounds for the swift of foot. They've got all sorts of yummy lunch fare, some of it alcoholic. They're a little pricier than the rest of the eateries here, so if you're watching your pennies you might want to look elsewhere.
The Crepery is within walking range of the fairgrounds, and has all sorts of interesting crepes for lunch. It's often crowded during lunch hour, as it's a favorite haunt of local workers and college students.
And last, but certainly not least, is the Crumb Brothers cafe. It's just a short walk from the fairgrounds, and has lots and lots of delicious pastries, breads, sandwiches, coffee (including espresso) and tea. This is the place to go for a delicious light lunch in a cafe atmosphere!
If you've been following this series, then you already know about the map we've made that shows all the places we've been talking about. You might also notice that today's list of lunch places only has one new place on it – we've already talked a bit about all the rest!
Logan's Heroes is the place we haven't mentioned before. It's a local institution, one of those places every local knows, and it's an easy walk from the fairgrounds. At lunch time the small dining area is generally packed with locals – farmers, tradesmen, college students, and people who work nearby. The menu isn't all that large, but we've yet to try a sandwich that wasn't great. The bread is fresh and good, and the owner and his helpers are experts at making great sandwiches. They're happy to accommodate any special things you want (or don't want!). If you're allergic to waiting, it's better to go outside of the lunch rush – and even then you might want to do takeout, as there aren't many tables there. The owner is a funny and interesting fellow, an Iranian immigrant who came here for college and stayed. He has an amazing talent that we envy: he remembers people and their stories, even if it's been many months since he last saw you – greets you by name and picks up the conversation you were having last week or last year!
Angie's has an extensive traditional lunch menu, with all sorts of sandwiches, burgers, salads, and some fare like fried chicken and fish 'n chips. Lots of locals go there for lunch, some (literally!) every day. Nothing fancy, no high prices, but it's all good, solid food, and the people are friendly as can be.
Jack's Wood Fired Oven has great lunch specials, small pizzas with a bowl of soup. Both of them can't be beat anywhere in the area. Great desserts, too. If you'd like a classy lunch that's a little different, Jack's is a great choice.
Herm's Inn is a little further afield, but if you're looking for a hearty sandwich or burger lunch, it's hard to beat. You'll want to be really hungry before going there, though :)
Cafe Sabor has decent American-style Mexican food, with lots of choices for lunch. It's within easy walking distance of the fairgrounds, too. And yes, they have margaritas – though we're not sure it's a good idea to be drinking them at lunchtime if you have to show in the afternoon :)
Elements is the most upscale of the lunch eateries we're listing here, and it's in walking range of the fairgrounds for the swift of foot. They've got all sorts of yummy lunch fare, some of it alcoholic. They're a little pricier than the rest of the eateries here, so if you're watching your pennies you might want to look elsewhere.
The Crepery is within walking range of the fairgrounds, and has all sorts of interesting crepes for lunch. It's often crowded during lunch hour, as it's a favorite haunt of local workers and college students.
And last, but certainly not least, is the Crumb Brothers cafe. It's just a short walk from the fairgrounds, and has lots and lots of delicious pastries, breads, sandwiches, coffee (including espresso) and tea. This is the place to go for a delicious light lunch in a cafe atmosphere!
Ant Flats Road is open!
Ant Flats Road is open! Yesterday afternoon we made our first drive on the road to Ant Flats, which starts at the end of the road to Hardware Ranch. This (very nice) dirt road was a haunt of ours last summer and fall, because of all the wildlife we routinely saw there. The road is closed to cars all winter (it becomes a groomed snowmobile road), but reopened yesterday – and we were one of the first to drive it.
We had the road to ourselves for about 90 minutes, and we saw a lot of wildlife. The standout was several large groups of deer, numbering well over 100 in total (we really didn't even try to count them, there were so many). We saw one large group of elk, about a half mile south of Hardware Ranch. Best of all: we saw one bald eagle feeding on a ridge top, and a pair of bald eagles wheeling overhead.
The water in the stream (the headwaters for Blacksmith Fork) were fairly high, because of the runoff and melt. The Wasatch Mountain drainages are running well in general; the water forecasts for spring are all looking very good. We were at Porcupine Reservoir twice in the past 10 days, and it had risen at least 6 feet between our two visits. I don't think we're going to have water challenges this year...
We had the road to ourselves for about 90 minutes, and we saw a lot of wildlife. The standout was several large groups of deer, numbering well over 100 in total (we really didn't even try to count them, there were so many). We saw one large group of elk, about a half mile south of Hardware Ranch. Best of all: we saw one bald eagle feeding on a ridge top, and a pair of bald eagles wheeling overhead.
The water in the stream (the headwaters for Blacksmith Fork) were fairly high, because of the runoff and melt. The Wasatch Mountain drainages are running well in general; the water forecasts for spring are all looking very good. We were at Porcupine Reservoir twice in the past 10 days, and it had risen at least 6 feet between our two visits. I don't think we're going to have water challenges this year...
Lanna needs a home...
Science vs. everything else...
Science vs. everything else... Via my pistol-packing, medical team entertaining mama:
Puppy update...
I'm going to have to teach our breeder the proper way to hold her iPhone when she takes photos :)
Yes, they're all brown (“liver” is the official term). Some of them have white spots on their chests, like our Miki.
We still don't know whether we're getting one or two puppies from this litter. That depends on how many other people are interested...
Wednesday, March 16, 2016
It looks like...
It looks like ... it's going to be The Donald vs. The Hillary. Oh, joy.
It's still possible that we could have a contested Republican convention, and the Republican-powers-that-be will pull Jeb out of whatever hole he fell into, or draft Ryan or Romney, or nominate Bozo the Clown. I don't think that's very likely, though. On the conservative (well, non-progressive, sort of, anyway) side it looks most likely that The Donald will be our choice. Pardon me while I go vomit. I wish there was a way to invest in European comedians, though...
It's also possible that The Hillary will be indicted or even charged in the email scandal. I've no idea what would happen after that, though I suppose that depends largely on exactly when that happened. If it happened before the Democratic convention, they could cobble up some sort of procedure to get another nominee – in that case, it seems most likely it would be Bernie. If she was indicted sometime closer to the election, I'm not sure what the Democrats could do. Can they change their nominee after selecting one at their convention? I don't know what the rules are there. And I wouldn't put it past her to just keep right on running, unless they actually hauled her away. In any case, I think the most likely outcome here is that she is not indicted or charged, and she will be the Democratic nominee.
If it's The Donald vs. The Hillary, I won't be voting. No way either one of them is getting my vote...
It's still possible that we could have a contested Republican convention, and the Republican-powers-that-be will pull Jeb out of whatever hole he fell into, or draft Ryan or Romney, or nominate Bozo the Clown. I don't think that's very likely, though. On the conservative (well, non-progressive, sort of, anyway) side it looks most likely that The Donald will be our choice. Pardon me while I go vomit. I wish there was a way to invest in European comedians, though...
It's also possible that The Hillary will be indicted or even charged in the email scandal. I've no idea what would happen after that, though I suppose that depends largely on exactly when that happened. If it happened before the Democratic convention, they could cobble up some sort of procedure to get another nominee – in that case, it seems most likely it would be Bernie. If she was indicted sometime closer to the election, I'm not sure what the Democrats could do. Can they change their nominee after selecting one at their convention? I don't know what the rules are there. And I wouldn't put it past her to just keep right on running, unless they actually hauled her away. In any case, I think the most likely outcome here is that she is not indicted or charged, and she will be the Democratic nominee.
If it's The Donald vs. The Hillary, I won't be voting. No way either one of them is getting my vote...
Paradise phone mystery...
Paradise phone mystery... For the past two days we've been inundated with marketing phone calls. We don't answer them; our Sentry 2 blocks them for us after a single ring. I Google the numbers to see who it is calling us, and they've ranged from healthcare insurance marketers (including one particular company that's called us 12 times already!) to political pollsters to home appliance warranty scams. Generally we've been getting just a few calls a week, but suddenly we're getting dozens each day. Very annoying, even with the call blocking capability.
I'd love to know why we're suddenly being targeted by so many companies. My suspicion is that some company has decided to sell our contact information to a popular marketing list...
I'd love to know why we're suddenly being targeted by so many companies. My suspicion is that some company has decided to sell our contact information to a popular marketing list...
No giraffes were injured in this production...
Computer animation is getting to the point where it's actually challenging to detect that it's not real...
Out here in Paradise...
Tuesday, March 15, 2016
With any luck at all...
With any luck at all ... you should now see a little “Amazon” link at right, toward the top. If it's there, you can use it to shop on Amazon. Anything you buy while you're there will send me a small referral payment – but won't cost you a penny more. I'd sure appreciate your using that link to do your Amazon shopping – it will help me pay for the bandwidth used when you're reading my blog...
Update: reader Richard Clark noted that ad blockers were (potentially) blocking the logo I'd put up earlier (thanks, Richard!). I've changed it now to a different technique that I hope avoids that issue...
Update: reader Richard Clark noted that ad blockers were (potentially) blocking the logo I'd put up earlier (thanks, Richard!). I've changed it now to a different technique that I hope avoids that issue...
The puppies are born!
What's the right thing to do...
What's the right thing to do ... with primitive indigenous cultures? We've all heard the stories about the “Stone Age” people still living in places like South America or New Guinea. Conventional wisdom is that we should carefully isolate such populations, and “allow” them to live as they always have.
This has always bothered me. This policy, beloved by progressives everywhere, effectively condemns those populations to lives filled with pain and death that our medical prowess has long since banished. If they break a leg, they may be crippled for life as we refuse to intervene. The children of these cultures are deprived of an education that we consider to be the birthright of our children. I could go on and on in this vein. Why do we think this is the right thing to do? I've never understood that. How can “preserving” a culture be more important than welcoming these peoples to the advantages of modern civilization? It seems cruel and horribly patronizing to me.
Rarely do I see anyone else making those points. I spotted one such case this morning...
This has always bothered me. This policy, beloved by progressives everywhere, effectively condemns those populations to lives filled with pain and death that our medical prowess has long since banished. If they break a leg, they may be crippled for life as we refuse to intervene. The children of these cultures are deprived of an education that we consider to be the birthright of our children. I could go on and on in this vein. Why do we think this is the right thing to do? I've never understood that. How can “preserving” a culture be more important than welcoming these peoples to the advantages of modern civilization? It seems cruel and horribly patronizing to me.
Rarely do I see anyone else making those points. I spotted one such case this morning...
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