Open Air Dining

Outdoor Dining

I am a weather nut. I admit that without hesitation. I enjoy the outdoors – especially for my bicycle riding.  Over and above my recreation needs I find myself drawn to the outdoors. I enjoy having lunch or dinner outside and look for restaurants that have outdoor seating first when deciding where to go. Now that I live in the suburbs of Atlanta, I can take advantage of sitting outside to dine about 10 months a year and my wife and I love it.

My wife still fondly recalls an anniversary meal that we had where we sat outside and slowly took in an appetizer, some wine and then our main course and a dessert. We try to replicate that every year but sometimes things just aren’t right. It can be the service is poor or the day’s events put one or both of us in a bad frame of mind. It can even be traffic getting to the restaurant will sour our mood just enough to dampen our experience – not to mention a few rain drops.

For our most recent anniversary we were unable to sit outside due to a rain storm but we did have a nice meal. We ate at a restaurant at the county airport and it was my first time there and I would recommend it to anyone near Cobb County. We both had a slow cooked brisket that was very tender and the portion size was ridiculously large.  We also took advantage of their half price wine night and got a favorite bottle of red wine to accompany our meal.  There was no room for dessert.

Have a great week and try dining outside, it will do you a world of good.

Favorite Desserts That Do Not Contain Chocolate

No Chocolate For You!

To begin, let me say that I like all things chocolate and to create this list was a challenge.  Let me also say, that if I did not care for chocolate I would probably never have to worry about gaining extra pounds around the holidays.  I had a friend once who did not like chocolate but I could never trust him and we quickly drifted apart.  Who could be friends with someone who doesn’t like chocolate?

To all of you out there that do not like chocolate I am sorry if I offend you. As an optimist¹ I like to think that there is always hope for you to come around and like it so you have that going for you.

My list, in no particular order, that I grudgingly prepared is below:

• Cherry Pie
• Apple Pie
• Pecan Pie
• Nut Roll or Kolachi (Note: My Mother makes the best Kolachi on earth and it is almost as good as Chocolate.  As I have said before you could argue that someone else makes better Kolachi but you would be sadly and woefully wrong.)
• Cinnamon Rolls with nuts and glazed with…glaze?
• Raisin Cookies from the Farrell Baking Company
• Ladyfingers (Clothespin cookies)
• Lemon Cake with the juice of one lemon – kudos to Mrs. H.

I know it is a short list but it is the best I can do without including a morsel of rich and indulgent chocolate.  What is on your list?  Have a great week feasting on the dessert of your choice – chocolate or not.

¹For those who know me, join me now as we laugh out loud at the absurdity of that statement.

Second Half Summer To Do’s

Cannonball!!

This blog will be published on July 15^th which is the halfway point of summer if you use June 1^st as the beginning and August 31^st as the end.  Since we are halfway I figured I would write up a list of things I would like to get done in the second half of the summer so I can consider it a successful summer season.

• Harvest tomatoes from my garden
• Take a day off
• See another baseball game at the ballpark – major league or minor league will do
• Attend a family reunion
• Train Jimmy Sad Eyes to walk on the treadmill – a task that has proven difficult so far this summer
• Find and enjoy a great wine bargain
• Eat a Pizza Burger at the corral in Hermitage, Pennsylvania and post pictures on this blog to prove it
• Spend a weekend evening with my spouse out of town
• Eat stuffed peppers using peppers from my garden
• Ride my bike
• Dip my toes in an ocean, lake, river, pond or stream
• Dip some chips into a bowl of homemade salsa
• Wear shoes less and sandals more
• Consume food from a street vendor
• Increase my flexibility by stretching during baseball game watching on TV

Have a great second half of the summer and make it count.  I know I will.

The Battle Of Hip-Break Ridge

Vegetation or weeds

It was 1607 hours, and the final preparations were commencing. The temperature was 88 degrees and the humidity the same. Smoke was floating, nay hanging, in the still air. Perfect conditions for what was about to begin.

I pulled my mask over my face and snapped my gloves on and tucked in my sleeves. I was about to unleash a chemical assault. My thoughts briefly drifted back to the others that came before me in years gone by. Thoughts about Postman Jimmy, Shorty, Jelly-bread and guys like them. The lucky ones are now pushing 70 and the unlucky ones only a memory or a name on a headstone.

At 1630 hours I began the steady stream of the defoliant, a potent mixture of 50% Glyphosate and water. By 1700 hours I was on my second tank and already the sweat was pouring down my forehead into my eyes.  I realized that this battle was going to be much longer than anticipated. I would empty 6 tanks that day before it was over.

While going through my post-spray decontamination procedures, the aching back and salt covered brow were reminders of the price I paid. It was worth every ache and pain as the next 3 months I was going to reap the benefits of today’s assault. Today’s work will provide a three-month break from cutting the weeds on the steep banks of that hill in sector 4 of my property. Sector 4 is known as Hip-break hill for the steep and uneven terrain that makes cutting the weeds a major source of discomfort for my rickety frame.

What I just described to you was not a military exercise but an exercise of almost equal importance. It was an exercise of self-preservation. Ridding that hill of vegetation beats me up and subjects myself to twisted ankles and twisted a frame. In addition, by defoliating once a quarter for two hours it saves me an hour a week. The results are eleven hours saved per quarter! This is an even better strategy than getting synthetic oil changes to save time.

As I walked in from the garage the heavy smoke of the battlefield still clung snugly to the humid air. When I opened the door to the kitchen I realized the smoke was just some tasty grilled sausages that HQ, er… my wife cooked up for me while I was occupied with the enemy. This whole thing turned out much better than I expected, there was even corn on the cob!

Have a great week, and I assure you that no animals were harmed during the drama that unfolded during the battle of hip-break ridge.

Kick It In For The Second Half

We can do it!

The publish date of today’s blog is July 1^st and I thought that it would be appropriate to talk about finishing the year off strong in the second half.  I hope you had a good first half but if not, let me offer encouragement to make goals, write them down and get fired up about working your plan to a successful conclusion.

I will offer some bullet points for you to consider using if appropriate in your business.

• I suggest that you stop procrastinating or waiting for the perfect time to make your move – whatever that is.  The time will never be perfect but it doesn’t have to be. Make your move and then adjust and react.
• Take time to analyze your last 6 months and identify what has been holding you back and fix it.  If you are doing mundane tasks and can’t seem to get out of the office for face time with prospects, don’t do the mundane tasks or hire someone at a much lower rate than you are worth to do it!
• Work on a small success and use that confidence to build up to a bigger challenge.
• Take calculated risks; the worst case scenario is not likely to happen so go for it.
• Set aside some time to fix one small thing that has been nagging you.  This will feel good and you have one less thing distracting your focus.
• To use a baseball analogy; hitting a bunch of singles are easier than swinging for the fences but score runs just the same.  Eat the elephant with just one little bite at a time.
• Try using your gut feeling more often in the second half and see if that hastens the pace of decisions and you land more opportunities.

I hope one or more of these will strike a nerve and you take action.  Remember, deciding to do something is NOT taking action.  Have a great Independence Day and have a great week hitting singles.