Chip, My Pet Lobster

Well, I'm all alone this week. Becky, the boys, and even Frank have split for a few weeks. They're off to see the grandparents in Wisconsin and Minnesota until practically the end of July. I don't even have a dog to keep me company!

That's not entirely true. I do have Cameron from across the street. This month is shaping up to be a real Dennis The Menace/Mr. Wilson kind of month. At about 9:30 this morning, as I'm firing up the weed whacker, Cameron, our preschool neighbor and one of Luke's friends, scoots on over and asks me where Luke is.

I tell him that Luke is gone for almost the whole month. I further instruct him to go and look at a calendar. "You see, wait until you see August, and then come and ask for Luke."

"I don't have a calendar," he informs me.

"Well, I'm sure your mother does. Ask her."

Undeterred, Cameron runs back home, grabs his collection of live grasshoppers and a lawn chair, plops himself down and proceeds to keep me company while I mow. Now I have a friend. I decide that if he's bored, he might as well help me out, so I hand him a broom, and instruct him to sweep the grass off the driveway. Might as well make himself useful.

Of course, Cameron happily complies. I guess he and I are both pretty lonely.

~~~~~

So, to deter my loneliness, this evening, I decided to head on down to Giant to see if I could buy myself a friend. After much deliberation, I decided on a nice one-and-a-half pound lobster that I named "Chip".

I brought Chip home, and we played, and wrestled, and cuddled, but Chip seemed to want to pinch me all the time, so he wasn't a very good cuddler. At least not like Frank.

Finally, it got to be about 6:30, and I was getting hungry. I began to wonder if Chip might be pretty good eatin'. It was about this time that the doorbell rang. (And rang, and rang!)

DING DONG! DING DONG! DING DONG! DING DONG! DING DONG! DING DONG! DING DONG! DING DONG! DING DONG! DING DONG!

I ran to the door, with Chip in hand, and who should I find, but my old friend Cameron!

Opening the door, Cameron looked wide-eyed at my lobster, with his claws all flayed back ready for battle. (Chip is very protective.)

"What you gonna do with that Lobster, Mr. Scott?"

"I plan to eat him!" I told him.

"You're going to EAT him?" Cameron asked, bug-eyed.

"Yes, I think he'll be delicious... So, what can I do for you Cameron?"

Cameron thought for a moment, trying to remember why he was burning a hole in my doorbell only seconds before. "Oh yeah. Can I come in and make some tin soldiers?"

"No, Cameron. It's my dinnertime," I told him, "I will see you tomorrow."

And so I shut the door on dear little Cameron, and proceeded to make my supper:

Lobster Pasta

1 large fresh lobster
3 tablespoons butter
1 large onion, chopped
1/2 red pepper, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 can diced tomatoes
4 tablespoons olive oil
4 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)
1 cup heavy cream (or half-and-half for a lighter fare)
1 package of dried angel hair pasta
1 tablespoon butter
1 clove garlic
1 bunch fresh Italian parsley, chopped

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the lobster and cook for 6 to 8 minutes, until bright red.
2. As soon as the lobster starts cooking, melt 3 tablespoons of butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the red pepper, onion and 3 cloves of garlic. Cook and stir just to release the aroma. Do not let them brown.
3. When the lobster comes out of the pot, place it on a cutting board. Remove the body cavity, saving the claw and tail meat. Place the meat into the skillet with the red pepper, onion and garlic. Cook for about 3 minutes.
   
4. With the hot water from the lobster, add a little salt, and place the pasta in the water to boil.
5. Add the tomatoes to the skillet and bring to a boil. Add the olive oil, salt, pepper, and cinnamon. Cook, stirring constantly for 5 to 7 minutes. Slowly pour in the cream, stirring constantly. The sauce will become a nice pink color, bubbling gently. Turn down the heat to medium-low and keep warm until pasta is cooked.
6. Drain the pasta and place on a large serving plate. Stir in the remaining butter and garlic. Pour the sauce over the pasta and arrange the lobster meat onto the center. Sprinkle generously with the parsley and serve.

Serves 4.

So, the lobster was delicious, but now I'm lonely again. (frown)

Grandma Comes to Town

Becky is about to embark on her long journey--driving herself, the boys, Frank, the' bikes, and all the luggage across country to Wisconsin and Minnesota for an extended summer break with the grandparents. Kathleen thought it would be nice to fly down and keep Becky some company in the van as she drove the sixteen hours across country, so she just arrived today from Dulles.

This will be a very long break for them. They'll be gone nearly the whole month of July it seems. I couldn't use that much vacation, so I'll be at home for 90% of that time.

I'll take the opportunity to clean the entire house from top to bottom while they're gone. No doubt, I'll make a few runs to Blue Ridge Hospice to unload some "obsolete" items in the household too. (That's easier done when everyone is gone.)

I'm sure it will be relaxing having the house to myself--for about the first day. After that, I will be -B-O-R-E-D-. I won't even have a dog to keep me company!





Earlier today, I got some nice photos of the kids performing tricks for Grandma on their various wheels. The sun was just setting, so the light was perfect.




Luke and I also finished up installing the two more auxiliary rain barrels. I now have a 150 gallon system of my own design. I've still got the first barrel catching the rain from the downspout, but if you look at the pictures, you can see that I've daisy-chained the second and third barrels to the first near the bottom. Then, I fitted a hose to the lids of the new barrels, with a Y-valve and an old rainwater wand sprayer (just the end piece). This provided air venting for the tops of the barrels, while still being mosquito-proof.

So now, when it rains, the level of water should rise and fall in all three barrels in equilibrium, and when the first barrel gets to the overflow spout, it should keep all three from overflowing.

Now I just need some rain to come!

More Fun from Luke

Cute little story by Luke, The Line of Evil Stuff:



And for those of you who are not aware, I took the boys to the local Greek deli. One of their favorite things to purchase is Greek Delight. This is exactly like Turkish Delight, except, being a Greek restaurant, can never be called Turkish. It is a nice gelatin-like snack hinted with rose-water. Very delightful, as you might guess.

July 4th Fireworks

Camera notes: These were taken at the show in Leesburg, Virginia. I'm pleased with how they came out. My only complaint is that I didn't bring a sturdier tripod. The best ones came out using my wide angle Sigma zoom lens in manual mode with f/8, ISO 100, 4 second aperture, focused manually to infinity. I experimented going as low as 2 seconds on f/8, and as far as 6 second aperture on f/16, thereby putting less or more fireworks into the frame.

Anticipating Fireworks

Belated Birthday Cake

We finally got around to baking Eddie a cake. Cameron and Megan, from across the street, helped Eddie and I decorate the cake. Eddie wanted a red velvet cake this year, with white icing. Unfortunately, we iced it when it was still too warm, and it ended up a speckledy pink. And the blue balloons turned out looking like tadpoles... or worse.

Oh well. It still tasted good.

Risin' Up to the Challenge of Our Rival

Fourth of July

Happy Fourth of July!

This morning, we helped the Patriot Project by passing out some brochures in their float. They're raising money to put a revolutionary war monument on the courthouse lawn in Leesburg. Last week, Larry Moison, the director of the non-profit organization, called and asked if we had some scouts who'd be willing to help out with the parade. All of our scouts were already committed to the Purcellville parade, but I figured we could peel off just Eddie, Luke and I for his cause--seemed like a good cause. Oh, yeah. And Frank too. Frank was a big hit, as expected. Even Ronan, with his gimpy leg, joined in for the two mile walk through downtown Leesburg.

We started at Ida Lee, clear over on the north side of town by where I swim. After an hour or so of waiting to get started, we finally set off behind the camel, the Corvettes, and countless Hummers. We couldn't have asked for better weather. It's so strange this year, but the weather was cool and breezy. And this is July!

We walked all the way through town, finally ending near Safeway, where we caught up with a troop of Bolivian dancers in very elaborate costumes. I'm not sure if the Bolivian costumes are the best expression of American patriotism, but the costumes were cool, and I guess we're a big ol' melting pot anyhow.

By the end of the parade, we had a very tired pug with a very large tongue.

Celebrating Eddie's Birthday

For the first time in a long, long time, we celebrated Eddie's birthday in the United States. Usually, he gets to celebrate when we're on a trip somewhere, but this year, we were home. So we invited his friend, Sydney, and we all took Eddie out for pizza and a movie.

We started out at Uno Chicago Pizzeria, where the boys enjoyed pepperoni pizzas, Sydney had French onion soup, Becky had a spicy chicken pizza, and I had a Greek pizza with olive oil, basil and Kalamata olives. Then, for dessert, everybody enjoyed enormous brownie sundaes.

After dinner, we went over to the theater to catch "Up." The movie was very good, very nicely done, with good measures of humor, action, excellent animation, and sentimentality. We really enjoyed it.

The previous evening, we let Eddie open his gifts. He was excited to receive the newest Flight Simulator, for which he's been begging for a few months now. He also got a new Nintendo DS and case from Nana and Grandpa (with matching case for Luke), and he got a Rock Band microphone from his brother. From Mom and Dad, beside the Flight Simulator, he got... A NEW BIKE! This one was a total surprise for him, since he wasn't asking for one. But he was getting a little long in the leg for his old bike, so we got him a 26" 18-gear bike. He should be good now through high school.

Thanks to Dan--the man, the myth, the LEGEND--for letting us store it at his house.

Final Goodbye from Hawaii

Mom, Dad, Uncle Bobby, and Aunt Terry are leaving Hawaii tonight. They sent along this one final goodbye photo from the beach. This may be their finest photo yet!

Hurry home! We miss you!

Another Day in Paradise

Mom and Dad are really getting good with the photography! They may actually have to recharge their camera battery before the trip is over!

They sent along more photos from their trip. The first one is of the beach where Matt and Deachi got married. My only complaint in this photo is that if you're going to take photos of beaches, at least zoom in on the bikini girl!

I also want to thank them for taking photos of all the food! That Kalypso seafood pasta looks heavenly!

Postcards from Kauai, Hawaii

Mom, Dad, Uncle Bobby and Aunt Terry are all in Kauai, Hawaii this week. They've been sending me photos and videos all week, which is remarkable. Usually, on a week long trip, I will get three photos total from my father, and they're all crappy.

But he's really trying hard this time, and getting some nice photos! I may make a blogger out of him yet!

Mostly, they've been shopping (the ladies) and golfing (the men). It seems there are some vicious wild chickens that fly in and steal their lunch each day, but from what I can see, those chickens are highly encouraged. My mother is incapable of following rules when it comes to chicken-feeding. (We had similar experiences with raccoons on Angel Island.)

So far, nobody has gotten drunk and tattooed. At least not yet. It sounds like they're having a lot of fun. Wish we could be there!

Billy Mays in a Drive Through

Billy Mays was pretty hilarious. I miss him already.

Welcome Home, Eddie!!

Eddie is back from camp! Hooray! We all missed him SO much! (Even Luke, though he won't admit it!)

It seems Eddie had a good time at camp, though mixed with periods of homesickness, no doubt. He kayaked, swam, went tubing, and even got to drive a motorboat!

When he got home, he and all his stuff were covered in filth! We immediately put him in the shower and scrubbed him from head to toe!

We joked all week that since Eoin and Eddie were sharing tents, it would be physically impossible for them to get their clothes mixed up. This is because Eoin is about twice as big as Eddie. But sure enough, wouldn't you know, when they got back, Eoin was wearing one of Eddie's shirts? He was squeezed into that thing like a Hooters girl in hot pants.


And now that Eddie is home and feeling much better, do you know what he wants? Sushi!

Touring around Cincinnati

After the conference today, I decided to get out of the hotel and go see some of the city. Luckily, Cincinnati and Covington have a really nice hybrid-electric public bus service. For $1.50 each way, you can pretty much go from one end of town to the other. The bus takes you from Covington, over the Ohio River, through Cincinnati proper, and then back down into Kentucky into Newport. That's a pretty good bargain.

So I hopped the bus, and saw the city.

And as luck would have it, the bus just happened to drop me off at the Hofbräuhaus! Wie viel Glück! The Hofbräuhaus in Newport is only one of three officially licensed restaurants from the Hofbräuhaus in München, producing the exact recipes of beer that match the production in Germany, including the reinheitsgebot rules of beer purity.

So, finding myself at the Hofbräuhaus, I felt compelled to order a full liter of dunkel Bier, Kassler Rippchen, red cabbage, and Brotchen. I mean, when in München...

At the TTB Expo in Kentucky

"Flight Attendant, please prepare the cabin for landing," the captain barked politely on the intercom. And then the two familiar bings, signaling our final approach. The short flight to Kentucky was nearly over.

As I was flying into Covington airport, I was struck by the beauty of the Kentucky countryside directly below me. All around were green patchwork farms, separated by lush deciduous forests. Each farm had its little farm house, barns, outbuilding, and fields. And yet, often, I would see a smaller outbuilding or shed, separated far from the main farm by a long thin dirt road and sheltered in a grove of trees. I wondered, how many of those tiny buildings below have an old pot still in them? How many of those farmers down there are still cooking up small batches of corn liquor? Probably more than you might guess. I smiled at the thought.

This week, I am in Kentucky, in the city of Covington, just south of the massive Ohio River, across the water from downtown Cincinnati. What brings me here this week is the TTB Expo. The TTB is the Tax and Trade Bureau, a post 9-11 split from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Frankly, I liked the old name better. It was always cool to think that you'd be getting a visit from an ATF agent. TTB just sounds too... soft, I guess. So, TTB handles trade and commerce, and ATF still gets to handle the criminals and automatic weapons.

The TTB put on this expo as a free, federally funded, forum to introduce the general public to all the details of licensing, paying taxes, marketing, paying taxes, exporting, paying taxes, laboratory analysis, and (did I mention?) paying taxes. All joking aside, the schedule is jam-packed with really useful sessions on the intricate details of getting licensed and running a clean business. There are sessions on "How to qualify for 'organic' on your label", "Laboratory techniques for the small distiller", and "Pitfalls of artisan distillers".

The expo covers each of the broad areas of the TTB's mandate: wine, beer, importing, beverage distilled spirits, industrial distilled spirits, ethanol fuel, firearms, and tobacco. The TTB have separate tracks set up for each of these disciplines with detailed presentations in each. Despite this fact, the overwhelming majority of attendees are small, craft distillers. In every distilled beverage presentation I sat in, when a show of hands was done, the vast multitude of attendees identified themselves small distillers.

Unlike other commercially run expos, there are no booths for vendors hawking their wares. Just the facts, ma'am. The TTB has really brought a large staff to this conference, over 30% of their entire TTB staff, in fact! They really try to get across the notion that they are here to collaborate, not flex their bureaucratic muscle. Every single government person I spoke with was friendly and had a "How can we help you succeed?" attitude. Each one encouraged phone calls to their direct number and gave out their personal email address. I have never seen federal government employees so responsive, and I've worked in government contracting for a long time!

Just like the microbrewery explosion in the 1990's, it feels like we're on the cusp of something big here today--a boom in new distilleries. Maybe the ghost of prohibition will finally be laid to rest.

Applications for DSP permits were up a remarkable 60% last year at the TTB. The expo is swarming with new distillery owners and wannabes like myself. And from what I can see at this expo, 2009 should be a very big year at the TTB.

Goodbye Eddie! Have Fun at Camp!

This morning, we said goodbye to Eddie as he is headed off to summer camp. This is Eddie's first summer camp, and his first week away from home without us. I think he was a little nervous about going, but it helps that he'll be sharing a tent with Eoin, who he's known since they were both babies. They're like cousins, the two of them. Plus there are lots of other parents going that know Eddie, so he'll be fine. The troop have all kinds of activities planned--water skiing, kayaking, fishing, swimming, hiking. It's going to be a blast!! But Eddie was a little nervous, and we're missing him already. (Well, maybe Luke isn't missing him just yet.)

We did take advantage of the opportunity, though, being without Mr. Sensitive, to go see the new Star Trek movie. What a movie! Best movie in a decade!

Have fun at camp, Eddie! And come home safe and sound (and hopefully, with all the stuff you took with you).

Science Olympiad

If you recall, a few weeks ago, I was trying desperately to return home from Tampa, Florida. I had to be home by eight o'clock in the morning to get to the boys' school for the Science Olympiad. Becky and I had volunteered to spend the day teaching kids about electricity. Honestly, I was really looking forward to it, and it would have broken my heart to miss it.

That is why, when my plane bound for Dulles set down in Raleigh at 11pm due to storms, I had to rent a car and drive all night to get to Purcellville in time for the science fair. I pulled into the school in my rental car at exactly 7:45 am (after sleeping for three hours in South Hill, Virginia). I was exhausted, but I had made it! And the energy of the kids would keep me awake until evening.

Becky and I had chosen three experiments to show the kids various properties of electricity and radiation. The first experiment was to use six lemons and make a battery out of them by placing copper and zinc into them, connected with wires. The lemons should provide enough "juice" to power a small flashlight bulb.

Our second experiment was to place an iron nail and a bunch of pennies in a vinegar and salt solution. In this experiment, you basically galvanize the iron nail in copper, bringing shiny copper atoms off the pennies and onto the nail.

Finally, our piece de resistance was the cosmic ray detector. I was somewhat dubious about this one, but it was worth the try. Essentially, you get a bottle filled with alcohol vapor, and then you chill the bottom side of it in dry ice, and warm the top of it with your hand. The alcohol is supposed to set up a cloud-like vapor in which you can see tiny streaks like jet trails--those streaks are caused by cosmic rays, which cause the alcohol to condense. You can even deflect the rays with a strong magnet.

So, that was our line-up. We had four one-hour sessions, twelve kids each. Our intention was to have the kids participate in these experiments themselves with some real hands-on learning.

But things didn't go exactly to plan. Our lemons were... well, lemons. They didn't light the battery at all. So Becky did a little soft-shoe and said it was because they didn't have enough acid in them, and showed the kids how the light bulb lit up with a regular battery. Oooh. Ahhh. This must have been impressive, because several of the kids now remember it as the lemons lighting up the bulb.

The copper nail trick worked the first two sessions, but after that, it didn't seem to take anymore. I suppose it was because the bowl was dirty after a while, or something. But regardless, I used a little slight of hand with the older coppery nails from session one and two, and all the kids thought the experiment worked great.

The cosmic ray detector was an unmitigated failure the first three sessions, and it was only on the last session, after Becky ran home to get a heating pad and we added more alcohol, that we actually produced not a cloud of alcohol, but at least a fine alcoholic snow. So I quickly yelled, "There it is! Do you see that kids?!"

To which, several kids replied, "I see it! I see it!"

Good enough for me.

We had to improvise too, because as we got better at the experiments, we got quicker, consuming our experiments in only fifteen minutes of the allotted hour.

Having lots of time on our hands, and some duds for experiments, we decided to play with Eddie's electronics kit, and of course, the dry ice chips.

First of all, I would stick a big chunk of the dry ice in a cup of water, and it would bubble away madly, producing that wonderfully satisfying mad scientist smoke. The kids loved it.

Then, I would take a piece of dry ice and put it on a spoon. The warm spoon was enough to rupture the ice microscopically on its surface, causing it to vibrate and dance around on the spoon. Again, very satisfying.

Then, Becky showed the kids how if you took a penny and pressed it hard against the ice, it would scream at you. This was from all the microscopic escaping carbon dioxide under pressure. The kids were thrilled by this.

So, in the end, our electricity station was a dud, but the dry ice station was a big hit. I guess that shows you, sometimes in science, you have to be flexible with your methods.

The two teachers, Mr. Jenkins and Mr. Applin, sent us some nice thank you letters from the kids. They really drive home what the kids enjoyed about the day. Here are some of my favorite excerpts:

Dear Presenters:

Thank you for your participation in this year's science Olympiad. Your expertise captivated our students' imagination and excitement.

...

Sincerely,
Jim Jenkins, John Applin

and

Dear Mr. Scott Harris, Ms. Becky Harris...

Thank you so much for coming to my school and teaching us science and what you guys do. I had so much fun at every center but most of all I hope you had fun. Each center was like ten minutes because time flies by fast when you're having fun because we were at each center for fifty nifty minutes.

...

The next center I went [to was] electricity is radiating that was also fun. We put pennies on dry ice and it sounded like a scream and that is how it got its name the screaming penny. Also I learned dry ice doesn't melt it turns into gas that is what I was very interested in. Then we put the dry ice in a cup full of water and first it bubbled then it had smoke coming from the glass but it was gas but it looked like a mad scientist lab it was so much fun at that center.

Sincerely,
Venus M.

and

Dear Mr. Harris

I loved how we did all of those cool experiments. My favorite one was when the dry ice made snow in that jar. When the dry ice sizzled when you put it on the spoon. All of that stuff was awsome. My friends said it was boring, but I think that was because the experiment with the snow didn't work.

From Jack

I guess I didn't fool him after all. And this one:

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Harris,

Your station was awesome! I like the part about the screaming penny. Also the automatic night light was cool. The dry ice on the spoon was also really cool. Thanks for the stuff you did with us!

Sincerely, Adam

They really did like that ice. Good thing we had some. And more:

My favorite station was the electricity is radiating station. I loved this experiment because their were so many things at the one center. In the experiment our group made lemon batteries, turn iron nails into copper nails and made rain. Another reason why I enjoyed this center was because you could never expect what was going to happen.

I learned a lot of cool stuff at the science center. I was surprised to learn that citric acid could let electricity pass through. I learned this in the lemon battery experiment. But the experiment that really surprised me was the copper nail. We put 20 pennies in a glass bowl with an iron nail and the nail turned to copper.

My favorite experiment was the one with the dry ice. I have never seen dry ice up close before. Dry ice is so amazing and I found it really cool because of what it did. It made water boil and it gave off a white mist. Thank you for the great experience with science.

P.S. Electricity is Radical!

We really hit a chord with that kid! Isn't that cool?! Finally:

Thank you for letting us help with some of the experiments. My favorite experiment was when we put wires in a lemon and it lit up a light bulb.

Sean O.

Yes, that's how I choose to remember it too, Sean. Worked perfectly.