Spell Check Reliance

My spelling has always been atrocious.  I am always substituting easy to spell words for more difficult ones to make the things I write correct.  However, when I am writing on my computer I rely heavily on spell check to correct my spelling errors.  Using Microsoft Word and right clicking on all IBM computers gives me a list of other spellings.  I would choose one and move on.  This was not helping my spelling.  Recently I moved from IBM to a Macintosh and two things have happened that have subsequently improved my spelling.  First when writing on a Mac any word that is spelled incorrectly will be underlined in red.  This lets me know which words I misspell.  The second happening was not being able to right click and instantly correct my spelling made me try correcting the spelling errors myself.  Wow, what a thought I corrected my own spelling mistakes.  

This realization of how auto-spell check let me take the easy way out (while my own fault) upsets me.  I am glad I have made this realization and have taken steps towards correcting my reliance on spell check.  

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo

Red and I went to the zoo Sunday to shoot some animals.  (Shoot with zoom lenses that is).  I have been going to the zoo for many years and until Sunday did not realize how unique an experience the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo is.  I went with two animals in mind for pictures.  I wanted some pictures of the giraffes and the hippos.  The look on Reds face when she saw how close we would be to the giraffes was pure joy.  She looked like a little girl in toy store.  We shot one roll of film each of just the giraffes.  

The zoo is always in a state of remodeling and this year is no different.  Newly added is a gondola to take people to the top of the zoo and soon to be opened is a new exhibit Rocky Mountain Wild.  My other animal of choice to shoot is Hippos.  I LOVE HIPPOS.  The ears and whiskers are my favorite.  We were lucky enough to be there right as the zoo keeper let them out of the building towards their swimming pool.  Watching three hippos charge a swimming pool is quite a rush and very wet.  We had a great time at the zoo and have decided we should make a habit out of visiting zoos in the places we travel.  

My Personal Zen

I was talking to Red and we were discussing what repetitive actions we like to do. She likes to weigh and bag coffee. She can sit there for hours doing this action. I do laundry. Wash, dry, fold, wash, dry, fold. This is my zen. We both use this time for two reasons we either want to zone or think. To zone is a mindless act. Let us be busy doing something without having to actually think about anything. Or the reverse, we want to be busy and have time to think. If we have an action we can do and we are being useful/helpful in the task we are doing but can use that time for our own personal benefit even better.

Relationship Advice I Love

Men only make grand gestures when smitten or in trouble. Most men in a new relationship make nice gestures and hope to sweep you off your feet. If you have been in a relationship for a while and there are no obligatory holidays, birthdays, or anniversaries then what is the grand gesture all about.   Question to ask yourself would be.  What have they done?  Many men seem to be under the impression that a grand gesture will get them out of trouble.  Sometimes it does sometimes it does not.  I would rather a man make grand gestures because he cares and knows they would be nice instead of as "Get out of jail card."

"Actions speak louder than words" this is a great saying to apply to all relationships. If your mate says one thing and does another which one would you tend to believe?  The empty words or the actual gesture. This is a hard lesson to learn in relationships. Most people would love to believe everything their love one tells them. However, do you believe the words "I love you" or the actions whether they are cheating on you, beating on you, or positive actions of respect and courtesy. I tend to believe the actions over the words. Eventually the actions and the words will be the same message. We hope.

Getting Life in Order

After five years I finally will finish my B.A. in English. I have no real idea what I am going to do now that I have a degree but I am sure I will find something. Moving on to the next stage of my life has got to me thinking. Up until now my goal was to get a degree, get married, and start a family. Up until recently the degree put a hamper on the getting married part (which is just as well since the relationship did not last and would have ended up in divorce). However with no current prospects in sights and my degree only weeks away I have to turn my attention on a new goal. Setting a huge goal without any real direction freaks me out. So I have taken a few baby steps to start branching out and working my way up to a big goal.

I have broken my goals into two categories personal and business.

The business side my goals is to find a job paying ten dollars an hour minimum. Where I live now that would not be an issue but I am moving to a place where I only know three people and don't really have any connections. I need to be able to support myself and those things include car payment, gas, food, rent, and other necessities.

My personal goals are less structured. Moving for me is a great opportunity because aside from the three people I know I have no connections and my actions will only reflect on my and no one else. So with that in mind I want to go sing karaoke at a local bar, pose for a drawing class, and learn now to knit. I also want to volunteer in some aspect. These are all do able realistic small goals. My larger goals are still in the works but as soon as I know I will let you know.

Tile Counter Tops

Why would any sane person decide to pay good money to install a tile counter top in a kitchen or bathroom. I would think a solid surface that is easy to clean would be best for high bacteria areas. Cleaning in between the grout lines seems an unnecessary hassle. Tile back splashes could lend some textural interest while not hindering the functionality of a kitchen. Just a thought when designing or remodeling a kitchen.

Mondo Cafe

Sunday on our way out of Moab Red and I stopped at the Mondo Cafe for our daily coffee and some breakfast for me. The cafe is tucked into a shopping center next to Eddie McStiff's Restaurant. The place is fairly large and has a door that connects it to a used book store. This is the place you will find the locals enjoying their coffee before they head out on the trail. You can tell the locals from the visitors because they know the routine and take a laid back approach to getting their food and coffee. The tourists on the other hand are impatient and sad that the place they picked to eat has pushed back their departure time even farther.

Our coffee orders were filled five to ten minutes after we ordered. The poor barista was backlogged and was doing his best to keep up with the high demand. The food was another issue. I ordered a bowl of granola with fruit but there were several (10) orders mostly egg sandwiches before my order. The cafe does not have a real kitchen with a cook so one of the barista's ends up preparing the food. She was a little bitter about making the food. Needless to say the wait was long and food was slow in coming.

While Red and I are tourists we tend to try to blend in. We usually don't travel on a time table. This makes trying new places and allowing for unexpected less stressful and a whole lot more fun. We have a go with the flow attitude and we figure we will reach our destination at some point.

This is the place to be if you are looking for the locals and the food is reasonably priced for the area. I would suggest not having a time table in mind when you order or if you do stick to a pastry and some drip coffee. Simple means fast here.

While we wait, we people watch. Red watches the employees and critiques their methods and how they could better use their time getting more done and the customers satisfied sooner. This comes from her several years of managing a cafe herself. While I notice some of the same things Red does I tend to lean more towards ease dropping on conversations. Eavesdropping is a skill I have and one that is very advantageous where travel is concerned. It is amazing what I can learn from listening to other conversations.

Mondo Cafe is a great local hot spot for people who have some time to wait. Good food, good coffee, and great people watching. Three Stars.

Moab Breakfast

Part of the fun in traveling for Red and me is eating. We love to eat and critique the places we try and the service we receive. All Red needs in the morning is some coffee to get started. I on the other hand need to eat something before I can start the day. Saturday morning I left Red catching some zzzz's and I ventured out to find breakfast. I ran into a place called The Peace Tree Cafe on Main Street in Moab. I had a pleasant enough experience. I ordered a ham, egg, and cheese croissant with a glass of orange juice. The staff was nice enough and my food was served in a timely manner. The only issue I had was with the price of my breakfast. My total came to be eleven dollars and some change. The breakfast was good but not that good. As I found out later most of the resturant fair in Moab seems a little on the pricey side. Tourists to my community can get a full breakfast for about six dollars at several local restaurants. I guess businesses will change what the market will bear but next time I go to Moab I will take into account the inflated cost of food and eat out less.

Colorado Litter

On Friday Red (my travel buddy) and I started our trip to Moab Utah. On the drive I noticed that Colorado has a liter problem. I was amazed at the amount of litter on the road side and in the green belts. The litter in Utah is slim to none. I have noticed this in other states as well. Driving through Wyoming, Montana, and Washington I have had similar experiences. Colorado roads are dirty. I hate to say this about my state but I think it is time for Coloradoans to take notice and even take action.

Dinner Rut

In my house we have been eating the same things for dinner for the last ten years. We have ten staple recipes that my mother and I make over and over again. Needless to say dinner is very boring and my mother posed the question of how to make dinner interesting again. In the past she has tried to make recipes that she finds interesting. This has back fired because what she finds interesting and what my father, sister, and I are willing to eat are different. After witnessing her frustration over and over again I came up with a solution. I have used other food bloggers indexes as a starting point for ideas for my family.
I have been an avid food blog reader for the last two years and many of the blogs I read have recipe indexes. I print off the indexes and mark the recipes I would like to try. I give the same index to my sister and she marks the recipes she would like to try. Again, I do the same with my father and then I compile a list of all the recipes we agree on and print them off. Once a week either my mother or I will cook one of the chosen recipes and if we all like the recipe it goes onto a recipe card for future making. We have come up with several new staple recipes and have quite a list still to try.
Some of the my favorite blogs to visit for ideas are: Simply Recipes, Hooked On Heat, and Chocolate Zucchini

My TOP 3

My TOP 3 are the semi unconventional items in my kitchen I can not cook without.
1) I can not cook without wearing my Crocs. My kitchen has hardwood floors and after standing for about half an hour I start to feel the tension creeping into my back. I slip my Crocs on and my back is a happy camper. I have tried wearing other shoes and while they give me more support and padding than cooking in my bear feet I still can't beat cooking in Crocs.

2) My cookbook stand is another thing I can not cook without. This item was a recent addition to my TOP 5. Last year for Christmas my mother gave me the stand. She told me that she noticed many of my cookbooks had flour and chocolate smears on many pages. The stand protects the cookbook I am using from my sticky/dirty fingers. My books while well used are going to last longer due to this simple but indispensible item.

3) My iPod is another item on the list. Many people I know like to listen to the radio while they cook. I don't listen to music I listen to audio books. I spend a lot of time in the kitchen and I have a very long "to read" list. I multi-task by listening to books instead of reading them.

My Background

Reader for many of my posts to make sense you need to understand my living arrangements. I have been living with my parents for the last three years of my college education. Living with my parents is economical and in my instance my living arrangement is more like sharing a house with two other adults rather than my parents. However, all other things in life being great sharing a kitchen with my mother can at times be stressful. The stress comes from the fact that mom is a really good cook. So when I (the novice) take on a cooking project she usually tends to finish them for me. Sometimes this is a good thing. If I get myself in way over my head I know she can bail me out because her birth of knowledge is much wider than mine. However, sometimes she just butts into my cooking. So reader you will now know where I am coming from when I talk about where I am cooking and whom I share my kitchen with.

Solar Roast Coffee in the Independent

Solar Roast Coffee made the Colorado Springs Independent. The Cafe opened one year ago on March 5th 2007 in downtown Pueblo, Colorado. It is located on the corner of Third and Main. Stop in for a great cup of coffee and see what the buzz is all about.

Text Message Advertisements

I do not use text messaging as my soul form of communication like so many people my age. I like hearing the person I am speaking to and being able to have a back and forth conversation ins timely manner. Because I do not rely on text messages I do not have an unlimited plan. I pay for every text message I send out and everyone I receive. I do not mind paying for the convenience of text messages. I do mind having to pay to receive a text message advertisement from some random company I have never heard from. If text message ads are the next wave in selling then the phone companies will either have to find a way to block all incoming text messages of a customer wants or unlimited text messaging will have to be a standard in a calling plan. Just a thought. NMH

Colorado Life

I have lived in Colorado all my adult life. Until recently I was very limited in where I had been and what I have seen of the state. The change that has occured is the "travel bug" an itching to get out and wander. I will try to capture the business, people, places, and natural splendor of the areas I visit.